YAY!! It’s Summer! The kids are out of school. The pools are open. It’s time to GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!!!
I am newly acquainted with, and completely jazzed about GoVibrant.org’s 2nd annual, greatly expanded, 15 neighborhood 1 Million Step Challenge. I plan to do every last walking route they’ve created!
The challenge is only just now under way as of the 2 mile Veggie Walk downtown at the Taste of Cincinnati on 5/27, and runs through 10/28, wrapping up with the Zombie Walk. That’s 22 weeks. If you do the math, that’s just under 6,500 steps a day – totally doable! Hop online & learn so much more about this amazing city-wide experience. Let me know how it goes.
As you hit the trails, try these helpful tips that seem to keep me healthy and happy between massages.
1) Wear your sunscreen! Remember your ears and the back of your neck & knees & the part in your hair!
2) Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Drag a bottle of water with you. If you’re going on an extended jaunt, add some citrus juice, a crunch of sea salt, a drizzle of real maple syrup, some coconut water and maybe a mint sprig just for fun.
3) Warm up a little. Before you begin try some easy leg swings, arm circles, back movements just to oil the joints and wake up the muscles. Then after you’ve been at it a while give some gentle stretch to any muscles that are yelling at you.
4) Save your neck. Look out at the wonderful world around you rather than down at the ground right in front of your feet. You can glance once in a while for uneven pavement, but that’s it.
5) Save your low back. Engage your core. Pick up your rib cage. Pick up your head. Keep a neutral, upright spine. Your whole torso with thank you.
6) Stretch out when you’re done. Ahhh, great job! Reward your body with some gentle stretch. Maybe catch a breeze to cool off before you jump right in that hot car. Maybe catch a yin class a couple times a week for added bonus.
(Not medical advice. Know & honor your body, and adjust accordingly.)