Seeing the snow melt away this week, I am slightly sadden and excited at the same time.

Mixed emotions with seeing winter move out and spring flow in.

You may wonder why that is the case…

I'm sadden to know that my cross-country skiing season is done and I'll have to hang up my skis for another year. The sadness doesn't stick around for too long because I know snow and skiing will come again next year. I'm so new at the sport that it feels like I need more time this season.

My excitement is growing, though, as the snow vanishes because I am one step closer to getting out on the road with my bike.

Yippee!

As we move into this transition period of seasons, how is it impacting your physical activity? Are you making a mindset shift too?

If we all know one thing, change is constant. We all experience it.

Just like taxes.

How timely, am I right?!

I'm no expert on taxes nor am I an expert on mindset. Yet I know your mindset (aka your attitude and how it shapes your thoughts) can dictate how you feel about a situation.

The very interesting work of Carol Dweck dives into the fixed mindset and the growth mindset in her book aptly titled, Mindset.

When I think about snow I start to realize my mindset. I acknowledge the bummer of it going away and can switch gears to think of what good is coming from it vanishing. My own little example of a growth mindset.

Curious about mindset?

I sure am.

That is why this coming week I'm attending Effloresce Coaching's workshop on mindset. Nicole McLeod, is my executive coach who does amazing work asking the right questions and helping expand my mindset. Her workshop is called The Great Mindset Shift: Sticking Things Out vs. Quitting or Stepping Back and I encourage you to consider joining us on the call. She is definitely not asking me to promote this and I do it simply because the work she does has been transformational for me. I want you to have that opportunity too!

Have fun thinking about your current physical activity mindset this week and maybe see you at the workshop this week too!

Stay well and happy moving,

Lisa

I'm not sure about you but I've had many friends and family experience the Omicron wave of the pandemic. More and more people have shared with me their experience with the virus.

Is that true for you?

Back when the pandemic started 2 years ago, I can't say I knew a single soul who was personally affected.

This sure has changed.

Each and every individual has had vastly different experiences. It simply speaks to the wonderfully diverse bodies we all live in. Someone's physiology is not exactly the same as another.

When helping people coming out of COVID-19, I have had to allow for individual variations which results in prescribing different exercise programs.

For example, if a person is still experiencing shortness of breath, it may be advantageous to focus our efforts on supervised low intensity cardiovascular exercise such as slower walks or stationary cycling with little to no resistance.

Others who may be struggling with fatigue may need to space out their physical activity or exercise throughout the day and allow for days off in-between sessions to allow recovery to happen.

One form of exercise that is essential after experiencing COVID-19 would be resistance training. Muscle atrophy (shrinking) can happen in as little as two weeks of bed rest for a "generally healthy" individual. Changes in muscle strength, endurance and size is much greater in those who have chronic health concerns. This form of exercise can start off with low levels of load and focus on endurance.​

In starting back slowly to exercise, one may also benefit from a gentle Hatha yoga practice that can focus on breathing and relaxation while moving the body through various ranges of motion.

Of course, getting moving in any capacity is important; yet, a tailored supervised approach is key for people experiencing Long COVID.

Recently, this article was published covering some of the ways exercise plays a crucial role in recovery.​

And what do we know now about the impact of being physically active and the protection against severe outcomes of COVID-19?

​A research group out of South Africa has published research findings stating that,

Pretty amazing what being physically active can do!

As noted, every body (err, everybody) will experience illness, exercise and physical activity differently. Science gets us close to quality information. We all need an individual approach that suits our bodies best.

If you need some help coming back to exercise after experiencing COVID-19, reply back to this email. I'm here to support you in your physical activity journey in whatever form suits you.

Stay well and happy moving,

Lisa

As I sit down to write my letter to you this week, it has become clear to me that I have a lot to say.

Taking the time to really piece together what I hope is helpful for you, is extremely important.

It has been a challenging few weeks in the world. I search for my own answers and come up with few.

The one that stands out the most is that I must take care of myself before I can care for others.

This is where exercise fits in.

Last week I exercised (relatively hard) each and every day. Probably for at least 60 minutes a session. I wondered to myself, why am I feeling drained?

​An essential piece of good exercise programming is rest. The time given for rest is for recovery of musculoskeletal tissue, the regeneration of these tissues as well as time to mentally recover from the work and nourish the body.

As I dive deeper into how my exercise week unfolded, I've become to realize that my mind was busy and my way to cope was to also busy my body.

​Using exercise as a coping strategy isn't something new.​

It is maybe one of your coping strategies too.

In tough times, I use doing to keep me going. I was looking for ease in my doing.

Did I find it? Not really. Too much of anything be it exercise, TV viewing, reading or eating, is never a good long term plan.

Don't get me wrong, it is okay to find ways to cope. Please do - I encourage that. For me, I also need to just be.

By being, I can actually feel what there is to feel, rather than simply pushing past it with doing.

I don't profess to have all the answers. What I do know is that for me getting quiet and being still is much more powerful than doing, doing, and more doing.

I am highly driven and doing is my superpower. Being needs to be present too.

So I share with you one of the ways I am being. Trying to cope with all the chaos outside my front door. I've started using a variation of the Loving Kindness Meditation. It goes like this:
​

This allows me to be present. Feel the feels and provide comfort and ease to myself.

And my exercise this week, well, is more balanced.

Ponder for yourself, are you giving yourself enough rest? What allows you to just be?

If you need help finding a balanced exercise routine, I’m here to help! And if yoga is a modality that you are interested in, please reply back to this email and we can chat further about my therapeutic yoga offerings.

Stay well and happy moving,

Lisa