Project :Touch Your Toes

When was the last time you touched your toes?

We all know flexibility declines with age, and if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer, your hips and psoas muscles (which connect your lower back to the front of your hip bones ) and hip flexors get tight. In addition to flexibility, posture becomes compromised.

For many of us, touching our toes has become further out of reach. So, inspired by my yoga classes, as well as a few recent articles I've read recently, I've decided to call this month's Fitness Challenge Project: Touch Your Toes!

Every day for 30 days we challenge you to do these 3 stretches.

Downward Dog Get onto all fours, hands, shoulder-width apart, knees under hips. Press down through your hands and lift your butt until feet are flat on the floor. Keep knees slightly bent. Hold for 30 seconds.

Supine Stretch Lie on your back with left knee bent, foot on the floor. Bend your right leg in and pull towards you. Extending the right leg and flexing your foot. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat on other side.

Standing Stretch Bend at the waist, knees soft. Alternating legs, contract your quadriceps muscle (down the front of your thigh) and you’ll feel a stretch in the back of your thigh. Hold for 30 seconds.

You'll be touching your toes in no time!

Not sure what the moves look like? Check out our Fitness Flick.

Jessica's "Daily Affirmation" & my choice today

I saw this quote on someone's Facebook status today.

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrow - it empties today of strength. "

No credit as to whom originally said it, but I like it and it fits my mood this week.

In the same vein, I've noticed that "no worries" is a popular response these day. I hear it said and written often and I like it. I think it's a step up from the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" phase of the late '80's.

It's been a challenging week or two, all things without of my control. And I've decided to find more strength and less worry in both the quote and this adorable video which has been flying around the web for weeks - "Jessica's Daily Affirmation." Definitely worth 49 seconds to watch it.

Today I'm choosing, like Jessica, to put my energy into strength rather than worry, to positivity rather than 'what ifs'. I'm even going to steal her line about liking her hair, cause I actually am having a good hair day.

What are you choosing today?

Take a moment to say it

Yesterday I was corresponding with a Jazzercise colleague whom I have always respected. She's a top notch professional and is great at what she does. I had gotten the info I needed and thought about writing a last email just letting her know what a good job she does. Then I thought, nah, she knows she's good. She probably gets hundreds of emails a day and why needlessly fill her in box?

On second thought, why not?

It took me all of one minute (maybe less) to write a quick one liner to let her know that I appreciate and admire her.

Well she took a minute to reply:

"Awe......thank you so much. That really means a lot to me to hear that from my peers! You made my day "

Now I'm very glad that I made the small effort.

And 'they' always say - what goes around comes around........later in the day I received a private Facebook message from a fellow owner who wrote:

"Some day I hope to be established like you! : ) "

Now that made MY day! So I guess 'they're' right!

Take a moment to say it today!

National Fitness Month 30 Day Challenge

Take our 30 Day Fitness Challenge!

We dare you....


Thanks to Jazzercise customers Mirella, Rachel, Lori & our camera woman - Beth! This is our first Fitness Flick and we did it in one take!

Blog thoughts on the bike

Last weekend I rode in the Five Boro Bike Tour for the second time, and once again it was truly an amazing experience. It was also a good reminder of a few important lessons I sometimes overlook.




1) We can really surprise ourselves. - We make things much harder in our mind and often we can do much more than we think .

It's been two years since I've done this ride, which obviously makes me two years older! And I've been on my bike probably a total of two hours since that last ride. Not exactly what you'd describe as sufficient preparation. Since I was able to complete it last time (including riding the bridges - the biggest hurdle), I decided to be easy on myself this year. I figured I'd proven I could do it and this year I'd have no qualms about dismounting and walking the bridges if necessary. But guess what? It was much easier and I really sailed through this year.

Had I built it up too much in my mind? Maybe, but it was a good reminder to believe in my own abilities.

2) Enjoy the ride and take in the sights. We've all been told to take time to smell the flowers, yada, yada, yada. And these days we don't feel the experience counts unless we've put it on Twitter or captured the photos for Facebook. However, when you're riding a bike among 32,000 people, you really have to be in the moment.

In the first hour I saw many sights which I'd have liked to take pictures of - the Gospel choir on the street corner in Harlem, the family on a bicycle built for three, the man with a blow up doll in the kiddie seat behind him (ok, that was just plain weird), the double amputee pedaling his recumbent bike with his arms.

And while I'd love to have captured the moments with photos, I had to keep my hands on the handlebars and simply enjoy the experiences.

3) .Ask yourself what else you're capable of. I got to thinking about how many other cool experiences are out there waiting for me. Maybe it's another physical challenge, but maybe it's stretching the boundaries in other ways. How can I make choices and create experiences to enrich my life so that I life it to the fullest?

Well that question will have to be answered in another blog post, but as you might suspect, I am cooking up a fun new challenge with a friend. Stay tuned.