Daisies

Do you know how strong those beautiful, white and fragile looking flowers are?  Have you ever walked in a field full of daisies when there is no sun? I think, daisies can be a great symbol of resilience. Once the sun goes down, they all close up and if you are not paying attention they look just like grass.  Even if you step on them, they still find the strength to open back up once the sun comes out.

can you spot the Daisies?

How about now? It is the same field just a few hours later…

Thanks to daisies, it is a great reminder that a new day is a fresh new beginning.  No matter what happens the day before, it is important to find the strength to welcome the new day.  And, of course, if you can do it with the elegance and the beauty of daisies that is even a bigger plus.  

This month, I was able to enjoy the surprises of each day more than some of the other months.  I was able to deal with every day stresses and put them behind for the next day - at least, for more days than usual.  By doing so, I was able to embrace some of the unexpected surprises of each day much better.  For example, in the middle of a snow storm, when visibility was close to being non-existent, Kaya wanted to ski more with ME. The laughters we had, even after big crashes, were amazing.  I would have never thought that I would ever love to be out on the slopes in these conditions. But I did… thanks to Kaya… 

this is mid-april!

As I look back at April, I think we had a lot of fun… The kids finished their first season of Ski Team with big smiles and new friends.  We all closed up the Ski Season with a big Tiki party.  Derek was able to skim through a pond on his skis without getting wet! :) I managed to have my first business trip without any tears! Kids finally attended a birthday part during the ONE weekend that we are at home. In overall, we fully enjoyed the new day, like the daisies…

yet again, ending ski season in style!

Now… Let’s get back to being HEALTHY on that new day… Over the last two years, I have been focusing on resilience and building strength through the use of every-day household items.  And we do it with a SMILE. Since this month marks the 2nd year anniversary, I would like to share one of our class videos from this month. Few weeks ago, as we were focusing the theme of “Lounge”, we used sweatpants. I am pretty sure that everyone has some sort of sweatpants at home.  So for this workout, pick up YOUR sweatpants and be ready to have fun: 

https://youtu.be/v3QT0ssD1Oo

I hope you are waking up to the first day of May with a fresh outlook, just like a daisy. Big High Five for your every day resilience.

Four Balance Points

Wow, what a month?! Just flew by… Started on a sad note when we left my parents at SFO after a month and now the month is coming to an end on a high note as I get ready to drive from Joshua Tree to Tahoe with the kids.  After all, it is all about that balancing act of high and low notes.

Kids and I left Derek behind (balancing act of life) as we drove to Joshua Tree for Spring Break, to meet with friends.  If you don’t know, Joshua Tree is part of the high desert (NOT dessert) of California, which means it is at an elevation of ~4500 feet and it is a breath taking place - especially if you are with friends who know all the cool hikes. ;)

Our first day consisted of a 7.4 mile hike with 3 kids, ages 7,6 and 4.  And they all did a GREAT JOB.  Today, we did the Rattlesnake Canyon, which is rated as a “difficult” hike, with those 3 and they ROCKED again!  As I was trying to be calm watching my kids climbing over boulders to make it to the top, I thought about the importance of balance.  Balance is way beyond staying on one foot and not falling.  It is the independence…. When kids learn how to walk, they don’t need their parents’ hands anymore.  The key thing is to have all your balance points ready to catch if the floor beneath you slips. 

As we were doing some semi-difficult climbs, I kept telling the kids “four balance points”, meaning the hands and the feet.  I didn’t want them to be carrying anything on their hands or keeping asking for my hand.  Of course, my hand, arms and everything else were there to help them in the really tricky spots but otherwise, I wanted them to see that once they have their “four balance points” ready to catch, they were safer.  It worked (at least for the majority of the time)! I explained to them that if they are holding my hand, it takes away one balance point from each one of us.  As a result, we might easily put each other at risk.  

Once we came up with the “four balance points” rule, we ALL worked on our planks, most of the time. :) Ela certainly mastered the use of her all fours to go over rocks that were 10 times of her size (or bigger).

Given how much fun we had with this new rule, I decided that it would be good to come up with a fun, quick routine of “Four Balance Points”. I know that not everyone has access to giants boulders to practice the rule but we all have a flat ground to develop those balancing skills.  First of all, find yourself a somewhat open clear floor space - garden or park would also work.  Then try the following drills:

1. Plank side step: Start with a hand plank stand (hands under shoulder, butt down, lower back up, legs straight ). Lift right hand up slightly to move it one step to the right, then follow with right foot, then left hand and left foot. Move 3 steps to the right and then 3 steps to the left to get back to the starting point. Repeat for 3 times.

2. Crab side walk: Start with a table top position with stomach facing towards the ceiling/sky. Drop the butt lower down but don’t touch the ground. Lift right hand up slightly to move it one step to the right, then follow with the right foot, then left hand and left foot. Move 3 steps to the right and then 3 steps to the left to get back to the starting point. Repeat for 3 times.

3. Plank walks: Start with a hand plank stand. Move hands one step forward withOUT moving the butt up, then move the feet forward keeping the legs straight. Move 3 steps forward and then 3 steps back. During the step backs, initiate the movement with the feet and then follow with the hands. Through out the move, DO NOT move your butt up. Repeat for 3 times.

4. Crab walks: Start with a table top position with stomach facing towards the ceiling/sky. Drop the butt lower down but don’t touch the ground. Move hands one step forward, towards your feet withOUT moving the feet, then move the feet away from the hands. Move 3 steps forward and then 3 steps back. During the step backs, initiate the movement with the feet by moving the feet closer to the hands and then moving hands away from the feet. Through out the move, KEEP your butt down without touching the ground. Repeat for 3 times.

5. REPEAT moves 1-4 3 times.

Let’s get all our Balance Points activated all the time so we can be independent when going over BIG hurdles.  Since you have already done it at some point in your lives - BIG HIGH FIVE to you all!

can you spot the parking lot? this was already on the way down!

Even grown ups had to fit through there - using all fours

Can you spot Kaya using all fours?

Pressure of Expectations

How many of you started watching Olympics on 2/3? It was certainly addictive for our household, especially the Alpine Skiing.  We even managed to get my dad and my mom into it.  Now, they know all about the 4 main disciplines of Alpine Skiing and they are still having a hard time comprehending the speeds.  

Being such a big Alpine Skiing family, we, of course, had our favorites.  And we made sure not to listen to any news prior to watching the events (recorded).  Like most of you who were following Alpine Skiing events, we also had our surprises.  We watched our favorites missing gates, crashing and/or not finishing events.  We watched one of them sitting on the side of the hill, delaying the inevitable action of facing the media.  That’s when I started to think about this month’s title - Should it be about the disappointment? Or should it be about the failure? Or should it be about the pressure?

Well, disappointment is too harsh and failure is not necessarily true…. Who am I to be disappointed of someone’s performance that I don’t even know personally?  And is missing a gate a “FAILURE”? I think it is a mistake, a fluke or a slip but not a failure.  Finally, let’s think about the “pressure”… These elite athletes live and, most likely, thrive with the pressure of their own expectations from themselves.  For them, that pressure is most likely the fuel that powers them up.  However, I do think that there is a very fine line between the fuel that helps you move forward and the fuel that burns you down.  Most of these athletes are very good at finding the line and keeping themselves on the safer side.  As I read their social media posts, I can tell that their own expectations are already raised and they are aware of the pressure that those expectations put on them.  However, they also know how to deal with the pressure that comes from the audience - completely out of their control.  I want to believe that these athletes know, exactly how, to shut themselves off so the burning fuel will not enter their system FULLY.  

Now let’s take this pressure into our own lives… We also set certain thresholds for ourselves, at every age.  When we don’t achieve it we get upset but, hopefully, we don’t give up trying.  More we try, better we get. “Practice makes it better”…. The trick comes in when we need to separate those two types of “fuels”.  What is too much? When does my fuel become harmful?  Is there a reset button? To be honest, I am still trying to find out the answers.  Everyday, I have certain expectations for myself.  When I don’t meet those expectations, I feel like I am suffocating, but at the end of the day, “I” decide on those expectations.  I try to reset (by taking deep breath) and create a new path to my expectations.  The moment I forget to reset, that’s when things turn upside down.  This month was definitely a great one to exercise my reset button.  I was able to give myself a break with the “train and smile recaps” to be able to focus on my parents more.  Right now, I am 6 classes behind and I don’t have my game plan yet.  But I know that I will be able to catch up because I have a healthy pressure on me (solely created by me).

without that fuel, I wouldn’t have made it down this hill on my skis (I’ve been skiing for 1.5 seasons)

Thanks to that pressure, I am in front of my computer every last day of the month, typing these blogs so that I will meet my own expectations.  Tonight though, I will give myself a break on the workout routine.  Instead, I will give you a different assignment that you can do ANYWHERE/EVERYWHERE…. Think about some of those pressures that you can actually hit the reset button.  Don’t forget, the fuel is to move you forward, not to burn you.  If you are feeling as if you are burning, then take your deep breath and reassess your expectations.  Can you find that healthy balance between the two fuels?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

Big High Five to those of you who can manage the fuel! 

Yes… Derek is up on the podium because he knows how to control his fuel (2nd place in Banked slalom)

This is my reason to take a deep breath and hit “reset”

don’t forget to reset!

Positively POSITIVE

After a peaceful start of the New Year, the first month went a little crazy… When we get so used to a routine, even a small derailing makes it feel like everything is upside down. The key is to have fun when we are upside down.  

On 1/11, both Derek and I tested POSITIVE with COVID.  I had NO symptoms or a reason to think that I had COVID.  But we had the luxury of couple in home tests handy.  Derek wanted to be able to tell his company that he is feeling a little under the weather (just tiredness) but he doesn’t have COVID (since he didn’t have fever or body aches or anything else).  Therefore he conveniently used one of our in-home tests.  We were shocked to see his “double” lines.  I immediately started to get ready to send him down to the basement for isolation.  Since we had another spare test, I decided to test first to make sure that I am negative.  Within first few seconds, my second line was already apparent!! I was POSITIVE too with NO symptoms.  I picked the kids off of their schools right away and they both tested negative.  It was great news for them but that would also meant that we would need to isolate from them at home.  For those of you who know me well, I am very close with my kids - kissing and hugging is an every minute task!!  Having double masks at home, not eating food with the kids, constantly sanitizing any surface we touched, not giving them a good night hug or a kiss… NO FUN!  On 1/13, both of the kids also tested POSITIVE.  And guess what?! They had the biggest smile on their faces when they tested positive because they realized that they would be able to kiss and hug us!!!  That I call, POSITIVELY POSITIVE!  We were lucky not to have, almost, any symptoms.  

Here is a positive outlook during isolation!

We still don’t know how and when we got it.  Given how isolated we have been living for the last 2 years, it is hard to blame it on anything we do routinely.  It took us 10 days to clear the kids and get a negative test.  And during that time, we certainly missed our trips up to Tahoe.  However, the silver lining was that we were able to enjoy home and staying put.  We cuddled as much as we wanted and we enjoyed some delivery food for a change. :)

And on Kaya’s 7th birthday, 1/24, we were officially in the clear with our NEGATIVE tests.  I am still in shock that our son is now 7!  It was like last month that I announced his birth.  That means this blog has been around for over 7 years - kind of crazy.

Birthday boy, on his birthday, after school!

To top it all of, my Train and Smile theme of the week for the week of 1/10 was a “Fresh Start” where we used “cloth masks” as our tool.  In the middle of an isolation from the kids, a cloth mask came in very handy.  The bummer is that the “fresh start” theme was supposed to focus on removing the masks sometime in 2022.  Now, instead of removing, we are doubling the masks to a point there is NOT fresh air (let alone a start). :)

Here are couple moves to get your lungs going:

• Put on your mask and do jumping jacks for 30 seconds

• Keep the mask on and do mountain climbers for 30 seconds

• Keep the mask on and do burpee’s for 30 seconds

• Take the mask off for 10 seconds

• Repeat the first 4 moves 5 times

• Cover your eyes with the mask and lift your right leg off the ground (keeping the leg in front but not touching the ground) for 30 seconds

• Keep the mask on and switch legs for 30 seconds.

• Take the mask off for 10 seconds

• Repeat the last three for 5 times.

We hope that if you ever end up meeting COVID, it will be as gentle to you as it has been to us.

Big high five for finishing the first month of 2022 on a higher note.

Here is our COVID POSITIVE family!

Take a Deep Breath

YOU have made it… another crazy year. And I hope you have made it with a big smile and a pat on your back.

The month of December was all about “go go go”… I realized that one thing I forgot to do most of the days was to take a deep breath and pause for a few seconds.  Now that it is sinking in that we are ending the year, I am sitting on a chair and taking my deep breath.  The house is quiet with kids being asleep and there is a sliver of comfort in that on going “need-to-finish-that” mentality.  It has been such a busy month that I managed to fall behind on everything that I try to stay on top! And now, it is almost 2022 and I am trying to catch up.  That’s why that one deep breath is VERY important to take. 

THis is when i needed to take a deep breath and let them go to town! (Cleaning can wait)

This month’s rush and hurry, actually, did a great job summing up the entire year for us.  We managed to keep our selves busy while isolating as much as possible.  We found comfort in our trusted circle of friends when we were able to hang out like normal people.  Derek and I were able to enjoy a date night for a change and two grown-ups-only dinners with friends. Kids continued to adapt to our constantly “going” lifestyle… They travelled to Turkey with me and did a great job in 13-hour flights - not to mention a paranoid mom double masking them the entire way!  

Last year’s theme of earning and adapting didn’t change much.  This year, we ended up settling into what we have learned from last year and then getting used to more changes.  For example, as remote kindergarten became hybrid for the last 6 weeks of the school year, I had to adapt to letting Kaya go! All that complaining about trying to teach him a language that is not even native to me, went out the door.  I missed him A LOT when he was at school but then got used to that too. We, humans, adapt very quickly!

As of today, I have taught 105 Train and Smile classes in 2021.  I was able to teach the classes from different parts of the US and also the world!  We manage to have 50 unique participants join and we used 51 different household items to work out with.  Most importantly, though, I have captured 105 “smile captures” at the end of each session.  From being a YMCA Boot Camp community, we have grown into a VERY BIG family (with sore muscles :)).  We even welcome two babies  to the group, where the moms were able to come back to the class 8 weeks after their deliveries (not the mention both of those moms took the classes all the way to their due dates)!!

I feel like, tough times will always be there to test us, what’s important is to take that deep breath and move forward, hopefully with a smile.  Looking at all those “smile captures”, I know that it is in all of us, to be able to smile after a tough day (or a workout).  So with that, I will give you the same challenge from last year’s blog:

* Find a pen/pencil

• Put it in your mouth where the pen/pencil is parallel to the ground and the ends are sticking out from the sides of your mouth

• Lean your back on the wall and come down to a wall squat where your knees are at a 90 degree angle

• Hold your squat for 30 seconds with the pen/pencil in your mouth

• Once you are down take the pen/pencil out of your mouth and check your face in the mirror.

• Are you smiling? ;)

I wish you all a wonderful 2022 filled with health, strength and happiness…I am ready to take my big breath for this new year and all it has stored for us. I hope you are too.

smiles of gratitude

You survived another crazy year and for that a big high five to you!

ending the year with in a torchlight parade - couldn’t have asked for more… (skiing at night with torches in hands down the slopes)

Not for Granted

We are ending the month of “remember”, the month of “gratitude”…. As I was thinking through thankfulness and how to make this blog different than last two years, I decided to focus on “not taking things for granted”.  I have a feeling that we all hear the cliche on “don’t take your good health for granted”, don’t take your family for granted”, etc. Even though these are cliche, I do think that they are correct.  However, I would like to focus on what other people do for us that might be very easy to take for granted.

Imagine how often we use the words “thank you” - someone holds the door for you, someone passes you the salt during dinner, someone tells you the time when you need the most…. These are all very simple incidents when those two words help us express our gratitude.  Now let’s get much more deeper…. My parents believed in me when I was 18 and told them that I would like to study in the US.  They put all their fear and worry aside and did everything they could to send me to the US.  At the time, it was more like “so what?”.  I knew that this was what I wanted and my parents made it come true.  Now that I am a parent, the idea of sending either of my kids to a country that is THOUSANDS of miles away seems impossible.  My parents were no different than me (right now) back when I was a little kid - but then they made the decision to let their daughter follow her dreams.  Thanks to that decision that I am here in San Francisco.  Along the way, I of course thanked them but I was thinking about it as a much simpler “thanks” without understanding all the deeper feelings that went into it.  My parents put their own feelings aside to see me happy. Therefore, I feel like the words “thank you” are not enough to show my gratitude.  I just need to make sure that I don’t take it for granted that they have made a mutual decision for my future even though their hearts wanted to keep me by their sides.

There are many other little things around us that might receive a “simple” thank you when it actually deserves a “deeper” one.  Friends are a great example.  If you have friends around you who you can always rely on, I am sure you “thank” them when they do what you ask them to do.  But do you really appreciate the fact that those friends are there for you WHENEVER you need them?  I don’t think it is easy to be that reliable person for others. Just treasure those friends and give them the well deserved “deeper” thanks you. :)

And of course “YOU”, as my follower, are also another great example who deserves a deeper THANK YOU.  This blog marks exactly two years of my non-stop monthly blogs.  It is because of YOU that I continue to write and I do think that my “thank you” needs to be deeper because you believe in me and you dedicate your time to read what I write.

Don’t Take it for granted: A Random Jazz CONcert to appreciate in the middle of a day

Don’t take if fro granted: A Snuggle time

Don’t take it for granted: the smiles and the togetherness

Now… let’s get back to one of the cliches about Not Taking it for Granted!  How about: don’t take it for granted that you can do some of the below moves? :) Let’s challenge that heart so that it can pump more blood to your entire body when you most need it!

1. 100 Jumping Jacks - make sure that you clap your hands at the top

2. 10 pushups - you can do these on your knees, on your toes or even on the wall

3. 10 burpees - start on the floor, jump out to a plank, jump back into a tug position on the floor and jump up to reach high

4. 15 dips - keep your knees close to your chest and initiate the move only from your elbows

5. 15 burpees

6. 20 dips

7. 20 burpees

8. 20 pushups

Let’s keep that body strong so that you show your thankfulness to your own body. :)

A big high five for keeping those “deeper” thank you closer to your heart…

Love the Unlovable

I feel like it is always easier to be unsatisfied than being satisfied - a typical human being.  And this goes for our bodies too.  When I look at the mirror, the first things I see are my “ugly” parts.  When people ask for healthy living advice, the first thing that they mention is the part of their body that they do not like.  We look at those parts with disgust, we talk about those parts quietly, we hide those parts if possible…

How about, as we enter the month of thankfulness, we actually try to embrace those parts (or part)?  If you have one of those “unlovable” parts, you know that you pay attention to it more than any other part of your body.  Even when you try to hide it, you are actually thinking about it more in depth than a part that you might not mind.  And if you DON’T have one of those “unlovable” parts, then we need to hear more from you to understand your secret. :)

Over the years, my “ugly” grew in numbers as I looked at the mirror.  However, I somehow learned to appreciate some of it.  When I was younger, I was very self conscious of my upper legs - my quads have always been there for me!  It never helped to be surrounded by thin and tall girls at my boarding school, either.  I would always do everything to cover my quads.  As the years went by and as I continued all my sports, my quads kept growing with me.  Today, my quads are my “unlovable” that I learned to love.  

I still have many parts that I should learn to love.  However, it does feel good to be in peace with my quads.  After all, those are the ones that protect my knees from giving in or keep me in shape as I climb the hills of San Francisco! 

Can you focus on YOUR “unlovable” to love it?  

Since we focus on the parts of our bodies that we complain the most, the best routine that we can cover is a PLANK.  With that, the very first thing to know about a PLANK is the perfect form: You need to have a straight line from your shoulders all the way down to your heels.  Whether you hold a “hand” plank, meaning that you are on your hands, or an “elbow” plank, meaning that you are down on your elbows, the imaginary line between your shoulders and heels should never change.  As we covered many times before, Plank is a perfect “Total Body” move, like a pushup.  Therefore no matter what part of your body is unlovable, plank might help to fix it.

Here is my quick challenge for you:

1. Get into a perfect Hand Plank position - as a modification you can get down to your knees, just make sure that your butt is down

2. Come down to an Elbow Plank without moving your butt up and then come back up to your hands. Repeat it for 6 times.

3. Hold the hand plank for 10 counts

4. Kick your right heel towards your butt, put it back down to a plank. Kick your left heel towards your butt, put it back down to a plank. Repeat the full rotation for 6 times

5. Hold the hand plank for 10 counts.

6. Lay down on your stomach with feet and hands off the ground for 10 counts.

Repeat #1-6 total of 3 times.

I know that you can find at least one “unlovable” and start loving!  When you look at the mirror, just remember that you ARE beautiful.  Give yourself a high five for how good you look! :)

TRUE JOy of achievement

SIze and body doesn’t matter when you have the ear and willingness to dance

Family First

One thing that the pandemic did was that it brought the core family together but then created a wall around the rest.  Most of us did not get to see parents for over a year, or even close to two.  Luckily there was Zoom or FaceTime but it was still not the same…

For the first time in my entire life, I have not seen my family (in person) for almost two years.  I missed the warmth of their skins as we hug and the laughters that are far beyond the volume of a phone or a computer.  September was the month, when I was able to hug my parents in person.  I was even more touched as I watched Kaya and Ela not letting go of their “anneanne” and “dede” (grandma and grandpa).  We had to break our core family to see the “rest” and that part was definitely not easy.  But at least we had a set timeline where we knew when we were going back to the core.  Certainly, the hardest part of the COVID separation from the “rest” was the uncertainty of “when to get back together”.  Even this time around, we were all hesitant to promise future dates - very sad!

My grandma and my daughter - unconditional love

Taste of first dinner together after two years

During our stay, we manage to dedicate our days to family.  My grandma came over almost every single day when we were in Istanbul.  My brother took days off of work to be with us.  My aunt flew from Switzerland to meet us.  The rest of the family met us in my parents’ house.  It was as if we were never apart.  I didn’t even let my friends know that I would be around.  As much as I missed them too, I just didn’t want to leave the side of my mom or my dad.  The fear of “what if I can’t see them for another 2 years” was constantly at the back of my mind.  Kids are a great indication of how quickly years go by, whether you feel it or not.  Just like I would not like my family miss those years with the kids, I also wouldn’t like my kids to miss any precious years with rest of the family.  Therefore every minute, in my opinion, is special and should be treated as such.  And as parents, we owe it to our kids to spend that quality time with rest of the family.

For those of you who might not know, my family participates in my weekly workout session - mostly on Saturdays, due to the time difference.  For this month, I changed the timing of our Wednesday session to accommodate being in Turkey - so that I would not need to teach a class at 2am.  With that, each class became even more family focused.  There was on Saturday class, where we actually celebrated my mom’s birthday, the core family that I grew up in and both of my kids were in one patio working out together - not to mention the numerous pushups that we did to celebrate my mom.  It was extra special when we also have the US crew on Zoom participating in the same family moment.

SMILE capture from that special saturday class

It is important to take a moment and enjoy the time with family and absorb the love, fully.  No matter how far we can be physically, that love always keeps us together and strong.  With that, here is a quick strength challenge, a repeat from the past months:

“Perfect Pushup” - twice a day for 5 counts each, for the full month of October.  Can you do it?

Here is a quick reminder of a perfect pushup:

• It doesn’t mean that you have to be on your toes. You are more than welcome to be on your knees.

• Keep your back straight and butt tucked in

• If you are on your knees, make sure that your hands are in front of your shoulders.

• If you are on your toes, make sure that the hands are under your shoulders

• TAKE your time

• If you can’t do 5, hold a “superman” for 10 counts.

  • Superman: Lay down on the ground, on your stomach. Lift hands and feet off of the ground. Hold until YOU can.

I will be looking forward to seeing your success stories on the comments, if you take me up on my challenge.

If you can, give your family members (core or rest or both) a nice hug - both you and they would certainly feel great!  High five to you all for getting through these times as isolated as we have been.

Core Family reunited

Act of Kindness

… is a super power!  

Have you ever wished to have super powers?  I did! And now, I feel like it is actually easier than I imagined, to have super powers.  We have already talked about the power of a smile.  What about an act of kindness?  The happiness that it creates - both by the one who provided it and by the one who received it - spreads like a huge wave.  It washes anything that is on its way and leaves behind that refreshing new start.

This was somewhat a rough month for me.  I spent about 2 weeks trying to book a ticket to Turkey for 9/1 departure.  The hassle, certainly consumed me more than I thought.  I couldn’t sleep at nights, I lost my patience with the kids over unnecessary things and, worst of it all, I felt very hopeless.  Not to mention, right at the same time, Kaya started school in person - FOR THE FIRST TIME.  I also didn’t anticipate the adjustment period for all that!  Basically a lot was happening…. Finally last Monday, when I still didn’t have tickets, I decided to go to LinkedIn to find someone who works for Turkish Airlines, preferably in the Bay Area, so that they can relate to all we went through last year during COVID.  I found someone… Someone with the super power of kindness…. He responded back to my desperate message right away and by the end of the day, I received our tickets!  He could have easily ignored my message or sent me back to the “help desk” line. Instead he took the time to communicate with me and resolve my issue.  Later on, he told me that he believes in kindness to fix this world.  That’s when I decided to dedicate this blog to him.  Not to mention, once I added him to my LinkedIn, I found out that it was his birthday that Monday!

The moment, I have realized that someone is truly trying to resolve my issue, I felt my shoulders relax.  My heart calmed down and my eyebrows lifted…. There was definitely a physical reaction to a simple act of kindness.  My mind changed from thinking about writing negative reviews to sending thank you messages.  What Mr. Guner did changed the path of my month.  I had other stresses to deal with but I was able to change my mindset on how to tackle them.  

It is really easy to get pulled down with negativity.  The key is to find the sliver of light that shines off of kindness, whether you create it or find the one who can create it for you.  Once the light is there, getting out is easy. :) 

Now… with all this stress talk, here is a good quick workout that would put some stress on your muscles to get you even stronger.  Don’t forget… you can use kindness on yourself too by being kind to your own body.  If something is too much, just stop…

For this month’s workout, I would like you to find a hill.  For example, I use the streets around my house.  I call this “Uphill Run, Downhill Play”.  If you start at the bottom of the hill:

1. Run up the hill

2. Run down backwards

3. Run up the hill

4. Side shuffle down leading with the right side

5. Run up the hill

6. Side shuffle down leading with the left side

7. Run up the hill

8. 10 Lunge walks to 10 forward squat jumps down (watch your knees)

9. Run up the hill

10. Run down 3 knees up/3 kick backs alternating

If you start at the top then just start at #2 and after #10, run up the hill! Once you are down, practice being kind by stretching… Being kind to yourself is the first step towards being kind to others. :). 

Big high five to you ALL for getting through any stress that is thrown at you on daily basis.

GIving each other a hand…

let’s get mom some flowers, just because… (Kaya’s idea)

… AND my first grader - we manage to adjust!

Your way is OK

As we all know, everyone has their own ways of doing things.  And sometimes it is hard not to chime in to tell your own way - not because it is THE right way of doing it but because it is the way you know how to do it.  It is almost like being the back seat driver.  Unless the actual driver is not a “driving student”, in most of the cases, the driver knows their own limits and has different reflexes compared to the back seat driver.  So it is much safer to let the driver drive as opposed to the back seat driver, because the driver is doing OK!

I feel like it can get very discouraging if you are the ONE doing it and everyone else chimes in.  During those times, one thing that I try to tell myself is that my way is just another way of doing it  - might not be the most efficient, pretty, fast or usual but it is a way. Otherwise, it is really easy to feel bad about yourself, to feel like all you do is wrong… Self confidence is the strongest shield that we can ever carry on us.  The key is never to loose it or to get it damaged.  

I have certainly been the one who “chimed in” before.  If I ever made anyone feel like their way was incorrect, I truly apologize.  Loved ones are mostly the easiest target to try to influence your way in.  So in my case, my apologies should probably go mostly to Derek, for making it feel like his way was not correct.  I am sure that it was indeed very correct…

It is rightly said, “habits die hard”.  That saying goes both ways: 1. Someone who is doing something one way will continue to do it that way, no matter how much they will be influenced by others.  2.  Someone who is doing something one way will have a hard time not to chime in to someone else doing the same thing another way.   I believe that the key thing to remember, in these situations, is “respect”.  As long as everyone respect’s each other’s ways, without a “but” then our strongest shield is intact, with no cracks… :)

Month of July has been a lot of “new” things for our family.  With new things come testing the waters….  Therefore different ways emerge and respect takes over.  It is really refreshing to be able to try things out for the first time in my own way without feeling like I keep failing.  The support function works great when respect takes over the mind.  It is also nice to sit back and watch how others tackle the “new” things.  Sometimes silence can be the best education when least expected. :)

Their feet can hardly touch the pedals but they make it work - #selfconfidence

Now… that all being said, when it comes to our exercises, there is only one right form. How you get yourself into that right form is up to you. :) Let’s think about some simple challenges… Do you remember the wall squats from months ago and also the pushups?  This month’s moves will be just those, as a pre-sleep challenge.  How you get into the correct form is up to you, as long as you keep the correct form through out the moves. :)

Here are our moves of the month with the correct forms:

1. Wall Squat for 20 seconds - Knees bent at 90 degree angle with lower back against the wall. Knees stay right over ankles and in front of toes. Chest stays upright. Legs are hip width apart.

2. Pushups, just 2 times - back straight and butt down. The pushing up move comes from the bending of the elbows as opposed to pulsing the butt up and down. The beauty of a pushup is that it can be on knees or on toes. Or it can be performed elevated or parallel to the ground.

As you are holding the wall squat, just think about your day: trust yourself on how you do things and appreciate others on how they do things.  And as you are doing your pushups, make sure that your “shield” is getting stronger and stronger because you can do IT!

Big high five for keeping your self confidence intact…

With his way of holding he caught and Released 5 fish

Her way was not the cleanest but she completed the task

What to Let Go

The month of June was full of old memories creeping up.  That made me think about the balance between saving and letting go the tangible things that reminds us the past. Therefore, just like last month, I have a question for you… What to let go?  What do YOU let go?

I am in a constant dilemma on what to save and what to let go of the items that matter to me.  Pretty much my “things” have some sort of a story or a history.  And that is why I save stuff like old ski passes or show tickets with the hopes of creating memory books in the future.  

With COVID lock down, the first thing that I focused on was cleaning our downstairs room, which became our permanent office.  I was truly impressed with myself when I let go of things that had sentimental value but no use.  The amount of paperwork that I was able to recycle was amazing.  Believe it or not, I still have my notebooks from college.  I keep them because those represent my hard work through out those years, with my own hand writing even though they are completely useless.  Sometimes, I find letters written to my parents, out of boredom in a lecture, that should not be thrown away. However, at the same time, I feel like I don’t have the energy to go through each page to find things to save.  So I choose the easy way to save it all.  The question is, if I don’t have the energy to go through each page to find something worthy, who will?  

I also write diaries every day for my kids - one book per kid… Yes… with a pen and in a notebook!  I can’t help to think if these notebooks will also become those items that they won’t know what to do in the future.  However, at the same time, I want to believe that it will be special both for them and for me to read these diaries in the future.  As I write each page, at the end of a long day, I realize that what I remember from that day is usually the heart warming stuff.  Our minds make sure that we build good memories to pass along…

As I try to find the fine balance between saving and letting go, I try to pass that thinking to the kids too.  That’s when I see the HUGE personality difference between the two - one is as attached to “things” as I am and the other cares less about them.  For Ela, a pretty flower on the side of the street can easily make her forget about a stuffy that she carries every where with her.  She can even exchange that stuffy for a flower.  For Kaya, on the other hand, there are stories and memories associated with each of his toys and it would be the hardest thing for him to apart ways with any of his “things”.  Could this dilemma be related to the personality too? (Most likely…)

Mom and son walk on a super clear day - memorIes from june

Now let’s get to the fun part, the workout…. I would like you to grab a pencil.  I will have three moves for you that will require that pencil.

1. Pencil Squat Pulses - place the pencil in between your two feet and then come down to a narrow squat. Please make sure that knees do NOT move in front of your toes. Hold down for two counts and then come up to straight. Continue with the pulse for 30 seconds.

2. Elbow Plank pencil roll on Right - come down to an elbow plank position (you can be on your knees) and place the pencil under right hand. Roll the pencil out forward and back. Continue with the right hand rolling for 30 seconds.

3. Elbow Plank pencil roll on Let - come down to an elbow plank position (you can be on your knees) and place the pencil under left hand. Roll the pencil out forward and back. Continue with the right hand rolling for 30 seconds.

4. Standing up pencil rubbing - stand up and extend arms forward with the pencil in between the palms of each hand. Make sure that the arms are straight in front and parallel to the floor. Start rubbing the pencil back and forth inside the palms (as if you will light a fire using friction). Continue for 30 seconds.

Repeat it all, for total of 4 rounds, and then write yourself a note that you will read in a year! ;)

Memories are to keep it in our heads forever.  Let’s figure out what we can release back to the earth without impacting those wonderful memories.

Give me a high five with those pencils that will build a new memory for you! :)

Sometimes a photo is all we can have

Kaya’s art wiTh him the whole time

Heart or Head

Which one do you rely on? Logic or gut?  This is a tough pick for me and a very thin line between the two… 

I have been watching my kids very closely during their activities, like swimming, gymnastics or even school.  Kaya has always been the cautious one where as Ela just goes for things.  Of course, there is the age factor but even when Kaya was Ela’s age, it looked as if he calculated the pros and cons of trying something new.  For both of them, “logic” is something that is forming as they grow up.  Therefore I can tell that it is hard to rely fully on the “head” to make decisions.  However, even at age 3, it seems like they have been finding the balance between listening to their hearts or their heads.

“Should we stay around or go far far away?”

“should i fly down the hill or just walk?”

I believe in the “gut feeling” but at the same time, my analytical mind can reason through any emotions.  Every day, I work on finding the balance between my head and my heart - in decisions as simple as “what to eat for dinner”.  Then comes the harder decisions, such as what my next role should be.  There are times, that I know that my head will be the sole winner and other times, I let my heart take the lead.  But yet, I still feel like there is something to the “gut feeling” at all times.   What makes it hard is the difficulty of explaining the “why”, when the heart or the gut comes into play.  

There is a great “short” movie by Disney, “Inner Workings”, that explains the dilemma between the heart and the head.  The movie takes it to an extreme but still it does show the power of the gut…. It is certainly a big battle in my head when I need to let my heart lead the way.  But when my heart wins, it seems like it doesn’t fail. :) After all, my heart wanted to be in San Francisco since I was 10.  But yet, my head still challenged that decision when I was presented with the the exact job offer (the exact compensation) one in North Carolina and the other one in San Francisco, CA.  Luckily my heart won the battle…  The key, for me, is to never look back once I let either the heart or the head lead the way.  

Heart and head dilemma is certainly in our every day workouts or sports.  Sometimes the heart knows that you can do the move and the head overthinks to make you question.  Or wise versa…. There could be times that your head knows that you can do it but fear takes over your heart to make you doubt yourself.  I have certainly been on both sides of that equation.  The hardest one for me is when I know, in my head, that it is something I can do but my gut tells me otherwise.  Should I just go with my head or listen to my heart?

With that being said, I have 3 moves for you and I am wondering if it is your heart or your head lead your way…

1. 1-min Hand Plank (back straight and butt down)

2. 20 seconds Single Leg Stance with CLOSED eyes (right)

3. 20 seconds Single Leg Stance with CLOSED eyes (left)

4. 1-min elbow plank (back straight and butt down)

5. 20 second rest

Repeat 1 though 5, 2 more times.

The above short routine is a great core builder and believe it or not, the Single Leg stance might become the hardest move if done correctly.  For that move, put one foot on the other calf and just close your eyes and count until 20 (slowly) without falling down.

High Five to you all for all the decisions that you make EVERY DAY!  Either head or heart, the journey continues and looking back with a “what-if” never helps…

and sometimes curiosity wins…

You Are Special

I want to dedicate this month’s blog to you and to your stories.  Cathy’s comment on my last month’s blog inspired me to think about all your stories, whether I know it or not.  

We all had different paths that brought us here and made us a community - a very strong one.  As I think about the people around me - family, friends, acquaintances, one-time meets, etc. - I see many exciting shades of colors, where not a single one is the same as the other.  We certainly make a beautiful painting that is impossible to ruin.  I believe that it is our story that gives us our color…. It really doesn’t matter how we look outside, there is so much inside to tell. 

For those of you who know me well, you will agree that I love telling stories.  (I can already see the nodes.). Each of my stories from the past (as recent as yesterday) makes me who I am and I am always excited to share those with you because that is my way of finding even more about you. Some stories bring tears to our eyes and at the same time create strong bonds between us.  And some stories bring laughter and make a hard day go by easier.

And some stories can be in books. :))

Interestingly enough, this month I had the chance to listen to even more stories of people around me.  One was a close friend and another one was a security guard at a local Whole Foods store…. I was touched by both.  Then came more… an acquaintance, a colleague, and a new close friend from Kaya’s school…. 

I love that colorful painting made by each one of you who is reading this blog or who is a part of my life.  Every single dot on this painting is special.  You Are Special… Your story is Special… Just keep touching others with your story and let them touch you with theirs…

Our picture is even prettier than this one… And even in this one there is not a single dot that is same as another. :)

With that note… Since you are special and you need to celebrate yourself, I will give you a quick and tiring workout that won’t take too much off your time and that will make you strong.  This workout is inspired by Tabata technique.  We will basically have 8 moves, each will be performed in 20 SECONDS and the full set will be repeated total of 4 times.  Ready?

Moves:

1. Jumping Jacks

2. Squat Jumps - make sure that your knees NEVER go in front of your toes

3. “Burmese” Jumps - start in a hand plank position, while your hands on the ground,  jump your feet towards you hands then back out to plank position then jump up with hands up in the air

4. Lunge Jumps (Left foot forward) - Get into a lunge position with left foot forward.  Jump straight up and back down to lunge

5. Lunge Jumps (Right foot forward) - Get into a lunge position with right foot forward.  Jump straight up and back down to lunge

6. Pushups

7. Dips - Keep your knees close to your chest and go down to dips (both feet and hands on the floor)

8. REST

Basically the key thing to keep in mind is to do the moves back to back and only do them for 20 seconds each.  Since the 8th move is a rest, you will have plenty of time to rest in between sets. :)

A big high five to all of you for being very special!   Thank YOU…

On a side note, ended our ski season in style!

#strongwomen Continues

Three years ago today, I attempted to start a series of blogs on #strongwomen.  It ended up being a single blog about the most important woman in my life - my mom.

This is now the perfect opportunity to pick back up on my “series”…. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, those strong women are among us, every day, dressed up as our mothers, mentors, close or distant relatives, piano teachers, bosses or complete strangers that we run into in life.

I was lucky to grow up in an environment where I didn’t feel like being a girl/women was a disadvantage.  In my head, there was nothing that I couldn’t do just because I was a girl.  Even when I picked up windsurfing at age 10, I never thought I was any different than all the other “guys” in the bay.  If they were able to cary their 30lbs board on their own, I would do it by myself too.  Not a single day, I asked for help or accepted help.  I pretty much graduated from high school with the same mindset.  Now, when I look back to those times, I realize that I was surrounded by strong women.  My mom being the top one, another one of those women was my piano teacher “Madam Magdi” - Magdalena Rufer.

Imagine a ballerina in her 70s (even though she was NOT a ballerina) - super skinny, with long red hair (she used to dye it with henna), big blue eyes.  She was Swiss and lived in Turkey longer than I even existed. :). I always knew her alone since her husband had passed away long before I knew her.  She never needed help from anyone even though she had some health issues.  From my perspective, she took care of herself and didn’t want to rely on anyone else.  She did what she loved - spreading her love of music to anyone who is touched by her.  She was a pianist, but in my opinion, she was teaching the actual feeling of music more so than playing the piano.  Even to this day, when I hear any form of music, I close my eyes and think through the feelings of each note and sound.  She was the example of independence, self power and resilience, but with the gentlest way possible.  She followed her heart and never gave up. (I miss her a lot)

MAdam magdi and I…

We are surrounded by strong women with their stories and achievements.  Let’s take a pause during these crazy times and think about those who might have helped you (knowingly or unknowingly) become who you are today.  

Strength is in our personalities but also, physically in our muscles. :) Luckily we can train both our internal strength and our physical strength.  This month’s moves will actually leave our hands alone - as tribute to Madam Magdi.  Let’s get that heart beat up… 

1. Jumping jacks: legs and arms out at the same time - 100 reps

2. Sit to jumps: sit on the floor then get up and jump - 10 reps

3. Regular Squat pulses: legs are shoulder width a part, quarter squat pulses - 10 reps

4. Narrow Squat pulses: legs are together, quarter squat pulses - 10 reps (watch your knees)

5. Wide Squat pulses: legs are wider than shoulder width a part, quarter squat pulses - 10 reps

6. Sit to jumps - 10 reps

7. Regular squat Pulses - 10 reps

8. Sit to jumps - 20 reps

9. Lunge hold with arm under leg: start with right leg forward, left leg back, bring right arm under the right leg to outside of the right foot and up - 10 reps and repeat 10 times on the left side

10. Split jumps - start with right leg forward and left leg back lunge, jump up to switch legs - 10 reps (10 total jumps)

200 counts and you are done! Let’s keep those legs strong!

Thank you to all the strong women around me for teaching me that gender does not dictate what I can and cannot do!

Big high five for thinking through your memories… :)

Look Beyond

At work, we have a tradition on providing mini-bio pages when someone joins the team.  A little over a year ago, that tradition evolved for existing team members, where, if you are selected, you give a more detailed presentation of yourself during the bi-weekly team meeting.  Well, I got selected two weeks ago…. Derek immediately joked around saying that it would take me 25 hours to prepare it and then 4 hours to present it! (Ha-ha-ha, right!). It actually took me a week of thinking about it and 4 hours to prepare it (I haven’t presented it yet).  It was definitely one emotional task to put that presentation together because I went through a lot of great memories of my childhood.  It made me remember people, places, activities and even conversations…. I decided that one of the activities that I used to do and the conversation that followed it, would be a great theme for this month - Look beyond what it really is….

I went to a 5-day boarding school starting at age 11 through 18.  My dad used to drop me (later, me and my brother) off at school every Monday morning - it was about an hour drive.  There was a section of the drive where the highway would go through hills filled with houses “built-over-night” (gecekondu, in Turkish).  These houses were illegally built with no permits or stability in the structure, therefore they made those hills look horrible.  However, whenever there would be fog, my dad would say that we were in an enchanted forest.  We would imagine the trees and the animals in that forest.  The conversation would take us deep into our imagination and by the time we arrived to school, I would be in a whole different place in my mind.  Who would think that those eyesore houses would actually become something pretty in the mind?  Don’t take me wrong, Monday blues was still there but the excitement of seeing the fog was a whole new way of looking forward to the drive.  

The whole boarding school idea wasn’t fun for anyone in the family but it was a really good school so we all had to learn how to live with it.  When we looked beyond, we focused on the big picture but we also looked into the moment to make more out of it - the enchanted forest was just one of many excitements that we discovered along the way.

Into the memory lane - at my middle school

Now let’s think about the journey of being healthy… One part of that journey is “working out”.   Human mind is great at finding excuses to push it out and then feel guilty about it.  The easiest excuse is “time”, which I talked about last month.  The fast follow to “time” is the equipment.  This is where you can truly look beyond because I can guarantee you that your house is filled with all sorts of workout equipment.  After all, this is exactly why I started my “Train and Smile” sessions.  Last week, during my session, I wanted to focus on “being off the grid” and picked a workout tool that focused on being off your phone - I chose magazines.  Yes… we worked out with 2 magazines.  We were very respectful to the magazines where we absolutely did NOT use them to slide on the floors. :)

Here is a quick warm-up routine with two magazines:

• Magazine twisters: (great upper body warmup)

  • Bring your palms together right in front of your chest with fingers facing up and the two magazines are in between the hands

  • Magazines should be stacked together and perpendicular to the floor (top towards the ceiling, bottom towards the floor)

  • Keep elbow at chest height and keep forearms parallel to the floor

  • Keep pushing your palms against to each other while the magazines are in between the hands

  • Just my using your wrist, turn one magazines towards you (top towards you) and the other on away from you (bottom towards you)

  • Keep alternating for 30 seconds

• Magazine friction:

  • Magazines in between your hands, extend your arms forward at shoulder height

  • Palms pushing against each other, thumbs facing up, fingers facing forward

  • Start rubbing the magazines against each other forward and backward (as if you are trying to start fire with a stick)

  • Keep going for 30 seconds

• Magazine curls:

  • Put each magazine under your arm against your body

  • Palms facing each other, on either side of your body

  • Bring your thumbs towards your shoulders, without dropping the magazines

  • Continue for 30 seconds

• Magazine jacks:

  • Feet wider than shoulder width

  • Hold the magazines from the top and line it right in front of your legs

  • Jump to bring your feet together, while bringing your magazines together to clap in front of your legs

  • Jump your feet out, while bringing your magazines to the starting position

  • Keep going for 30 seconds.

Repeat it all for 3 sets…. 

Now do you see your magazines differently? :)

After a fun workout with our magazines!

Let’s focus on the big picture, because it is always there… Just remember that as you come through hurdles/excuses, you might be able to find a way around it.   High Five to that creative mind of yours!

Time is the Best Gift

It is hard to believe that the first month of the new year is already coming to an end…. Time truly flies!  When I look back at the month, it was filled with fun days spent with the family, mostly doing things that make us smile.  Kaya’s 6th birthday definitely topped it all and I was reminded, one MORE time, that the time flies…. I still remember the day, at the hospital, waiting for his arrival.  Then came the hourly nursing sessions at night for 20 months.  Now, he is learning how to read and write, and it is yet another great chapter with him.  

Kaya’s birthday celebration at tahoe

Yes, time flies…. I believe that the key is to focus on the things you like while it is going by.  Therefore, “time” is actually the best gift that you can give to yourself OR to others. :)  What unnecessary thing that you can eliminate from your day so that you can spend your time doing something you like?

It is a typical Sunday in our household where Derek and I are trying our best to get the house stuff done - cleaning, fixing, cooking, etc… The kids are mostly on their own.  Earlier in the morning, Ela came up, right when I was cleaning the kitchen, and told me that she would like to paint with me.  I looked at all the dishes then thought about one of my earlier blogs about the importance of “5 minutes”.  I decided to give myself the gift of time to spend those precious minutes with Ela.  The kitchen was cleaned a little later, when Ela wanted to move on to a separate game that didn’t involve me. :)  

Now with all that said about time, where do you place “getting/staying fit”? 

1. Necessary (so there is always time for it)

2. Necessary but hard to find time for

3. Unnecessary (so easy to eliminate)

I am jealous if you picked option a.  And if you picked option c, let’s chat. :) For me, it is certainly b.  No matter how organized I am about my schedule, it is always challenging to carve out 15 minutes to strength train.  That being said, I have realized if I create routines that I look forward to then it is actually easier to make time for those 15 minutes.  I have my favorite tools - weights, rollers, household items from our Train and Smile sessions, etc.  I have my favorite moves - jumping, lifting, standing, etc. I have my favorite muscles - legs, glutes, arms, etc.  With all of that, I have my routines…. Some of my routines ONLY include my favorites and other include just one move/muscle/tool that I don’t like as much.  That way, during tough days, I can pick my “favorite” routine and during good days, I can challenge myself with a routine that might include moves to push me.

Here is a quick example:

1. Jumping jacks (for 30 seconds - make sure you hear your hands clap over your head)

2. Criss/cross leg jumps (for 30 seconds - like a ballerina switching feet fast while keeping your hands at shoulder height and parallel to the ground)

3. Scissor jumps (15 second on each leg - make sure to keep a perfect lunge position)

• Do 1-3, take a one minute break, continue for 2 more sets

1. Upright row to overhead push with a dumbbell (10 counts - during upright row, make sure to being elbows over shoulders)

2. Alternating Hammer Curl (10 counts)

• Do 4-5, take a one minute break, continue for 2 more sets

1. Elbow plank hold (30 second hold)

2. Side elbow plank hip pulses (15 second on each side - if the balancing is challenging, drop your upper leg FORWARD)

• Do 6-7, take a 30 second rest, continue for 1 more set

I hope you will enjoy this routine as much as I do!  Give yourself the time to at least try it out.  If you have kids, just have them join you. :)

Big high five to you all for making the time to read my blog! 

Positive Attitude

Yet another cheesy title but the best two words to explain how our household survived 2020…  Luckily the word “positive” was only associated with the attitude and NOT with COVID. :)

December is always all about the holidays, which gives this family a nice boost of excitement.  This year, that excitement was more important as we tried to keep our positive attitude.  It is a true attitude boost, when you see the kids not caring about anything but the surprises of holidays.  In this household, Santa comes twice… :) Once on Christmas and then on New Years Day…. Therefore the tree is the magical place that creates gifts.  Who doesn’t like gifts?!  For me gifts are more than buying…. I like creating stuff but the problem is that the inspiration comes just days (if not a day) before the actual time of celebration.  This time around, I did try to trick my mind so that my creative juices could start working before the 24th. :) As I went through pictures to prepare something special for my love, I saw all the joy in our faces in every picture.  The settings were all the same - around the house, in the neighborhood, up in Tahoe and up in Santa Cruz Mountains.  But we were happy, even when we posed with our masks!

One colorful smile!

When dreams come true you act cool…

This year had its significant challenges and moments where a positive attitude was hard to keep.  It toughened our skin and taught us to be even more resilient, adaptive and creative.  It taught ME to miss family with a smile on my face, to let my eyes tear up in front of the camera, to take a deep breath while trying to teach a language, that is not my own, to my toddler, to create new routines with the expectations that they could change the next day, to grow our mini community of YMCA to a larger family…. I am certainly ready for this year to be over but at the same time I am truly grateful for all the new skills that I learned in 2020.  I don’t want to put high hopes into 2021 because I do not like disappointments.  Instead, I will keep that positive attitude no matter what the new year will bring to us.

Train and Smile had been a key part of this year.  We have completed 75 classes with 38 different themes and 38 different items from our houses used as our equipment.  There were total of 41 unique participants and in two separate classes, we managed to have 6 members of the same family join the class from different cities/countries.  Our largest class ended up being 19 people (not including me and Kaya) and the smallest class was 10.  I collected total of 75 smile captures at the end of every class.  And those smiles made my day every single session.  

Instead of a workout routine this month, I have a simple experiment for you.  When you are least feeling like it, put a pen/pencil in between your lips (side ways, NOT pointing in) so that the tip of the pen/pencil will be on the right side of your mouth and the other end will be on the left side.  Don’t bite the pen/pencil, just try to hold down to it with your lips.  Then do a wall sit squat for 30 seconds.  Once you are done, take the pen/pencil out of your lips and look at yourself in the mirror.  Let me know what you see in the mirror once you remove the pen/pencil. 

Let’s keep the cheer and the smiles up in 2021 to bring us even more joy…. We made memories in 2020 to celebrate in 2021… I wish you a Healthy, Happy and Sane New Year and no matter what it brings to us, I wish you all a strong heart, body and mind.

We made it! High five to you all…

True Joy…

Thank YOU

Over the last 23 years that I have been in this country, I admired the month of November more and more every year...  Initially, Thanksgiving was just a day where families came together to enjoy a big feast.  It was an “American” tradition and I was just a “guest” to that celebration.  The only “family” that I had in the US was my dad’s cousin who I have seen only few times prior to coming out to the US for college.  I had my very first Thanksgiving with them in New York City.  The biggest thrill for me was to be in New York City - as opposed to understanding what we were celebrating.  As the years went by, I got invited to my friends’ homes to spend the holidays.  Every year, I observed new ways of celebrating, new family dynamics and new faces as they ate their big dinners with the name of my country - ‘Turkey’.

When I started my life in San Francisco, I lived by myself in a studio.  For my first Thanksgiving, I went to a Chinese restaurant with my Asian-American boyfriend back then.  The next one was at a Turkish friend’s home - it was more like a Turkish party.  And then it started to evolve to joining friends preparing the feast...  Been through boiled crab, roasted turkey (many times), deep friend turkey, ham, etc... As I started to become a part of the big preparation, I started to understand what we were celebrating: It was those friends and the fact that we were together to support each other.  

All my early celebrations were with non-Americans who were far from home and from their immediate families.  But yet we managed to form that “family” feeling... With Turks, it is second nature to prepare a feast because that’s what we do almost every dinner back at home :).  The key part was doing something together and being together.  We didn’t need to be close friends.

From then on, Thanksgiving became my most favorite holiday.  I understood the tradition but also the true meaning of it - to be thankful.  About 10 years ago, my parents were visiting us during November.  We decided to take them to NYC and while we were there I wanted to stop by one of my best friend’s home.  She invited us for dinner to her new apartment.  She wanted to surprise me with Sushi because that’s what we used to eat with her every Wednesday night when she lived in SF.  Well... say the least, it was definitely NOT one of our traditional Thanksgiving dinners.  But we were there, 5 of us, to fill up my friend’s lonely apartment.  She had no plans for that night if we wouldn’t have been there.  Instead we filled up the apartment with laughters and cheer!

Now we have our set menu for Thanksgiving - a little more traditional but still with room for adventure. We love having family and friends over.  This year, it was hard to have just 4 of us eating up a feast (2 out of 4 being toddlers).  Even though it has been a tough year, there are plenty of things that we have been thankful for...  I have mentioned most of them last month so I won’t bore you again (if you made it this far down on my blog :) ).  

This year’s thanksgiving…

Last 4 years… in 2017, i delivered Ela 4 days after the feast!

The biggest think that I am thankful for is,of course, my little family and the fact that we are together all the time - even though, sometimes, we all need a break.  I am also thankful for the technology that connects us daily - I get to see my parents in Turkey almost every day, I get to continue to teach and capture smiles twice a week, and I get to stay employed while being at home...

This month, I decided to give my readers the chance of seeing how our Train and Smile classes roll...  We did a great workout the day before Thanksgiving and I thought that would be a good one to share since our theme was Thanksgiving.  The fun part about these classes is that we use stuff from home, based on the theme of the week.  Our equipment for the week of Thanksgiving was “2 cans” - mainly canned food as opposed to beverages. 

Here is a link to our 11/25 class:

https://youtu.be/-Mot9PT2gxc

Smiles i captures after the 11/25 session

You will get to see what an energy filled background that we have during these workouts.  All of you parents of little kids (or even older kids), it is ok to have them with you. Why not make them a part of your routine?  After all isn’t that what we do with our Thanksgiving celebrations?

I hope you are able to keep up with the morning and night routines from the previous blog.  This workout is to get your body moving during the day and to get your hamstrings and shoulders firing up!

Thank YOU for being my follower...

High five for making through November with all your loved ones - even if they are thousands of miles away from you!

No Matter What…

No matter what, there is beauty in life... in all of ours lives.  Those of you who join me in “Train and Smile” classes, you have already celebrated the theme of beauty this month and I decided then that this would be a good theme for this month’s blog.  After the stressful month of September, with everything heating up (literally), October brought a bit of fresh air and a fun twist, especially with Halloween.  Even though, the month still had its share of sadness and stress, the beautiful things that surround us helped me to replace tears with smiles...

One of the biggest (literally) beauties that we enjoyed this month was the forest of Redwood Trees... After exactly two months later, we were able to go back to our calm and quiet in the Camp Jones Gulch at Santa Cruz mountains.  The crispness of the fall weather gave our camping experience a whole new feel.  As we did our daily 2-3 hour hikes, we couldn’t help to think about the fires of last month.  On the far ridges we were able to see browned trees but they were still standing up, strong and resilient...  Definitely a great lesson to learn from the nature.  Kaya was able to join his class from the Redwood Forests, thanks to Y’s WiFi.  As I watch him work on his letters on Zoom with the back drop of giant trees - sitting on a wooden bench, I thought about the irony of how this opportunity is an outcome of COVID.  Even the fact that we can enjoy this campsite is because of COVID.  And now the better news for you is that, the Camp Jones Gulch is opening its doors to anyone who would like to experience this beauty (you don’t need sleeping bags, they have cabins!).  Just in case you would like to check out: https://www.ymcasf.org/cabin-rentals

As I look around to see the beauties around us even during the toughest days, I realize that my thoughts start rolling fast on how to make my actions part of those beauties.  Believe it or not, if you don’t know already, I am VERY scared of spiders.  However, once the kids were born, my right of being scared of spiders was taken away from me so that I wouldn’t create fear in them - I still scream but when they are not around :).  Thanks to them, I can now watch a big garden spider create its web (from a FARRRRR distance).  The work of the spider is BEAUTIFUL, even though I would not want to get close to it.  So, one way of celebrating that beauty is by using the movements of a spider in my workouts.  Spider walks are already a move in the fitness world, how about making it even more similar - come and check out my training sessions if you want to know how we move like spiders.  

A spider walk starts with a perfect plank. Planks are already great moves for the full body.  Allowing our limps to move a plank just like a spider is the beauty that I am trying to create in our bodies as we strengthen our core and back.  The best part of this move is that, just like push-ups and squats, you do not need anything other than your own body.

With that, I would like to focus on a plank as our move of the month... To me, it represents the strong trunk of a redwood tree, the resourceful legs of a spider, the sturdy surface of a boulder and, most importantly, the amazing body of all of us...  We all have the strength to hold a plank for a couple seconds.  The key is to train our bodies to hold it longer while not sacrificing in form.  Core strength is what we need, regardless of age.  

With that being said, I am adding two separate plank moves to our night routine before going to bed:

1. Plank Hold for 15 seconds

2. Spider Walks: Start with a perfect plank hold, step both right hand and the right foot one step to the right, bring left hand and left foot close to the right side. This is count one. Repeat the move toward left. This is count two.  Continue until you hit count 4.

Here is a quick video of me doing the moves if you would like to do them with me: https://youtu.be/qUnI18ILv-A (Correction on the video: 15 SECONDS not MINUTES)

So now, if you add along last two month’s daily routines to this one, you basically have pushups and squats in the morning and pushups and planks at night...  The number of pushups are up to you.  You can either do the progressive version that I talked about last month or just stick with 2 at night and 2 in the morning. 

Let’s get out of bed with a strong body and let’s end the day with even a stronger core... Don’t forget there is beauty all around us - on the leaves of a flower, on a smile of a child, on an old picture from a fun time and most importantly in the mirror as you look at yourself.

Big high five to all of you who can find the beauty around and cherish it even if it is only for a few seconds.  Let’s be strong, build that core for many beautiful days ahead!

Beauty of freedom.

Beauty of the sIbling love

Beauty hidden in the dead ivy

Beauty of catching the Blue moon rise

Let’s Clear the Mind

Month of September brought a whole new meaning to being stuck at home.  The smoke that kept us at home towards the end of August just grew into a day of Apocalypse.  I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a sign to think through our priorities and what we would like to do with life.  The good thing was that we had our Train and Smile class on the day that the sun never showed up for the whole day.  And as always, the smiles of everyone brought me back to earth - the earth, that I am having a hard time recognizing.

SEpt 9th at 8:45Am - sun never showed up

There is definitely something about the endorphins that our body releases when we workout.  Even though I am tired and sweaty after a quick workout session, I do feel much better than prior to working out.  There are certain days that it is really hard to convince myself to set up my dumbbells and start lifting, or to run up and down the stairs to get my heart rate up.  But once I win that battle in my head, I definitely do come out of it more energized and happier.

I should admit that this month had been tougher than most of the other months of 2020.  My mind went to so many places and I started to feel the stress of everything that is going on around us - politics, politics, politics and some COVID.  I never thought that I would ever get impacted with the actual politics because my entire life, I have done everything to avoid listening to politics - and I am from Turkey so you imagine...  However, this year, that is NOT possible.  I ended up finding ways to make it lighter in my head...  And the best way, that I found, was to embrace it and make something better out of those heavy thoughts in my mind.  I used my Train and Smile classes to create themes that would turn those thoughts into fun workouts.  I basically focused on those endorphins to cheer all of us up, even it it would be only for the 30 minutes.  And with all of that, we completed our 50th Train and Smile class today, with the theme of “frying” (hence the heated political environment) and a pan as our workout tool!

The cool thing about endorphins and strength training is that the effects are not just limited to the moment of the workout, they linger way after the workout.  This is the whole premise of my 15 minute workouts - not only to get you to a happy state in a short period of time but also have that happiness to linger longer.  Not to mentioned your muscles will also continue to burn off of your fat storage if you did your training right.  Isn’t this win/win?

Now... last month, my challenge to you was 4 pushups a day - only 4.  I know that some of you have taken me up on that challenge.  So this month, I have two challenges for you:

1. Create a progression in your pushups: Mondays 4 (2 and 2), Tuesdays 6 (3 and 3), Wednesdays 8 (4 and 4), Thursdays 10 (5 and 5), Fridays 12 (6 and 6), Saturdays 14 (7 and 7) and Sundays 16 (8 and 8).  On Mondays start back up with 4.

2. Add 2 wall squats to your morning routine (after the pushups)- each holding for 30 seconds without putting your hands on your legs.

Squat is an awesome move - not as awesome as a pushup, of course. It engages your butt and your quads, some of the bigger muscles in your body.  By activating them in the morning, I am hoping to get you to a happy start. Every day, even if you don’t workout, you walk... Therefore you fire up those quads.  With a morning warm up on those quads, I am aiming to get your knees ready for a full day of stress.  After all, we don’t carry stress only on our shoulders.  I will do my first squats tomorrow morning and post it to this blog as a comment.  If you want you can then use that video to do squats with me every morning.  

I keep saying that we will all get out of this year stronger.  I still strongly believe in that.  Even if we have our frustrations with the current environment, we can all find a way to clear our minds.  Once we clear it, the key is to keep it that way - just like our closets. :)

Kaya’s drawing of wall-e - here is my clear minded boy

High five to all of you who have done last blog’s challenge and who will take on my new challenge...  Let’s keep those minds clear so that we can see things around us with happier eyes!