Rainy Day Fun

Spring has sprung and how great it is!  Along with the sunny weather comes the rain.  April showers will bring May flowers!  I love flowers and I am so excited to see all of the trees blooming.  Soon we will have roses in our back yard.  My favorite!  But, those pesky showers can make energy levels drop!  Have you ever noticed how a gloomy day can make you feel groggy?  They certainly do me.  It also makes my kids restless.

Stuck in school all day long, without outside recess or a break from the four walls, we can all get a little edgy.  I am not a big advocate of electronics.  Well, I am, but not when it comes to watching the kids sit on their rumps and stare at a screen for hours!!  That being said, I like to come up with fun things we can do inside!

Other than picking up the house or doing some cleaning - things my kids run from - inside can limit the possibilities of being active.  I am a huge fan of Pilates, it is one of my favorite classes to teach.  Sometimes during a long rainy day, the girls and I unroll our mats and get some great stretching, strengthening and core work in.  They usually take a little encouragement but give in after my incessant nagging (hey, I learned it from them).  We are also huge fans of Yoga!  Either one can change my energy and mood and make my day brighter.

Games!  Although not physically active, usually, we do quite enjoy sitting around the table and playing games together.  Its like stealing a little piece of time from what is otherwise a very hectic routine.

What do you do when you are stuck inside all day?  Try to think of something active either mentally or physically.  Daily stimulation is so important to our overall health!

The Great Juggling Act

Life, the great juggling act...or at least, that is how it seems at times!  Career, husband, children, parents, friends, groceries, cleaning, laundry, dishes, pets and of course, YOU.  Now, I know you are thinking, "yeah right", but synergy won't happen unless you make yourself a priority!

In my last post I asked some important questions of you.  One being, what does synergy look like to you.  Synergy's meaning can be applied to all kinds of areas, but for this post, we are talking life synergy and this is what it means to me:

A balanced life.  That is synergy.  Balancing the priorities of my work and family is a continual effort.  There are days when I just want to curl up in bed and deal with dirty dishes later or sleep just a few extra minutes if the dogs would only push back their morning breakfast and other days my eyes open and I feel like wonder woman.  It is a delicate process at times to keep things balanced.  Pile on all that could be on my plate in any given day and it is tempting to put my needs on the back burner but, and this is a big but that often times keeps me motivated, I know I am a better, employee, trainer, wife, mother and any other hat I wear, if I take care of myself.

I have recently revisited my morning Yoga practice.  Alarm goes off and I get up.  No snooze.  It is too tempting and knowing myself, if I hit snooze, Yoga is going to be off the table because I will be behind and I have breakfast and lunches to prepare and pack.  I have realized that if I hold myself accountable here, I will start my day feeling like I have already tackled my hardest obstacle.  Me.  Things unfold in a much better way when I feel prepared to start my day.  With my 20 minute quick practice, I am centered.  Just a few stolen moments of peace and then the daily rush begins!

Of course, lots of prepping goes into every successful day.  To balance my life I try to stay on point with how I fuel my body (proper nutrition and food choices) and exercise daily.  If my morning practice is all I get in because a meeting comes up or a child forgets a paper and I have to run to school, at least I know I got it in.  Ideally, a noon or evening cardio or weight session is mixed in every day, but I believe in a bit of wiggle room as long as it remains priority.  Don't let one slip turn into a week of mishaps!  Remember, if a day doesn't go as "planned" or anticipated, tomorrow is a new day!  Pick yourself up and brush off the mistakes of the day before because "today, you can only try to be better than you were yesterday"!