Day 16: Wii fit - Yoga (and off topic note about love)

It’s Monday! I’m going to have a great week!

This week I’m shifting the focus with my kids, to try to find some peace in the house. I realize this has nothing to do with my exercise challenge, but it’s what is going on in my life and what I feel like writing about!

I’ve been driving myself (and everyone in the house) crazy the past few weeks, trying to get my kids to behave better. I’ve been obsessively noticing every infraction and internalizing each minor disagreement as my kids not respecting me. Consequently, I have felt like a failure as a parent. I’ve tried all sorts of discipline ideas but I can’t seem to get them right. To live up to my own expectations, I’d have to be Super Nanny and Dr Phil morphed into one busy mom. Needless to say, I’m constantly letting myself down, thinking I am just not good at this parenting stuff. And the sad thing is, in my effort to get some order in the house, my nurturing, loving self has apparently left the building (I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t want to stick it out either).

After crying to my husband about my frustrations, I picked up the bible for the first time in many, many months. Maybe it was a coincidence. After all, I hadn’t even read anything before the feeling of warmth and knowing came over me. Whatever it was, within minutes I had an answer. Love. Love is what is missing in my house. Not control or respect, but love.

You see, if I were to discipline my kids so well that they behaved perfectly in every situation; but I wasn’t able to show them love at the same time, I would still be failing as a mom. If I could only do ONE thing successfully as a mom, wouldn’t showing my kids love be the best? The Bible says that loving God and loving your neighbor are the greatest of all the commandments. Finally, something I know with all my heart I can do right! What a relief!

So today, I am working on just plain loving my kids. Showing them that I like to be with them, that I’m there when they are sad and that someone loves them unconditionally. I have a sneaky suspicion behavior will improve too, but even if it doesn’t, I will still feel like a good mom in the end.

Today's Workout: Wii fit - Yoga

What I liked:
1. Today was the first day in a while that I really enjoyed the workout. The Wii is just plain fun!
2. I liked that I could choose which pose I wanted and redo it as many times as I’d like
3. The Wii checks your balance when you stand on the balance board, so I was able to tell if I was putting equal weight on each foot and correct my posture while I did the exercise.

What I didn’t like:
1. The computer animation is still a bit basic so the trainer just looks weird. I’ll bet it won’t take long before Wii fit is more high tech.

Matthew 22:30: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Day 8 – Men’s Back Health through Yoga

No, I’m not a man. I’m just a woman with a sore back. So today I decided to use my husband’s only workout DVD – Men’s Back Health through Yoga, which he bought a couple of years ago when he took a class with the same name. My husband’s back has been made stronger by using this DVD, in addition to swimming regularly with the Masters Swimming program. I figured if it helps him, maybe it will help me (Yoga, not swimming. Can’t swim in the family room).

Getting up was hard today. I went to bed too late, after a fun night of scrapbooking with my friends. And I ate too much for dinner last night, so I feel like the Michelin man this morning (oh no, I notice a pattern here – men’s back health yoga, Michelin man references… eeeek!).

The great thing about exercising every morning is that when I feel I’ve blown it with eating, I get a clean slate at 6am the next day. If I didn’t get up to exercise this morning, I would have beaten myself up all day for last night’s big burrito dinner. But it is 7:00am now, just a mere 13 hours after said pig out and guess what? I feel on track again! 

My workout: Men’s Back Health Through Yoga (Loredana Yoga)

What I liked:
1. It worked! I started the morning with a sore back and it feels better.
2. The moves were simple but effective; I didn’t feel like a human pretzel
3. She said “foot crotch” a couple times. Who wouldn’t like that?!

What I didn’t like:
1. I’m really not good at critiquing. The only thing I can say is that it’s hard for me to think of yoga as a “workout”. It’s a great stretch, for sure. But I’m used to thinking a workout means breaking a sweat and burning lots of calories. But, I am really trying to approach fitness differently and recognize that flexibility and inner strength is equally as important as the ability to run 12 miles.

"You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight." Jim Rohn