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.

Walking on Fire

The fire ablaze.

Why did I want to do a firewalk? That was the question everyone asked me when I mentioned I was doing one. I still don’t know the answer. Curiosity. An interesting experience. To know what it feels like. Conquer fear. Know that I can do it. To see how my nervous system responds. Those were all a piece of what intrigued me, but when I tested those answers on different people none seemed to satisfy anyone.

I don’t have an answer. What makes anyone want to do anything? I don’t want to bungee jump or cliff jump even though that might help me get over my fear of heights and would be an adventure. I’m not a thrill seeker. Firewalking isn’t like a rollercoaster ride. I don’t want to do an ultra-run, but I can understand why someone would feel compelled to run in an extreme environment for days. I hadn’t thought about the why at first because I naively assumed everyone wanted to firewalk. As it turns out most people don’t. I told

Walking on FireMaggie Downie2018-05-09T18:07:11-04:00

Purging: The Microbiome Diet & the Minimalism Game

The Food Part: Gut-friendly food

I’m amazed. Giving up dairy, sugar and most grains last Monday hasn’t been as hard as it normally is. The only thing I can think of that accounts for the difference is that I felt really ready and motivated to try this experiment.

Normally when I give up sugar for a month, I think about sweets—ice cream, muffins, and chocolate in any form—hourly. I’m truly in awe that I’ve been okay…that is until last Thursday—four days in—when I drove by Starbucks. Now, I’m not a big coffee drinker. In fact I don’t like it. Still a couple years ago, I started needing a little caffeine fix on Thursday afternoons. I get a mocha to mask the taste of coffee and very often I only drink half. I found myself pining as I drove past the green goddess. And the urge didn’t dissipate until Sunday. It didn’t help that I was visiting a friend in New York where Portland’s Stumptown Coffee was in nearly every shop. Stumptown is my favorite, and I longed to go inside a small coffee house with a good conversation […]

Purging: The Microbiome Diet & the Minimalism GameMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:17:52-05:00

Plank Story: You’ve Got to Feel the Car or Why I’m Incapable of Driving a Lamborghini Fast

Getting Ready to Drive

I raced a Lamborghini. More accurately, I drove a Lamborghini around a small track at a mall parking lot in Pennsylvania, but it was awesome. Some of our great friends wanted to take Matt to drive a fast car for his birthday, and I said if we were going I’d try too. I’m not a car person, but why not?

I hadn’t thought much of it until a week before we were going when I woke up in the middle of the night, bolting upright in bed, realizing that it might actually be hard to drive a fast car through sharp turns. I was right.

On our way to The Motorsport Lab and Experience, temporarily in Harrisburg, PA for our driving pleasure, I asked Matt whether I should choose the Lamborghini or the Ferrari. It’s all the same to me. He suggested the Ferrari—apparently everyone gets that a Ferrari is fast. I’m not sure what most people think of Lamborghinis. If they are like me, they don’t. Then I got there and said, “Oh, which one is the yellow one? I want to drive the […]

Plank Story: You’ve Got to Feel the Car or Why I’m Incapable of Driving a Lamborghini FastMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:20:13-05:00

Why We Do the 100

Last Saturday was day 50 of 100 days of the 100. That means that we’ve come up with over 50 ways to do the 100….and we now have just under 50 more to go (so don’t forget to share your photos and videos!) Maggie doing the 100 at an historic site in Wethersfield.

The 100 is an exercise that you will find in almost any Pilates class. It involves lying with your back on the mat, body curled up, holding the position and completing 100 arm beats. It typically comes early in class and gets the entire body warmed up by getting your breath going and your blood moving. The exercise engages all of your major abdominal muscles, helping you to build strength that will not only assist you in class, but that you will be able to take into everyday life.

In order to hold your body up for an extended period of time, as you do in the 100, you must have endurance, specifically abdominal endurance. The only way to get endurance is to build it, which the […]

Why We Do the 100Maggie Downie2017-12-29T21:21:21-05:00

Client Corner: The Sow’s Ear

In our new segment highlighting great businesses, goals and adventures of Personal Euphoria clients, this week we visit Glastonbury.

Sarah and Monica in their shop!

Looking for a unique gift? Look no further than The Sow’s Ear in Glastonbury.

When you first walk into the store you’re met with a cozy, rustic vibe making you feel more as if you’re visiting a close friend than walking into a boutique. Surrounded by a collection of new, antique and repurposed items, my eyes don’t know where to look first. Whether you are looking for the perfect hostess gift, a present for the wedding you’re headed to, or home decorations all for yourself, there is truly something for everyone here. The store carries handmade and sustainable items and works with many small vendors that also have a purpose or story, such as giving a portion of the proceeds back to Reforestation in Thailand.

The owners, Monica McCafferty and Sarah Lavalette, have a great story as well. Both flea market junkies, it’s almost as if the two were destined to meet. Monica went to high school with Sarah’s husband […]

Client Corner: The Sow’s EarMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:28:47-05:00

Previous 495051 Next