MAY FEATURED ST&BF Activities: A Smorgasbord of Physical Activity!
I have been selecting various individual ST&BF activities as our “featured” ST&BF activity each month. In January we featured the Indoor Row Group, February was Gentle Yoga for Cancer Survivors, March was Qigong for Cancer Survivors, and April was Steps to Survivorship! For the month of May I am featuring a sort of “smorgasbord” of activities and I encourage you to join us for one, some, or all!
BREATHING (& some Qigong)!
“Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.” —Gustav Mahler.
It is the first thing we do when we are born, and the last thing we do when we die. And yet, in between... most of us take breathing for granted. It is easy to do. It happens automatically, spontaneously, unconsciously.
One way we may be able to gain a greater appreciation for this simple but life-sustaining process (and make sure we are doing it right) is to pay more attention to it. Most who practice yoga, qigong, or meditation have been encouraged to focus on their breath!
Join us for a Qigong for Cancer Survivors session followed by an interesting (recorded) conversation between a science journalist and a Qigong Master on the topic of breath including what thousands of years of practice suggests and what modern science supports!
Monday, May 1st
4:45P to 5:15P – A Basic Qigong Practice
5:15P to 6:00P – View/Listen to Recorded
Conversation (I will share details and a link to the
conversation after May 1st)
6:00P to ? – Discussion!
WALKING (“Steps” & Urban Poling)!
“In winter I plot and plan, in spring I move.” – Henry Rollins.
Walking is a simple and easy way to be more active, lose weight, and become healthier! A brisk walk can help you build stamina, burn excess calories, build stronger muscles, and reduce stress and anxiety!
Join us on Tuesday, May 2nd as we take some “Steps to Survivorship” with a group walk that will include an (optional) introduction to “urban poling” as we “Step UP (Urban Poling) for Survivorship”! Similar to Nordic walking, which uses slightly more specialized poles, urban poling uses more traditional trekking poles.
Benefits of Urban Poling:
- Burns more calories than standard walking.
- Transfers weight from hip and knees to upper body, causing less stress on the lower body.
- Offers better balance and decreases the chance of falling with constant two points of contact (one foot and one pole).
- Engages more muscles than standard walking (up to 90% of muscles) including upper body, back, and core muscles.
- Contributes to better posture.
- Research suggests walkers who use trekking poles walk farther, faster, and more frequently.
- Available to a wide range of fitness levels – simply walk faster or slower to modify the intensity.
Whether you want to take some regular “Steps to Survivorship” or give urban poling a try and “Step UP (Urban Poling) for Survivorship,” you are invited to join us on May 2nd at Veterans Park in Sheboygan with start times at 4P and 530P. A limited number of trekking poles will be available (first come/first reserved) or bring your own if you have them. We will offer a qigong-style warm-up before each start time.
Tuesday, May 2nd
4PM – Session 1 (Qigong-style warm-up at 3:50)
530PM – Session 2 (Qigong-style warm-up at 3:50)
KITING (Just “Go Fly a Kite!”)
“Sometimes we can only find our true direction when we let the wind of change carry us.” —Mimi Novic
Like most physical activities or forms of exercise, a person can get as much or as little exercise as they want flying kites. Sending a small kite on a string into the sky and then sitting back to watch it dance in the wind can be a fun and relaxing experience... but provides little exercise. Anchoring, launching, and constantly adjusting multiple large kites or taking on the wind with a multi-line stunt or power kite can be a real workout!
Whether you are looking for a relaxing experience, a real workout, or something in between, consider joining us for “Great Heights with Delightful Kites” on Thursday, May 11th. As necessary, details will be determined based on weather, wind, and conditions and communicated via the ST&BF POP UP e-mail list for this and future opportunities (contact Tim to be added to that list)!
PICKLEBALL PLAY
As the weather warms the many sounds of summer will soon be heard at local parks... including the “dink – dink – dink” of pickleball players as they fill the outdoor courts! We have scheduled a “Pickleball Play” session for Wednesday, May 31st at 3PM at Vollrath Park!
BIRDING (see next article)!
“My favorite weather is bird chirping weather.” —Terri Guillemets
MY CHALLENGE OF THE MONTH!
“Spring is when life’s alive in everything.” —Christina Rossett
The month of May (May 11th to be exact) marks my 31st “cancer-versary”! As I have done for most (if not all) of my past thirty-one “cancer-versaries,” I plan to commemorate it with some type of physical challenge. In past years I have run, kayaked, hiked/backpacked, flown kites, and so much more. Last year, for example, to commemorate my 30-year “cancer-versary” I exercised for 30-minutes or more, 30 days of the month, with thirty different activities! Honestly, the hardest part was coming up with thirty different activities!
Admittedly, I typically do something fun... something I enjoy doing. But, often times, what is best for us is not what we want to do but what we need to do.
I am realizing, as an aging athlete, what I probably need most is more strength work. So, I decided to start with the most basic body weight strength exercise – PUSH UPS!
I am challenging myself to do 31 pushups a day for 31 consecutive days throughout the month of May. I am not confident that I can do 31 standard pushups at once (I will find out on May 1st). If not, I will start by doing two or more sets. As my strength improves throughout the month (fingers crossed) my plan will not be to do more than 31 pushups... but to do more difficult push up variations (see illustration below), although the “single arm pushup” may be a bit of a pipe dream!?!
I certainly welcome you to join me. Pick a daily number that you feel comfortable with. Feel free to start with a simple knee push up (or even a wall pushup)! Or come up with a challenge of your own. I would love to hear what challenges you set for yourself and how you do! Or, better yet, send me ideas for future monthly challenges that we can all participate in.
And, while we’re on the topic of challenges, let me take this opportunity to remind you of a couple of other (on-going) challenges – the ST&BF Active Survivors of Sheboygan (A.S.S.) or the Active Survivors of Sheboygan’s incredible support team (A.S.S.i.s.t.) as well as the ST&BF CUMULATIVE Marathon (26.2 mile) Walk/Run, 100-kilometer Row, and 100-mile Bike! See the latter article or contact Tim for details!
(See attached PDF to view related photos)
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