ronni

Feeling the Burn

/ body and soul, living in chicago, ronni

Who doesn’t love free stuff? I know I like it, especially when it gives me a chance to try something I’ve never done before. Today, I popped over to Soulistic Studio and Spa for their Fall Open House. They offered 30 minute samplers of some of their classes, and for first timers like me, it was a great introduction to new fitness techniques.

You all know I’m a Moksha purist, so did I feel weird when I first walked into Soulistic? Sure. I’m so used to Moksha and the teachers there–it was strange to go to a place where I didn’t know anyone. Fortunately, people were friendly and open and warm, and I hope to see some of them again sometime.

As I said, today’s open house consisted of a number of 30 minute “samplers”, many offered simultaneously. So I had to choose what I wanted. Here is what I did:

Pilates Reformer
Pilates Burn
Barre Belly Sculpt
Nia Dance [learn more]
Capoeira [learn more]

Here are my impressions.

Pilates Reformer was strange, and I know that’s because I’d never used a Pilates Reformer machine before. I’d only done the Pilates Mat workout. I know that after a few more times, I’ll be OK on the machine, but to be honest, other than my bike (or a treadmill), I don’t really like using machines to work out. Props I don’t mind, but machines aren’t really my thing.

I ended up loving Pilates Burn a LOT more than I expected. We used a BOSU ball, did a lot of core training, and some slight cardio. Part of the reason I enjoyed that class so much was because of the teacher. Ilana was a lot of fun. I think a lot of people forget that exercising doesn’t have to suck. It can be hard work but it can be fun as well.

Barre Belly Sculpt was surprisingly hard, as we did a lot of strength training with dumbbells. It’s hard to furrow your forehead when the instructor is giving you a beautiful, encouraging smile, though. I did the best I could with the weights (my arms are so not my strongest body part). I didn’t expect the class to be so much belly dancing, but I LOVED it.

Capoeria is a dance that combines music, sports, and martial arts. That was the one class that intimidated me, because you have to be so exact and so precise. It was the last class of the day, so my body was NOT feeling the precise movements so much. It’s a beautiful dance, though, and challenging. At the end, we got into a circle and clapped and sang while two people “played.” It was really, really cool.

My favorite, favorite, favorite was the Nia Dance. I LOVED Nia Dance. Music, movement, martial arts, yoga, and meditation all in one. It’s a grounded, low impact dance. I like cardio, but I DO NOT like aerobics. This was perfect, because I love to dance, I love yoga, and there was no jumping. I was building strength, burning calories, and making my heart healthy. This is the class I definitely plan to go back for. Again and again and again.

There was lots of fruit to snack on (including honey crisp apples), and there were samples of Solixir. It was a good day for my body.

I might be feeling differently once the soreness kicks in. But I will keep going. Candlelight Vinyasa with Amber at Moksha tomorrow evening. I must be there.

It feels good to have time to take care of myself again. It also feels good to have MOTIVATION to take care of myself. Now if I could just slow down with the sugar…… *innocent look*

What are your favorite ways to keep in shape?

3 Comments

Well, Hello There September (Multimedia)

/ happy, life, pictures, ronni, videos, yoga

And August is out the door. I think I’m still kind of in denial about that; I know I haven’t changed all the calendars yet. I don’t know. It’s so weird, how quickly summer goes by. It’ll be time to seriously think about the holidays before long. I’ve already started my holiday shopping. A little bit, anyway.

So, check this. You all know how much I love yoga, right? So, a few weeks ago, I was talking to one of the managers at Moksha. We got to talking about my editing skills and I mentioned that if they needed anyone, I’d certainly be interested working with their promo materials. She gave me the name of the marketing manager. I contacted her, she contacted me back. We met, hit it off, and well, yesterday was my first day as a work study student at Moksha. Basically, I do six hours of editing a week for them in exchange for unlimited yoga. You guys, I get to do what I love for an organization I love, and in exchange, I get unlimited amounts of WHAT I LOVE. How amazing is that?

And as always, the question of yoga teacher training came up. See, it’s been in the back of my mind since last summer. I daydream about teaching classes, and I wish I had some official training so I could teach classes, or even teach Aidan. But I thought I needed to be way more experienced. Turns out that I don’t have to be at all. All the things I thought I needed to know as a prerequisite? Nope. They teach me everything I need to know. The fall session starts next week, so I don’t think I’ll be ready for that. But I am looking into the spring session that starts in March. Everyone who’s gone through it says it’s one of the best things they’ve done in their life. And more than one person has come up to me and asked if I was in training, and seemed surprised that I wasn’t. And then they told me that I should do the training.

So. It’s a possibility. Not sure if I could teach yoga full time, but it would be an awesome part time/side gig. And who knows where it might take me?

In the meantime, I’ve been taking much better care of myself and let me tell ya. It feels good. I’ve been doing yoga and I’ve been on the bike again. For a while, it felt like my legs weren’t stretching out enough on the bike, so I adjusted the seat just a bit. Now it feels great. I guess it was just a little bit too short before. I did have it at the lowest level. I’ve been halfway considering doing a “Couch to 5K” program, but I’m not very comfortable with the idea of running outside. Also, I need really good shoes and I know the investment for that won’t be tiny. Still, it’s worth considering. Running a 5K would be super neat. I just really want to vary my workouts. Not that I consider yoga to be just a workout, but that’s another post.

Now, if I could just get my diet in check. I know what I need. I need Kanani, the 2011 American Girl doll of the year, but seriously, I need more fruit that I manage to actually eat. Peaches. I’m craving peaches. Sweet, juicy peaches. Maybe I’ll go to Stanley’s tomorrow and get some. Mmm, peaches. WAIT, I have some fruit cup peaches. Those can tide me over til I get fresh ones. YAY!

I’ve managed to read more than 50 books this year. It was hard. I’m usually nearing 100 by now, if I haven’t passed that already. But I was way too busy for a while there. Things are much better now.

Other random things:
– I have eight unopened Monster High dolls, an unopened Professor Snape action figure, and I still haven’t opened my She Ra toys yet. I really need to get on that.
– But before I can play, I have a lot of projects going on and many deadlines to meet before I can take a breather. They’re projects I enjoy, though, which makes doing them seem less like work and more like fun.
– I need to seriously QUIT the Facebook games (again) and focus more on my work. The games are so demanding with their quests and begging that one could easily spend hours and hours “playing” them. That’s not good for me or my eyes or my brain, so it’s time to step away. I only play three of them regularly, but even that’s too much.
– I have more self-control with The Sims, which I am so happy I can play again. When my Mac’s OS was updated to Lion, something wonky happened with the video cards and the game, rendering the game unplayable. A patch was just released the other day making the game playable again. But I can only play The Sims for a few hours before it starts lagging and they need to sleep too darn much so I get bored. That’s a good thing. Else, I’d play it for 10+ hours straight. No bueno.
– Adam and I’ve been going through Arrested Development again. That show never gets old.
– Tumblr is my newest addition. Holy awesome. Another time suck I have to be aware of.
– Aidan’s in third grade now. He has his own phone, so he sends me random texts and he also showed me how to attach audio files to text messages. I miss him. Look at this picture of him and Fi:

Aidan & Fi

Poor Fi has conjuctivitis. It’s not contagious or anything, but his right eye was red and swollen and teary when he first came to live with us. Now, his eye isn’t red and swollen anymore, although he is very teary. I’m pretty sure he has allergies. He sneezes all the time. Still, he’s my baby.

Fi

When I lived with him in Columbus, he stopped being very cuddly when he turned about… three or four, I’d say. But now, he’s always near me or next to me. He and Helena’s relationship is still pretty tumultuous. Just last night, they bumped noses while they were waiting for me to pass out the treats. (Come to think about it, they get along fine when there is food involved.) Today, he was next to me, she was right across from me. She leaned over, maybe to bump his nose again, and he swatted at her and hissed. She made this face like “But but but…” I mean, she looked so devastated. I chastised Fi gently and pet Helena, but she seemed mad at ME. 🙁 Oh dear. I wonder if they’ll ever LIKE each other or even tolerate each other. I don’t know. Fi’s kinda old and set in his ways. We’ll see. He’s sleeping right beside me right now. Let me tell you. A warm summer evening. Friday. Kitty beside me who I can pet constantly. Glass of juice behind me and lots of pillows. Pizza burgers and tater tots for dinner. All of that after a day of being productive. That’s a good day.

Ooh, ooh, ooh!!

I made a video demonstrating how to make a simple hair fall! 🙂 Wanna see? Fi’s in it, too! Please watch it. I had too much fighting with iMovie to do for this to go unappreciated.

I have a headache and need to get to bed. But first, maybe some chocolate. Or peaches.

Byeeee!

3 Comments

When I Grow Up (Pictures)

/ pictures, ronni, universe are you listening?

So, at the ripe age of 36 (good God, REALLY?), I’ve finally decided what I want to be when I grow up.

*drumroll*

I want to be a happy wealthy hippy, traveling the world, doing yoga, and living off my art (writing and editing, preferably novels and/or K–12 educational materials). Basically, I want to make a lot of money, but I want enough time to enjoy it without being stressed and unhappy on top of it. I want to find that life’s work that doesn’t feel like work because I love it so much. Actually, I’ve found it. I just need it to be WAY more lucrative to support my other dreams as well.

I want to be able to spend a ton of time and money on the people (and animals) I love the most. And to also give to the causes I believe in, and those that need desperate help. I want to fill my home with incense and music and positive, loving energy. I want to throw get-togethers that are legendary and warm and that make people happy.

I want to live in a brick house with a porch and dormer windows. I want the house to look like this:


source

The house has to have enough room to house all my books and collections. There should be space for at least three cats, an aquarium, and maybe a reptile or two (plus me, Adam, Aidan, and up to two guests). I want soft, squashy furniture for relaxing and napping, hardwood floors with shaggy rugs strewn about, bookcases everywhere, walk-in-closets, a soaking tub, lots of storage. Not too far in the middle of nowhere, but not necessarily in the heart of a city either. I want a yard with at least one mature tree living in. Flowers would be OK, as long as they’re perennials that pretty much raise themselves. I suck at gardening, but I love when flowers are growing. Room for a dog if I ever settle down from traveling.

I want to visit places and friends all over the world. Ireland, England, Scotland to start with. Then I’ll get more adventurous. France. Italy. Australia and/or New Zealand. Japan. India. Oh God yes, India.

I want to decorate my home with dolls, books, action figures, sculptures of Ganesha and Shiva and other Eastern Asian art. Also Disney. All things Mickey Mouse. Some of the original Disney artwork they have for sell at the Parks. I’d love a retro kitchen like that 1940s one in the Carousel of Progress at Disney World. Look how COOL this is:

Carousel of Progress 1940's

source

Now, before you fall over with laughter, please realize that this post is my dreams. And they’ll stay dreams if I keep them in my head. I might as well put them in the universe, and let the fates do with these dreams as they will.

I mean, I already have the look, don’t I?

Hi!

In the meantime, I’m going to work on creating and maintaining my happiness in the here and now, and also making more memories. I need to make more memories before winter comes and buries me again.

More soon. xo

1 Comment

Uglee Pikcher Meme II

/ meme, pictures, ronni

I first did this in 2008:

the rules:

take a picture of yourself right now.
don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair… just take a picture.
post that picture with NO editing.
post these instructions with your picture.


hi!

I realized the rules never said I couldn’t smile. 🙂

2 Comments

Stream of Conscious Rambling (TL;DR)

/ meme, ronni

The weather in Chicago has been slowly, slowly eking toward summer. Today was the first really hot day since the Solstice, and now it’s raining, so I wonder if the heatwave will last beyond this weekend. It’s supposed to be 92 tomorrow, but I’ll be spending my entire day and at least part of the evening bogged down in the office, so it’s not like I’ll experience any of it.

Adam had surgery on Tuesday. Turns out that his sinuses were in pretty bad shape. We knew that, but really, not the extent of it. It’s a wonder he could breathe at all. He is recovering OK, though. It’s not his nose that’s hurting, even. It’s the rest of him. I took off work the past three days to make sure he and Aidan were OK. We were in the hospital for more than 13 hours Tuesday. Adam made his way home on Wednesday but he had slept so badly in the hospital that he slept all day and all night. Today he tried to get back to normal, but he’s still getting dizzy and tired. If he’s getting the dizzy spells tomorrow, I may stay home with him again.

To be honest, I’m feeling a bit down right now. It’s probably because Disney World has passed, so I have nothing really big to look forward to (except Harry Potter, but that’s the last one so there’s that), and Musecon, but that’s not til almost the end of summer, and I don’t want summer to end for many reasons, the biggest of which is that the end of summer means Aidan goes back to Columbus. I HATE THAT. So much. And I’ve used up all my time off at work so if I want to take any time off the rest of the year, it has to be unpaid. That’s actually not a problem for me, I don’t mind taking unpaid days…but I can see them denying it to me just because. And sadly, this job’s burnout rate is so high for me that I’ll NEED time off just when I can’t take it even if I am willing to take unpaid days.

Definitely needing to make changes in my life and already trying to take steps to do so. But so much of it is dependent on OTHER PEOPLE’S whims and that frustrates the hell out of me. Also, my hair feels like hay it’s so dry, and I’m not sure what to do about that, so it’s going to be braids until further notice. I miss my yoga practice–doing it at home with a DVD just isn’t the same. Plus Crookshanks insists on getting right in my way every single time. I don’t have time to write, and when I do manage to find time, I stare at the screen completely blanked out. It sucks.

Yesterday, one of my aunts passed away. She had been sick for a very, very long time. I’m glad she is no longer suffering, but it’s always sad when someone leaves the earth and their voice is silenced forever. I actually had a really good conversation about this with the part-time proofreader at work last week. Life, death, the other side, eternity, etc. He told me I was too young to be worrying about that stuff, but ever since I learned about Heaven and Hell, I kind of obsess about it. Especially with my spiritual beliefs being all over the place. But I know my aunt’s better now, and she’s no longer in pain.

I doubt we make it to Cleveland for the services. For one thing, getting time off from work at this point is like pulling teeth, Adam’s in no condition to be in a car for 6+ hours one way, it costs more than $1000 for the three of us to fly, and Amtrak is plain ole inconvenient. Greyhound is not even an option for us.

Meh. Today is just one of those days for me, I guess. Even though I had sushi.

Anyway….

Wow, major hailstorm just happened. Usually that stuff scares me, but a.) I have to be brave for Aidan and b.) It mirrors how I’m feeling right now, so I didn’t mind it.

Whatever.

I’m going to finish this off with the W.T.F. Meme. Just because.

This Thursday comes with a disclaimer

1.) These days almost everything comes with a disclaimer. Sometimes the disclaimer on TV commercials is longer than the description of the product itself. If you came with your own personal disclaimer, what would it say?
This girl is very sensitive. Tread carefully. She’s also whimsical, a bit of a dreamer, and kind of spiteful. She is also very kind and she likes to spoil her family with gifts. She rushes a lot and hates when slow people are in her way. She hates when people interrupt her or treats her like she’s stupid, so DON’T EFFING DO THAT.

2.) You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?
…

3.) Last week the Federal Drug Administration approved new packaging for cigarette packs that it hopes will discourage people from smoking. Some of the labels are very graphic. Do you think this is going too far or do you think the FDA is doing a good thing by making these labels?
Doesn’t concern me, I don’t smoke.

4.) Many people I’ve known have lost their TV remotes only to find them later in their freezers or refrigerators. Where is the weirdest place you’ve left your TV remote?
LOL. I find ours on the floor or in between couch cushions. The kitchen table is a common spot as well.

5.) What is something you do when you’re sad/depressed that really cheers you up (or at least helps bring you somewhat out of your funk)?
Looking at my old pictures. I try not to buy stuff, because that thrill lasts until exactly five minutes after new said item has been acquired. Unless it’s a book. That thrill lasts until the book is read. Hmm, maybe I should look at some pictures now….

6.) If I asked your past romantic partners if you were emotionally open, what would they say about you?
They’d say I was TOO open probably.

7.) Sonic Drive-In has created a bunch of theme hot dogs for the summer (including a Chicago Dog, an All-American Dog, Baja Dog, New York Dog, and Chili Cheese Coney). With the Fourth of July coming up, surely many people will be eating hot dogs. What toppings do you eat on top of your hot dog?
I like ketchup and cheese. I don’t care if the Chicago laws say no ketchup on hotdogs. Hmph.

8.) If Love Potion #9 is an elixir for love, what is your potion for moving on and dating again after a bad breakup?
Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. I guess?

9.) You have been given the opportunity to create a TV show of your own design — any genre, any demographic, limitless budget. What is it called and what’s the premise?
Remember how I said I’ve been blanking on writing? That pretty much goes for anything creative. So I have not one clue about this one.

10.) Last week a 14-year-old female Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix named Yoda won the 2011 World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Do you think she’s really the world’s ugliest dog or do you find some cuteness in her?
She’s OK.

Time for a bath, a cupcake, and some reading of Harry Potter. G’night.

2 Comments