Difficult Decisions

Dear all,

I have had to make some difficult decision in the last couple of weeks. The Lupus and fibromyalgia are presenting me with new challenges. I am determined to keep up my mission to get myself as fit as possible but what is very limited is my overall energy levels. I have had to give myself a good talking to!

I have tried to work out what energy is required and where I can make 'budget' cuts as it were. It is therefore with real regret that I have to suspend the part of my project in which I drag you with me! I am hoping that the key word there is suspend.

I will keep blogging about my own progress and cross my fingers that I will be back up to organising the group before too long.

Thank you all for your support.

 

Incidentally, the weather on Saturday was just glorious. Dave and I had a wonderful walk. We didn't go up over Bindon, as it was just the two of us and I wasn't really up to the challenge, we had a great walk down to the beach and around Stair Hole.

It was just stunning. Followed by a lovely coffee in the cafe. After lunch at home we also went to Arne in the afternoon.
 

Lovely day.

 

 

Circle Dancing Evening

The Centre of our Circle

Last night we met in my favourite hall for a bit of circle dancing. If you have never done this before you really should give it a go. It has a lovely feel good factor, is great fun and surprisingly good exercise.

Very gentle with steps that are enough to engage the brain so that you don't get bored but not over complicated so that you get frustrated with it. The music is wonderful folky stuff from around the world and a real pleasure to listen to.

We were led by the very talented Sandy Gent who is a real treasure. A wonderful person and a very patient teacher who manages to get everyone going. I had brought along some white fairy lights so we had the main hall lights off and set a lovely atmosphere. Sandy always puts a lovely centre piece of flowers and a candle which is our focus for dance.

I don't think anyone had tried circle dancing before (except me) so I was really delighted that people came along and gave it a go. Admittedly there were only ten of us dancing but it seemed just right and was totally enjoyable.

We took a little break after forty minutes and had a cuppa and something nice to munch and then did a couple more songs before finishing with a moment of silence and blowing out the candle to send all the good feeling that we had built up during the dancing out into the world.

Well done to everyone who gave it a go. Thank you for an enjoyable evening.

Walk at Worth Matravers

Fabulous walk today! Windspit walk at Worth Matravers.

Dave said this morning that I would lose my duck today (??) Having had dry sunny weather for every walk we have been on, despite being surrounded by days of lashing rain. I held with the faith ..... it would be dry.... and also had an auxiliary plan of a nice coffee in Corfe Castle if we all met up and it was torrential! After all, we don't want to lose the enjoyment factor do we?

I knew Lisa was coming with us but did not know whether to expect anyone else. I think everyone was perhaps put off by the rather ominous looking sky in the morning. By the time 10.30am arrived the fierce wind had swept the dark clouds away and we were left with a beautiful morning! I will admit that the fierce wind decided to stay with us and the ground was a little muddy. But with plenty of gear on it was still such a joy to be out in it.

So Lisa, Dave, me and Buster the dog set out from the tranquillity of the ducks at Worth Matravers and headed towards the sea. It was wild, fresh and lovely. It felt like it was snowing with mad white spray and foam showering up the cliffs at us!

I feel so grateful to be able to walk to places like these. I just love the countryside around The Purbecks particularly. It was really stunning. We walked for an hour and a half and the wind carried us up the hill on the way back. We fortified ourselves with a nice coffee in The Square and Compass at the end.

Thank you thank you lovely Lisa for your company, thank you Dave for your steady and constant support and well done Buster for being a 'good boy'.

Dave trying not to get blown over the cliff edge!

 

 



 

The sea was madly excited with itself today!

 

 

 

Directions to East Burton Village Hall

Directions to East Burton Village Hall

 

 

The address for the hall is:

 

East Burton House
East Burton Road
Wool
Wareham
Dorset BH20 6HE

 

 

If you are coming from Wareham Direction:-

Head towards Wool and before crossing the railway line turn right heading towards The Seven Stars pub which is signposted. Approx half a mile along the road you turn left (before the Seven Stars - if you get to the pub you have gone too far so turn around and find the road on your right!!) and the hall is a couple of doors along on the left.

 

If you are coming from Dorchester Direction:-

On the roundabout that takes you to Winfrith Police Headquarters turn left and then immediately right, follow the road almost to the end and the hall is on your right.

 

The car park is tiny so please just park on the road, considerately for the people who live in the village - thanks.

Preview of Friday 9th Meeting!

Looking forward to the second meeting this coming Friday (9th) - hope to see lots of you there. We will be hearing from Russell Thompson from Cumulus Outdoor Events about Coasteering - which is the exciting 'sport' of scrambling around the coast, into the water and up the rocks! I am so looking forward to this as I am really keen to try it next year. Russell took me on my abseiling this year so if anyone can get me coasteering it will be him. He is very positive and encouraging but also allows you to push yourself to your own limits without forcing! I am working towards next years challenge by trying to strengthen my arms, using my pilates band everyday.

Our next speaker is the very lovely Nikki Harman who will be talking about the benefits of meditation. In this rather crazy and full on world that we live in, where we are constantly available and connected, it is vital that we take time to learn some meditation techniques. If we don't help ourselves to counter balance modern life then we will all be suffering from stress related illness before too long. I believe that stress is the single worst factor for building up the toxins that cause our health problems. So get meditating everyone!!

We will also be hearing from Lisa Arnold who is talking about Zumba. This is the wonderfully exciting dance exercise class with fantastic latin style music. I am looking forward to hearing about this. I think it may be a little to much of a challenge for me but I aspire to be fit enough to have a go sometime. I hear Lisa's class start up next door to my Qi Gong class just as we are finishing. I was then talking to a friend who attends the class and recommended Lisa as a fab positive enthusiastic teacher so I emailed her and she replied straight away. Really pleased she is coming to talk to us and looking forward to hearing about her classes.

Our final speaker is Aaron Ticehurst who is the Duty Manager at Purbeck Sports  Centre. Having spoken to a few friends who are members there they all said how encouraging the staff are and how nice it is to go to a gym without feeling intimidated! For some of us that is a huge issue. It is scary when you are just starting your fitness journey to think about going into a gym, we imagine it to be the mecca of fit people where we will stand out like a sore thumb. The gym is a useful place in the cold winter months when we can't get the enthusiasm to go outside and exercise! Why not stay in the warm with some good music instead and friendly gym staff to encourage you.

This should be a great evening which will really encourage and inspire. So make sure you get there! No excuses about cold wintery evenings and not feeling like coming out. The fitness journey can't stop just because the winter is here. This is the time we really need to hear from people ready to inspire us and keep us going.

See you Friday at 7.15pm.

3.12.12 - all dates cancelled until further notice - sorry.

Dates for  your diary Nov  2012 – Jan 2013

Thursday 1^st November - Sikka View Walk - Meet at Sikka Trail Car park 10.30am. Not a power walk just an enjoyable walk in the beautiful countryside – rain or shine!! FREE

9th November - 2nd Meeting London to Rio. 7.15pm East Burton Village Hall.  Cost £2.50 includes tea/coffee.

Speakers on this evening will talk about ‘Coasteering’, ‘Zumba’, ‘Meditation’, and ‘Purbeck Gym Membership’

Thursday 15^th November - Cycle ride around Wareham Forest - Rain or shine - Meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 10.45am. (Nothing too difficult - promise) FREE.

Friday 16^th November - Group Walk around Wareham Forest meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 2pm. Rain or shine. FREE.

Thursday 22^nd November  Windspit  Walk - Meet at Worth Matravers Car park  opp the Square and Compass 10.30am. Not if weather dreadful, contact me if unsure on definition of dreadful! FREE

Friday 23^rd November – Circle Dancing Evening – This is a real MUST DO evening! The lovely Sandy Gent who is one of the best teachers EVER will take us through an evening of circle dancing. Ideal for everyone – no experience necessary – no great fitness levels necessary – just a lovely evening with great music and a real FEEL GOOD factor. East Burton Village Hall. Starts at 7.15 Cost £3.50 includes tea/coffee. Finished by 9 ish.

Saturday 1^st December – Bindon Hill Walk, Lulworth.  Meet at Castle Inn Car Park at 10.30am. Big hills on this walk folks but incredible views! May have to postpone if weather dreadful!

Friday 7^th December - Group Walk around Wareham Forest meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 1.30pm. Rain or shine. FREE.

Thursday 13^th December - Cycle ride around Wareham Forest - Meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 10.30am. FREE

Thursday 10^th January – Beach Walk, Studland – 10.30am Meeting place to be confirmed.

Friday 11^th January – London to Rio Meeting 7.15pm, East Burton Village Hall, We will be hearing about kayaking, other speakers to be confirmed. £2.50 includes tea/coffee.

 

Photography and geocaching

Don't panic - it's not all about extreme challenges and sports. Just because my mouth runs away with me and I come out with ridiculous plans (for a woman of my age and size) to start abseiling down cliffs or throwing myself off high rocks into cold water. It doesn't mean that this is my way of getting fit. It might be for some people of course. But for me in real life (and when I am not being terrified by my own challenges), fitness is about doing things that you enjoy.

I understand totally that this may be going into a gym for some people, but that doesn't do it for me. I can understand that it may be about running, or spinning (full on exercise bike class!!), but that isn't me either. In my effort to get fitter I do need to challenge myself but on a slow road from total oblivion to fitness it has to start with things that I can manage. For me that meant walking to the end of the road and back if that was all I could manage. It meant starting with the wonderful and health giving Qi Gong, gentle Chinese health exercises which changed the stagnant energy in my body and broke the total inertia. Once I had been doing Qi Gong for a few months I was able to start pilates. That has gradually increased my muscle strength and enabled me after another few months to start walking further distances.

The next question was how to walk those increased distances without feeling like either a) I was exercising or b) I was moaning. Simple, find a hobby that goes with the walking and takes your mind off distance travelled. Now, I can appreciate the scenery and I love being out in it, but sometimes I need a little extra to keep me motivated. Well, I have combined several  hobbies that work a treat.

Firstly, I got a camera. Its ok, I am not going to get technical about this, I still use it on Autofocus. But it is so much fun to record the beauty that is around me. I expect I will get into a little more of the technical stuff later on, but I am slightly lacking the logic gene so maybe not! I have also been shown some wonderful Photoshop techniques and that is great for taking pictures with a view to making up wacky posters when you get home and don't know what to do with yourself for an evening. (I am afraid I don't have the patience for TV. I am currently trying to watch Downton Abbey because it is so good but I may have to wait for the dvd's to come out as the adverts drive me mad with boredom.)

I LOVE my camera. I can highly recommend this as an exercising hobby - you need to get out into the world - and that means walking - you just need to get to another place and round another bend to see what comes next - to get the next photo. It helps that lovely husband is into his wildlife photography so I just follow him while he stalks butterflies and birds and I am like a Japanese tourist snapping away behind him.

I then met a friend who introduced me to the wonderful world of geocaching. What is geocaching? Well if you need to have it explained properly then I recommend going to
https://www.geocaching.com/

If you are happy with the gist then here it is. Geocaching involves using a hand held gps (or phone with appropriate app) to navigate your way to set coordinates and upon reaching them find the hidden cache (no not cash as I had to explain to my disappointed 16 year old son who can now of course no longer see the point of it!!) You then log your geocaching name in a little book (or sometimes a tiny piece of paper if it is a micro cache) and when you get home you go on to the website and log your visit to say that you have found a certain cache and you clock up your number of finds.

What is the point I hear you ask? Well to be honest, for me, it is getting me out to places I would not have otherwise got around to visiting. It makes me walk for miles and hours on end rather than just a quick walk that you and your bored hound have done millions of times. There is often a puzzle to solve or multiple coordinates to find clues which lead you to the final destination and the cache. It has a slight competitive edge if you want it to. It can drive you crazy but it is really loads of fun! Exercise with a little twist to take your mind off the miles that your legs are covering just to clock up one more cache thats 'nearby'!!

 

 

Find what inspires you and get out there - the world around you is an amazing place enjoy it.