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.

Best Motivation 2016: Take Pride in Your Work

I never dreamed of teaching Pilates or owning my own business, but I do believe what I do makes people feel better. And that helps make each day a good day.

I’m usually not a sucker for a headline like, “Best Motivational Video 2016.” But I followed the link, clicked, and watched. And I don’t think I left with the right takeaway. Now, I would never say that someone shouldn’t follow their dreams. I encourage following dreams. I’m a dreamer myself.

But here’s the thing I think about when I see a video like this. What if everyone followed […]

Best Motivation 2016: Take Pride in Your WorkMaggie Downie2017-12-29T19:36:06-05:00

Failure is Always an Option

We put so much emphasis on failing. Lately, I keep seeing articles about revisiting our thoughts on failure. Basically, failure is all the rage. And I love it. In a nutshell the articles point out that if you never fail it’s possible you aren’t trying. Arguably not to fail is to fail. We tend to put so much emphasis on success, a term we struggle to define. What makes a person successful—happiness, money, free time, a family, a home, the right outfit? There is no standardized definition of success. And, perhaps contrary to popular belief, failure is always an option.

Thanks to Merriam Webster for the following:

Success: 1) the act of getting or achieving, wealth, respect or fame. 2) the correct or desired result of an attempt.

Failure: 1) omission of occurrence or performance. 2) a state of inability to perform a normal function. 3) lack of success.

I don’t want fame. So, I guess in not achieving fame, I’m successful in my goal. I don’t think wealth is a substantive sign of success. It’s a superficial form. Maybe it’s a way to tally and compare, but wealth is not guaranteed to bring you joy, or a life without pain, or to make […]

Failure is Always an OptionMaggie Downie2017-12-29T19:44:01-05:00

Must I Work Both Sides of My Body Evenly?

What a piece of work is Maggie. Can you see where I’m unbalanced?

Go to one physical therapist and they will focus on the injured side. Go to another and they pay attention to both sides. Come to my Pilates class and though I’ll attempt to work you out evenly, my lack of counting skills may get in the way. So, does it matter? What you do to the right, must you do to the left? Must we work both sides of the body evenly?

When I first started teaching I thought balance was the key to everything. If anyone told me to only work one side, I’d have thought it was an atrocity. Apparently with my youth came a sense of hyperbole in movement. Now I’ve come to realize we will never be even. No matter what we do in our 1-hour exercise class, what we face in life will strengthen and alter one side more than the other. Striving for absolute balance is an impossible task. Our heart is more to the left. Our liver is on […]

Must I Work Both Sides of My Body Evenly?Maggie Downie2017-12-29T19:42:51-05:00

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year. I love to eat. I really enjoy my family. And everyone gathers without the crazy rush of Christmas time. Turkey day kicks off the holiday season. And though that season can be crazy I really do enjoy it.

This is a very reflective time of year, which can bring out a lot of emotions. It’s always a good time to stop and take stock. I feel very lucky. I love my job and the work I do. But that is entirely because […]

ThankfulMaggie Downie2017-12-29T19:52:43-05:00

Costochondritis Causes & Possible Solutions

Here I am gently using a belt to tie an icepack around my ribs so that I can go about my day while icing.

One of my most popular blogs is my story of getting costochondritis. I get question from all over the world about whether I know experts in the field or what I did to heal my costochondritis. As a lover of movement I’m ashamed to say I don’t have a definitive answer for either. I don’t know costochondiritis experts around the world to refer people to. And I can make some guesses about what helped me, but I can’t say for sure. I don’t have a ‘do these ten things in this order and your problem will be solved.’ The solution for […]

Costochondritis Causes & Possible SolutionsMaggie Downie2019-01-22T12:45:04-05:00

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