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.

Come Purge with Me

Over the weekend I was in central Pennsylvania, which is known for the best potato chip. The secret ingredient is lard, which makes everything better. I know this because my Grandma’s pie crust has lard and it is delicious. Pie crust aside, I know this because I love food. I love it too much. So much that trying one bag of potato chips seemed insufficient, so my friends and I decided to have a chip taste test. Kay and Ray’s was the winner, but we got to go through multiple bags and multiple brands. I’m pretty sure I still feel the grease dripping out of my pores.

With this as just one example of how poorly I’ve been eating, I’ve decided it has to stop. I need to make a change for my waistline, but more importantly for how I feel. And even more importantly for the parts of me that I don’t feel—arteries, kidneys, liver—but that I want to fuel in a better and healthier way.

Starting Monday, May 9th I’m going back to my December Detox. See the link for full details. I’m making a few tweaks. I’ll be eating sweet potatoes, quinoa, some rice, and legumes if […]

Come Purge with MeMaggie Downie2018-01-13T16:22:55-05:00

Zentangle Better than Meditation

The PE Team and their Zentangles

Adult coloring books are all the rage lately. I snicker each time I see one because apparently part of me is still twelve years old, and that part imagines that I’ll open the “adult” coloring books and discover naked images to color in, but that’s never it. They are usually beautiful patterns or serene scenes. I tried it. I hated it. It felt like an added stressor, something else to do, and I always felt like I could have picked a better color. Plus, it’s boring. So I gave my adult coloring book away.

Meanwhile, in a similar vein there is Zentangle. While they don’t like the word “doodle,” conceptually, it’s basically mindful doodling. You wouldn’t think you need a lesson in how to doodle, but you do, at least if you want your doodles to look like art. The images you create look cool and intricate, even though the patterns are simple to make.

Zentangle Better than MeditationMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:30:51-05:00

Learning to Feel

Cami and me exploring sensation through our feet!

We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. –Mark Twain

It is a rare day, indeed, that I disagree with my idol Mark Twain. And while I know he is referring to feeling in a different context than what we perceive and sense in the world around us, I’m not sure we stop and feel enough. And it may just be our ability to feel that keeps us thinking.

It may surprise you to learn that one of my favorite birthday presents this year was a box of rocks. My partner-in-movement, Cate Vallone, from Evolution Pilates and her daughter painted a bunch of small rocks for me. They painted bees, strawberries, little hearts, random colors It was utterly unexpected which made it grand.

The goal is to stand, walk across and just exist in different positions on the rocks to enhance proprioception—the art of feeling. Cate knows I’m not a great feeler. It’s been a running joke between us. I’ll happily foam roll or run half marathons. She thinks those activities are painful […]

Learning to FeelMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:39:14-05:00

Client Corner: Pilates Powering Irish Step

Katie in her Feis dress.

When Katie Dudley was five years old, her mother encouraged her to take Irish dance lessons, just as she and Katie’s grandmother had done. Initially, Katie was against the idea, until she began classes and fell in love.

When asked what finally drew her in, Katie mentioned, “There is so much I love about Irish step. First of all, the counting can really help you with music and math. It also improves your posture, stamina, and flexibility. When you do Irish step dancing, your teacher can also introduce you to other styles of dance like tap, jazz, and ballet which also improve your technique. You are also introduced to many new people and can make friendships that will last a lifetime.”

Katie’s passion for Irish Step also led her to Pilates. During a summer dance camp, which she’s attended for the past five years, Katie did Pilates for an hour each day. Recently, she began taking private lessons with Personal Euphoria in Wethersfield to continue to enhance her Irish Step.

Pilates focuses on lengthening the muscle while it is engaged and under load (eccentric contractions), which […]

Client Corner: Pilates Powering Irish StepMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:36:53-05:00

Ashtanga Yoga: More Like Pilates than I Expected

Slowly perfecting my headstand.

After agreeing to attend an Ashtanga yoga class for the first time, I recieved an email of the movements we’d be doing. When the attachment opened, I started laughing. Half the starting positions looked impossible. I had visions of the teacher helping me into a headstand and walking away as I toppled over taking out the other participants in a domino effect. Sometimes I worry when people presume I’ll be good or like a certain type of movement. I think because I’m good at Pilates people think I’ll be good at yoga, kick-boxing—all of it, but I’m not. When I was younger and was good at field hockey people presumed I’d be good at other sports, but I wasn’t. It requires a lot of practice to get good at anything.

I went into the class with all sorts of preconceived notions and misconceptions. Chanting turns me off because I can’t carry a tune. I’m worried about over-stretching, and I presumed the class would have a lot of over-stretching. I was wrong. The client who told me about the class mentioned that the instructor […]

Ashtanga Yoga: More Like Pilates than I ExpectedMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:37:10-05:00

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