In this volume of the Feel Good Project I get to introduce you to Sarah, one of my fabulous strength class community members. I invited Sarah to the Feel Good Project because I know she has some solid self-care practices and doesn't take herself too seriously. Sarah is a high school teacher, freelance writer, spoken word poet and mom, but not necessarily in that order. You can read some of her writing here.
Tell us about your morning self care routine. I work out or do yoga most weekdays, and make hot water with lemon before hitting the shower.
What is your favourite nourishing breakfast? I alternate between a smoothie and some form of oatmeal/overnight oats, with a gluten-free, yeast-free bagel on the weekend to keep it interesting.
What's your feel good beverage of choice? A decaf Americano from one of our many wonderful, local coffee shops.
What are you currently reading? Right now I am reading The Menopause Manifesto by Dr. Jen Gunter. I think it's really important, empowering info and I want to buy a copy for all my girlfriends.
What does your weekly movement routine look like? I like to start the week off right with Justine's Monday morning class! I do a yoga class on Tuesday nights and then Wed.-Fri. mornings are a mix of strength/yoga classes on the Peloton app and/or Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube. We also have a treadmill but it's heavy competition with my husband Brian to get a spot. ;) Often on Saturday or Sunday we do a Peloton shadow boxing class together, which is nauseatingly cute, right?
Do you take any supplements that you swear by? Yes, I take a lot of supplements and I swear by them all. Since Spring has sprung, I'll give a shout out to Quercetin, which helps me manage my allergy symptoms and avoid antihistamines, which make me feel crappy. I am also quite indebted to a sleep-aid called Resolaxin.
Name your top values and tell us why they're important to you: We're really big on giving back in our house. We are so privileged to live the way we do and to be able to take care of ourselves and feel good, so we want to share what we have with others. We often mark occasions by donating to charities, including collecting food for The Daily Bread Food Bank for Chanukah/our son Jesse's birthday. For Passover, we made a donation to Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction, a local, grassroots organization that does very important work.
When it comes to mindset, are there any mantras that you live by? When doing yoga, my mantra is "calm, strong, steady." I am also always working on "be here now." It's something I talk to my students about a lot because, with our dependency on technology, it's very hard to live in the present moment.
What's one piece of advice that you'd give to your younger self? Slow the f' down!
What is your number one indulgence? French fries! There are a lot of things I can't eat because of my food intolerances, but fries (every once in a while) are my sweet spot for dinning out.
What's one feel-good self care-routine that you couldn't live without? Yoga. I have been doing it regularly for 5 years now and it's become a huge part of maintaining my health and well-being. When things are stressful, sometimes I just gotta get into a forward fold, y'know?
What is the boring self-care that you're committed to? I eat a salad for lunch Every. Damn. Day. My body needs the roughage!
Tell us about your bedtime routine: Not only do a put a heated "magic bag" on my neck, but I also use a brace to help correct my bunion. It's a very sexy look! This all happens while I watch 20 minutes of TV with Brian, often while eating a bowl of Paleo Puffs, a "clean" snack that I definitely can't live without.
