By Marilou Côté
The colder season slowly takes over the beautiful summer days, the hours of brightness are numbered. Already, I feel in my body more fatigue, less motivation. These are little lights that light up in my mind to remind me to take care of myself. Having taught Yoga in my twenties for over 10 years; I still live on the foundation of the word “Yoga” which means connection between body and mind. It becomes obvious that for me, being “healthy” is not only at the level of physical like working out at the gym or running. It’s about finding that famous balance. The one who keeps my body envelope strong but also the one who maintains my ideas and my mentally healthy moods.
I am a fan of outdoor walking, it allows in my opinion to follow the seasons, to better adapt to the changes that this entails having in the same year of si large temperature variations. Walking does not require any particular equipment, it’s also free. I can walk with my older parents as much as my 5-year-old son years. In addition, it is practical and rewarding, no need to have the cardio of a marathon runner Olympian. Here on Sundays it is a tradition of “the little walk” outside. It must be said that after the pancakes, the coffee and the bacon and the smoothie it’s good to move around and breathe the fresh air. Autumn I like to go hiking, the daring big sister of the walk. The unevenness, the colors in the trees, make this practice a high challenge. color. In summer, water sports on the regional lakes are my favorites, especially the paddle board. It can be practiced slowly or more sportily. And winter is skiing alpine family. This is your chance to brave the cold, and let yourself slide over the snowy grounds. Family, friends … they often accompany me on outdoor activities to get moving. Why not make the useful to the pleasant and discuss, take news, ventilate to a close to what is going well and not so well in our life. This is also a bit like the balance between the body and mind.
And then, to end this text on health, I will perhaps surprise you by writing that for me is also DOING NOTHING. Or at least very little. Allocate a time in my schedule to live and breathe. A time very far from the “to do list”, emails to answer, household, very very far from all the “should that”. Honestly this is the hardest thing to do seen my life as a mother and self-employed worker. Yet when I manage to take this time to finally put myself in neutral, the balance is there both mentally and physically. This neutral point is being 100% aware of the present. Like watching the sunset, enjoy the breeze outside under a warm blanket, pet my dog or take a nap with it my child. Health is a personal recipe but it is worth considering preciously to refer to it as the anchor of our lives.