The energy of late summer slows and steadies. That which was sown in hope matures in abundance. The frantic rush to do it all, the greediness to experience all that the hot summer months have to offer, settles. The fire of summer segues into the deeply grounded fruition of early autumn.

Each of us might observe this transition within ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, creatively, spiritually and experientially. What we notice is not a new scientific discovery, but is in keeping with the Five Element Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Think about it. The element of Fire is embodied by the summer months of high activity – play, adventure, sports, competition, and an enthusiastic desire to make the most of the deliciously long daylight hours. (Please note that I realize that people experience summer months differently depending on their environment and health, but as a generalization, this works.) Often there are vacations, travel, cookouts, hikes, pool parties and an increase in social interaction – now even safer in our Covid world as it is easy to distance and play outdoors.

Inevitably, thankfully, the seeds we planted in the spring, have grown to harvest. Roadside stands overflow with vegetables and fruit – literally the fruits of the spring labors. In TCM, late summer corresponds with the element Earth. Common sense agrees with this theory as well. Mother Earth is doing her job nurturing, nourishing and providing. At the same time, Earth represents the richness of the soil, the grounding and stability represented by the modulated energy of these days. As we harvest, we also recognize the continuity that this time signifies, the balanced energy evident in comparison with the often frenetic of previous weeks.

If we think of the Five Elements as seasonal, we quickly recognize that the Earth element is the center of the cycle moving into fall’s Metal, winter’s Water, spring’s Wood and summer’s Fire.

Here in Vermont, fall comes quickly. Already in this final week of August goldenrod flourishes, random leaves turn from green to fall colors of red and orange, and as kids go back to school, yellow school busses proliferate. Soon there will be a dusting of snow on the mountains!

The natural world does it’s best to reassure us. Unfortunately, we live in a world of war, illness and nasty political battles. What can we do? Perhaps it is how we live our lives as unique individuals that matters. Perhaps it is the mindset that we nourish and the outreach of compassion that we do for ourselves that will ultimately have a community effect and perhaps penultimately the effect will seep into a global effect. (Don’t you love that word? Many years ago when I worked for the Chief Judge of the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland and would help to publish his opinions I would giggle over his frequent use of the word ‘penultimate’ – he just loved that word. Even a word can ignite a memory.) Perhaps even a word can ignite a tiny spark of peace.

Peace Pilgrim was the first woman to hike the 2050 mile long Appalachian Trail. Her response to personal anguish was to adopt the concept of a pilgrim of peace who joyfully spent her life criss-crossing the country with her message of peace. Her legacy is rich, just as the Earth season and characteristics are deep and abundant and stabilizing. She was just one person but her message continues to produce.

“Live in the present.

Do things that need to be done.

Do all the good you can each day.

The future will unfold.”

Peace Pilgrim

Late summer is not without its regrets – regrets of things not accomplished or adventures not taken or the mark of time passing as we send our children off to school or deliver them to their new college dorms. Yet there is reassurance in this season. Continuity demonstrates that our roots have traveled deeply into our centered being. Hope is not frivolous but rather it is based on personal history. We must do the work but we are not without support.

I cannot tell you what to believe. What I do suggest, however, is that you take a moment for yourself to dive deeply into the meaning of the time in which we are living, moving and being.

Is there new life to be nurtured, new ideas, new motivation, new creativity? Nourish and nurture are key components of Earth. Have at it!

On a personal note, I share with you the new member of my family. I will do my best to nourish and nurture this delightful little creature – who, of course, has come with a full set of puppy teeth! Watching growth and change may be what life is all about. May we live abundantly, peacefully and with hearts full of hope and joy.

Oh, to explore life with the wonder and curiosity of a new little being!

photo by Teague Dugan 2022

Movement is essential to life and there are many ways to move.

Energy is a blessing. Strength can be cultivated; endurance slowly structured. Bodies are born with a predisposition to the proverbial fast and slow twitch muscles that loosely define one’s preference and natural abilities to marathon or sprint, so to speak. Furthermore, movement can be defined as affecting more than muscles and joints. Physically, mentally, spiritually and naturally movement is evidenced as that which is not stagnant or still, that which is voluntary or involuntary. Movement can be a motion or development, forced or relaxed, coordinated or unskillful. Movement is available to the limited as well as the unlimited; it is a concept to be defined individually and with personal parameters and goals.

To not move is to languish, to decay, to decline. It’s the old “use it or lose it” in real life. Perhaps, though, what is even more significant, is the intention we attach to our action or inaction. Surely finding that sweet spot of stillness enriches our lives, supporting moments of connection with our inner being and multiplying our energies for whatever else fills our existence. Again, it’s a matter of intention. If we allow ourselves to become inadvertently sucked into the mire of dormancy – allowing quiescence to become disabling – we may forever forfeit the awakening from a restful state that makes life something to be thankful for, miraculous.

Indeed, with all that is wrong with this world, there is also much that is right. Often the rightness is seasonal as each of us navigates surges of health, relationship and professional challenges; but the surges recede and we refuel. We refuel, that is, if we keep our mind and body well-maintained.

Before you close this post, hold on. No, I’m not about to harangue about fitness and training and pushing and setting goals and …. No, what I want to submit here is that there are many ways to move and perhaps movement, in and of itself, is the objective.

Our bodies and brains are miraculously made. We are formed to be functionally fit.  Many of us, desiring to go beyond the base level of health and conditioning, want to move into the area of performance and do so with varying degrees of confidence and success. Others seek balanced wellbeing. (No judgment. To each his own but again check that intention!)

Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
Warren Falls in Warren.

Let me give you two personal examples.  My brother and I emphatically share what we have inherited and cultivated. We are clearly the ‘glass half full’ kind of people and overflow with energy, optimism and enthusiasm for oh so much of life. We commit, persevere and are fiercely loyal. Ethics are important to us. I often quip that my brother is so energetic, strong and active that he makes me look like a slug. (Those of you who know me, know that I am a little more active that an icky, crawly slug.)

But here’s the thing. My brother DOES NOT WORKOUT. I say this with emphasis as it is just that startling. He does, however, get equal benefit from all that he does. He is constantly on the go and has never shied away from strength demands. One can “work out” in a gym with a specifically constructed program or one can chop wood and climb mountains. I need not belabor the point.

Finding Balance

I, on the other hand, have trained all my life from hours of class and rehearsal as a professional dancer to my work as a personal trainer designing fitness programs and encouraging clients to exercise regularly. Even today my Peloton rides, strength sessions and Yoga practices are structured as I continue to both model and teach. I also practice what I preach and this is what I’ve learned.

While intention is mandatory, balance is as well. We can stand on one foot physically, take care to work opposing muscle groups (how many times have I said that?) or weigh active/passive, training/rest. So that which I have learned is all about varying activity. We can build on the fascination of the standing desk or the admonition to stretch periodically during the course of a work day. We can intentionally plan blocks of time to work “out” or to work “outdoors,” to play sports and with our kids, to recreate and to literally realize the value of fun. And we can vary pace and intensity.

Blueberry Lake, Vermont

Once again, a personal example.  Coming from a long history of periodized running and cycling training, I am aware of the value of the LSD, long slow distance, to build endurance. Now I have swapped out the LSD for long, meandering walks with my chocolate lab, Sophie. On trails she is off leash, on country roads she is leashed. Either way, we work together. I defer (with admittedly occasional annoyance) to her nose, as she takes forever to sniff out scents along the way. She, in turn, sits and waits with sighing patience while I frame a scene and snap a picture. In another situation, those long pauses would have negated the value of the “workout” with distressing results. Wait! These long walks are not workouts. They are an additional option to move both physically and mentally, benefiting body and soul. Perhaps there is more to movement than muscular. Do we not shape mental stamina and emotional tolerance? Do we not encourage vision and focus and identification and introspection?

It may not always be what we plan or what we prefer, but there are many ways to move and each bears its own blessing and abundance. May you move each and every day, one way or another, with intention and with balance – and maybe even stop to sniff or snap a photo.

Pausing to frame that photo!

PERSPECTIVE photo courtesy of Jim Heins

As I write this post, the yearly “spring forward” will take place in a few hours. Yes, once again, unless we rely on technology to automatically reset for us, we will manually set our clocks forward one hour and begin the shift from winter to spring’s expanding daylight hours. This ritual, like many others, is either wonderful or regrettable depending on one’s perspective.

PERSPECTIVE photo courtesy of Jim Heins

Perspective. Perhaps you, like me, first thought of this word in the context of drawing. As I struggled through a basic art class I failed consistently to find a way to show perspective – the inevitable train tracks or table legs. I relate more easily to perspective as attitude, mental rather than visual. Whereas a drawing may be accurately fixed, our point of view is often fluid and changeable and even more, personal.

FOCUS ON ICE DROPLETS photo courtesy of Jim Heins

Focus is another piece of the pie we call vision. How often have you said to yourself – “come on, FOCUS!” when a problem seems to blur? My brother is a photographer and recently bought a new zoom lens for his camera. When he shared a few pics, I was reminded how pausing to zoom in and truly focus on something is a gift. I am not a photographer, but like many of us, I love to use my iPhone to frame a trailside scrap of nature or catch the fleeting expression of a friend. Framing or reframing what the eye sees or the mind envisions adds depth and, yes, perspective.

In today’s world, we rely on science. Within the study of science there is integration of that which is mental, physical, sociological and psychological in order to explore perspective. A lack of perspective signals ignorance or misunderstanding while the opposite invites context, mindset, comparison and a frame of reference.

Recently I have been introduced to a number of podcast interviews of Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neurobiologist and ophthalmologist. (https://hubermanlab.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ekdc6jCu2E, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxR0zDL7sbc) I invite you to follow your curiosity into these hours of fascinating discussion.

Huberman, professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, teaches with such enthusiasm and expertise that the wealth of science-based material he shares becomes accessible and pertinent to our daily lives.

For example, two (BTW, free) tools he offers are (1)outdoor light exposure at the start of each day (and yes, I know, we are often challenged here in Vermont!) and (2) when stressed – utilize the physiological sigh: inhale fully, then top it off with a 2^nd shorter inhale, exhale slowly. Sometimes once is enough to diffuse a situation. He also points out that first we focus with the eyes (which are, by the way, two bits of brain that are outside the framework of the skull, hmmmmm) and then that focus turns inward into the realm of mental action.

If we, as Huberman suggests, train our vision as we train our muscles, might we also train our uses of focus and perspective? Rather than belabor, might I invite you to pause in your busy day to consider each? After all, your perspective will be uniquely our own!

To help you along the way, I share with you some of my brother’s photography, each demonstrating aspects of perspective that might lead you along the path, or track, or whatever, to ponder both focus and perspective. Enjoy.

Photo courtesy of Jim Heins

Last year at this time, Friday the 13^th to be exact, here in Vermont we felt the jaws of lockdown close. The date is notable. (http://lindafreemanfitness.com/2020/03/30/coronavirus-friday-13th-new-normal-march-2020/) For a moment it looked like SUPERSTITION was the monster. But more and more we heard the word SCIENCE.

Fast forward to a new year. I will avoid the quicksands of politics, social reform, education and finance, and simply say it appears that things are looking up. It is an anniversary this month. There is much to mourn and many lives and losses to be honored. Lest we forget. It appears that the effects of this pandemic and the shifting challenges that inevitably lie ahead will serve as constant reminders of a time that begs definition.

Here we know to drop what we are doing and head outdoors when there’s a “bluebird day”

Here in Vermont, March can be an odd month. As many areas of this country are already skipping into spring, we don’t know if it’s winter or an early mud season, a brief thaw or a hard freeze. Notions of change tease. Maybe there are stirrings of spring cleaning or stolen hours of spring skiing. Maybe we are off our rhythms, a little unsettled, a little off balance; or maybe we can feel the energy beginning to flow along with the sap.

The month of March is full of promise. In a few days, we will set our clocks forward, “spring ahead” and. for a while at least, we will marvel at the longer evenings of daylight. (and for some of us, we will continue to head into the woods with headlamps for the first pup walk of the day) Dinners will get later and mornings will arrive more quickly.

At 5:37 a.m. Saturday 3/20 we make it official, and welcome the Spring Equinox.

Over the final weekend of March, Passover and Palm Sunday will share the full moon.

Oh yes, there are more. Many more. But here are a few of my favorites:

3-1 National Peanut Butter Lovers Day

3-9 National Get-Over-It Day

3-13 National Good Samaritan Day (hmmmmm perhaps darkly appropriate? – but then there’s also 3-13 Open-An-Umbrella-Indoors Day)

3-17 and who could miss St Patrick’s Day? (or perhaps we should – green beer and masking might be a challenge)

3-21 here’s one: National Common Courtesy Day

3-30 National Virtual Vacation Day (wow – where did that come from?)

3-31 and not to be missed: National Little Red Wagon Day

What, you may ask, is Little Red Wagon Day? It is a day in which to celebrate memories in the making and ones already made. How much do you love this?

PAUSE

As we note this anniversary, may we ask ourselves “What are we learning? What is worth fighting for? What can we let go?” Will we carry forward some of what is good such as the recognition that connection, time, gratitude, compassion, creativity and generosity are indeed values that we need and can access? Can we functionally integrate activism with cooperation? Does hope underpin our character?

“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, But the certainty that something makes sense,                  regardless of how it turns out.”  Vaclav Havel

Anniversary: celebration, recognition, remembrance, keeping, honoring, observance and, beautifully, triumph. We cannot overlook the opposite: lament and mourning. But, may this anniversary make sense.

January, the Full Super Blood Wolf Moon, (phew, that’s a mouth full) and honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. serve to remind us of challenges, transformation and potential. Where does Emily Dickinson come in? Right here: “I dwell in possibility,” she said. As do we all.

I write this post on January 20, 2019, as snow falls heavily with the promise of much more to come – exhilarating news for snow sports athletes and daunting news for commuters. It is also a holiday weekend decorated by a full moon (if we will see it, that is). Let’s unpack all this together.

On 12-30-12 I discussed JANUARY in the Rutland Herald and Times Argus. Here’s part of what I wrote:

“Janus is the god of beginnings and endings, of transitions and of time itself. The two-faced head of Janus often crowns doors and gates with one face looking back and the other looking forward. Is this not what we are doing at this time of year: looking back over the year that has just passed and looking forward to the year ahead?

An interesting aspect of the Janus head that I recently observed is that each face is the same. One is not looking forward with furrowed brow or looking back frantically as if to say “where has the time gone?” Both faces consider what has gone before and what lies ahead with equivalent composure.

I don’t know about you, but I am a firm believer in history. Yes, there is history to be revered, individuals to be honored. There is history made up of dates and wars. There is history made vibrant by inventions and discoveries. The history that intrigues me begins with the development of cultures and communities. What benefits us immediately, however, is our own personal history.

Within the context of the spiral theory of history in which history repeats itself and what came around once will surely do so again, we can look to our own personal history to see what lessons we have learned and what we might do differently. After all, as somebody once said (it is usually attributed to Einstein) “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Within the context of fitness and training, history provides important information of one’s progress. Dedicated efforts result in diminished limitations and increased capabilities. Weakness develops into strengths, skills are acquired and goals are either scored or reached.

Best of all, there is a history of immediate feedback related to one’s dedication, one’s efforts. Become sedentary and our body and health will bottom out. Continue our efforts to exercise, fuel appropriately, live healthfully, and train for our sport or activity of choice and we see positive results over time. We can look back on interaction with others, the evolution of like-minded individuals enjoying the benefits of community. Bodies and minds are enhanced. Enthusiasm is nourished. Energy multiplies.

Confidence, born of experience, gives us a powerful tool upon which to rely. History allows us to dream, to formulate achievable goals, to make a bucket-list and then to stretch ourselves in pursuit of what we identify as important to us”.

Today we anticipate a rather spectacular lunar event. This particular Wolf Moon (January moon so named to suggest the howling of wolves in winter) will be a huge super moon and because of its proximity to earth may emit noticeably stronger energies. About 9:30 p.m. EST we might watch the eclipse and comprehend why it is also called a blood moon. Shortly thereafter the moon will reach peak fullness.

Is there significance to this confluence of events? “Lunar eclipses are often associated with change, mystery, and upheaval.” (Tempest Zakroff) Another writer, Mickie Mueller, suggests: “As this one coincides with the first full moon of the regular calendar year, it’s a good time to contemplate what things — ideas, habits, practices — you may wish to leave behind, and what you want to bring into your life and build upon for the year to come… It’s a magical reset button.” Might this be a good weekend to reevaluate our New Year’s goals and resolutions? Are we on track? Might we need, in wisdom, to rework those ideals and restructure our coming weeks and months?

Because I write in the venue of fitness, health, and well-being, I tend to translate what I encounter as applicable to the same. For example, I learned that the full moon is a call for balance. OK, physical balance is a no-brainer but so is balance in all aspects of our training and life experience. I hear that an eclipse represents power and fruition and can be transformative. Ditto.

Finally, I have brought Martin Luther King, Jr. into this equation. Why? Well, of course, we active individuals love having an extra day off to go do something and this year we can go play in the snow. More significantly, however, it is a time to pause to honor history: past, present, future, personal and universal.

We all know of MLK’s “I have a dream” speech. But time spent on your favorite search engine will provide hundreds of pithy, compelling quotes. I will close with a few for you to apply as you wish. Consider your personal “possibility” (Dickinson), reevaluate your personal experience, and move forward on your personal path.

“No person has the right to rain on your dreams.”

“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better. ”

“Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”

Solstice, sun standing still, happens December 21, 2018 at 5:23 p.m. There’s a boatload of science behind this precise moment, but there’s also a great deal of myth, poetry, anxiety, practicality, paganism, and just plain opportunity to celebrate.

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is another story entirely. For most, eagerness for more daylight is a common denominator. There are practical issues such as light for the morning commute or not arriving home in the dark after work. There are visibility concerns for kids waiting for school busses or pedestrians along city streets or country roads. And, perhaps the worst for those of us who crave outdoor activity, is that daylight affects, if not controls, our time outdoors. There’s only so much we can do with headlamps! Even our pups grow cranky or overweight with less action and we, their guardians, must find creative ways to keep them exercised mentally as well as physically.

There is also the good news about longer periods of darkness. Used properly, they gift us with time – time to linger over a meal, to read a book, work a puzzle, or finally reorganize that closet or maybe even catch up on paperwork (I guess I should say email). Just as farmers traditionally mended harness and repaired machinery over the winter months, so, too, these indoor hours encourage repair and restoration of sports equipment, furniture or whatever we have put aside as we darted out the door last July.

Nor is it all about darkness. What’s wrong with night skiing or skating at lighted venues or a moonlight snowshoe? (Perhaps the only caution here is to be certain of the route, let someone know where we are going, and please try not to get lost and tax a local rescue team. Maybe now is the time to learn how to use one of the many apps guaranteed to keep us from doing so!)

But back to Winter Solstice. Some things I learned from a Google Search:

Ancient peoples whose survival depended on a precise knowledge of seasonal cycles marked this first day of winter with elaborate ceremonies and celebrations. Spiritually, these celebrations symbolize the opportunity for renewal, a casting off of old habits and negative feelings and an embracing of hope amid darkness as the days once again begin to grow longer.

[Perhaps this is why the Winter Solstice is followed so closely by New Year’s Resolutions….]

And, did you know this? The solstice this year will be extra special because it will be followed the next day by a full moon known as the Cold Moon, and you might be able to see a meteor shower to boot.

And, finally, a few words to ponder: “I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” (Og Mandino)