My good friend and yoga teacher, Carlin, usually closes her classes by encouraging us to feel gratitude for our strong health bodies. I love this because I think it’s something that’s so easy to take for granted. I feel so great after I do yoga, what if I couldn’t experience that feeling in my body?

I’ve taken to “sneaking in a run” during the noon hour a couple of days during the week. I run straight down Kinney Street (gorgeous tree covered boulevard) to Pickard Street and back. Takes about 30 minutes for me and I can totally “zone out” by keeping my gaze toward the straight and long tunneled sidewalk in front of me or I can sample the beauty of the houses and yards all along the way. Either way it’s therapeutic.

During my runs I also get to thinking about how lucky I am to be able to do this. Sure, I choose to make use of my time this way and I have created my work life to accommodate it. But my strong healthy body makes such a delightful gift possible.

I think about my friend and colleague, Dan Digmann, also a runner, but also a person living with multiple sclerosis (MS). I am completely humbled and amazed by his drive and courage to keep his strong healthy body going despite the very real challenge of dealing with something like MS. Dan inspires me to be grateful for every chance I get (or every opportunity I create) to get out and move my body, get the blood pumping, clear the slate, bring new energy and ideas into motion.

So here’s to our strong healthy bodies – however that may be for you at the moment. Here’s also to our capacity to continually enhance and grow our strong healthy bodies, one step at a time. They are truly our support for an amazing life!