The path to the future isn't straight.

Although my housekeeping doesn't really testify to this, I like things tidy. Well, I like tidy ideas of the world, like that things could be simply black or white. It's just so satisfying. But I know it's not real life, at least not mine.

Which is why, today, when I went to a friend's house to give one of my first ever practice Pilates lessons, the first stop I made was at the community college where I've been teaching English for.ev.er. Yet another semester. Ugh. Yet another round of paperwork to get on the sub list. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. It was as though part of me was moving towards the future and part of me retracing the same old steps.

I'd had fantasies of being completely done with that job. I was a fitness instructor now, no looking back!

I think any journey is like this, whether it's starting a new career or becoming a healthier person. Maybe you've decided you're going to start eating better. And you do, for a while. Then it's back to doughnuts and Dum Dums and, then suddenly it hits you that Spelt is freakin' awesome and you find a truly delicious recipe for kale and, and, and, then you and your best friend spend a sugar-hazed evening dipping pretzels in Nutella.

The head of my Pilates program sums it up as, "It's a process, man."

Anyway, I'm telling you and I'm telling me: let's stop beating ourselves up because the road isn't straight. Remember the Zen saying, "The obstacle is the path." Yep, we're on the scenic route, not the interstate. It's gonna take longer, but if we do it right, it'll be way more satisfying.

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The other head problem

Though not as common as Forward Head , let's talk about another postural deviation I'll call Chin Up Head. Here's a good example. By our cultural standards, she's gorgeous: that neck goes on for days! But in addition to her head being forward, her chin is lifted. End result: stunningly beautiful uh....compression of the neck vertebrae. The technical term is cervical extension and it usually isn't as extreme as the model above. Here are more subtle examples: It's a little hard to see but all these people have their heads lifted a few degrees off neutral. Held habitually for years, it can add up to neck problems or even chronic headaches. It can even affect your eyes. Chin Up Head is very frequently associated with Forward Head because of issues in the upper back and neck muscles. But there are two other important reasons people acquire this postural problem: Limitation in thoracic extension and overstretched tissue in the front of the neck. Huh? Limit...

Winter Recess (A Diet Change Rebrand)

The beginning of the year, my husband and I do a "fast." For six weeks we take things out of our diet. Sugar and alcohol are always included and sometimes other things. The first year we did this, we were insanely ambitious: sugar, alcohol, dairy, most meat, all wheat, in fact anything that rhymed with "eat", particularly if it was brown, looked like the moon, or had been blanched. That's my memory at any rate, and no, it did not go well. (Lotsa cheats.) Subsequently, we've been more modest. And generally it has gone better. (I won't lie. There are still cheats.) At the end of this detox, sure, you go back to a retox. But each year (Is it ten years we've done it now?), you go back less. Your tastebuds actually change. You get more sensitive to sugar and stop wanting it so much. You start truly liking and desiring the things that are good for you. It's incredibly valuable. But it is a negation. We take things away. It's hard not to feel ...

Jill McGowan Pilates

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