Racing is new to me.  I signed up for a 5-mile event in the Fall of 2012 because I have very encouraging friends.  Besides, the event supported the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association and I encourage efforts to maintain clean water.  The running terrain covered meadow, forest, road, and stream.  I try to run three miles every day, so pushing myself an additional two was a stretch.  Lenore’s phone app provided mile-by-mile pace alerting which helped.  Of the hundreds of participants I think about 7 came in behind me!

Health pertains to your emotional intelligence as much as it does to your body.  It starts with self-awareness and understanding your capabilities.  It deals with how you react in certain situations and the initiatives you take in others.   Carolyn Myss provides a tool for self-reflection.  She suggests identifying your archetypes and relating them to aspects of your life.  The wheel pictured here represents categories of life that are a focus of her philosophy.  She asks you to align your archetypes with these categories.  It’s a great exercise to start a conversation with yourself about yourself.  Even better if you share it with someone you trust.

Of the Asian disciplines I’ve dabbled in over the years, such as yoga and taekwondo, I am most grateful for tai chi.  During a particularly tragic and difficult year in my life, it saved my sanity.  I needed focus and balance.  Tai chi provides both.  It’s possible I felt greater benefits since I practiced alone in a room that had a big window.  In that unconfined space, I felt my energy flowed freely and allowed me to find peace every day.