The name Sarasweaty was inspired by the Hindu Goddess Saraswati. Saraswati is the Goddess of leaming, knowledge, music and the creative arts. The Sanskrit word sara means "essence" and swa means "self." Thus Saraswati means "the essence of the self."
For most of my adult life I have been searching for the essence of myself and in this search I, like Saraswati, have been a participant of learning and the arts. This path has lead me to my present career as a visual arts teacher. In my quest for knowledge and creative expression I learned about the mind and the spirit, but have many times neglected the BODY. I have choosen the name Sarasweaty to represent my focus on the body. This blog is dedicated to the transformation of my body image as I make an effort to honor it everyday through movement.
My goal is to put my body in to motion everyday for 20 minutes or longer. This could be in the form of walking, yoga, dancing, lifting weights, or even running! The only requirement is that the movement must be conscious. Simply walking from my classroom to the front office will not suffice as conscious movement. The motion needs to be a focus on my body and not just a mode of transportation.
I will start at DAY 1 and record my movement for that day and every consecutive day to follow. If there is ever a day I do not meet my 20 minutes of movement then I will start over. This is a journey of self discovery, which I hope will lead me to a sense of peace with my mind, BODY, and spirit. For now, it's time to sweat!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Huge Realizations

Well this journey has not been easy. For some reason I had it in my mind that 20 minutes of daily conscious movement would be easy. No problem to get in 12, 13, or even 14 days, but so far my max consecutive days remains under a week.

It is so easy to not make time for yourself. We make all sorts of commitments for meetings, doctor appointments, coffee dates with friends, phone calls to parents, and we usually follow through with our plans. Why is it so difficult to break plans with another person yet it is so easy to break plans with yourself.

There were many times when I had made a date with myself to hit the gym, dance, or take a yoga class and many of those times I was stood up .... by myself!!! I know I am not the only one who does this. In fact, I think I would be correct in thinking that many of us do this. Our culture encourages a fast pace life full of schedules with agendas that do not include time for ourselves. Come to think of it, do we truly honor and respect a person when they take time for themselves or do we see them as selfish and proceed pour layers of guilt upon them???

For years I have not honored myself. I have not schedule the time to take care of me. When I did I would often change my mind and decided to watch TV or surf the internet instead. Loving yourself is just like being in a relationship. It takes patience, compassion, forgiveness, strength, courage, and work! I'm not sure I have ever truly loved myself. I know this sounds so dreary and depressing but I truly can't remember a day when I have not criticized myself in one way or another ... usually pertaining to my body. WoW! I would be overwhelmed counting every time I was uncomfortable in my own skin, feeling insecure about my arms, my hair, my belly. Because of this I have closed myself off to so many opportunities to shine! I have avoided so many situations just to hide my body, including sex!!

This is heavy stuff man! I don't want to carry this anymore. I want to make the time to love myself. I want to commit to the plans I make with myself and take the time honor my body. How would the world be different if we all truly loved ourselves? Think of how easy it would be to love each other.

20 minutes everyday is challenging, but after all of this deep reflection it sure seems to me that it is worth it!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Day 1-5 and back to Zero

So I started over last Saturday after finding no time on Friday to get sweaty.

Saturday, Sunday - SKI SKI SKI

Monday - Snowshoe

Tuesday, Wednesday SKI SKI SKI

I love getting my physical activity outdoors and away from the confines of the gym. It feels good to have my feet on the earth ... or in these cases my skis and snowshoes. However, I still found myself craving the intensity of a work out that I can achieve at the gym and after a full day of skiing I still found myself in the gym by the afternoon.

I have not worked out in the past 3 days. I think it is part alcohol related and part emotional influences. It's very challenging to pull myself off the couch when I am feeling hung over or sad. I'm going to try to start over again today at day 1. Some people say that working out makes you feel better. We will see, but for now it's Day Zero.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Made it to Day 6 ... starting over tomorrow

I can't remember what I did on Day 4 but I know that I spun poi on Day 5 and rode my bike on Day 6.

But today is Sunday, and we sprung forward one hour and I am feeling the change. So I am allowing myself a day of adjustment and I will start again tomorrow.

I guess the nice thing about this journey so far is that I can always start again tomorrow.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Day 2 and 3 .... Very Sweaty

Flatirons Athletic Club
1 hour each day
Cardio to the Max!

I have been going through a lot of resistance in my life lately and I think I took it all out at the gym these past two days. Tuesday I hit the treadmill, rowing machine and eliptical. It was easy to do because the gym was playing the biggest loser on every TV screen. It's hard not to be motivated when you see people twice your size busting their ass.

Wednesday I went to a ski conditioning class ... squats squats and more squats!!!

Monday, March 8, 2010

day 2 ...Planet motion

Alchemy of Movement
1 hour
Sweat Sweat Sweat

Basically I spent this evening in a tribal dance intoxication. It was great. There is no better way to work out than when you forget you are working out and surrender to the music!

Day 1 Walking and Yoga.

It was beautiful outside today so I spent it walking with my girlfriend. It was a great way to get some movement and catch up with my friend.

Later that day I found the energy to also attend a 90 minute yoga class. It pretty much kicked my butt at times but overall I felt very accomplished by the end of it.

Day 7 .... I'm not sure this really counts.


I went out Friday night in to Saturday morning. Yes, I was dancing my ass off at 1:00 am on Saturday but I am not sure this really counts as my conscious, sweaty movement. Maybe I should make a disclaimer that the movement can not be alcohol induced.

So I'll be starting over at Day 1 because the rest of Saturday I spent recovering from the early morning dance party. It's OK though. I feel no disappointment.

Day 6 Conscious Walking


I knew I would have very little time for exercise today due to my busy schedule so I simply power walked around the track for 20 minutes during my lunch break.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Day 5 Yoga

My Home
Yoga
25 minutes

I really didn't want to do anything when I got home this evening. It was a busy day and after putting in long hours all I wanted to do was go to eat and sleep. I really thought that I would have to start over at Day 1 tomorrow, but then I reminded myself "it's only 20 minutes." This reminder prompted me to set the oven timer, throw my dinner in and roll out the yoga matt. I stretched, posed and twisted to the sweet smell of potatoes and the minutes went by in a flash. Now I just need to figure out how to fit 20 in to my even busier day tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Day 4 Soul Sweat

Alchemy of Movement
Soul Sweat
1 hour
Degree of Sweat: Manageable

Today I went back to Alchemy of Movement, even after my less than climactic NIA class, to take a class called Soul Sweat. I really liked today's class. It was upbeat, kept me engaged, and got my heart pumping. The song choices were of good quality so I enjoyed dancing to them. I'm extremely tired though. It seems like I get home with barely enough time to wind down before I go to sleep and start all over again. I may want to rethink my work out schedule and consider hitting up the gym in the mornings.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Day 3 Treadmill

Flatirons Athletic Club
Treadmill
30 minutes
Degree of Sweat: Average

Even though I was on a machine that keeps you walking/running in the same place I was still much more engaged than the NIA class from last night. It's probably because when I am on the treadmill I can just totally zone out. I just pop in my head phones and I can listen to some good jams or watch TV. Tonight I opted for the second. The Biggest Loser was on and that was huge, no pun intended, motivation to keep on running!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Day 2 ... N.I.A.

Alchemy of Movement
N.I.A. dance class
1 hour
Degree of Sweat: Mild

"Originally, Nia stood for Non-Impact Aerobics. The letters ‘NIA’ have come to stand for Neuromuscular Integrative Action, in other words, the interaction between our bodies and our minds."

Whatever NIA stands for I found it incredibly boring none the less. I like the idea of dancing as a way to put my body in motion but this particular class felt so forced. My body was not being inspired by the generic brand dance music. I found my mind drifting off as I reluctantly did another jazz step, kick and turn. I thought that as long as I was doing 20 minutes of some sort of movement that I would feel accomplished. Today I just felt bored, uninspired and I actually left the class with 15 minutes to go! Now, I'm not writing NIA off completely. The instructor was great and I can see how some people could really get in to this .... but for a girl who is accustomed to a 4 hour psychedelic aerobics Phishdance party, NIA put me to sleep.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Day 1

Flatirons Athletic Club
Elliptical Machine with Cardio Intervals
30 Minutes
Degree of Sweat: Average

WoW! I had no idea there were so many definitions for S W E A T. In honor of the beginning of this journey I sat in the Sauna for 15 minutes after my work out just so I could experience
S W E A T. The heat encouraged drips of sweat to roll over each curve of my body as I lay there wondering what lessons this journey will bring me.

sweat

[swet] Show IPA verb,sweat or sweat·ed,sweat·ing, noun, adjective
–verb (used without object)
1.
to perspire, esp. freely or profusely.
2.
to exude moisture, as green plants piled in a heap or cheese.
3.
to gather moisture from the surrounding air by condensation.
4.
(of moisture or liquid) to ooze or be exuded.
5.
Informal. to work hard.
6.
Informal. to experience distress, as from anxiety.
7.
(of tobacco) to ferment.
–verb (used with object)
8.
to excrete (perspiration, moisture, etc.) through the pores of the skin.
9.
to exude in drops or small particles: The drying figs sweat tiny drops of moisture.
10.
to send forth or get rid of with or like perspiration (often fol. by out or off).
11.
to wet or stain with perspiration.
12.
to cause (a person, a horse, etc.) to perspire.
13.
to cause to exude moisture, esp. as a step in an industrial drying process: to sweat wood.
14.
to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work.
15.
to cause to lose (weight) as by perspiring or hard work: The hard week's work sweated five pounds off him.
16.
to cause, force, or bring pressure on (a person, an animal, etc.) to work hard.
17.
to employ (workers) at low wages, for long hours, or under other unfavorable conditions.
18.
to labor with meticulous care over: The manufacturer of this beautiful car has really sweated the details.
19.
Slang.
a.
to obtain or extort (money) from someone.
b.
to extort money from; fleece.
20.
Slang. to subject to severe questioning; give the third degree to.
21.
Metallurgy.
a.
to heat (an alloy) in order to remove a constituent melting at a lower temperature than the alloy as a whole.
b.
to heat (solder or the like) to melting.
c.
to join (metal objects) by heating and pressing together, usually with solder.
22.
to remove bits of metal from (gold coins) by shaking them against one another, as in a bag.Compare clip1 (def. 4).
23.
to cause (tobacco or cocoa) to ferment.
–noun
24.
the process of sweating or perspiring.
25.
that which is secreted from sweat glands; perspiration.
26.
a state or a period of sweating.
27.
hard work.
28.
Informal. a state of anxiety or impatience.
29.
a process of inducing sweating or perspiration, or of being sweated, as in medical treatment.
30.
moisture exuded from something or gathered on a surface.
31.
an exuding of moisture, as by a substance.
32.
an inducing of such exudation, as in some industrial process.
33.
a run given to a horse for exercise, as before a race.
34.
sweats, Informal. sweatpants, sweatshirts, sweat suits, or the like.
–adjective
35.
Informal.
a.
(of clothes) made to be worn for exercise, sports, or other physical activity.
b.
made of the absorbent fabric used for such clothes:sweat dresses.
c.
of, for, or associated with such clothes: the sweat look in sportswear.