Month: January 2015

January 14: Weather turns the day upside down

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Pastora, Iva, Jaime and I planned to do a five-hour walk today along the winding Aare river, from Wohlen bei Bern into the city. The rain gods decided to have a hoedown, or maybe it was a rave, at 5am, and that was the end of that idea.

It rained all morning – the ground was mush, the wind was high, the seas were rough … I made that last one up.

So we turned a day of activity into a day of inactivity. We ate too much, drank a little, talked non-stop and played a board game Iva brought along. Importantly, we laughed a lot. We may not have that satisfied kind of exhaustion we were hoping to have from a long walk, but we achieved it in another form from solid rainy-day fun.

Hence, I’ve just completed 15 minutes of strength exercises before going to bed. My arms and shoulders certainly feel yesterday’s yoga efforts, so I thought I’d try five minutes of stomach crunches (arms behind the ears and elbows out of sight), five minutes of upside down cycling (lying on my back, legs in the air, peddling fast) and then five minutes of squat variations holding my trusty chick pea tins.

Not sure if the cycling achieved as much as the other exercises, other than noticing my noisy knees, but it was good to do something new.

Speaking of new, a friend, Jac, suggested my next exercise challenge should be to dance like no one is watching, and tomorrow I’m going to do just that. I might even tell you my play list.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

January 13: Yoga

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My friend from German school, Iva, kindly invited me to try out a yoga class at her husband’s fitness, training and wellness centre, which specialises in karate. Her husband, Marko, is a very important Dan in the karate world. Maybe, down the track, I’ll try a karate lesson at Maru Dojo?! I’m open to everything.

Last night’s yoga was a wonderful re-introduction to all the past yoga courses I’ve loved and tried. And ultimately forgotten. Some of the moves feel so convoluted, until you look around and see others doing it with style.

The teacher was lovely, patient, and (importantly for me) had a nice voice – even if I couldn’t understand everything she was saying. She was speaking the Bern dialect of Swiss German (there are also Basel and Zurich dialects). I’ve only learnt High German (spoken and understood in Germany and Austria too) which is what the Swiss read and write in the Swiss German parts of the country. (The other official languages spoken in Switzerland are French, Italian and Romansh – the latter being a very old language spoken in the mountains to the east by a small, but proud, group.)

Oh, I know, it’s darn confusing. Swiss German is officially a spoken language, not a written language. All the written materials are in High German, such as newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and so on. My partner tells a crazy story (for us foreigners) about speaking Swiss German in a meeting at work with colleagues, clients and business associates, then going back to his desk to write them an email … in High German.

The class was a little package of relaxation and energy all rolled into 90 minutes. The time went really fast. The room was just the right size, and the mood was calm. My balance is shot, but it was a great challenge and I look forward to going back again. I joked with Iva I’d like to be able to do the bridge move by December. She agreed – by December 2017!!

Here’s a photo from the yoga section on the Maru Dojo website. This is the room we did our practice (ohhh, fancy terminology and all!) and she was our teacher too.

I slept very well last night and enjoyed my morning routine this morning. Finally – a few good habits!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

On the right path to a good morning routine

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Plenty of big-name bloggers and health experts talk about the benefits of a regular morning routine. Stick ‘morning routine’ into a search engine and away you go!

Courtney Carver from be more with less steered me towards the idea that being more productive and ‘intentional’ in the mornings would make a massive difference to the day. Because I’m not working over here, it’s been hard to find a motivating reason to get out of bed early. The lure of “just a few more minutes” (especially when it’s cold!) can easily become a few more hours, as I trawl through email, Whatsapp and Viber messages, blogs, books, Facebook, Instagram and the news on my phone. Oh and play card games. How slack is that?

This morning I still read some Facebook posts and email, but when it got to a certain point I knew I’d had enough, because I was looking forward to the meditation and stretching habit I’m trying to form.

The whole morning plan is now becoming clearer to me, and I’m devising a routine that maximises … ummm … my time? My energy? My renewed desire to have everything just so?!

Wake up, enjoy a few minutes of being awake and look out the window, get out of bed, go downstairs and turn on the kettle, go to the loo, when back in the kitchen cut some lemon slices and put them in a mug, come back upstairs and do 10 minutes of meditation on the floor, followed by five minutes of stretching, go back downstairs and pour the boiled water into the mug, bring it back upstairs, and enjoy the warm lemon water while writing/studying/responding to emails etc. This way I’m sitting at my desk waaay earlier in the day, which surely can only mean productivity ensues?!?!

Drinking warm lemon water in the morning is another new habit for 2015 and today was the first time I’ve done it in a long time. If I can follow the plan above Following the plan above will make it second nature before too long. The benefits of warm water with lemon as your first drink of the day have also been touted a gazillion times. Good for your liver and so on.

Meditation this morning felt easier than yesterday – sure I still fiddled and fidgeted and couldn’t get comfortable, cross-legged, for what seemed like ages. Must keep an eye on slouching too – you should sit straight and tall, but I found myself shrinking on occasions. My mind wandered to all sorts of fun and urgent things too, but as soon as I realised that, I refocused on my breath going across my top lip.

Stretching included some new ideas today, and some new goals. Currently, when I sit with spread legs and lean forward holding my elbows, my arms, when at their limit, are between 15-20 centimetres off the floor. My aim is to get my elbows on the floor. Bring it on! This old dog is relearning some old tricks.

The second goal is to be able to keep each shoulder on the floor when I do a horizontal bent-leg twist, you know the one where you bring one knee up and then lower it, bent, across your other leg to the floor, and turn your head in the opposite direction to look at your outstretched hand? Well, my shoulders pop up really high, and when I lie my left knee over my right leg, I can’t even touch the floor with the knee and hand at the same time. It’s either the knee on the floor and the hand in the air, or the hand on the floor and the knee hovering. Bring it on! Another new goal.

Last but not least, the final goal I thought about today, while I was supposed to be focusing on my breath, is how to get the neighbour’s cat out of our roof!!! The damned thing spends a helluvalotta time up there and makes a racket!

Wishing you a great day.

p.s I’m going to a yoga class tonight with my friend Iva. This will be my first group-exercise class this year, and we’ll see how it goes! By the time I get home, I may not be awake enough to write about it, so just letting you know you could receive two emails tomorrow. But rest assured (!) … I am exercising today. fitfor15in15!

January 12: A walk into Wohlen and home again

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Wohlen bei Bern is a little village about eight kilometres north west from Bern main train station. I’ve been here since December 2011 and love it.

We live between the villages of Wohlen and Möriswil, and it takes 20 minutes to walk from our house, called a Stoeckli, down to the main street, where the buses go every 30 minutes into the city.

Today’s exercise involved dropping a letter off to the council offices, so instead of doing it tomorrow, when I will be catching the bus into town to meet a friend, Sandra, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some photos and show you the area where we live.

With my walking boots on, I followed the Wanderweg (walking) path through some farming fields and down to the council office, and then back a different way via our favourite local restaurant.

I hope you enjoy this gallery of photos from our little village.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Starting a new habit – morning meditation and stretching

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The sunrise this morning, from our bedroom window

The sunrise this morning, from our bedroom window

It’s been a while coming, but I didn’t want to start doing everything at once and feel overwhelmed. So a series of new habits are being introduced over time.

Two new habits (I’ve planned for about six) will start today. Morning meditation and stretching, and study (more on the second one in a future post).

If you need meditation or general health apps for your phone, you could have a look at this story from Sarah Wilson’s “I Quit Sugar” website. Body and Soul is also a great source of information too.

I already have a couple of free meditation apps on my phone, from previous attempts to be mentally fit. (Are you seeing a recurring theme here? I am! I’ve sourced so many things – apps, gear, blogs, books etc – in order to get fit, in all meanings of the word, but have been too slack to act on them long enough to form a habit.) There are loads of meditation apps around – see which one or ones work for you.

I’m pretty fussy when it comes to listening to other people talk, especially when they’re trying to make you relaxed. I suffer from Misophonia – literally meaning a hatred of noise (more on that in a future post too, promise) and suffer extreme reactions if people make ‘unnecessary’ noises such as lip smacking, loud inhalations of breath, or you can hear saliva in their mouth.

But my most severe reactions come when people speak with a very trill, high pitched, sickly sweet, exaggerated ‘s’. I’ve noticed when these relaxation/meditation voices want to make you feel relaxxxxxxxed, often they make the ‘s’ sound last longer than normal (for example “let go of your thoughtsssssssssssssss, think of peacccccccccccccccce, close your eyessssssssssss”) and when that s sound is very high and hissy like a snake, my immediate reaction is to want to smash the phone and then punch the perpetrator in the face. Ten deep breaths (not breathssssss) and relax (not relaxxxxxxxxx) … Ha ha, yeah, I can make a joke about it here, but for me, honestly, it’s not a bloody joke!

Anyway … back to the task at hand …

Meditation. It’s hard! The mind wanders but that’s all part of the plan – to bring your thinking back to focusing on your breath. I try to focus on my nose and top lip, where I can feel my breaths going in and out.

The meditation app timer was set for 10 minutes (normally the apps give you options of say five, 10, 15, 20 minutes etc), the music or natural sound options were pleasant and I chose a track, the guide voice was turned off, I got into a comfortable position on the floor (which quickly became uncomfortable) and off I went.

A few minutes in, I started thinking about my friends in Adelaide, then I noticed my hair was tickling my neck. Focus, focus … After six minutes, I couldn’t cope with my hair any more and tied it back with the band on my wrist. Much better. Made it to the end! Then I switched to the five minute meditation and did leg stretches on the floor. Wow, my hammies are tight!

Doing this 15-minute routine really got me into ‘wake up’ mode and hopefully will set the scene for a productive day. Well, it’s worked so far – it’s 8.46am and I’ve already written a post.

Do you think you could set your alarm 15 minutes earlier tomorrow for some meditation and stretching, before you have a shower? You don’t even need an app or music – set a timer for 10 minutes and sit still. Then set the timer for five minutes and try to touch your toes with straight and spread legs. No fast movements, it’s all very calm, and hopefully you’ll be feeling abuzz with added energy and clarity.

I’m really looking forward to making this part of my morning routine. Want to join me?

Wishing you a great day.

January 11: 15 minutes after half a bottle of wine

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Is it wrong to exercise after drinking half a bottle of red? Most likely.

I finished my last glass about an hour ago. The exercise mantra has been hanging over my head all day, and it’s Sunday, “the day of rest”, but because I only need to find 15 minutes each day, I’ve been putting the whole thing off until the last minute, knowing it can be done.

The idea behind fitfor15in15 is doing a minimum of 15 minutes exercise per day in 2015. Today I did 15 minutes. Yesterday I did 30, which included a few minutes for falling over. Hey, I’m building a habit here – there’s bound to be ups and downs!!

But I know I CAN DO 15 MINUTES EVERY DAY, eeeasy, even after a few wines (sorry exercise Gods!). And it was all made up in my head. I grabbed my trusty chickpea tins, found a space, didn’t bother turning the radio on, and I worked out for 15 minutes using the timer on my phone.

There were squats with boxing punches and attempted planks (didn’t even last 15 seconds, my stomach muscles are still so sore from three days ago) and sit ups (I’ve realised sit ups with your hands on your head beside your ears are much harder than sit ups with your hands in front of you. Aha! I can do a sit up!) and squats with a dip and a twist, and arm raises and … and … basically I looked like a nob.

It was probably like a Jane Fonda workout from the 80s, minus the leg warmers. I even bothered to take a photo. Because you love a riveting photo, right?

Bicycle leg movements with opposing elbows. Riveting ...

Bicycle leg movements with opposing elbows. Riveting …

The left knee is going green thanks to yesterday’s bruising, so I did, like, two push ups, but I’m nowhere near as worried about that injury as I am about the damn left ball of my foot. Why does everything on the left side hurt? Am I a leftie? You should hear my left shoulder crunch when I lift that tin!

Like all hypochondriacs, I’ve done some self-medicated googling and think I have Metatarsalgia, thanks to wearing my furry snow boots after Christmas. Hopefully Metatarwhatsamathingy sounds worse than it is. It feels like needles are going into the bones when I walk, especially near the third toe on my left foot. But I won’t go on *yawn*. Fingers crossed it goes away soon.

C’mon, if I can find 15 minutes to make the thighs burn on an unmotivated day like today, you can find 15 minutes too, yeah!? (I’m so glad I did – I feel even more light-headed now!)

For some better motivation talk, how about you read this article instead …

Wishing you a great day.

And lay off the vino 🙂

January 10: Jogging in the forest can be dangerous

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Not bad weather here today, so finally had the chance to go jogging (or shuffling as I like to call it) in the forest near our house – my first shuffle of the year.

The view to my right when I run up the lollypop stick, heading into the forest

The view to my right when I run up the lollypop stick, heading into the forest

This 4km path is like a lollypop – I run up the very long stick, around the left perimeter in a sweet little loop, and then back down the stick again to home. It’s a pleasant mix of wide road and trail running, surrounded by farming fields, and it’s also reasonably flat.

It looks dark in there! Will I be in for a surprise?

It looks dark in there! Will there be a surprise?

I like running on the dirt path more than the beginning of the ‘stick’, which is a mix of gravel and bitumen sections. The bitumen part goes past one of my favourite working farms, which usually has cows you can pat. Sorry, I was so into the run, I forgot to take a photo of the calves. Next time.

On the left turn, once in the forest proper, the mood was lovely. Didn’t have any music today but that was no great loss. (I use the MapMyRun App on my phone to track the distance and split times and normally run with tunes, but today it wouldn’t play anything). It was peaceful.

A wonderful place to run. Got to keep on eye out for all the tree roots though

A wonderful place to run. Got to keep on eye out for all the tree roots on the path though

The second kilometre was flat and a bit muddy, but very doable and pretty.

There's a few of these bird houses scattered through this forest

There’s a few of these bird houses scattered through this forest

After 2.7km, I picked my way carefully through more mud and I could smell the finish line. I had this lollypop loop licked … but the trail had the last laugh. Timber!! I was really starting to shuffle along at this stage, clipped a rock in the path, and went down knees and hands first. After walking for a while to catch my breath and stop laughing, I arrived home after 31 minutes. Maybe without the walking (and falling), I would have finished in about 28 minutes. So that’s something to aim for next time. And lifting of the feet, oh yes, that’s something to aim for too.

Over she goes! Lucky I was wearing long pants, so no grot in there luckily

Over she goes! Lucky I was wearing long pants – no forest dirt in there

Mentally Fit with Online Courses

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Inadvertently (or subconsciously), the idea for this blog has been brewing for a while – longer than I actually realised.

On Monday, January 12, I start the first of two free massive-open-online courses (MOOCs), offered from a university in the USA (it’s actually in The Netherlands), called “Introduction to Nutrition – Food for Health”. It runs for 8 weeks and here is the course blurb – “NUTR101x is a general nutrition course that addresses the relation between nutrition and human health with a focus on overnutrition.”

I found the course months ago on www.edx.org, and this website came into my world through the blog http://www.andthenwesaved.com. Anna from And Then We Saved put together a list of places to get a free online education and kindly offered it up to her readers. Here is her post. Thanks, Anna, for the inspiration! Without you, I may never have found out about this.

Nutrition isn’t something I’ve ever thought of studying, I really had no interest in it before. But for some reason, now, I’m very keen to understand what powers us through the day. If you would like to read more information about the course you can find it here.

The second course I’ll be doing, starting February 25, is another edX course called “Body101 – The Body Matters”. It focuses on exercise and what it does to your body. Here’s the official blurb – “This course examines the benefits of physical activity, how to prevent injuries, and what to do when injuries occur. The course will include content from leading international experts in multiple fields related to the science of exercise.”

You can sign up for it here, too, if you like …

It’s time to get my brain working again and these two courses fit very nicely into my fitfor15in15 challenge. I haven’t worked in Switzerland since moving here just over three years ago. The first 18 months were spent learning German and doing the B2 Level exam. For the past 18 months, I’ve been a bit rudderless – uninspired, wasting time and reading loads of other people’s blogs but never quite managing to find the enthusiasm to start anything of my own.

I’m not allowed to work here because there are no international work agreements between Switzerland and Australia. Non-EU (European Union) people have to wait five years before they can apply for a working visa. There is a possible work option to start work before the five years is up, but it’s incredibly hard to prove – that I would be the only person in the EU capable of doing a particular job. The hiring company would have to go through months of red tape with immigration in order to make it a reality, and that’s a huge deterrent! Television is where I have worked in the past, and there are many EU television professionals who would be chosen before me.

Hence, I had to drag myself out of these idle doldrums somehow. I’ve always been a keen student learner, so I figured doing a free online course or two could be the way to go. What do you think? I have no idea of their quality or what’s expected from me, but it’s worth a shot.

Have you ever done an online course before, and did you like it? Was it harder than you thought it would be?

January 9: 30 minutes on the little step machine

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Well, today I can feel my stomach muscles, thanks to yesterday’s workout! Wowsers. Imagine how sore I’d be if I’d been able to do all the sit ups – and properly!

Outdoor plans went “out the window” with the wind and rain. Here’s a picture … “out the window”. The wind was coming from the north (the photo looks south), and it was cccoooold.

Strong, cold winds and rain prevented the planned walk/jog in the forest

Strong, cold winds and rain prevented the planned walk/jog in the forest

So I settled on dragging out the small stepper I bought about three years ago, when I first arrived in Switzerland, to keep me *ahem* fit. Yes, I used it a handful of times and then it was relegated to the shed. Until today.

Crazily, I thought I’d watch a whole movie while working out – I lasted 30 minutes, and it had nothing to do with the film’s quality. It was an Austrian number from 1955 called “Drei Männer im Schnee”, which deals with mistaken identities. I’ve read the book (in German, hurrah!) and thought it would be a bit of fun. Maybe I’ll watch another 30 minutes on the stepper next week if the weather is bad.

The little stepper who could ...

The little stepper that could …

Yes, that is a sweat trail on my t-shirt after 30 minutes

Yes, that is a sweat trail on my t-shirt after 30 minutes

My arms were feeling a bit sore today too, but I grabbed my beloved chick pea tins to give them another workout. Flabby arms are two things I am really conscious about. In our family, we call them “toodles”, because when we wave goodbye, our arms continue to wobble long after we’ve gone. It’s like they don’t want to stop saying bye.

It’s been a strange day. What with the wind and finishing this damned book, I was in a thoroughly horrid frame of mind. The exercise and silly movie have made me feel much “lighter”, so to speak.

Have you ever had a disagreeable reaction to a book? I felt as disgusted as Bradley Cooper’s character in “Silver Linings Playbook” when he hurled that book out the window! I didn’t fancy breaking the glass here though.

Wishing you a great day.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

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What a load of bollocks!

What a load of bollocks!

The first half of this book was okay, an interesting theme with some interesting, albeit unlikeable, characters.

The second half was a travesty. I got to page 395 (of 482) before a shouted “THIS IS B**LSH*T” to the empty room. Waiting so long to say that, and keeping it so clean, showed some serious restraint.

I read to the end, but wow, what a major disappointment. The book was terrible. Illogical. Implausible. Sick. And it ended so abruptly it was as if the author wanted to be rid of the book as much as I did.

Such a letdown, as I had really enjoyed The Time Traveler’s Wife all those years ago.

Sigh. Onwards and upwards.

This book shouldn’t be categorised in the Mentally Fit section, because it has contributed to me being mentally UNfit, but it’s a book I’ve read in 2015 and therefore has to be categorised somewhere.

Next!