Hey smartypants!  Happy Pi Day!  Get out and celebrate!

Take a walk.  Have a some pie.  Schedule a massage!  Enjoy this most beautiful day!

Happy Monday All!

Let’s start this week off magnificently by munching!

Munch

We eat all day long and that can be perfectly okay.  Snacking throughout the day can be extremely helpful.  When you snack, or eat smaller meals throughout the day, you put less pressure on your body to take in and process large amounts infrequently.  Munching can also help keep your body fueled continuously keeping the symptoms and byproducts of low blood sugar at bay.  The trick is knowing what to munch on.  I like to tell folks, “Choose your snack!”  Finding or creating a snack to munch on before you’re hungry can save you from making unhelpful food choices.  (It can also save you money; impulse buys are usually pretty costly.)  Below are a few quick & easy snack ideas.

Have some water! 

Sometimes, we get our signals crossed and end up confusing thirst with hunger.  Before you get those choppers working, have a drink.  At the very least, you’ll get your digestive system ready in case you are, indeed, hungry.

 

Get fruity (and veg)!

You can easily make or buy yourself a fruit or veggie bowl to go.  If you don’t have time to make a bowl, bring a bag of your favorite fruits and veggies.  Micheal Pollan says, “If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re probably not hungry.”  I think that’s a great way to test yourself and a whole lot healthier than eating a candy bar.

Go nuts!

I LOVE NUTS!  They’re small, quick and easy to transport.  Whether you stick to one kind or mix them all up, nuts pack a whole lot of power!  When buying, steer away from salted, sugared, or overly processed nuts.  If you choose raw nuts, you can give them a soak in water to help boost their natural gifts or you can add your own special seasonings.

 

Stay mindful!

We’ve all probably heard the saying “You are what you eat.”  It’s also important to remember that you are also how you eat.  Lots of folk do lots of eating without even thinking about it.  Eating without thinking can be extremely harmful–physically as well as emotionally.  When one eats anything, they are opening the door for anything to happen to and in their body.  Thinking before you munch allows you to take responsibility for what and how much you’re putting into you body.  Mindful eating can also help with tracking emotional changes.  When you’re mindful about food, you can pay more attention to cravings and the emotions tied to them instead of allowing food to act as a diversion.  With more mindful munching, you give yourself the opportunity to heal more thoroughly.

It’s been a while, but I’m back and I have so much to share with you all!

First, I’ll start off by saying Happy New Year, Happy Leap Day and Happy (end of) Black History Month!  Here is a great idea to help you celebrate all three.

 

Many folks make resolutions meant to encourage themselves to be more active, have more fun, learn new things, meet new people and spend more time with loved ones.  Below, there’s a quick and easy way to roll all of those New Year’s Day intentions into one.

 

Be More Active!

Biking is a great way to get more active!  It’s easy on the joints and can help you get really good cardio and muscle strengthening workouts.  If you don’t own a bike, now’s a great time to start thinking about what you want.  If you do have a bike, take advantage of this mild (though slightly scary) weather.

Learn New Things!

There are some amazing bike trails around these parts!  The Illinois Prairie Path gives riders a chance to learn about various neighborhoods in addition to being one of the prettiest and friendliest paths in Chicagoland.  If you’re up for more of a challenge and a lot more info, the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route crosses 6 states (and 2 countries!) to give you a glipse of one of the routes many freedom seeking Africans used to escape the horrors of slavery.  (Hop on over to Adventure Cycling Association to learn more about that route as well as others traveling the Grand Canyon, Adirondacks and more.)

Have More Fun, Meet New People & Have Family Time!

What’s wonderful about biking is its inherent fun-ness!  You can bike leisurely and have a chatty ride with family or allow yourself a ride that is a solo endurance test.  I have, on more than one occasion, met and made new friends–often because of my cool helmet and orange, vintage bike!

 

So, now, you’ve got a few reasons to get started.  Take the leap and don’t forget to let me know how it goes!

Hey Folks!

 

I’m just checking in to give you all an update.  If all goes well (and I hope and pray it does), the new site should be up by Monday!  Thanks for hanging in there with me.  Check out what’s going on on twitter at @ashebody!  Looking forward to putting up new blog posts soon!

Hello Everyone!

 

You all know that blog posts have been put on hold until the new site is up, but I just couldn’t wait!  We had an AMAZING shoot for the upcoming Crave Chicago guide and I wanted you all to see it!  By clicking the link, you’ll pop on over to Bum Bul Bee Photography to get a peek at some of the images.

http://bumbulbee.com/chicago-family-photographer-ashe/

Ashbey Riley is an awesome photographer!  She completely got the vision and made me (normally a horrible model) feel and look great!  The session went above and beyond my expectations.  Can you believe these pictures were taken right here at a little, quiet beach spot?  Makes you love Chicagoland even more!  The models, Brittany and Joy, were phenomenal.  You’d never know that they were freezing their buns off in 50 degree lakeside weather!  Joy did double duty as a model and Joy-of-all-trades. (Was that corny enough for you?) Ashbey’s partner, Chip, got all of the behind the scenes dirt on film and was a godsend helping us lug around equipment.  All in all, we had a great shoot with lots of laughs and great fun (and I finally got to smize*).

 

 

*To smize is to smile with your eyes.  It’s a term coined by Tyra Banks and used often on her show, America’s Next Top Model.

 

 

To address issues with the feet, we’ve got to, first, pay attention to them!  In between visits with your massage therapist or reflexologist, give your feet a rub.  You may not have any formal or special training, but you know what feels good to you.  Here are a couple a neat ideas to help you help your feet.

 

Nature’s Reflexology!

 

Use the earth as your reflexology sub!  The different textures of the earth can be quite soothing to the feet.  Take a trip to the lake and walk around in the sand.  The grains might seem tiny to you, but they work in concert to give you a soothing smoothing that not only feels great, but will also leave you with freshly exfoliated feet.  During the winter months, you can substitute salt, sugar, coffee grounds (especially great for the skin!) or raw oats in lieu of sand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I recommend taking your socks off, this person’s got the right idea!  Walking on warm, smooth rocks can be incredibly therapeutic!  Think, a hot stone massage…only standing.  Using your body weight to rub your feet over the points and grooves in the rocks can help break up knots and loosen up tight muscles.  DIYers can get creative with a board (preferably wooden) and peas, bottle caps or almost anything round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can use some of the oils from your kitchen cabinet to give your feet some love and attention.  While Jojoba oil (pronounced ho-ho-ba) is a massage therapists’ best friend, you can get results from coconut oil, grapeseed oil, almond oil, olive oil and others.  A great rule of thumb is to use what you have.  Now, go on and get to lovin’ up your feet!  Enjoy!

 

Maybe the title’s a bit dramatic, but stay with me.  Over the past few years, the flip-flop trend has been picking up more and more steam.  I get it.  They’re easy, cheap and they come in a million colors.  Those reasons, however, really aren’t great reasons to use them as an everyday shoe option.  Here are my top three reasons to get off the flip-flop train.

 

 

Reason 1: Hygiene!

Have you ever seen someone’s feet after they’ve spent the day traveling around the city in flip-flops?  YUCK!  Not only do the feet look dirty, they’re coated in bacteria.  That sweeping/sliding sound is actually the sound of the shoe kicking up the city’s nastiness.  To be fair, Chicago is cleaner than most big cities, but we’ve all seen some shocking things happen on our sidewalks.  Do you really want that stuff on your feet?

 

Reason 2: Swagger!

Flip-flops force us to alter our gait.  We end up having less of a stride and more of a shuffle.  (Be honest, you’ve never caught yourself thinking, “Now, that person has a strong, confident shuffle.”)  Since swagger is all about the way you carry yourself, your walk is very important; it can, for good or bad, affect our first impressions or our next impressions.  If for no other reason than vanity, put the flip-flops away.

 

Reason 3: Locomotion

As I mentioned above, flip-flops force us to change the way we walk.  The lack of coverage pushes us to do things we wouldn’t normally do in order to hold on to the shoe.  We squeeze our toes trying to grip the thong between them so the shoe (or our foot) doesn’t go flying off somewhere.  Doing this causes us to overwork the muscles in the lower leg which encourages a chain reaction of muscle contractions on up through the rest of the body.  We also end up loosing our natural foot falls.  Normally, when we walk, our heels hit the ground first, then the balls of our feet and then our toes.  Flip-flops change all that.  We end up using the toe grip to help us lift the shoes off the ground and land our feet back down flatly or we keep our feet low and use a kind of kick and drag method.  With either, we don’t get the full range of movement that the body has to offer.  The shoe dictates the walking pattern and we lose out on movement in our feet, legs and hips especially.  Take your body back and show your feet some love by saying goodbye to flip-flops!

 

 

 

 

Let me know what you think!  Do you agree, disagree or don’t care one bit?

Let’s focus on our feet this week.  How much attention do we really pay to them?  How much do we know about them?  Here are a few foot facts to get us started.

 

 

Foot Facts

•  There are 26 bones in the foot.
• 30+ joints connect the bones in our feet.
• More than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments help our feet move.
•  You can’t talk about the foot without talking including the ankle.  No…literally, the “ankle bone” is actually comprised of multiple bones.  They are the bones of the lower leg and an foot bone called the talus.
• Thinking balance?  The toes are important for balancing and bearing weight, walking and helping us keep a steady gait.

• There are 2 arches in the foot: medial longitudinal arch (the springs of the foot) and the lateral longitudinal arch (weight bearing and balance)

 

 

That’s a little to get us started.  Here’s an exercise:

 

Where’s Your Weight?

Stand barefoot on a solid, level surface with your knees slightly bent.  (Make sure your feet are shoulders’ width apart.)

Take in a deep breath and relax.

Notice where your weight is in your feet.  (Is it more towards the front? Back? Left? Right?)

With your feet still planted, slowly shift your weight forward then backward then left then right.

Come back to the center, deep breath and notice any changes.

Where did the muscles in your body (especially in your legs) feel most relaxed?  Take note of this for later exercises.

 

It’s Friday!  Here’s a fun song to sing to yourself in the mirror!  Enjoy!

 

Grace Jones…is pure magnificence.  She is a woman who has had the courage to be herself fully at all times.  I think we can all learn a little from her fierceness and fearlessness.  ashe.

 

(p.s. check out the cameos in this video.)

So, every now and then, there are times when things seem off.  Our timing is a bit off, our thoughts lag a little and we don’t feel quite so settled or balanced.  In those moments, days or (dare I say it) weeks, it is important to be still and…listen.  Listen with your ears, your eyes, you heart and your instincts.  Listen to what’s going on around you.  Listen because the shifts happening are trying to tell you something.  ashe.

 

 

This next song is by the musical powerhouses Sweet Honey in the Rock. Breaths is a great song because of its message and its energy. (It’s a must add to any yoga, qigong or wake up/go to sleep music mix.) Enjoy!

note: There’s a skip or two in the first 35 seconds. (Sorry, this was the best version I could find.)