Being Kind and Staying Warm

If you are a fan of group fitness classes, be it yoga, spinning, dance, kickboxing, etc., then you'll probably get what I'm saying...Did you ever notice how possessive we get over our 'spots' in classes?  People rush to spin (I'm guilty of it myself) to get 'their' bike, or in dance, we claim our spots on the floor and get annoyed if someone invades our space.  How about in yoga?  Were you ever in a packed yoga class and you notice someone enters kind of late, looking around the room for a place to lay his or her mat and no one even budges to let the person have some space?

I'm a year round gym-goer.  I have been for years.  And every year, around this time from January to March, I get so frustrated with the packed classes due to everyones' New Years resolutions.  But why?  These people are out here doing a good thing!  They are practicing what I preach!!  We are all here to let loose, raise our endorphins, stay healthy, and feel good. 

My personal gym goal especially for the next four months is to offer kindness.  If someone wants to take my space on the dance floor, go ahead, I'll move over.  If you come late to my yoga class and need a spot, I'll move my mat.  And...you can have my spin bike.  I don't need to sit at the same one every time.  You can even take the treadmill I like by the window.  There are plenty more. 

Now that I got that out of my system...onto my night.  I walked from the car to the house all sweaty after a really challenging dance class and couldn't feel my fingers.  It is bitter cold outside.  My face actually hurt from the cold wind.  Tonight's dinner called for something quick, warm, and the most nutrition possible.  I didn't have the time to make a soup from scratch so I turned to my trusty friend, Trader Joe, for his awesome butternut squash soup.  It had this pleasant ginger flavor and all of the ingredients were number 1, readable, and number 2, wholesome.  Don't forget to read the labels on prepared soups.  You should be able to recognize all of the ingredients and there shouldn't be many.  I paired that with some whole wheat crackers and parsley, threw together a salad with every vegetable I had in the fridge (lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, onions, mushrooms), topped it with some Annie's all natural Goddess Dressing (delish!), and some goat cheese crumbles for a quick, tasty meal.  Now time to clean up, have a cup of herbal tea to warm up, and get into bed for the night.

:)