The benefits of exercising -Introduction

Hello you all! This is a quick note because I am ready to venture through this rain here and go do some shoppiiiing. Naaah not clothes. I am shopping for some craft material and inspiration for the cards I have to design for a few customers! I will share those pictures soon on my craft blog! (Click the Card's picture on the top right to access the link)

I wanted to take a minute to encourage you to take your week-end to plan your healthier life!

The weather is getting better so no more excuses that you can't walk because it's too cold or don't feel like going to the gym etc!
Having some sunshine and this much needed Vitamin D that your body needs to fight some laziness, boost your mood and get you more active is certainly a plus to plan a successful regimen this Spring)
Okay, so the weather is no longer cold but now it's getting warmer and heat can discourage you to work out just as fast as the cold did! Don't make excuses and don't despair just keep reading for inspiration...


First of all, if you have a problem staying disciplined or having a strong jumpstart, just do this :
 Plan your workout, write it down in your planner, as a reminder, whatever but just like you make an appointment to go to the dentist mark it!!!!
If you plan on spending 30 minutes-1hr walking, doing an aerobic class once or three days a week, write it down! By doing this you will be motivated, committed and accountable, to yourself at least!
Think about it this way, many things in life seem to have enough priority for you to do it and ensure that you do it, well...isn't your health a priority? No but!!! Write it down!!!

If you don't like working out alone find a work-out buddy but please DO not use it as an excuse! If you have a work out buddy who can't make it to some of your planned workouts do not use it as an excuse to cancel it unless it's late in the evening! If you have to work out alone then do it! You are first responsible for your own health so do not use a lack of partner as an excuse!  Only you know how important it is for you to be fit! Nobody can't make you healthier unless you want it for yourself! Your efforts might actually motivate others to follow your lead as they watch you being so committed and getting results!


Two: If you intend on exercising outdoors please plan it in the morning before 10 a.m if you can (on a hot day)! Do it before it heats up! Or after 2:30 pm. Regardless of the time of day preferrably look for shade, pick a path, a park, an area where you can benefit from some shade.

 If you can't work out in  the morning do it in the evening! Ladiiies, please take a buddy with you if you plan on excersing in the later parts of the day. I recommend exercising before it gets dark but as long as you pick a safe area in the company of a strong and brave man by your side I suppose you will be allllriiight!!! Do not go out late and alone now! I say exercise but I am also saying be safe and smart! No need to endanger yourself by being brave and trying to go on a walk or run in late hours.

Three: Wear appropriate clothing each time you exercise and for added safety ladies limit jewelry and keep you hair pulled in a ponytail. You will be surprised by how many accidents can occur with our hair looses or a necklace,bracelet or rings getting caught in something!


Four: When exercising outdoors keep your safety in mind, be aware of your surroundings, tell someone where you are going and how long to expect you gone, depending on the form of exercise and where you are heading keep an emergency card/IDwith you and always carry some water with you.

Five: Last but not least for today: Always drink some water before, during and after you are exercising especially if it's longer than 20-30 minutes! Dehydration is dangerous for your body in more ways than you think!

Okay got to go, hope this post motivates you to get rolling! Have a great week-end!

N'na

Eating Al fresco and savouring my day in little ways...

Hellooo! How are you all doing today?!
Here the weather has been gorgeous for the past few days and I couldn't be happier!
On Saturday I got the opportunity to visit Huntsville Alabama and Sunday my husband and I went on a bike ride it was so pleasant! I will share the pictures with you very soon!
The week has started on a  pretty busy pace and today was another one of those very productive days!
I managed to squeeze a 20 minutes walk this morning. Better than nothing! I can't seem to function well unless I have exercised in the morning.  After my cup of coffee first thing in the morning I had to create 20 minutes to enjoy the outdoors after my morning stretch! No time for running today or going for an hour walk! I still savoured every seconds of this short walk!
On those busy days, even eating seem to be difficult to manage.I know that it's unhealthy to go hungry so I made sure to eat at least a yogurt for breakfast

and make some freshly squeeze citrus juice using one pink grapefruit, a lemon, and 4 tangerines.

Homemade fresh citrus juice

I had a very late lunch.  It was 3:00pm by the time I had the chance to enjoy something good to eat but it was worth the wait! I made it worthwhile by eating Al fresco! I love eating AL fresco each time the weather allows it!
My lunch consisted of a serving of lettuce with no dressings. I squeezed half a lemon on it and it was tasty enough for me! I also had a Southern Home Chicken & Wild Rice soup with a glass of water.

Al fresco healthy lunch lettuce and soup

Hummmm... finally...20 minutes of peace while eating on my deck! Enjoying the musical sounds of nature, having my cheeks kissed by a gentle breeze and smiling at the view of a bird perched on a branch,




Bird perched on a branch in the backyard while eating my late lunch!



an eagle flying over my head, he was too fast for me to capture him but he was gorgeous...I love days like those! Thank God for good weather!

Well I am sharing those pictures with you and I am off to my other tasks before the day end! Still have to make dinner! I just wanted to say before I leave...remember to pamper yourself and treat yourself even if you have a busy day! Make time for you even if it's only 20 minutes.  I don't care if you are eating lunch by yourself, with a friend, at home alone or in a public place, always find little ways to make your experience a treat!
 Learn to savour the moments in your days even if you only have 20 minutes to do it. Take a walk, stretch your body it needs it, massage your feet they serve you well or simply turn a meal into a pleasurable moment even if you are short on time!

If it's your first time on this blog I suggest that you read one of my most popular posts:
http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/01/pampering-yourself-is-good-for-your.html  and the following posts
http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/02/shrimp-soup-for-soul-and-good-night.html
http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-good-for-your-spirit-cest-bon-pour.html

This being said I am eager to hear from you...
When was the last time you took time to appreciate yourself and turn a mundane activity into a moment of pleasure? What small thing to you do to be good to yourself that turns out to have a big impact on the quality of you day and of your life?




N'na

Time at the Museum and food for the intellect...what a beautiful world!!!

Do you like hanging out at the museum?!
I love hanging out at the museum, nothing like learning something new, seeing something again that I have seen before only with a different eye, running into enthusiastic people and entering into the world of the artists.
I remember the first time one of my big brothers took me to an exhibition. It was at the Centre culturel Francais in Abidjan. I watched a live presentation of a traveler talking in a huge auditorium about his travels to Tibet. I was fascinated by the huge projections on the screen, the tone of his voice and his knowledge of a far and distant region.  I remember walking around once the presentation was over, looking at photographs and artifacts taken and collected from his " voyages".  The very last exhibition I visited in Africa  was in 1995 and it was a collection of paintings from various artists of West African. I love art.  And even more paintings with vibrant colors. So yesterday I had a visual feast and delicacies for my intellect.

I love museums and exhibitions and think they are great for our mental health and our intellect...
Anyway,  yesterday was a fabulous sunny day and I am grateful I took full advantage of it. I just wanted to share some pictures of my time at the museum, take you on a little visual and cultural tour...Hope you enjoy it!


                            

                               View of  the Hunter Museum of American Art from afar.



Approaching the Hunter museum crossing the glass bridge.

  There was a beautiful exhibition of the works of painter Lois Mailou Jones,  an African American painter born in Boston in 1905. She  went to Paris in 1937 to
study at the Academie Julian. She was the only African- American female painter of the 1930's- 1940's  to receive fame abroad. She later spent time in Haiti and in West Africa. The art at the exhibition revealed more about her time in  West Africa and in Haiti.

 I was very disappointed that pictures are not allowed in the Exhibition area because the art was full of vibrant colors and such beauty that I would I loved to capture for a future enjoyment. Being bilingual,  it was interesting to me that many of her painting held French titles like, "Marche" ( painting of a Market in Haiti), "Nature Morte aux melons", a still life painting of watermelons just to name a few.
My favorite works were her Cretonne textiles. In addition to being a painter, teacher she is also a textile designer. Her cretonnes textiles displayed at the Hunter Museum were very gorgeous with bright tropical colors and flowers.Since I could not take pictures at the museum I did some research online to find some arts that I remember seeing yesterday...

 This image here is actually the image of the Exhibition banner using one of her painting depicting a Mother from Senegal doing a child's hair.  There was a similar banner yesterday at the entrance of the museum and at the entrance of the Exhibition room.




Banners at the entrance of the Hunter Museum.

 
 Nature morte aux melons,1989, by Lois Mailou Jones.
 Nature morte means Still Life in art lingo but the true translation if we were not to consider the art vocabulary would be dead nature...

 The French title she had for this painting was I believe " les porteurs d'eau" I remember explaining my oldest son yesterday that translating the title in English would mean " The water carriers".

Peasant girl. Haiti 1954.  " Jones's numerous oils and watercolors inspired by Haiti are probably her most widely known works. In them her affinity for bright colors, her underpersonal standing of Cubism's basic principles, and her search for a distinctly style reached an apogee" (" Free Within Ourselves" by Regenia A. PerrySamella S. Lewis and Ruth G. Waddy, Black Artists on Art (Los Angeles: Contemporary Crafts Publishers, 1969).

When I first saw the painting of the " Peasant girl"  the first artist I thought about was Cezanne!  If I did not know that she was the author of this one I would have easily credited the French artist for painting this beautiful oil on canvas. I think that clearly see Paul Cezanne's influence in "Peasant Girl"! What do you think?!

  I love this one! When I saw it yesterday at the museum, I felt like it was very feminine and very elegant.  It's probably the most 'elegant' art displayed at her exhibition. The colors are not as vibrant was the rest of the art that was displayed yesterday.
The art I liked the least were the collection of paintings that were somewhat abstract and representing the West African culture in a more 'spiritual' sense. Like    Ubi Girl from Tai Region 1972 (acrylic on canvas, 43 3/4 x 60 in., Boston Museum of fine Arts).
Ode to Kinshasa, 1972 (mixed media on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Gift of the Artist. National Museum of Women and the Arts). President and Mrs. Obama are patrons of the National Museum of Women and the Arts

"Les Fetiches" below is one was one of them. I personally do not like the darkness of those masks. I am far too familiar with the term fetiches but I can not think of an accurate English translation. In simple terms it refers to witchcraft activities. I love African art but I strongly dislike anything representing creatures or practices pertaining to witchcraft and occult because I find this to be dark and scary and it's not the kind of art I would ever put into my home as I love things to lift me up, not remind me of an horror movie. But to the artist's credits she was the first female African-American painter to depict African imagery in her work.
"Les Fetiches" 1938 This one is available at the Smithsonian American art museum.
"Skillfully juxtaposed are five African masks, a white pendant charm, and a standing, red anthropomorphic figure. Rendered in monochromatic tones and boldly silhouetted against a dark background, the faithful representation of the artifacts is a result of Jones's firsthand study of African masks and ritualistic objects as well as those from other non-Western civilizations since the 1920s. A keynote work of her career, Les Fetiches is a poetic synthesis of the spirit and meaning of Jones's ancestry." ( Free Within Ourselves" by Regenia A. Perry Samella S. Lewis and Ruth G. Waddy, Black Artists on Art (Los Angeles: Contemporary Crafts Publishers, 1969).

Even though I do not like artifacts I found her others painting of masks such as "Symboles" which means " symbols"  to be less scary and much more delightful. 

The picture here       is a self portrait of the artist and I saw that very same painting at the entrance of the exhibition room yesterday afternoon.
I wish I could find the exact pictures of the cretonne textiles I saw yesterday but I just found those online, so it will illustrate what some the painter's Cretonne textiles look like.

Cretonne drapery prints by Lois Mailou Jones.

I like the one with the Asiatic lily. I think this print would fit perfectly in my tropical Asiatic lily theme kitchen and  living space.

                                  View from inside the museum : Tennessee river and Walnut street bridge connecting to the North Shore area.

Below are a few pictures offering you a glimpse of the museum's surroundings. I will add pictures of the inside later on.



Walnut Street bridge spans the Tennessee River in Chattanooga Tennessee.



Facing Walnut Street bridge.




Facing the walnut street bridge, the longest pedestrian bridge in the world.  This bridge is a fantastic hang out during the warmer months of the year.    People of any age love to walk and run on the bridge.



Heading toward the Bluff View Art district

Well, as you can see, the weather was nice enough to get out and about, walk around and feed our intellect.  (smiles).   I hope you have enjoyed your little tour here and that this tour will inspire your next visit to a  museum or to learn more about this talented artist if you were not yet familiar with her. I never heard of her till Sunday but intend on digging more about her.  Have you been  to an Exhibition lately?! What did you learn and see?! Wouldn't you agree that we feel better after spending some time around some form art?!  I think art is a form of therapy.Wouldn't you agree?!


N'na