Webring & newsletter

Well, the webring is helping my hit count! Yea! This weekend I'm going to take some time and visit some of the other sites on the ring. Spreading the love, that sort of thing. ;)

I haven't had anyone sign up for the newsletter yet, though, so in light of that (and the fact that finals are approaching at an alarming rate) I'm going to postpone that until next month. I've got some ideas about doing a series of stretches for before and after all those fun outdoor activities going on right now. Now if I could just find someone who would model the stretch for me, I could include pictures...or even start a youtube channel. Hmmmm....

Where's Merry?

ok, so maybe that title would work better if my name started with a W. But, it's the best I could come up with at the moment. ;)

I've got a couple of events coming up in May. On the 3rd, I'll be giving parafin dips and hand massages at a "healthy spa day" type thing hosted by New Directions Chiropractic. I'm not quite sure where it is being held (I should know these things if I'm gonna be there, huh?) but I'll post them here as soon as I find out. Or you can e-mail Dr. Neidrich for all the gory, er um, fun details through her website NewDirectionsChiropractic.com.

Also, on the 19th, I'll be doing free, yes I said FREE chair massage at a Dallas MetroMoms event, "Getting Strong! Hop, Skip, and Jump to Family Fun!" It's at the Wiggly Play center in Frisco. If you're interested, you'll need to register through MetroMoms at this website: http://www.metroplexbaby.com/MetroMoms/2008/20080518_GettingStrong.htm According to the site, one lucky family will win an orbit baby stroller.

So, anyway, hope to see you there. (oh, btw, be on the look out for my new newsletter, Take A Moment, coming out on the 15th of every month. I'll post it here, but you can sign up for the HTML e-mail version on the left hand side of the blog, or at the contacts page of my website.)

Self care and self promotion

I am currently house (and cat) sitting for a good friend while she is away at a month-long training conference. She's a yoga instructor at a local studio of the chain Dahn Yoga. I've discovered that when you house sit for a yoga instructor, there are tons of yoga books laying around all over the place. If you sit down in the evening to watch a little tv, they call to you from the bookshelf, "Oh, Merry...why sit there like a bump on a log when you could be stretching? Come on, you know you wanna..."

Ok, so maybe my friend's books really aren't physically talking, but they do have a bit of a siren song of their own. So, last week I broke down and started thumbing through them. She's mostly got Dahn publications, and they have some simple, easily understood instructions for stretching, qi gong, and their tai ci-like martial art, Dahn Mu Do. At least, my mind easily understands them. My body, on the other hand, keeps reminding me that since self care ceased to be a priority for me a while ago, if we are going to move and bend like we used to we're going to have to build up to it. Like allot of other people, self care just slipped to the background as life got busier and busier. But, just after about four days of taking about an hour in the morning and a half hour at night for stretching and strength training, I can see a difference in the way I move and even stand.

So, my next thought after "Hmm, I didn't realize my quads were so tight, " was, "I wonder how I can apply this to my business?" (This seems to be an increasingly common thought these days.) The answer that has bubbled to the top is, "Write a monthly newsletter about self care!" Not only will it be a self promotion, but it will keep my on target in my own journey of self care. Ya can't beat that with a stick.

So, over the next few days I'm going to be looking into how to incorporate a mailing list into my website. The design tool I'm using is pretty restrictive, so i may have to consider some other options. Wish me luck!