Spring Break Edition
Well, spring break for my kids at least. We’re packing up the car and taking off on a good old road trip to explore Ithaca, NY and the Finger Lakes. These city kids of mine need a good dose of the outdoors and frankly, I do too). On the agenda: gorgeous gorges, hiking, lakes, and ice cream. (P.S. If you have any recommendations for the area, please let me know!) I really should start packing…
My fingers are crossed the spring is on its way. I actually ran in shorts yesterday (!) which made me very happy because honestly, all I want is warmer weather. Not like summer-warm weather. Just 10 degrees-warmer weather. Too much to ask?
To Adjust or Not to Adjust
As a yoga teacher, this is something that I think about all the time—whether or not to give manual adjustments in class. Personally, when a teacher can provide physical direction and help me understand a posture more clearly in my own body, it’s so helpful. It increases my proprioception and teaches me how a pose should feel.
However, I’ve also been on the other end where a teacher has forced me into (or deeper into) poses in ways that were more harmful than helpful. They use their own bodies to force more flexibility and mobility than someone might have. I never want to put a student in that position so I tend to give adjustments sparingly.
Jason Crandall, a well-known yoga teacher based in San Francisco, has advocated for a paradigm shift in how yoga teachers think about manual adjustments or, as he calls them—manual cues. He recently spoke about it on the Yogaland podcast (and also wrote about it here). It’s a really interesting conversation, which also gets into the power dynamic between teacher and student.
Plus, how many other physical disciplines use physical touch in what can be such an intimate way?
What I’ve Written
Just one article for Outside to share this time. Researchers are Stanford and UCLA are trying to figure out how to prevent bone stress injuries in competitive distance runners. Their solution? Eat and eat well. Seems simple, right? They’re in the early stages of a study but have seem some interesting, positive trends in injury and recovery rates.
What I’ve Been Reading
How Elite Athletes Come Back After Childbirth (Outside): What does it take to come back? The International Olympic Committee just started looking into this in 2015 (!!!).
Faster at a cost (Runner’s World): Eating disorders and disordered eating aren’t just a women’s problem. This is a great piece on how eating disorders affect men.
The boy who lived on edges (Outside): "Some people wondered if Adam had a death wish. What they didn’t understand was that the mountains were helping to keep him alive." << Haunting story of freeskier skier Adam Roberts was killed by an avalanche in Washington State.
Why do runners love Death Valley? (San Francisco Chronicle): A look at distance runners’ fascination with running in the desert.
The Strangest Taco Joint in Texas (Garden & Gun): Loved this…and I now want to eat tacos.
Treat Yourself (Shondaland): I’m all for doing nice things for yourself. We all need and want things from time to time, but what if that leads you to debt?
Why I love the managed, risk, and rewards, of nippers (NY Times): I’ve long been fascinated by nippers, the surf lifesaving clubs for kids in Australia and how they teach kids about healthy risk and community, not to mention ocean safety. Such a different model compared to how to teach kids about risk in the U.S.
The case for the self-driven child (Scientific American): We’re raising an anxious generation of kids. What can we do about it?
Is your spin class to young, too thin and too white? (The Washington Post): In one word? Yes.
Plus, I've read two books: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and Between Me and You. Both can be classified as "romance" or "chick lit" but they are fun, light reads (and great escapes).
What I’ve Been Watching and Listening To
Fantastic interview with Chana Joffe-Walt on Longform about her story Five Women for This American Life. Listen to the This American Life story first, then the interview, then the story again.
Game Night: I was in a really pissy mood last week so my husband took me out to a movie. Maybe I just needed to laugh or many I just loved seeing Coach Taylor and Landry from Friday Night Lights back on screen together but I loved this movie. I laughed so hard I started crying.
Jane the Virgin: I’m late to this series but OMG it’s so good! It fulfills all of my telenovela dreams!
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