Health by Heidi

“How in the world am I gonna get through this day?” “Ugh.  Slept like shit.  Tired and cranky.” “I hate everything.” And my favorite: “It’s easy to get buried under the asshole parts of the day.” These are a minuscule sampling of some of my journal entries from the past several months.  Without realizing it, perimenopause had slowly dropped its veil over my eyes.  While I am not yet experiencing the physical symptoms, I have every single one of the mental and emotional symptoms.  It happened so slowly I didn’t notice. It crept up steathily, like a burglar in the night.  My mood worsened in increments.  My tolerance for people dripped away like a slow leaking bucket.  My sleep became more and more interrupted, resulting in me lying awake for hours during the night. I would wake up exhausted, wondering how I could possibly get through the day when the simple act of speaking seemed monumental. I noticed that I was losing interest in my favorite hobbi...

 "Do you do breath work every day?"   I had just finished a breath work session with a client, and as we were recapping his experience, he asked me that question.   "No," I answered.  Then I smiled, realizing that breath work had become such a habit in my daily routine that I forgot I was even doing it.  It had just become the way.  “Actually, yes I do.”  I proceeded to give him the run down of the various types of breath work that I do, including the one I do daily without thinking about it now.  We will get to that in a moment. Breath work has been making headlines in the mainstream media recently, although it has been practiced for centuries or longer by cultures around the world.  I believe that what finally brought it to the forefront here in the US is the rise in awareness about anxiety, depression, and mental illness.  People have been suffering silently for years with mental illness disorders, but only recently has soci...

With tight schedules to work around, sometimes we feel lucky to get a quick workout between work and home and school and whatever else life has us doing.  It's tempting to jump on the bike and start hammering to get it done, or throw on the running shoes and race up the nearest hill, all the while hearing the clock ticking in the background to hurry hurry hurry get to the next thing.  We wonder why we feel tired and sore, tight and stiff during our activity of choice.   Try taking five minutes before your next workout for these simple movements.  A few of the movements focus more on joint mobility, while others are more for muscle activation.  Combined, they help to prepare the lower body for whatever activity you choose.  Before your next ride, run, hike, or lifting session, give them a try and see if you feel the difference. Exercise 1 - Banded Donkey Kicks Purpose: Glute activation, core activation -Your choice of band will depend on your personal s...

I pulled on my tall winter socks, then my fleece lined cycling tights. Next came the base layer and the fleece cycling jacket in visibility pink.  My heart fluttered with excitement.  Shoes, shoe covers, skull cap, buff.  Heated gloves with mittens over the top.  Helmet with helmet light.  Clear glasses to protect my eyes from the cold wind.   It was March 20.  First full day of spring.  First dawn patrol ride of the year.  It was 36 degrees at the house, but I knew the temperature would drop as the sun peeked over the mountains.  I grabbed my water bottle, hoping it wouldn't freeze shut on the ride.  I mounted my head light and tail light, rolled my bike out of the garage.  The cold air hit me like a wall, but I didn't care.  Dawn patrol is my jam.  It's my thing.  It is my fully immersive, all senses heightened, soul happy time to ride.   I clipped in and shoved off, turning right on the highway ...

  POP!  It's the sound every athlete dreads.  I sucked in a lungful of air.  The sound echoed in my mind.   POP!  It felt like hot pokers were stabbing me in my right hamstring.  I instinctively shifted my weight to my left leg, feeling the reverberations deep in my core. POP!  My stomach churned.  I envisioned my summer plans fading into darkness before they could even begin. POP!  One bad decision.  In an instant, the pop changed everything. I was standing next to an elderly man when he lost his balance and started to fall forward.  Instinctively, I reached out to try and stabilize him.  At the instant my arm connected with his chest, he lurched forward.  The lurch abruptly twisted my right hip, and POP!  I yanked my arm away and grabbed my right hamstring.  The elderly man fell slowly to the ground, elbow and knee skinned but otherwise unharmed.  I asked him all the appropriate questions, encour...