Elixirs
My New Breville and Your First Green Juice
I finally bought my own juicer. I've been putting it off as I wanted to get the absolute best juicer that costs the most money so that everything in my world would be perfect!
Well...that just meant that I never got the juicer. For years now. And, also, that I kept $10 juices made for me on someone else's juicer. As wonderful as it is to have great juice options around town, there's something deeply nourishing about making your own. Also, it's practical: You save money in the long run; your veggies don't go bad since you can just throw them in the juicer; and, for some reason, it just tastes better. If you've been putting it off like me, just go for it! I got the Breville and am totally happy with it.
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Wake Up Call
Broad Gliding on the Sea
At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off we glided. It was a sharp, cold Christmas; and as the short northern day merged into night, we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose freezing spray cased us in ice, as in polished armor.
Wake Up Call
A Moment Settled
As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.
Finding Beauty
Your Body is a Stage
At last week’s Anusara® yoga Teacher Training in Paris, my poetic friend Sianna Sherman beautifully described the body as, “either a cage to trap you or a stage to set you free.”
Think about it. Our bodies are the vehicles through which we experience the world. What we touch-smell-taste-hear-see is filtered through our own particular physical parameters – through the amalgamation of sensations that is us. Through our bodies we suffer pain and illness, but also ecstasy.
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Wake Up Call
Dance Big
Dance is bigger than the physical body. Think bigger than that. When you extend your arm, it doesn't stop at the end of your fingers, because you're dancing bigger than that: you're dancing spirit.
Classy Gossip
Tonique is the Hardest Class Ever
[This just in from anonymous source K. ~ The Eds.]
You should look into Tonique. Sylwia is the Tonique guru. They just brought the class to the Printing House. I was the only person in the entire room with ANY body fat on them. It's 90 minutes, and it seriously kicked my ass. Granted, I am not in my finest shape by any means, but holy shit....
A scarily type A+ blond, mini-woman in the front of the room turned back to my huffing-and-puffing self and said, "It took me 3 months to be able to get through this routine. Don't give up, you are doing so much better than I was when I first started. I don't mean to be annoying, but I know it can be hard at first. Just keep marching in place if you stop."
And I guess I did appreciate it, and this showed, because she went on: "My kids go to pre-school with Sylwia's kids, (How did children come out of your body?!?!), and I won a session with her at a pre-school raffle. I've been training with her for two years, and I owe my entire body to her. I mean, I was a 4/6, well, before I had kids and was in shape, and now, (gestures to her body), I'm a size ZERO. I mean, I was seriously pear-shaped."
Hardest. Class. Ever.
Buns of Steal
Revenge is Sweat-y!
It's all tied up! Equinox: 1. Buns of Steal 1.
Loyal B.O.S. readers will recall that I was once kicked out of Equinox when the authorities caught me shamelessly sampling a Columbus Circle location after I had already used a guest pass at 96th street. That was back when the media was all over me, and, needless to say, the haters ate it up. This didn't bother so much, as I basked in all the additional blog traffic. But I did think my days at Equinox were over. That was, until my friend R. showed up....
Wake Up Call
The Good Fight
What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Site News
What the Hell Happened to the Blog And Other Important Matters
Saturday morning at Social Workout HQ, and four of us are hard at work in an otherwise quiet Soho office space. As the designers design and the developer develops, I figure it's high time to do a bit of catching up on the blog. It feels like forever since we last had a good chat.
First, a very brief history: Once, Social Workout was a simple blog. Then we were a blog that did communal challenges. We did nine or so of them, and along the way we bonded and discovered that setting a goal and having a bunch of strangers watching your back was a good thing. Naturally, we wanted to share the love, but there were some problems....
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Wake Up Call
On Friendship
Your training partners are key to your success, and friendships based on your runs together are strong.
Wake Up Call
On Small Wins
I've found that small wins, small projects, small differences often make huge differences.
Elixirs
Blended Tea Nirvana
Blending teas is the new black. My go-to tea hybrid is a mix of green tea and fresh mint leaves, and/or a peppermint tea bag. This melange produces an invigorating, tummy-soothing lift. The Chinese have been drinking green tea for 4,000 years, and for just as long they have extolled its effectiveness as a remedy for various health problems. (There are claims that green tea will stabilize your cholesterol levels, help with weight loss, and generally remove nasty toxins from your body.) Meanwhile, peppermint soothes the digestive tract, alleviates nausea, and it smells and tastes great. So, that's the strategy, but what are the tactics?
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Wake Up Call
Go For It!
Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.
Neighborhood Secrets
Urban Zen Does Monday Morning Yoga
Attention West Villagers: The Urban Zen Center, Donna Karan's gorgeous, high-minded, non-profit clubhouse, has started a regular series of Monday morning yoga classes. Please recall that DK has been on a mission to insert the practice of yoga into the care of cancer patients. The cavernous Urban Zen Center is the hub at which she trains her troops, while also hosting all manner of cool events, including a weekly 5Rhythms dance class. The new yoga class goes down every morning at 8:00 A.M., and features a half hour of meditation, followed by an hour of vinyasa yoga. The "suggested donation" is $10, and the Center provides mats, props, and a changing area. It's a bargain! But it's not forever. The series began October 18th, and runs just through the end of the year.
Finding Beauty
Doing the Yoga in the City of Light
I want to be luminous. I want to glow. I want to be lit up like the Sainte-Chapelle, the extraordinary cathedral of stained glass in Paris, where I've been this week assisting my friend Sianna Sherman with an intense five-day Teacher Training. In Anusara® yoga we have an expression, "Inner Body Bright." The expression is intended to evoke the energetic brilliance that resides at our core, to draw it to the surface, and to shine it out around us like a full-body halo. How do we access that inner light so that we can extend our talents and gifts out into the world? We do the yoga.
The yoga for me is asana practice, philosophy study, art making, and writing. For someone else, the yoga might be singing, cycling, or martial arts. Yoga means yoking, connecting. Doing the yoga is about creating internal and external unity. The details don’t really matter. What matters is choosing to do what lights you up.
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Wake Up Call
Take the Half Pipe!
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.
Wake Up Call
All Life is an Experience
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experience.
Fine looking.
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