Saturday, January 23, 2010

Catching Up - With Gusto

 Faith in oneself is the best and safest course Michelangelo


A few sky pictures from Marco Island








Thinking there's not much going on that's fascinating gets in my way of blogging.  The truth is I've been feeling wonderful and exercising and taking really good care of myself and pursuing some new goals.
Thanks to a dear friend, who is also a Professional Coach, I am now enrolled in a course to become a Certified Wellness Coach through a very reputable program that is recognized by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Have you ever sat and read a manual and materials for a course that absolutely speak to your essence and philosophy in life?  This is what I'm experiencing with the course work.  And through the journey of learning, comes the very magnificent benefit of exploring a vision of wellness along with defining clear and achievable short and long term goals for myself.  Towards the end of  the very first class, the instructor asked for a student to offer to be the client while the instructor would be the coach. I enthusiastically volunteered and allowed the class to hear how part of an initial wellness coaching session may play out.  WOW.  Some of the exercises included breathing, envisioning, recalling successes, and setting some clearly defined goals for the following week which when combined, were nothing short of extraordinary for me. I thought about things I hadn't thought of in more than a decade or two which evoked wonderful memories.  It was palpable.  I set three goals at the end of the brief session: (1) to visualize going to the gym before getting out of bed in the morning; (2) to schedule a session at the gym to begin to learn how to use the exercise equipment (recall I joined in November); & (3) to blog about it.



So when class was over I immediately phoned  and scheduled my first session to learn to use the equipment at the gym for the next day.  The next morning I visualized going to the gym before getting out of bed.  And now, a little over 2 weeks later, I'm getting around to blogging about it. I have been to two scheduled sessions using 2/3 of the machines at the gym.  I have visualized going to the gym a few times before getting out of bed. So although not every goal was achieved immediately - I knew that these were doable and they are beginning to feel comfortably incorporated into my life.



Additionally, each time after leaving the gym, I have come home and walked the dog - and then jogged a bit with the dog.  I had not even attempted to jog in decades, so this is very special.  Two nights ago I walked her for 2.2 miles with a friend; then when alone with the dog - we alternated jogging/walking a block at a time for another 2.2 miles.  Not only is it a challenge for me to jog, but it's also a challenge to get the very excited dog not to gallop.  She's learning to keep pace.  36 hours later - I feel muscles in my thighs that had not been felt in a very long time.

Another night I ran and errand and took my dog with me.  On the spur of the moment I phoned my mother and asked if she'd like to walk along Ocean Blvd and the three of us walked a couple of miles in the moonlight.  Here's my dog on the way home (she LOVES to go for car rides).  BTW, that's a street lamp, not the moon, in the picture.  There was a very slim crescent moon that evening.



I have also continued to take pictures when I am outside.  It is amazing how magnificent the sky can be when facing different directions even just on the circle where I live.  I've discovered many of my neighbors' flowers up close too.  I'm grateful to be able to observe and appreciate nature.

Here are a few photos until next time....





















And a few from inside a flower shop













And outside Whole Foods





I'll be back soon with another update - going to exercise the mind and body.