health

Wednesday Challenge: Only Stairs

For one week only take the stairs–no elevators, no escalators. This may mean you have to walk a little further in a building to get to the stairs, but it will be worth it. Maybe by the end of the week you’ll want to take the stairs forever.

Do you work in an office building with some stairs? On your lunch break walk up a few flights–maybe five, maybe ten, maybe fifty. Listen to your body.

Have stairs in your house? At least one day a week make a point to go up and down them (carefully) five, ten, or fifty times.

Make notice of how many times you typically go up and down the stairs in your house.

Wednesday Challenge: Only StairsMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:58-04:00

Wednesday Challenge

Challenge your body and your mind. Can you remember 35 different Pilates exercises? Test your memory by trying to do at least 5 different Pilates exercises every day this week. Can’t remember 35? Do the same five each day every day this week without skipping a day. Do you feel any better by adding that onto your schedule? It doesn’t take more than five minutes per day.

Let us know how many you came up with.

Wednesday ChallengeMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:06-04:00

Pelvis Surgery

Here is a link to a story from the Today Show about a woman who had half of her pelvis removed due to bone cancer.

Her story is an inspiration and the medical team who worked on her deserve a lot of credit. It’s a good story and a good reminder to be thankful for the bodies we have. So get moving today and be grateful for an intact pelvis.

Pelvis SurgeryMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:06-04:00

Saturday Fun

We had another beautiful day for Pilates alongside the Connecticut River in East Hartford. The fact that we’ve had such good weather is just a reminder, as summer nears to an end, that we’ve had a great summer with lots of sunny, warm weekends.

Thank to you everyone who has been joining us and to all our instructors who helped out in organizing and teaching.

Saturday FunMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:10-04:00

Coventry Farmers Market

I must live in a hole because I only heard about the Coventry Farmer’s Market a couple of weeks ago. It sounded wonderful and I couldn’t wait to go. Once I arrived it was even better than I expected. It was huge, crowded (which is great for the local farmers) and had so much to offer.

Matt and I met some friends and had a picnic lunch. We shared a BBQ pork sandwich and a Gorgonzola chicken wrap from one of the vendors. Next time, I’d like to try the oven-fired pizza. There was fresh squeezed lemonade (which tasted especially good since the last time I had fresh squeezed lemonade was in Italy when I’d accidentally ordered fresh squeezed lemon juice–not the same thing).

I stocked up on heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, some goat’s milk soap, fresh bread, and cheese–oh the cheese. Everything was so good, but a little pricey.

We spent a couple of hours walking around; lounging, eating and chatting on our picnic blankets, trying the different foods, running into friends and neighbors, and enjoying ice cream from Salem Valley Farms (one of my favorites). It was a nice, relaxing day.

When we came […]

Coventry Farmers MarketMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:10-04:00