Childhood

I am back in New York City after a quick trip to my childhood home in upstate NY.  It is always interesting to go back to where I grew up.  Sometimes it is rejuvinateing and other times it is exhausting, but there is always an overlay of bitter-sweetness.   I am reminded of the person I was, the pain or happiness certain memories bring, and how far removed I am now.  Being back in my town often makes me feel as if no time has passed, and with the exception of a few new houses and  a slighter bigger and brighter school, the town looks almost the same.  I was surprised how similar it all was.  My parent's home has changed over the years and there are few similarities to the way it was when I lived there. I think this is a positive and healthy change.  

My favorite jogging path is still in tact and nearly the same as it always has been.  The perfect loop through farm country where I seldom see another person or car.  It is, and always has been, the perfect place for me to think.  I feel most free and myself when I am joggin

g that loop.  I know each crack and turn better than anything.  There is this sweet smell in summer from the mix of hay, corn and strawberries growing on the nearby farms.  As the loop turns I can pass traces of history in forgotten family cemeteries and an old red school house. This particular loop is like a piece of the past comfortably protected between the newer worlds- it is timeless.  I could jog all day and always find something new to marvel at.  There have been times in my past when I jogged this loop twice a day  (I had a lot of thinking to do), times when I jogged it in tears, and times when I jogged just because I needed to feel free.  It has always served me well.  I am hoping it never changes.  It is my piece of childhood. My nostalgia.  The way I always wanted my childhood to be.  Free, open, peaceful, curious, and always a sense of calm welcoming me home. 

Rolling like a Ball (bring back your childhood)

• Start sitting with knees bent and feet flat to floor
  
• Turn knees out from hips and point toes, lightly rest hands around thighs with elbows out to side
  
• Tuck chin and curl head to knees, scoop abs back so that spine is in a "C" curve
  
• Continue to pull abs back tipping through tailbone so that you balance on SITZ bones and toes can come off floor (your body should look like a circle 
  
• On exhale roll back, take quick inhale, exhale roll up
  

Repeat 8 times

• When done correctly spine will be so curled there will be a continuous motion going down and up