But what if we took the day as an opportunity to practise gratitude FOR love instead? Rather than expecting expressions of love from friends, family, lovers or showing love with gifts, hugs, words and perhaps even getting disappointed with the day, what would happen if you turned inwards? Leave the pressure of the day behind, step outside the expectations and conditioned response and perhaps meditate on love or think of your loved ones and how those connections make you feel or come right into your body and just feel present and joyful and see what happens?

I know that may sound like mumbo jumbo to some of you (or perhaps even a lot of you) but love really doesn’t have to be external or even externally expressed at all. It can just be a feeling, an attitude and a chosen response to life. I came across this beautiful video a while ago that I’d like to share with you for V Day. It’s my virtual gift to you.

I hope you enjoyed watching it? If not, I’d like to hear your feedback too!

For this post, I’d like to leave you with a brief audio preview of a CD that helped me shift a few things and come to a profound sense of gratitude for where I’m at. In the hope that it may resonate with a few of you, here is Stephanie Dowrick’s Seeking The Sacred. The title of this blog post “Thinking Heart, Feeling Mind” is a quote from her book that particularly touched me. If you’d like to read more by Stephanie, here’s a link to a Valentine’s post she’s put up on her blog.

And for any V Day grinches out there with a resistance to “all that spiritual waffle”, get yourself onto Julie Parker’s blog here for an excellent post on self love - pronto!

Gravity defying and both relating back to gymnastics.. Stella Angelova was a champion gymnast in her first career (from the tender age of 4!) and the awesome kid in the parcour video is taking the exercises I learned as a kid to a totally different level in freerunning! Watch, enjoy and then get out there and rip it up!  Moving is fun. Bring on the rain!

And while Pilates can help mobilise and stabilise – easing out the muscles that are tense and strengthening those that may be weak and cause further problems in the body -, it can be a mental and physical challenge to commit to getting the body back to a balanced state. How can you be at ease and patient when you are in pain, right?

Our Western approach would be to swallow painkillers and allow the body to move – and I have done that in the past myself – but really, painkillers can be a dangerous crutch. Knocking out your pain when the body is quite clearly tense and not willing to relax the area just yet can allow you to push past other important warning signals – like muscular fatigue for example – and cause even more damage.

I highly recommend finding ways to deal with pain that may help you relax your body and restore it without pushing it. Because pushing your body is quite often what got you to this point in the first instance. In yoga classes they often say the ease is already there. It just takes you to focus on your breathing and let your body be. Only “just” and “be” are concepts we can find hard in today’s rushed life where we so often disconnect mind and body.

Well, the good news I found is, that regardless of just how removed I am from my body, there’s always a way to get me back into it. Even into a hurting, painful body. I recently went to a yoga class with music. And you’d probably think that was  a tad distracting and takes away from the concept of focussing on your breath and body, coming out of your mind. But it actually helped me do exactly that. It provided a focus outside myself. all of a sudden, I was no longer having a chat with myself in my head about feeling my body, being in my breath and relaxing further. I ended up in a bizarre bird of paradise position, I’d never been in before. Check out a pic here. Cool, huh! (Admittedly, I didn’t quite get to that stage.)

I chatted to the teacher after and told her I seemed to be able to push past pain and get to places I hadn’t gone before. And she said I managed to switch off my ego/ self talk. True. Sometimes we THINK we feel pain or feel MORE pain when we focus on it. I did a little it of research online and found lots of evidence suggesting that music can help with various pain.

And so I’ll leave you with my Friday fun for today. A beautiful video mixing classical music with nature sounds. (A little bit Lord of the Rings but nonetheless very pretty.) And if you’d like more, head to your iTunes Radio, go to the Ambient genre and open Astral. Recommended to me by the owner of Pure in Manly, it’s one of my favourite stations. I can’t wait for the series of beach concerts that are part of the Vivid Sydney to start up again. Reporting on the Balmoral and Bondi ones a few years back for the Sunday Tele is still one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. (Iphone pic above.)

TGIF! Turn on the music and relax. And maybe go for a lovely mindful walk to classical music or turn on the tunes and sing under the shower. (There’s some evidence out there cold applied to the forehead eases anxiety… and showers rejuvenate and wash away negative energy anyhow.) Enjoy!

Last year, I had the absolute pleasure to work with the amazing Amy Mills from Latin Dance Australia on the set of a Fernwood TV commercial. Her performance for director Marcelle Lunam had everyone spellbound. Her ability to shake it “as if she had no tailbone”, I think she told me, was awe-inspiring. Marcelle would instruct her to give her “a few diagonals” for the camera and, whoosh, there’d be hair and arms flying across the screen with a speed that was absolutely breathtaking. In fact, I don’t think any of us drew a single breath while Amy was in front of the camera.

It was a hard act to follow but luckily I only had to run, punch and kick for the camera – that I knew how to! Anyhow, here’s to a Fun Friday and the joy of dancing! Watch Amy’s solo performance below.. Sign me up for Carnivale!

Want to get fit, fix an injury or fine-tune your body? Well, where the bloody hell are you then?!  Join me for regular Pilates sessions for all levels Monday and Wednesday nights 6.30pm at the Manly Community Centre! They’re fun, easy to follow but will work your whole body. Promise – if you don’t like them, you’ll get your money back! Guaranteed. Check it out here

Or try out the first ever Mixed Mind Body Class in Manly Tuesday nights at 6.30pm. Be worked, aligned and centred with a cardiovascular martial arts style workout, Pilates moves and relaxation at the end. The class will combine martial and internal arts, Pilates, yoga and meditation and is suited to beginners. Click here for more or check out a video on our very own internal arts guru Nathan Patrick below.

Drop-in classes cost only $20 this term and, if you sign up for the full ten week course, it’s $180. ($25 off if you refer a friend, are a WTC member or local business owner.)

And, finally in Manly: The Superwoman’s Toolkit Workshop ! This exciting new workshop helps you reveal your true inner super you and is held at  the popular Qi Yoga Freshwater on Saturday, October the 15th at 2pm. Combining forces to create a super-team are holistic health and lifestyle coach, SARAH ANNE EVANS, psychotherapist and counsellor MARIE ROWLAND and me! To bring you an all-points program delivering the tools to lead a more meaningful and mindful life.

Costs $100. Email bookings@solwalkling.com for more or head here to book.

Stay tuned for more info, plus, register your interest now for Saturday morning group sessions, semi-private classes or private sessions from November.

Look forward to training you soon!

Sol

http://www.ustream.tv/embed/recorded/17527719

I only learned freestyle a few years back and can’t say I’m an experienced ocean freestyler – one of my friends cracks up every time I start counting on two hands how many times I’ve done it. So there’s more than just room for improvement. The odd thing is I actually love the ocean. And I like swimming. And, if you hadn’t noticed, I have a thing for exercise.

But there’s something that stops me quite often from making it into the water. It could be the fact that I get serious red marks around my eyes and sometimes even allergies from goggles or perhaps it’s that it’s somehow unnatural to be horizontal, face down and water all around your face. (There’s a reason waterboarding is one of the most horrible and efficient ways of torture, surely?)

This weekend will be a real test of my swim all day ability. I’ll be taking part in my first half ironman with little swimming training (I blame a lingering cold and persistent cough), no wetsuit swim experience and a little bit of a sore shoulder – and no, I’m not making excuses. I’m already looking at how to improve my swim split for the next event, the Canberra Half Ironman.

Here’s somewhere I’ll be turning to for help:

Bare Fish, my friend Dunstan Bertschinger’s swim coaching company. Not only has he completed several FULL Ironman events, he’s also been training athletes and others for years. The Bare Fish program offers video analysis, stroke correction and really just an awesome way of making your swimming experience more natural and fluid. Streamlining your technique.

Hopefully, I’ll also get down to the Warringah Triathlon Club’s Swim Squad every so often. Even though I’ve only been a member for a few months so far, I’ve already hugely benefited from this amazing network of fellow triathletes-in-training.

And then there’s a heap of sporty friends who’ll no doubt enlist me for weekly swims, so really, there won’t be any excuses year! Bring on summer!

But until then and before this weekend’s race… Here’s how I’ll get myself psyched for Sunday. Thank you for sharing Alex and Sarah!

Okay, before you scoff, snigger or blush quietly in your office cubicle over your takeaway lunch… let’s start with some less delicate facts. There are many things Pilates does: It can help prevent and rehabilitate injuries, it can give you more upper body strength (this one is for you guys), it will tone up your mid section as we tighten that wonderful corset muscle around your waist…  but it’s absolutely true and not even a far-fetched claim that Pilates will also enhance your sex life. Believe it or not, as I’ve actually had some feedback on the subject!

Click here to read Corrie McCrae’s wonderful article about Pilates & the pelvic floor in the Huffington Post.

When you’re done, I’ll take your registration for our six week Pilates course here. And, in case you were wondering, I like peace lilies, too!

Phew, that’s me on the right only two hours after completing my first marathon. On soft sand. At Uluru. With a week’s notice. ‘Nuff said!

My last few months have been amazing, mindblowing and utterly transformative. And I’m yet to complete my first Half Ironman and set a Guinness World Record, two of my biggest goals for 2011. (I also just signed up for my 2nd half IM – sucker for punishment!)

Overall, 2011 has so far inspired me to dream bigger, live and love more passionately and open up to the endless opportunities out there that await. I’ve also had the absolute pleasure of talking to and learning from inspiring athletes like my client Ben Austin, the Paralympic swimmer who’s taken home enough gold medals to make him sink in any pool, and, more recently, legendary marathon runner Robert “Deeks” De Castella who’s now transforming other people’s lives in a very tangible and direct way with this healthy lifestyle bakeries, indigenous marathon project and school programs.

I’ve tried to do my little bit for charities in the past with donations of time, good and money. But now I’d like to make my input count and make a difference – with YOUR help!

How? Well, it’s too easy, really. Check out the prizes below. If any tickle your fancy, all you need to do is donate a little bit of money and go in the running to win said prize. You’ll be doing a good thing! All you need to do is post a comment pledging an amount greater than $30 and naming the prize of your choice. 2/3 of all money raised will go to the  Aim For The Stars foundation, a charity founded by Layne Beachley with the goal to help aspiring women and girls achieve their dreams. The remaining third will flow back towards my charity work and Guinness World Record attempt. Stay tuned for more – and let me know if you’d like to take part! Here are the prizes:

1. 2xU voucher valued at $50 – get yourself a visor, compression socks or some other new gear
2. Overhaul your diet and give your body a boost with the yummo, flash-frozen, uber practical food delivered to your doorstep. It’s a week’s worth of nutrient- and protein-rich food from Gourmet Dinner Service and Dietlicious valued at $250.
3. Work out and engage your core without even thinking about it? Yes please!
   Pair of Pelleres arm weights for running and other exercise valued at $100
4. Want to tone up before summer?  Returning to exercise from an injury? Looking for cross training? Pilates is the answer: 1 month of twice weekly private Pilates sessions valued at $1,000
5. 4 weeks of Step Into Life outdoor training valued at $180 (3 sessions per week) will get your motivation back up after those dreary winter months. NO excuses when you’re training with these fun groups in Rushcutter’s Bay or Maroubra!
6. Center your mind, work your body and fill your soul with joy with a 12 week membership at Life and Balance. Their centres in Hunter Street and in Glebe offer classes throughout the day and have some of Sydney’s best yoga and Pilates teachers. Valued at $290
7. Acupressure Pranamat Ecovalued at $138 is a wonderful acupressure tool for self-healing, relaxation and revitilisation that restores the energy flow of your body, reduces inflammation and pain, and effectively fights depression and stress.
8. A stunning B&W print of your choice by well-known photographer Andrea Francolini. Size: 16×24 inches and valued at $350.
9. Ten classes at the popular Qi Yoga on the Northern Beaches – locations in Manly and Freshwater.  Popular for their yoga, Pilates and meditation classes and courses, the pass valued at $165 offers something for everyone.
10. Love the ocean and catching waves – then get your hands on a framed shot of your choice worth $150 from Oceaneye, the Northern Beaches premier surf shot website! 

• To win, please post a comment with your pledge below (including amount, item number you’d like to win and any feedback you may have).
• I will contact everyone via email with instructions on how to honour and pay for your pledge. Please only pledge an amount you are happy to donate to charity and are able to pay within ten working days.
• All winners will be notified by December 31st. (Please note a higher amount won’t increase your chances of winning but will make a bigger change to somebody else’s life.)
• Please check back regularly and feel free to pledge more than once and on several items – every pledge goes in the draw and I’ll be adding more as we go.
• Updates on my facebook page and www.bodymindsol.com