My son Ro, who is four, just started in a soccer league. Four year-olds don't know attention is a thing that can have a span-- their coaches have to mix it up to keep them engaged. When their sweet Coach N explained, "Now I am a shark, and you are fish crossing my ocean, and if your ball gets away from you, I'll eat you!," they took him very seriously. They didn't want to get eaten on the first day of practice. Who does? Also four year-olds excel at being literal. When It Comes to Sports, Love (and Writing), Mix It Up! The lead coach, who has been coordinating community soccer leagues since I was four, watched from the sidelines, and played rapturously with my 1 year-old. He was chatty, and did not stop talking if you were within reaching distance. At the end of the clinic, while he watched Ro eat peanut butter and honey, he waxed on about the league he started in New Jersey for Orthodox Jewish (OJ) kids on Sundays. They couldn't play on Saturday, regular Soccer Day, because of observing the Sabbath. Turned out local Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) kids also couldn't play on Saturdays because THEY also observe the Sabbath. So eventually some SDA kids migrated onto the OJ team. Then parents showed up to watch. Turned out a number of the parents were widowed or otherwise single (the divorce scene is opaque). Slowly, mutual romantic interests developed--"mixing" between the adults. The kids didn't get eaten by sharks, made goals and dirtied knees across religious lines, and god didn't smite anyone. Meanwhile, the parents flirted and paired off. A Good Story is Still Good the Millionth Time! I could tell the coach had told this story a million times before. But Ro didn't mind, because he was eating ALL the peanut butter and honey and admiring his shin guards. And Aria didn't mind, because she was busy trying to pick up the cones that marked the sidelines and cigarette butts on the astroturf (really?). And I generally like people telling stories Continue Reading …
movement
Feeling Stuck? Move!
Stuck really sucks Do you ever just feel stuck? Literally? On the page, in your head, with that stupid crank in your neck? Twinge in your tight back? If you said no, never been stuck, you're amazing, and also the exception. You should come over and tell me all your secrets, which I can afterward try to pass off in a blog post as my own. (Just kidding, but you will obviously be on Oprah before then!) Thing is: Most of us, most of the time, feel more stuck than not. And the way to deal with that is so simple it's like asking how you should end your sentences (with a period!): MOVE. That's right, move. My friend and colleague Ruthie Fraser wrote this gorgeous little book about that: Stack Your Bones: 100 simple lessons for realigning your body and moving with ease. Here's more on that. Each exercise has broad applicability; each encourages movement to be natural, but with clear energetic goals and room for improvisation. So "Vary Your Route" begins, "Come to your hands and knees. Lengthen your spine. Extend your elbows." These cues might be familiar if you've ever done yoga. However, she encourages us to start with the familiar, and shift to novel shapes. "Habitual movements create habitual thinking. Feel your mind open as your body travels new routes." She offers simple exercises-- but profound, like a period is profound! One little dot indicating both an end and a beginning!-- that can be utilized at any time, as a foundation for however you prefer to move or exercise. They can also be used in stillness, as a computer break when working on, say, your college essay, or some other writing project that begs for nourishing interruption. She hopes we can all feel firsthand in our bodies what unstuck could be like. And perhaps it will help you align your ideas a little more clearly with your intentions. Or introduce some wildness into bland sentences. Speaking of wildness...speaking of moving... I recently listened to an amazing Continue Reading …
Tips for Exercise While Sitting
Let's get the facts about exercise: Americans spend more time sitting, and sitting with poor posture, staring into our devices, than most descendants of apes do. We're famous for this statistic. But that doesn't mean we can't find sneaky, critical ways to do better and fit in stress-alleviating exercise-- even while we're shackled to our computers, our desks, our homework and, in this case, our college applications (if you still haven't finished yours. In which case, o baby, you better get a move on!). Can you really exercise while sitting? This excellent article by fierce yoga teacher Ana Forrest (read: hardest ab work I've ever done in my life, and a great physical antidote to fear and stagnation) details great ways to keep moving even when you're stuck sitting. Try Ana's suggestions at your desk-- or, if you're a jet-setter, on the airplane (you know you want to be that person on the plane who everyone stares at, don't you?). Generally, long stretches spent sitting should be punctuated by breaks so you can increase blood flow and give your brain a boost. Also, you'll feel less busted and more bionic. Exercise stirs up your circulation, your joie d'vivre and your efficiency. It makes you feel better, period, during and after. So why not optimize how you feel while you're doing what you gotta do? If you missed that first link because you were distracted by your numb butt and throbbing neck, read how here. How Exercise Helped Me When I was in grad school getting my MFA in writing, I spent long hours staring at my computer, writing or, um, pretending to write. Once per hour, I would jump up and get my freak on by faux jump-roping (I had a basement office), wall-push-ups, and low back stretches (many taught to me by NYC master yoga teacher, Alison West). I made sure to inflate my lungs all the way, and breathe out as deeply as I could, shake out my hands and roll out my neck (poor, poor neck!). And, BAM! The muse (or call her the Continue Reading …