Bluebells and Cockle Shells

Spring sprang for a beautiful few days this week. The flowers began to bloom, the grass shot green shoots, birds sang, the sun shone - everything was beautiful. And warm.

Inspired by the dewy breezes blowing through my open windows, I spent this week developing a plan for my "get healthy" goal. So here it is:

Ride my bike to class.

I have classes two nights a week at IUPUI for my IU Masters in PR. At the end of this month, downtown street parking is changing and I will no longer be able to park on the street and walk a couple blocks to class. My options are now to either pay for a parking permit or pay weekly parking garage fees. Neither option is acceptable and I like to bike. So I choose the bike. My sweet little hybrid bike, named Bluebell, is just what I need to conquer the new downtown Indy parking debacle and help me establish a healthier lifestyle. And besides, with the cultural trail completed in my neighborhood, I can see me and Bluebell zipping all over the place this summer!

Connect with my inner Gumby.

My brother and I loved Gumby and Pokey when we were little. They stretched, they bent, they flowed - and they could walk in and out of any book they wanted to, at any time. While book walking will have to be left to my imagination, I have started doing yoga - in very small increments - to connect with my inner Gumby (or more likely, Pokey).

I do 10-15 minutes of yoga in the morning when I wake up and another 10-15 minutes of yoga in the evening before I go to bed. I love the endorphin rush I get from that early morning session and I feel so relaxed and warm after my evening session that I am sleeping more soundly at night. I am certainly a yoga neophyte and more than a little self-conscious about my abilities, so yoga classes were always tough for me. As a result, I went searching on Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes for instructional yoga videos that would fit my requirements. Not surprisingly, I found several. My favorite routines, so far, came from a program on Exercise TV called "Anytime Yoga." The sessions are super gentle and great for a beginner like me. They get you moving and warm and, best of all, explain to you why each pose is important.

Check it out:

As with anything, I anticipate that as I continue to practice yoga, I will continue to improve. In the case of me and yoga, there really is no where to go but up.

Keep it fresh (and local).

I few weeks ago I mentioned that I had started to receive produce delivery from Green BEAN Delivery. Well, now I am a few weeks into the service and I can tell you I absolutely love coming home to my green box of goodies. I have fallen in love with cooking again and find myself scouring the internet for healthy recipes for all the amazing produce and grains. This weeks challenges include fennel, broccolette, and quinoa.

Tomorrow I am heading to Goose the Market to check out some fresh meats and their amazing selection of lentils (my favorite type of legume). While I doubt their bacon of the month club is for me, I think I will be able to find a nice protein source to add to a stir fry or curry this weekend.

So, that is my health plan, at this point. I know I will have to make additions and changes, pending weather and the apocalypse but for now it seems like a good start and it makes me feel like I am finally taking my health back into my own hands.

With health and wellness in mind, I am on my way to do my evening yoga routine and settle down for an early night. Tomorrow brings new challenges and new adventures and my happier, healthier self will be ready for them.

Don't forget to take some time to reclaim yourself this weekend.

Namaste.

Changed Perspective

Two months ago, when I accepted my new position, I worried about the difficulty in letting go of the CSAPPB, a group of incredible young women with whom I had spent the better part of the last four years. Today was the first CSAPPB meeting since I had resigned my role as advisor. So I was rather surprised when I received a call from one of the group's volunteer advisors, asking me a question about the meeting, and I realized I had completely forgotten it was a CSAPPB weekend.

How is it that in less than four weeks my life's focus has shifted so much that what was once on the forefront of my "radar" had faded to something I had to be reminded of? And, of course, that makes me a little sad. After all, this is a group of teens of which I am immeasurably proud. The group (and the individuals therein) is perhaps my singular greatest source of professional pride. Each member of the group is so incredible and as a team they are absolutely astonishing.

So on this cold, sunny, almost Spring day I have spent some time reflecting on what it means to move on.

Moving on is not about forgetting. It is not about caring less. It is about celebrating what was and creating the opportunity for future growth. And while I am applying these thoughts to a professional arena, I can't help but think they could also be applied to a more personal one.

So moving on is essential. But it isn't easy. And it certainly isn't without some emotional investment.

And, in the spirit of getting me, and some of you, through an emotional time, I would also like to share something else I learned today - a new recipe for delicious (and somewhat healthy) comfort food (see picture above).

Tortellini and Broccoli with Creamy Pesto

Ingredients:

1 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup basil pesto (either bought in a store or made at home)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or other dry, pungent cheese)

2 cups steamed broccoli florets

2 cups cooked tortellini (could also use linguine, if you prefer)

3-5 basil leaves - chiffonade

fresh cracked pepper (black or white)

Directions:

Cook tortellini until al dente. Using a bamboo steamer (or other steamer), lightly steam broccoli just until bright green. In a sauce pan, wisk milk and pesto together and simmer. When it begins to thicken, add cheese (reserving a couple pinches for garnish). Stir together until smooth. Toss with cooked pasta and broccoli. Garnish with remainder of cheese, pepper, and basil. Enjoy!

Some other foods I am excited to try this week include a mango-mint smoothie and a pork and green bean stir fry. Comfort food all the way, but all with a healthy twist!

So dear friends, when you move on - whether it's from a job, a relationship, or a favorite pair of shoes, remember to celebrate the old, anticipate the new and, while making the journey, take a minute to enjoy some comfort.

Life as I know it

When I started this blog, I was worried that the content would be very self-serving and a little vacuous. This whole thing started as a way to help me reclaim my life and sometimes that seems a little selfish to me. After all, there are far bigger problems in the world than my lack of free time. And then a couple of things happened today - which forced me to realize that when I say that I am reclaiming me, it is so much more than finding new places to drink coffee in Indianapolis or doing well on a paper for school. I really am reclaiming a healthy, balanced outlook on life. And the last 24 hours have reaffirmed just how important that really is.

Last night, through a series of emails with an old friend, I found out that a young woman with whom I have worked for the past four years, and who I have known since she was about five, attempted suicide. A girl who seemingly had it all actually felt so helpless and so alone that a handful of sleeping pills seemed to be her only viable option. As I sit here typing this, she sits in a hospital under supervision, her family reeling. And I am having trouble reconciling the image I have of her - vivacious, enthusiastic, upbeat - with her current reality.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health and the Indiana State Attorney General's office, suicide is a leading cause of death in teens. Suicide is preventable. The first step to preventing suicide is talking about it.

This morning, an article I wrote for the United Way of Central Indiana about the correlation between teen suicide and self-esteem programming was posted to their blog and sent out in their agency newsletter.

The article (which you can read here) talks about my work with a specific girl named Allie. Over the past four years, I have watched Allie grow from a shy girl, unsure about herself and her place in this crazy world, into a confident and self-assured young woman. Now, I absolutely cannot take credit for the transformation - Allie had this in her all the time. What I can take credit for is providing Allie with a series of opportunities and forums in which she felt comfortable expressing herself and respected for who she is. Allie's story is one of my favorites from my time in direct service because it really does illustrate the impact my organization's program can have on young women.

Personally, the two stories I shared tonight have helped reaffirm that the work I did was good, and the programs I now work to secure funding for are still relevant and much-needed. As I close this entry, my young friend is beginning the process of reclaiming her life. Not in the way that I am, but in a much more rigorous and essential manner. I am so thrilled that Allie's story, which is really her journey towards claiming her life, has been shared and I hope people read it (and this) and are inspired to talk about, offer help to, or even give to one of the many amazing youth-serving organizations in central Indiana. After all, these are the organizations that will help girls like Allie blossom and girls like my young friend in the hospital recover.