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.

Secret Wedding

A snapshot from just about 15 years ago.

Matt and I have been together fifteen years today. We are not married—a fact we don’t try and hide, but we also no longer correct people when they assume we are. He is my boyfriend, my husband, my mate, my friend, and my partner depending on who is introducing us.

Though we don’t have a desire to get married, we decided we wanted an anniversary party to celebrate fifteen years. I think we both thought if we didn’t get our families together in some way that one day we would regret it. And I’m learning in life that we should never say no to celebrations. Any excuse to celebrate is a good one.

The problem is when you send out invites to your closest friends and family who may have always hoped you would get married, some of them decide you are having a secret wedding. I immediately got an email back, “Are you guys really getting married?” No. And that’s the last I’d heard of it until a few weeks later. My mom was over and she […]

Secret WeddingMaggie Downie2017-12-29T20:00:10-05:00

Hiking Alone

Heading to the trail-head alone.

I can’t explain why but I needed to go hiking alone. I felt compelled to hike in the White Mountains all by myself. For some people this may be no big deal. When I’m hiking, I see lone hikers all the time. And now I wonder if their moms are as worried about them as mine was about me. Because mine was pretty worried. If cell service allowed I promised to text her practically hourly. Luckily for her sanity there was service the entire hike. It made me feel safer too.

Part of my reason for hiking the White Mountains alone was practical. I didn’t feel like planning. I was going to be half way there after working in Boston, and I didn’t want to have to drive back to Connecticut to meet friends and drive back. Matt was traveling for work. But for all those excuses there was something else drawing me.

The White Mountains is one of my favorite places to spend time. I wanted it to myself for a moment. I’m comfortable there. The hikes are challenging and you can get […]

Hiking AloneMaggie Downie2017-12-29T20:01:34-05:00

Tight Calves?

Tight calves? Feel like you stretch and stretch but get nowhere? We live in a world of tight calves. This stiffness probably comes from wearing high heels or shoes with a heel lift (even men’s shoes tend to have a slight heel lift). Our choice of footwear can alter the length of the muscles of our lower leg, shortening both the muscles and our Achilles tendon. Sometimes we just feel tight. Sometimes this tightness can spread to cause other problems in the body like plantar fasciitis or discomfort elsewhere in the body. Stretch the calf muscles with a bent and a straight leg.

You are probably familiar with one of your calf muscles—the gastrocnemius. It’s the muscle you can see when think of a calf muscle. But underneath the gastroc is another muscle, your soleus. They both connect to the Achilles tendon so they both affect it. And they both can shorten and feel tight. The gastroc gets a good stretch when we flex our foot (toes toward your nose) with the leg […]

Tight Calves?Maggie Downie2017-12-29T20:09:54-05:00

Naked Pilates: What Workout Clothes Should You Wear?

Joe Pilates in typical workout attire.

I’ve done Pilates naked and it’s not pretty. I personally don’t recommend it. That being said when we practice Pilates nowadays we actually wear a lot of workout clothes. Joe Pilates had people train with minimal clothing. He basically wore swimming trunks that looked like black or white tighty whities and women working with Joe often wore leotards. I would not attend a Pilates class today if they required me to show up in a leotard.

There was a method to Joe’s madness though. He wanted people unencumbered by clothing, although arguably being comfortable makes you feel freer to move. I’d be really encumbered if I had to do exercises in front of people in a leotard. Last fall I almost went out in public in a unitard—a near disaster. Joe also wanted the skin to be able to breathe. I get that too, but I’m pretty sure our skin can breathe with a little more clothes on. And he wanted to be able to see his clients better. That’s helpful. If you show up to class wearing more form […]

Naked Pilates: What Workout Clothes Should You Wear?Maggie Downie2018-02-14T15:43:16-05:00

Busy Bee No More

We hate getting a busy signal. We talk about someone being a busy bee, and we often claim we are too busy. Keeping up with the Joneses no longer feels like striving for the McMansion with a white picket fence, two kids, and a dog. Whatever your family or housing situation, lately, I feel like keeping up is about being busier than your neighbor. No one is forcing anyone to be busy, but there is this unspoken expectation that every minute must be filled or…or…or who knows, but it will probably be catastrophic.

Perhaps I’m the only one with the issue and I just revealed a personal complex, but I don’t think so. I don’t want to be busy anymore. When I was in my teens and twenties I loved having a full schedule that hopped from one activity to another. Now I require rest, but I still fill my schedule to an unmanageable capacity. I want a full life. I just no longer want to be constantly watching the clock and rushing from activity to activity.

The other night I sat outside with a neighbor who I’ve met a few times and we chatted for hours, uninterrupted, unworried about where we […]

Busy Bee No MoreMaggie Downie2018-01-13T15:57:56-05:00

Previous 434445 Next