Mindfulness, Self Expression, and Wellness...One wall flip at a time

Question: What features wellness, mindfulness, self expression, exercise, being outdoors, and adventure, all rolled into one?

Answer: Actually, two activities combine all of these activities and philosophies. Both are a fusion of art and practicality.

The first type is Parkour. Parkour is a form of physical movement rooted in efficiency. American Parkour describes the art as "moving through your environment using only your body and the surroundings to propel yourself. It can include running, jumping, climbing, even crawling, if that is the most suitable movement for the situation." Parkour is commonly practiced in forests, urban areas, playgrounds, obstacle courses, and gymnasiums. The core philosophy of parkour is the unity of body and mind in quick, efficient movements to overcome obstacles and reach destinations. While parkour does have a set of defined movements and forms, the primary focus is on the intention of the movement and it's ability to effectively and efficiently carry the traceur (one who practices parkour) over or past the obstacle.

The second type is Free Running. Where Parkour emphasizes economy and efficiency of movement, Free Running encourages creativity and expression, including additional flips, rolls, twists, and other moves. Movements in Free Running are only limited by the imagination of the runner. Free running is sometimes thought of as a cousin art to Parkour and evolved from attempts to present Parkour philosophies to English speaking audiences (from the original French).

How can we tell the difference between Parkour and it's younger cousin Free Running? American Parkour differentiates between the two:

Parkour is defined by the purpose to "get somewhere quickly and efficiently using the human body", and Free Running is defined by the activity or art of moving through your environment however you want, moving your way, following your own path.

Why not give it a shot? If you're bored with a workout on an elliptical or treadmill (and who isn't), try simply starting outside (or in a gymnasium) and getting from one side of your area to the other as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you want a little more expression, throw in some somersaults. Of course, always know your limits and be safe! It's funny - as I think about Parkour and Free Running, I'm realizing that my scampers across rocks, driftwood, and boulders at the Oregon Coast as a boy were probably amateur Parkour. Of course, I couldn't help but race my friends and father, although Parkour would frown on racing. Later, I found myself as an adult (at least in age) embarrassed of such running in public. Anyone who thinks they might be embarrassed to run like this in public should check out these guys.

If you're interested in trying either of these techniques, you might want to start here. Of course, anyone starting out shouldn't try the advanced moves in some of the videos (including the one posted here). Remember to start easy, know your own limits, and be safe!

1000s Doing Tai Chi - Why not try it?

This was forwarded to me by David Vanadia, who teaches Tai Chi for Recess:

Join me and 998 other people at Tai Chi for 1,000!

Saturday, May 31st: 10 am - 11:30 am

Located in the South Waterfront Park (near the OHSU tram)

Free and open to the public.

** You do not need to know Tai Chi to attend.

This event is part of Horatio Law's artist-in-residence at Air Studio:
http://www.southwaterfront.com/art_and_design/artist

Horatio is a Chinese American artist exploring what Portland would be like today had the thousands of Chinese immigrants who once lived here been legally allowed to purchase land. His goal is 1,000 people (give or take) practicing together, so bring friend or two.

Motivation

On most days I find myself struggling with motivation, and I like to think that I am normal. Today it was a rainy gray morning. My alarm clock went off at 5:30 and I immediately hit the snooze button. As I laid in my warm bed listening to the rain fall and my doggy snoring happily beside me, I could find myself struggling to find the motivation to get up. I needed to find a way to get my butt moving. So I began to think about how lucky I was that I got to work from home this morning giving me the opportunity to sleep in and get in a trip to the gym. I thought of how happy my day would be without the stress of worrying about working out when I got home
late in the evening, or feeling guilty for not working out at all. My motivations for working out change daily, maybe even hourly. Sometimes it is the weather, the sun shine makes me jump at the chance to get up and move. Some days it is my doggy’s big brown eyes looking at me begging for a walk to the park. And sometimes it is the fact that I have a date in 8 hours and want to have the confidence to wear my new dress and not feel guilty for drinking more beers than my diet allows! The other night I was fortunate to attend a fabulous event put on by a local group, DinnerGrrls. It was my first introduction to the group and I was welcomed with a warm reception. Our speaker for the evening was Adrienne Fritze. I am not super connected in to the artist world here in Portland – so I did know how lucky I was to be sitting in this intimate setting with her. For those of you who don’t know her story or what she is doing for the artist community here in Portland, I highly suggest you check her out, http://adriennefritze.com/. Over sake and sushi she told us of her amazing journey and all of the trials and tribulations she has had. And she also spoke a lot on motivation. How did she keep going when the world around her seemed to keep constantly knocking her down? Adrienne said something that resounded in me. She said she walks with the most amazing, caring, and loving companions. Her family, friends, and the love that is shared between them is her biggest motivating factor. She is motivated by love; pure, open, and honest love. And I awoke to that fact this morning that love is my biggest motivating factor too. The love of my family, the beautiful world around me, my snuggly puppy dog, and of course my friends and my community. The women in my life are all super active, crazy, beautiful, and keep me moving. They run triathlons, practice yoga, surf, bike, skate, snowboard, dance, ski, swim, walk, run, laugh, rock climb and most importantly LIVE (out loud). If I didn’t have them, most days it would be easy to just go back to bed. Which is why I think it is so important to build your own community of motivation. A new community I am looking forward to meeting is through the boot camp! Not only do you learn the tools you need to make the first steps towards fitness but you also meet an amazing new group of people who 3 times a week will be there to motivate you and to push you farther than you have gone. I know I will be there ready to cheer you on and I hope you will be there to cheer me on! Until then I'll look towards the sun, a group of amazing friends, the way my body feels after it has ran 5 miles, and cute boys and puppy dogs for my motivation. Look for your own and think about it before you hit your snooze button.

Happiness by Proxy

No matter how many times I watch this it always cracks me up. A good thing to look at when your day needs a little shaking up.

Recess At Work Day? Seriously? Alright!

Oh Mah God.

www.recessatworkday.com

Did you get the memo?

June 19^th is Recess At Work; a part of any good employee wellness program.

What's next?

Start planning now!

Help Clean up Oregon's Beaches by Voting Here

I know this may be a little bit different posting than our usually sassy fitness survival tips - but here at Recess we believe that a part of being healthy is taking care of our environment, especially the one that we live in.

A huge part of my health and well being comes from nature, the ocean especially. Most weekends you will find me and my dog catching waves at Short Sands, missing waves and enjoying sand in our toes in PC, hiking up Saddle Mountain, or eating burritos in Manzanita. I love the ocean for everything it brings to my life and to my environment.

I'm not alone, Recess' Health Immersion Program (Boot Camp) ends in a surf camp at the Oregon Coast. The picture to the left is is past participant who found that surfing became the way that she loved to easily stay healthy and motivated to be fit.

For the past 6 years I have been an active member of the Surfrider Foundation's Portland Chapter. SF is a grassroots non profit dedicated to preserving the world's oceans, waves and beaches.

Last year Surfrider teamed up with Barefoot Wine and launched the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue project to make and keep America's beaches barefoot friendly! They toured around the country, helping beaches through cleanups and native plantings.

Afterwards the lucky beach crew celebrated with a party featuring food, music, and of course tons of Barefoot Wine! This year Portland is one of the lucky cities in the running to be chosen as a featured beach! All we need to do is vote!!! And the good news is you can vote daily :)

If you feel inspired to bring national attention to our own Oregon beaches and celebrate how great they are with Barefoot Wine - then please vote here!
http://www.barefootwine.com/beachrescue

Add a bookmark and do it daily - oh and now that the sun is out - head for the beach and get some sand in your toes as well. Did you know that you can burn almost 300 calories just strolling down the beach for an hour?

OMG Work is Making ME Sooooo Fat!

Ok so here is the bad news. Work really DOES make you fat.

Survey says 45% of employees gain weight at work


"Your wallet may not be the only thing your job fattens.
According to a survey published Wednesday by Chicago-based CareerBuilder.com, 45 percent of workers have gained weight at their current jobs.

Twenty-six percent of employees said they have gained more than 10 pounds and 12 percent said they have gained more than 20 pounds while in their current jobs. Women are more likely (50 percent) than men (42 percent) to say they have put on the pounds at their current jobs."


Does this look all too familiar?

What's next:
Try an on-site group fitness class at work to eliminate a barrier and keep the needle on the scale from creeping upwards....

Taking your workout to the streets saves energy too!

Did you know that if 10,000 people avoid the treadmill for 15 hours each month, in a year we'll save enough energy to power a post-workout whirlpool tub for almost 29 years. Now that is energy worth spending!

Also why not try riding your bike? It is another great way to get your heart rate up. In addition, if 10,000 people bike once a week (to the store, to work, to the bar...one way), in a year we'll save enough gas to drive from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina 92 times roundtrip!!

Home Gym Equipment Is For The Birds (errrrr cats?)!

Research shows that 80% of home gym equipment goes unused after the first year. If you are feeling discouraged by seeing that $1,000 treadmill collecting dust in front of your basement television - don't lose hope!

What's next?
If you are bored of the same routine then taking a walk with a heart rate monitor can be just as beneficial as walking on a treadmill. Use the monitor to continually improve the intensity, distance and duration of your walks. Vary your route - mixing it up to keep it interesting. As a bonus to the environment - taking a walk doesn't produce carbon emissions!

And if you are still feeling guilty about not using that treadmill then we suggest getting creative about who should use it and how it should be used. Other members of your family might still benefit!



Treadmills - all the cool cats are doing it.

Corporate Gym Memberships - A Perk for the Healthy

Ask companies what they are doing to improve the health of their workforce and many respond that they offer a corporate gym membership.

In an era where growth of the cost of health care is surpassing nearly every other business expense, I can't help but feel like banging my head against the wall every time I hear this response. Here's why:

Poor Participation:
Chances are, people aren't using your corporate gym membership program. An article by Bradley Cardinal Ph.D. estimates that only 9-20% of employees take advantage of corporate gym memberships. Those who take advantage of the programs are often the ones who would have participated regardless of whether or not their employer subsidized membership.

Nationwide only 16% of Americans belong to a gym; however, more than 60% of Americans don't get enough regular physical activity. You do the math but the outcome is the same - for whatever reason most people don't like or are not able to go to a gym.

Ignoring Employee/Buyer Motivation (and reality!):
Hoping that offering a corporate gym membership will entice those same people to see the error in their ways and pick up the exercise habit is a bet with lousy odds.

A report in The Houston Christian Post cites an IHRSA official as saying "Despite the national obsession with fitness, about 85 percent of Americans do not belong to a gym, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. The most frequently cited reason for not joining a gym? A lack of time and intimidation, said Brooke Correia, the industry group's spokeswoman."

Raise your hand if you think offering a corporate gym membership is going to give people more time or help them feel less intimated by a gym. If you raised your hand you are a fool.

Not Rewarding Or Encouraging the Right Behaviors (i.e. increased fitness):
Even among the few who do go to the gym, statistics show they do not go enough to make a difference in their health. The Surgeon General recommends that Americans engage in a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week. Most health club members only make it to the gym 92 times per year and that does not speak to the quality or the duration of their visit - simply that they walked in the door of their health club.

As we all know many of those same clubs offer massage, tanning and other non-exercise activities - like standing around and talking to the tan, muscled up guy at the weight station to the right.


Return on Investment?
Those going to the gym are too few to impact your company's general health. And if those going are otherwise healthy (i.e. have fewer risks to reduce to begin with) then offering Corporate Gym Memberships is leaving a very substantial subset of your workforce progressing toward inevitably higher levels of disease risk as time passes.

What's next?
Keeping people's real motivations in mind, how can you make physical activity accessible and attractive to a larger portion of the working population?

1. Offer classes on-site as part of a larger multi-component wellness program that is convenient and appealing to employees.
   
2. Monitor attendance and market the program in a way that is attractive to high and medium risk populations.
   
3. Remove barriers to entry by emphasizing moderate intensity programming and comfortable, qualified instructors with experience teaching mixed level classes.
   
4. Award incentives to those with improved risk status, regular program participation, or, a combination of both.

Don't get me wrong, as part of a broader, multi-component corporate wellness program, offering credits for joining a gym can be a good way to reward folks who are already motivated to practice healthy behaviors. On the flip side, corporate gym memberships alone are not an adequate or even substantial substitute for an effective wellness program.