health

Type A

I think it’s safe to say that I am a Type-A personality. I’m competitive, driven, a perfectionist, I’m often in a rush, hate wasting time, and constantly in motion. As with anything there is a good and bad that comes with this (very generalized) category that I have clumped myself in.

But as a Type-A personality I’d like to speak to all the other Type-A’s out there. Type-A people are individuals who will do full push ups even when they shouldn’t because they aren’t strong enough or it hurts there shoulders, elbows or wrists. We will literally muscle through everything, but that doesn’t help our body get stronger.

We’ll work through an injury, frustrated with ourselves that we are hindered, when the best thing we can do for ourselves is take a break or adjust so that we can slowly rebuild strength without injuring ourselves more.

I know it can be hard, but sometime to be the best you can be you’ve got to rein yourself in a little. Simon and Garfunkel got it right: “Slow down you move to fast. You’ve got to make the morning last.” Instead of the […]

Type AMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:35:26-04:00

Our Erect Posture

Here’s something to consider…

By standing upright we put all our vital organs at more risk. They are more vulnerable. Quadrupeds protect their organs better just by not having them exposed to everything the world confronts us with.

Seems like a pretty good reason to strengthen the core. If nothing else it will provide more protection for all the valuables inside of you.

Our Erect PostureMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:05:13-04:00

Fluidity

Last week I went to NYC to visit my sister and try some new types of exercises classes. The first class I tried was Fluidity, which had been recommended to me by Susan (one of our instructors at Personal Euphoria).

The exercises are done on a bar and reminded me of dance and Pilates combined, but they are designed to work every muscle in your body to the point of fatigue–an incredible sensation if you like that kind of pain, which I do (sometimes). Certainly that is not a sensation everyone wants to feel and you don’t need to feel agony in order to get a good workout.

No pain, no gain is not actually true. And one thing I have learned in my practice of Pilates is that when you come to understand and feel subtleties in the body (small muscles groups for example) and you work the muscles with awareness, they fatigue much quicker. In fluidity, I felt like I had to stop feeling my body so much, stop being fully aware or I never would have gotten through the class. Six years ago I would have loved it, but I wasn’t as aware of […]

FluidityMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:05:16-04:00

February Factoid: Fibula

Did you know??

Your fibula (the bone next to your shin bone) only bears 10% of the body’s weight. This makes sense because it is the thinnest bone in proportion to its length.

February Factoid: FibulaMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:35:27-04:00

Feldenkrais

The instructors as Personal Euphoria all enjoy movement and finding new ways to learn about our bodies. Last week we got together to try the Feldenkrais Method of Movement. Margo Henneback came to instruct us.

We had a wonderful time. Feldenkrais, from my understanding, is about body awareness and learning how it feels to move your body in different ways. We spent the majority of the workshop moving our pelvis in different directions (up and down, left and right, and circling).

The more I learn about the body, the more I come to find that there is no wrong or right way to move the body. It can and desires to move in all different ways. Trying different modalities helps you to discover ways your body likes to move. It is important to maintain mobility in whatever method your find that your body enjoys.

FeldenkraisMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:57-04:00