Clarity Wellness

It's that time of year again.  You're coming off a busy season of shopping, cleaning, cooking, eating, drinking, and if you have teens like I do--concerts, final exams, final projects, and occasional full-on meltdowns.  It's exhausting. And in the process, I'll bet there are are a few things that moved down on the priority list, mostly the healthy things that keep us grounded, like exercise, sleep, carefully-planned meals, alone time, etc. If you're in the mindset of looking forward and planning for a healthy, happy 2023, here are a few things to consider in building a killer morning routine that will set the stage for a day that feels calm, productive, and self-directed. There are hundreds of books on building a morning routine, but you ultimately have to figure out what works for you. Have you read The Miracle Morning ? It's one of my favorites.  If you have, you'll remember the SAVERS acronym for a successful morning: Silence Affirmations Visualization Ex...

Some of you might know about my struggles with running this year...an achy hip on one side, and a super-tight calf on the other. I really haven't run much since April, and then only in short spurts. I've had to resign myself to being a walker for many months, and was trying to embrace the mental break that it gave me, even though I really missed my runs, my running group, and, let's be totally honest, the ability to eat just a little bit more without my weight creeping up on me. A few weeks ago I decided that I'd had enough and was ready to be a runner again. After all, the same hip that was giving me angst was the same hip that ached through 22 marathons and countless physical therapy sessions. I know what I have to do--I just don't do enough of it. Life has been busy, but I'd managed to go out and run a few times a week, and I'd felt pretty good. Best of all, I felt like I was getting my mojo back, and that's pretty priceless to me right now! It w...

If we want to build new habits around our health, it is often helpful to figure out what our anchor habits are first, and build from there.  B.J. Fogg likes to refer to anchor habits as those things that we already do every day without thinking about them--brushing our teeth, making our coffee, eating our breakfast.  If you want to build a new habit, tie it around one of those things.  For example, "While I brush my teeth I will do 20 squats," or "While my coffee is brewing I will do  some stretches in the kitchen."  That's a great ways to implement something new, but I look at anchor habits in a way that's a little closer to The One Thing philosophy touted by Gary Keller. He asks the question, "What's the One Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"  I've always had a hard time wrapping my head around this concept and narrowing it down to just one thing. I tend to have "One Things"...

My favorite place to get in a stair workout on vacation. I know you have the best of intentions to keep up with your exercise plan this summer, but what happens when you go on vacation and your regular routine is suddenly interrupted?   It can be really hard to get back on track once you return home, so it's a good idea to keep at least a small semblance of an exercise routine in your life each day while you're away. Some vacations naturally include a healthy dose of exercise by default.  You may be hiking, swimming, or walking around Disneyland all day.  Others may include a lot of lounging on the beach or next to a pool (with a cocktail in hand!)  Whatever your idea of a good time, here are some ways to make sure you keep up the healthy habits you've worked so hard to implement. 1.  Explore the town on foot.   I love to go for long walks or run around a town that I'm visiting.  If we're staying in a hotel I often ask the front desk staff for recommen...

To fuel or not to fuel--that is the question I get the question all the time: " What do you eat and drink when you run? " and I know they're looking for the magic gel, sports drink, or protein bar to fuel their workouts.  The media, including popular running magazines and websites, may have you believing that in order to get the most out of your workout you need a certain amount of carbs per hour to keep it going.   I certainly listened to that advice when I first started running longer distances.  The popular prescription was that you needed to take in one sports gel every 20-30 minutes.  If you've ever tried to do that you know it's a recipe for stomach distress, unscheduled pit stops, and more post-race inflammation than is really needed. Yes, your body loves to run on carbs.  It's like lighting a bunch of dry kindling: it burns fast and hot, but only for a short while, and you have to replenish the supply on a regular basis.  Your body also loves t...

I read something this week about the feeling of living from vacation to vacation and I could totally relate. I used to spend a large portion of my year planning for the next trip--picking out a wardrobe, learning a few phrases in another language, booking interesting places to stay. In this time of COVID one of the things I mourn the most is that many of our vacation plans have been canceled. I try to be grateful for what I have--we are so lucky that our kids are doing well online, we're all healthy, and we're financially stable when so many around us are struggling. It doesn't mean I'm not sad about missing out on my trip to Greece, though.  We hear a lot about how important gratitude is in making us happier. In her latest book, Didn't See  That Coming , Rachel Hollis addresses that topic, but goes one step further—figure out what gives you joy and schedule it into your day. My cup of coffee before anyone else is awake, my morning run, my evening walk with my husb...

 I turned 50 this year, and I had big plans:  Travel to Greece Get a tattoo Run a 50 mile race Laser my armpits I feel like 50 gives you the excuse to do some of the things you've always wanted to do, and the confidence to do whatever the heck you feel like because you don't care what other people think anymore. (Hence, the tattoo.) So, thanks to Rona, I've done one out of four.  I'm happy to say that because of the hair removal laser my husband bought me for my birthday, my pits are pretty bald. We spent months planning our trip to Greece, but since Greece won't let Americans in, and I really don't want to spend 18 hours in an airplane right now, we'll have to reschedule for another year. The biggest impact on my day-to-day life, besides the disappointment of all our cancelled plans, has been the lack of direction in my running.  I don't necessarily need a race goal to get me out the door each morning--my body craves it and my mind requires it--but it d...

 I have to say that there were some advantages to the pandemic.  I had my mornings free to sleep as long as my body wanted, enjoy a leisurely coffee, do a little reading, meditation, and exercise, and set my intention for the day.  Now that I have to be to work by 7:00 am things have changed.  Instead of reading the newspaper I skim the headlines or my Google feed.  I only manage to get half a cup of joe before my morning run, and my run has been cut from 6 miles to 3.   Honestly, that’s probably for the better.  I’ve been working on my long slow distance, at a heart rate of 130-135 (based on the Maffetone method ), for 5-7 miles at a time, but I have a feeling it's time to change it up a bit.  In the past, three miles hardly seemed worth lacing up my shoes, but unless I want to wake up at 4:30 (which I don’t—prioritizing sleep is number one these days!) that’s all I have to work with.   Anyway, this week I decided to shake things u...