tips – Page 9 – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Self Massage

Self Massage is cheap and requires no special equipment. It’s a good way to help you distress at the end of the day.

Try some techniques the Maya Clinic Health Letter listed:

Eye Palms: Rub hands together and cover eyes with warm palms. Hold for 30 seconds.

Rub Ears: Use thumb and index finger on each hand to gently rub your outer ears.

Shoulder Rub: Using your right hand rub the left side of your neck, shoulder and upper back. Repeat on the other side.

Self MassageMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:30-04:00

Have a great Labor Day weekend. Enjoy family and friends. Relish in time off work and just thoroughly enjoy yourself. Try not to let stress find a place in your weekend at all. Very little is worth worrying about.

Happy Labor DayMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:06:49-04:00

It’s Electric

Whether is all the lightening storms we’ve had in New England this year or a great summer fireworks show (which isn’t electric, but has quite a spark, or at least a sparkle), let that energy transfer into your workout.

When you’re feeling sluggish and can’t get up off the couch or feel like you’re moving really slow, think of things like lightening and fireworks that have lots of energy and get yourself energized.

It’s ElectricMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:36-04:00

Meditation: Part Two

Okay, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t very good at following my first weekly challenge. I didn’t sit and meditate for ten minutes a day, but I did think about it, which is a step closer than I was the week before, and I started reading The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, which actually kind of makes me want to meditate. Can reading a book on mediation for ten minutes a day count as meditation?

I’m very open to what I will accept as mediation and always have been, but I also recognize that I am not very good at sitting still and being quite. (Note the photography above of Maggie not being still with her sister.) My boyfriend nicknamed me Chatty Cathy long ago.

The way peace and calm are described in the book seems to strike a cord with me. He talks about thinking of yourself like a pebble sinking through the silky waters of a pond until you gently hit the soft sediment below where nothing is pushing or pulling you. I […]

Meditation: Part TwoMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:32:36-04:00

Meditation: Part One

I have to admit, I’ve never been very good at meditating. I seem to fall asleep, get bored, or get antsy. I don’t have the willpower of my older sister who attended a Sit for 10 days, where she literally sat still all day, everyday.

Yet, there is an aspect of mediation that is appealing to me. I like imagining the calm, the stillness of mind. I’ve started reading The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. It was recommended to me by someone at the gym.

I’m really enjoying it and I find that it relates to Pilates, and in that aspect, I can relate. One of the chapters is on mindfulness. When you are breathing, you are supposed to notice you are breathing. When you are brushing your teeth, you are supposed to focus on brushing your teeth; when you are washing dishes, you are supposed to be washing dishes. Your mind shouldn’t be elsewhere (a virtual impossibility if you ask me, but a grand idea).

But the truth is, that is what Pilates is all about. Pilates is supposed to make you […]

Meditation: Part OneMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:06:50-04:00