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.

Two-Minute Meditation

Recently in my struggle to meditate, a client suggested that I try linking meditation with something I do every day like putting my shoes. That seemed like a brilliant idea, but the problem sort of was I don’t really want to meditate. I’m not motivated to do it. Her suggestion was that I try for five minutes. I suggested two minutes.

Honestly, I don’t think I really thought I would do it, but I surprised myself. Two days later I put on one shoe, remembered this should be a reminder to meditate, and so with one shoe on I sat down and began to breath and repeat two words over and over. When I opened my eyes, I had barely lasted two minutes. But I’d done it.

Five minutes later I tried again, frustrated that two minutes could seem so long. This time I focused more on breathing and lasted two-minutes, fifteen seconds. Hey it’s a start, right?

Although, I have to admit, the next day I forgot to do it entirely.

Personal Euphoria

Two-Minute MeditationMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:39-04:00

Challenge Update Food

I’m not sure that I dealt with food enough this year in my challenge to get in the best shape of my life. I planned all these challenges, but thought little about what I would eat. And to some degree, while I was in the midst of a challenge it really didn’t matter. Well, I was burning calories, which was good, but what I put in my body is still important.

My problem is, I LOVE TO EAT. And I’m not good at curbing that. Lately, even though my exercise output has been less my food output hasn’t changed. And all I seem to want is saltly and sweat stuff. Give me guacamole with chips or chocolate and I’m a happy girl. Those seem to be my three favorite foods of late.

I’ve been trying to eat well Monday through Friday afternoon. Eating well for me means no desserts or sweets (other than fruit), trying not to overeat, a salad for one meal a day, reasonably healthy foods (not Chinese food or super greasy pizza, although I do make […]

Challenge Update FoodMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:40-04:00

The Christmas Tree Goes Up

Every year at my mom’s we get an unusually huge tree. It’s a challenge getting the tree inside the house and up, but a spectacle once in and decorated. This year we got the largest tree we have ever had (12-feet tall by 13-feet wide). It almost didn’t make it in the house.

Normally, the tree we pick looks small outside and huge inside. This year the tree looked enormous before we cut it down. But in thirty years I have never been the voice of reason on Tree Day, so I excitedly supported cutting down the tree.

Once down, all of us pulling together couldn’t budge the tree. We tied a rope to the tree and a rope to the van and used the van to drag the tree on a trailer behind the van. Once home we lined the tree up with the door. Tied a rope to the tree again, ran the rope through the house, ran the rope out a window on the opposite side, tied the rope to the van […]

The Christmas Tree Goes UpMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:40-04:00

Pelvic Floor–And So to Up

When I trained with Pilates Elder Ron Fletcher he repeatedly quoted one of his mentors who, when encouraging someone to engage their pelvic floor, would say: “And So to Up.”

In pilates when we refer to the pelvic floor we are referring to what most people know as kegels. And when engaged, the direction that your kegels should go is up. Picture your pelvic floor muscles like a sheet lying on the floor. When you engage them they should lift up as if you lifted that sheet off the floor from the center. And so to up.

It’s important to work the pelvic floor because we often take those muscles for granted, but they are the muscles that in enable us to control our bowels and our bladder. And when you consider that they are the muscles at the very bottom of your pelvis, you realize that the weight of everything inside of our trunks ultimately presses down on these muscles.

Both men and women have kegel/pelvic floor muscles. It’s not just one muscle we […]

Pelvic Floor–And So to UpMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:40-04:00

Grateful on Thanksgiving and Every Day

I may have dreamt it, but I’m pretty sure last year my Dad asked us all to say what we were grateful for before we dug into Thanksgiving dinner. And I’ll admit, while it feels a little cheesy, it is a nice concept, and I liked it. So here are just a couple of the things that I am so lucky to have in my life in 2011:

· Matt
· My family
· My clients (who make me laugh and ensure that my job so much fun)
· The people I work with
· Classes that I look forward to going to teach
· The Old Wethersfield Boot Campers who have become my running buddies
· Bees that are alive (so far)
· Neighbors who have been really friendly and helpful since we moved in, especially during Irene and Alfred
· Sunny days
· Kurt Vonnegut who is a genius and I’d never read him until this year
· Having the means and health to be able to travel and go on adventures

I’m […]

Grateful on Thanksgiving and Every DayMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:26:04-04:00

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