ski – KINETIC MOTIONS

January 16, 2018

Trying to Find Ways to Relax

One of the reasons I created this blog, Kinetic Motions, is that my life is hectic and I needed a vehicle to make me slow down and think. I, like so many people I know, am very busy and carry many stresses around with me every day. Slowing down, relaxing and taking some time for myself is hard, and I will admit that I am not good at it. So today I am taking time to think and consider some better ways to relax.

I believe that relaxation is different for all of us. What one person finds relaxing may be another person’s idea of stress and misery. For example, some people choose extreme sports like jumping out of an airplane or rock climbing or swimming with sharks as a way to escape life and relax. For me any of those activities are a cause for only added stress and sheer terror. Then there are those that see relaxation as a week on a beach doing nothing or a day at the spa. These activities are not for me (no, I’m not a beach person and I have never stepped into a spa), but I see the appeal for others.

So how can I relax? How can I get away from the hustle and bustle of life, for a few minutes, hours or days?

After a busy day, if my house is kind of cleaned up and the kids are in bed (not necessarily asleep but in bed) I like to relax with a mindless TV show. House Hunters often does the trick, but a serial drama or comedy often gives me the escape I need. Or if I happen to find a good book to read, taking 30 minutes in my day (often when I am semi-conscious in bed) to read a few pages is most enjoyable.

Sometimes just a bit of silence helps me relax. Have you ever noticed just how loud life is? My house, my workplace, the streets of downtown Toronto, stores, noise is everywhere. Sometimes the quietest place for me is my car. My drive to or from work is when I can be by myself and alone with my thoughts. It may not qualify as silent (honking horns can ruin the moment), but it’s quieter than the rest of my day!

How about an evening out with friends? I don’t do this enough, and I want to give a shout-out to three of my oldest and dearest friends today – Elli, Dvora and Galit – who joined me last night for dinner so we could just catch up, relax and enjoy some sushi. A night out with the ladies – or for my male readers – with the guys – is so important and I highly recommend it. Leave the screaming kids, stressful job and messy house behind for a few hours and go out for the evening.

I wish I could say that exercise is relaxing for me, but I just can’t get into a routine. People tell me about spin class or yoga (I did do that for a while and need to try it again), running, jogging, a personal trainer and so much more. They tell me how it gets the adrenaline going and releases something within them that gives them strength and a sense of well-being. If someone wants to help me with that and lead me in the right direction, I’m all for it.

Skiing is one of the greatest ways I relax during the winter. As I have written previously, when I am at the top of the mountain, and I look out at Georgian Bay and crisp white snow, I can’t wait to fully disengage from the world for a few minutes and fly down the hill. What I just described may make another person shake with fear, and I respect that, but for me, skiing is a great release. I feel energized, healthy and confident. I am often freezing cold and can’t feel my hands and feet after a few runs, but it’s worth it.

And of course, there’s writing. My blog is giving me exactly what I needed. As I wrote many months ago in my “About Alicia” page, “Life is busy. I always seem to be in motion, trying to balance the many demands in my life. Here is the place that I can think, reflect, discuss, debate and just write.”

And of course, relax.

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018

How Many Steps does it take to get on the Ski Hill?

Do you participate in winter sports? Skating? Hockey? Tobogganing? How about Bobsledding? Have you ever thought about all the steps you take from the moment you leave your house until you actually participate in your beloved winter sport? I thought about this this past weekend, as I enjoyed my time at the ski hill

I probably should not have gone down this path, like I did at the grocery store a few months ago (how many times do you move your milk before you actually drink it?). Honestly, it made me depressed. I could not believe how much preparation I do each time and how much stress I go through to participate in this winter sport.

Do I spend more time preparing myself for the ski hill than I do skiing? Very often the answer is, yes.

Now that I have you thinking about this too, let’s go through the process. Or I will take you through the process of getting me and my extended family to the ski hill on a winter weekend. Note that we are often up to sixteen people in our house. That alone often adds steps, complexity, craziness and even rage.

My typical ski day begins at 7:00 am, when my alarm goes off. I press snooze a couple of times and throw myself out of bed by about 7:15. To get a few minutes back of my day, I lay out our special ski clothes the night before. I grab my pile (my bed is usually filled with at least two sleeping children so I can’t get ready in my own bedroom) and head to the nearest empty bathroom.

By 7:30 I am dressed, my hair is kind of brushed and I am basically awake. My kids are still asleep. My sister, brother and their kids are usually awake at this point, and the collection of random children are loitering around the house. I head to the kitchen to prepare the ski hill lunch. Different people contribute to this process, and the kitchen is usually a scene of mayhem, as we attempt to also eat breakfast.

By 7:45 am I am back in my bedroom coaxing my children to wake up. I throw their clothes on their heads and also throw some kind of bribe at them to get them moving. It works.

8:00 am and the house is awake and alive, with a mix of screaming adults, wild children and barking dogs. Some have eaten, the lunch coolers are packed and it’s time to put on the many layers necessary to stay warm for hours outside during a Canadian winter.

Which brings me to those layers. The first one is the stylish and tight-fitting long underwear. Next is the heavy sweater – it can be a fleece or wool-blend. On top of that I wear my packable down jacket, and my top layer is a heavy (but stylish of course) ski jacket. Try getting all those layers on a pile of rowdy children.

When the clock ticks to 8:15 am panic ensues as no one is ready. Children’s ski and snowboard boots must go on the feet, balaclavas on the heads and coats zipped closed. We toss the lunch cooler bags in the car, strap in the kids and we are off – hopefully by 8:30 am.

I have been awake for 90 minutes already and I’m just leaving the house.

It’s a 20-minute drive to the ski hill. We park and gently nudge the children along the snowy path from the parking lot to the locker to the meeting area for their group lessons. I wave good bye to my kids at 9:00 am. Now it’s time for me to get ready, or rather, to continue to get ready.

Back to the ski hill locker room. By 9:10 am it is, for the most part, child free and a little quieter and calmer. The adults wipe their brows and recover from the insanity of getting the children on the ski hill.

And now, for the ski boots. They are big, heavy and clunky. I walk like some mechanical robot when I wear them. But it’s the only way to protect my feet and ankles and to connect to the skis. Next comes my balaclava, helmet, goggles and two layers of gloves. I pull out my skis and poles and close the locker.

It’s time to walk over to the actual ski hill.

If I’m efficient, I can be on my way to participate in my beloved sport by 9:30 am – yes, 2 ½ hours after I wake up. We strap on our skis, line up at the chairlift, sit down and up we go. If it’s cold and windy like it was last weekend, I cover my face with my gloves and pull up my balaclava to protect every bit of bare skin. We “unload” (yes that’s what the sign actually says) off the chair and get ready to ski down the hill.

It can take me two or three hours, with many steps, to arrive at the top of the ski hill. Is it worth it?

Oh yes, it is.

I look out at the view in front of me – the glistening white snow and the frigid and almost frozen water of Georgian Bay – and I start to fly. All the stresses of the week and steps to get to the top of the ski hill disappear. I may only get in a few runs before I pick up my kids for lunch, but I’ll take it. Oh yes, it’s worth it.

December 27, 2017

Skiing Takes my Stress Away

I would not consider myself an athlete. When asked if I play sports like baseball or hockey, my answer is often, “those who don’t play, watch.” I like to watch sports and love to talk about them, especially with my son. But not always. There is one sport in which I actively participate: downhill skiing.

My parents first put me on a pair of skis when I was four years old. I don’t actually remember what it felt like that first time as I was so young. It was a time before young children learned about “pizza’ and “french fries” on the ski hill. I learned the basics of snow plow and found my way down.

Our family skied at various places in Ontario and Quebec. Well-known Laurentian hills like Mont Tremblant, Mont Saint Saveur and Morin Heights gave me my first early exposure to good quality skiing conditions. I took lessons at a small place in Ontario called Devil’s Elbow, and sometimes we ventured further to places like Blue Mountain, and more recently, to Alpine Ski Club.

Note that I keep using the word “we.” That’s important. Skiing was a sport my whole family did together – my parents, brother and sister too (she was on skis before she was even three!). No matter how busy we were all week, in the winter our family jumped in the car on a Saturday morning (or during a winter vacation) and headed to the ski hill. It was our break from life and a chance to spend quality time together.

Think about all the sports in which you participate or watch. How many of them can a family all do together, as one unit? Or even if a family can, do they? Skiing is one of those. I felt privileged as a child and even more so now as an adult, to be able to ski every winter weekend with my family.

And when I say my family – I mean my parents, my siblings and their families and my husband and children too. It’s a rite of passage in our family. A baby learns to walk, then run, then ski. And the diaper is still on!

As any ski family will agree, getting ready to go skiing in the morning, in a house with piles of children (more on our family country home another day) can be a rather unpleasant and sometimes downright horrible experience. At the height of the season we are 16 people in the house – an even 8 adults and 8 children. The children range in age from one to fifteen. And no one cooperates. Someone is always crying or screaming or fighting with a sibling. Socks are lost. The previous day’s long under wear wasn’t washed because a child forgot to put it in the laundry. A glove was left at the ski hill the day before and a tantrum ensues.

We rush to the car, zoom to the hill and deal with the next level of craziness: get the kids out, strap their skis and snowboards to their feet and throw them on the hill. Someone is usually crying, screaming or fighting yet again. Is it all worth it?

Yes.

Once I am at the top of the mountain and look down at the sparkling white snow ahead of me all my stress disappears. I can let go. I am free. All the craziness of the week, my career and my family melt away. I let my skis take me down the hill. Yes, it is all worth it.

It’s about minus 15 outside today, and I am in the city and unable to go skiing. But tomorrow, well that’s another story. It may be cold outside (okay, it is insanely freezing), but I will be out there on the ski hill doing my thing. As will my parents, siblings their kids, my kids and maybe even my husband (okay, not the baby, she will be in the daycare). And I will be skiing every weekend this winter. If you need to find me, look for me on the hill.