Maggie Downie, Author at Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

About Maggie Downie

Thank you for giving your time to stop and read my blog. I hope it encourages you to keep moving. Move and the body will be happier. And when you're moving you can hike, run, swim in Jell-O, race over non-Newtonian fluids, travel the world or build igloos--if that's your thing. If not, you can watch me do it. This is just a spot to try and feel good about life.

Instructor Highlight Isa

Isa is not one of our instructors, but she helps us with admin work. If you have ever gotten a postcard or holiday card that’s in large part due to Isa. She inputs and organizes all our client names and addresses. She prints our labels for all our mailings. Her work it vital to PE and helping us have a personal touch. Here’s her instructor highlight.

Get to know Isa:

When you aren’t teaching what are some of your favorite ways to move?

I like kickboxing, HIIT, and I try to practice yoga every morning. And I love going on walks in the woods.

What song motivates or picks you up the most?

Jason Mraz, “Make it mine”.

Favorite Food?

Cheese and French bread 🙂

Time you normally crawl into bed?

I’m usually in bed by 9pm every night, but I read for an hour.

What skill would you like to master?

Playing the guitar.

What would be the most amazing adventure to go on?

Cross-country trip in a RV with my family. In the USA, France, or Australia!

Favorite season? Why?

Fall, because I love the colors and flavors (apple and pumpkin everything!)

Best advice you’ve ever gotten?

You cannot control what happens around you, but […]

Instructor Highlight IsaMaggie Downie2018-03-21T15:44:52-04:00

Plank Story: Do You Fart in Your Sleep?

My younger sister, stepmom, and I were flying to Dallas to visit my brother and sister-in-law and attend a baby shower for the first grandchild in my family. We’d all be sharing a hotel room, so we discussed who would be sharing a bed in a room with two queen mattresses.

Cold at night, even in a Texas climate, my stepmom sleeps in many layers, including a cap. But that doesn’t hinder your fellow sleepers. She admitted to snoring, but a good snore you can hear from either bed.

My little sister basically sleeps like a rock, so she was the general winner in the group—the one everyone would want to sleep with. However, though only I remember this, when we were little we’d sometimes sleep together and she would wake up covered in vomit, which I found repulsive. She claimed she no longer vomited in her sleep and I tend to believe her.

It was determined I was the worst sleeping partner. Sometimes while falling asleep, I twitch which can be off-putting to people. I was told by my best friend on a cross country camping trip that I snuggle. I’m a light […]

Plank Story: Do You Fart in Your Sleep?Maggie Downie2018-05-04T11:15:37-04:00

Self Love

Movement can be playful!

We are often our own hardest critic. I know I am. It’s my Type-A, entrepreneurial spirit. But no matter what our nature or our career path, I think we tend to be harsh with ourselves in a way many of us would never treat anyone else we care for. We all need to give ourselves a little more self love.

In the past, I somewhat always thought this harshness was a motivator. Apparently, I respond to drill sergeant mode. Once upon a time that might have worked for me, but I’m attempting to be gentler with myself. Partly, I’m just getting tired with age (did I admit that?). Egging myself on is exhausting. Plus every year it seems to become more and more obvious that life is too short to waste time being curt with myself. I’ve even drastically reduced my road rage because I came to recognize I was the only one hot and bothered. The driver that would not let me merge was long gone.

That does not mean that I’m always successful. It is in my nature to push through without a nap and struggle with […]

Self LoveMaggie Downie2018-06-19T10:06:03-04:00

The Greatest Showman

I love musical theater. Matt, my boyfriend, does not. When we first started dating if we saw a musical together we both had a terrible time. He hated the experience, and I could tell he was miserable which ruined it for me. The third and final time we ever saw people singing together on stage, I realized that each time the actors inhaled to prepare for a note, Matt sighed heavily and audibly, like the last breath escaping a dying man. He was completely unaware that he was perceptibly expressing his disdain for show tunes.

We stopped going to musicals with each other because I love him and wanted our relationship to last. Also, I have other friends to enjoy them with. Then earlier this year—roughly sixteen years since our last musical—we were out for dinner and looked quickly to see if any movies were playing near the restaurant. If we rushed, we could get to The Greatest Showman, a movie about P.T. Barnum. We both like a good history/bio flick so we rushed to the theater and sat just as the movie was starting. Seconds later when the movie opened with […]

The Greatest ShowmanMaggie Downie2018-06-19T11:23:08-04:00

Exercise is Fun

If your writs don’t hurt you may take for granted how much they are supporting you on an exercise like sidebends.

Somehow in the United States we’ve grown up believing that exercise needs to be hard and painful or there is no purpose. We drill ourselves into more reps and faster sets forgoing any sense of quality of movement. We all know the motto: No Pain, No Gain. And we wonder why children in the states search for doctor’s notes to escape gym class. What sane person seeks out pain? Yet so many of us do when it comes to our fitness routine (myself included sometimes). Very few people proclaim, “Exercise is fun!”

It’s sad because most children naturally enjoy playful movement. They run around, flop on the couch, jump on the bed, squirm, and play tag at the bus stop. They wiggle and roll, until we make all movement formulaic and stick them in desks for prolonged periods of time.

Whether you love moving or drone at the idea of it, take a moment to answer the following questions:

When was the last time your exercise routine was playful and fun?

Do you show […]

Exercise is FunMaggie Downie2018-06-18T17:33:52-04:00

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