Yin Yoga is a passive, grounding practice in which we hold floor-based poses for 3 to 5 minutes. Unlike active “yang” exercises that target muscles, Yin safely stresses the body’s deeper connective tissues—including fascia, ligaments, and tendons. Retraining and hydrating these denser tissues is key to maintaining mobility and long-term joint health.

But Yin is also a workout for the mind. By staying still, we build deep body awareness, notice physical asymmetries, become more present, and anchor erratic energy.

⚠️ Safety Note: If you are hypermobile, use props to avoid sustained end-of-range motion and start with shorter holds!

Stay tuned for the next video in this series, where we break down the difference between Yin and Restorative yoga.

I get so much enjoyment from watching the hummingbirds buzz around, sometimes so close they make me jump, that I added the second feeder to ensure there was enough food for everyone. I also bought several hummingbird-friendly flowers to plant in pots on the deck. I want our yard to be a safe haven for the birds, so we added the second birdhouse and a birdbath this season. So far, I haven’t seen anyone use the bath, but small birds have been in and out of the birdhouse. I don’t put out birdseed because it attracts bears – we do live in the mountains, after all.

I was overjoyed on Monday as a female hummingbird kept hovering by the deck railing and, a couple of times, flew up to peck at the outdoor rug we put out over the weekend. I figured she was looking for nesting materials, and sure enough, that’s exactly what she was doing. By later that morning, she had built about half a nest on the top of the deck post, where there’s a bit of space between the deck and the post, just under the railing. While a bit hard to see from above, it’s quite visible from underneath. It’s been a few years since there’s been a hummingbird nest so close to the house and so easy to see, so I’m ecstatic. We named her Liza and can’t wait to watch her care for her young. Female hummingbirds do all the work in raising the young. Male hummingbirds do nothing but chase other hummingbirds away from the feeder (unlike the good dads - the wrens and chickadees).

While I was outside, a couple of small deer also passed through, climbing the hill toward the crag behind the house. I’m hoping to see the fox that lives in the area again one of these days, but the timing has to be right since they don’t linger. About a week ago, a black bear and a cub (maybe last year’s cub, since he seemed too big to be born this year) came through the yard. Mama knocked over the recycling bin, but we do a good job of rinsing all our recycling and keep the trash bin in the garage, so she didn’t bother rummaging through it and moved along quickly.

It took me a while to identify the birds exploring the new birdhouse because they always moved fast, and the only features I could really see were a white belly, dark top, and a short beak (so short, in fact, that one time I wasn’t even 100% sure it was a bird from the angle I was seeing it). But on Tuesday, they were making some noise as two of them kept swooping by our slider and landing on the roof and on the branches of the tree with the birdhouse. With the help of the Merlin app, I’ve decided they are Violet-green Swallows. The color just hasn’t been as visible due to the lighting and their speed of movement.

I look forward to many more hours on the deck, watching the wonderful world of nature unfold around me. I keep notes in my phone calendar app about when each year’s milestones occur (when nesting starts, when the little ones leave the nest, etc.), so I’ll be curious to see whether any mountain chickadees or wrens decide to nest in our other birdhouse. In 2024, the wrens settled into the house on June 26. I think it’s too late to hope for the chickadees, since last year the young left the nest on July 4.

I love living in a place surrounded by nature and feel privileged to work outdoors among the wonders of birds' lives and various other critters who call Evergreen home. I look forward to watching the new moms raise their broods this summer from my front row seat.

Try it out.

You can view this video and more on my YouTube Channel, Firefly Community.

Fuel Properly and Warm Up

What you do before a workout is just as important as what you do afterward. Make sure you fuel properly and hydrate. Drinking water and eating carbohydrates before, after, and even during long workouts can help replenish energy stores and speed recovery. Fluid balance supports circulation, nutrient delivery, and muscle function.

Injuries are most common when you push too hard, too fast. Before a strenuous workout, warm up with dynamic stretching. Move through the full range of motion of the area you’ll be working to activate the neuromuscular system and increase blood flow to muscles.

Prioritize Sleep

One of the best methods for recovery is getting adequate sleep. During sleep, your body actively repairs and grows muscles. Sleep is also helpful for regulating hormones, boosting the immune system, and improving overall mood.

Active Recovery and Refuel

Research shows that low-intensity exercise during the cool-down phase of your workout is associated with performance benefits. Active recovery increases blood circulation, which helps remove waste products from soft tissues broken down by intense exercise. Fresh blood flow then delivers nutrients that help repair and rebuild muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

During active recovery, engage in light physical activity that raises your heart rate above resting levels, but avoid repeating the same movements performed during training or an event. Examples of active recovery exercises include walking, swimming or other aquatic activities, cycling or stationary cycling, yoga, and stretching or foam rolling.

After a particularly intense workout session, be sure to drink some electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium to replace what’s lost through sweat. For your post-workout meal, guidelines from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommend consuming 20 to 40 grams of protein combined with carbohydrates within two hours of your workout. The exact balance depends on your training focus: a 2:1 carb-to-protein ratio prioritizes muscle repair after a strength session, while a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio is best after strenuous cardio to refuel.

Rest Periods (Passive Recovery)

Alternate periods of training with periods of rest, where you allow your body to completely relax. Exercise creates tiny tears in the muscles. When muscles heal, they eventually grow bigger and stronger. However, the healing process occurs during rest and recovery, not during the exercise session itself, so you need to allow for adequate time for the body to repair, rebuild, and strengthen itself between workouts.

After strength training, allow 48 hours before working the same muscle groups again. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) suggests that athletes who engage in high-intensity exercise should schedule a rest day every seven to 10 days. Depending on factors such as your age, sport, and training regimen, you may need more frequent rest days, such as two per week.

Massage, percussion therapy, and targeted mobility work can all support soft tissue recovery and help maintain range of motion during rest periods.

Passive recovery is also about shifting from the sympathetic (stress) to the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state. Practices like breathwork, yoga nidra, and meditation can accelerate recovery by downregulating stress hormones like cortisol.

Some signs that you are not allowing enough time for recovery include persistent soreness, poor sleep, irritability, plateaued performance, or elevated resting heart rate.

Recovery isn’t a break from your training; it’s an essential part of it. The adaptations you’re working toward—stronger muscles, better endurance, improved resilience—don’t happen during the workout itself but in the hours and days that follow. When you begin to treat recovery with the same intention as your workouts, you create the conditions for long-term progress, fewer setbacks, and a more sustainable relationship with movement.

In a culture that often celebrates pushing harder, choosing to recover well may be the most powerful way to keep moving.

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Years ago, after riding the Little Scraggy trail in the Buffalo Creek recreation area, when John was just starting mountain biking and I was returning to it after years of road biking, we realized it’s smart to check out trails on foot before riding them. It turned out the trail was beyond our capabilities at the time, but we managed by pushing the bikes in certain areas.

This time, we drove about an hour, partly on dirt roads, to reach a trailhead on the other side of Buffalo Creek to hike the Gashouse and Baldy trails in a clockwise loop. Besides us, there was only one trail runner among the mountain bikers. I wondered what the bikers were thinking of us out there with our backpacks and dogs, but it was a lovely seven-mile loop with areas through the trees, wide, open sections where you could see for miles, and plenty of boulders for the dogs to play on.

The trail had just the right mix of ups and downs, which is what I’m always looking for in a mountain biking trail. The rolling style trails are more familiar to me from my years of mountain biking in New Hampshire's woods. Many Colorado trails are steep and technical, with lots of rocks. This trail was mostly dirt, with minimal rocks and roots. While there were some climbs, none felt overly oppressive. I’m excited to go back soon with the bikes to ride the loop, with a little add-on to enter from a more accessible parking area.

Mountain biking is such a great workout and wonderful stress relief because you can’t think about anything but the trail in front of you when you’re riding singletrack. Over the past year, finding new trails to explore has been fun, and I feel fortunate to live in an area with so much recreation. I hope Colorado continues to protect our open spaces, not only for outdoor activities but also for the animals that live there. Spending time in nature is important for both physical and mental health, and having these vast areas where one can experience awe is a true gift.

A study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, examined the effects of awe inspired by the outdoors on 1,000 participants who hiked, kayaked, and visited scenic overlooks at Lake Tahoe over a two-year period. They found that after just two minutes in nature, participants reported a 33 percent increase in happiness and a 70 percent increase in awe. The findings also suggested that these experiences deepen a person’s connection to nature: environmental stewardship increased by 20 percent after participants experienced awe.

What brings you a sense of awe?

I hope you enjoyed this series. You can find more yoga videos on my YouTube Channel here.

This pose is the “antidote” to Forward Head Position. By using blocks to support the spine, we allow gravity to do the work. This pose is essential because it:

• Realigns the Scapula: Encourages the shoulder blades to slide back and down.

• Opens the Intercostals: Stretches the muscles between the ribs to improve breathing.

• Hydrates Fascia: Gently melts the tight connective tissue in the chest and throat that keeps us locked in a slouch.

Stay tuned for the last video in this series focused on the neck and shoulders.

You can view this video and more on our YouTube channel here.

April is Move More Month. The American Heart Association kicked things off with National Walking Day on April 1, and its website offers numerous resources to help you be more active. The New York Times posted earlier this year about the top 10 fitness tips to help you get moving. I’ve sifted through these resources and distilled them into the following tips.

• A popular trend that took off on social media last summer is Japanese Walking, which involves walking fast for three minutes, then walking slowly for three minutes, alternating for at least 30 minutes. According to the NYT article, “research suggests that varying your walking intensity in this way may improve blood pressure, cardiovascular health and leg strength more than keeping the same pace.” You could increase the challenge by incorporating some running intervals.

• Use compound movements to build both strength and balance. A squat-to-shoulder-press sequence is one example. Warm up with 5-10 minutes of cardio to raise your heart rate before strength training. Choose a weight that works for you. You might start with five-pound dumbbells and increase as you get stronger. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing forward. Hold the dumbbells at your shoulders, then lower into a squat by pushing your hips back. Go as far as is comfortable for your knees while keeping your chest lifted and your heels on the floor. Then straighten your legs and press the dumbbells overhead. Your palms face each other. Repeat for 8–12 repetitions or about 30 seconds, rest briefly, and complete 2-3 sets.

• Strengthen the glutes and hips to help protect your knees. Exercises like bridges or clamshells use your body weight and don’t require any equipment. For bridges, lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, about hip-width apart. Push into your feet to lift your hips. Hold for three seconds, then lower and repeat. You can also do small pulses at the top of your range of motion. Gradually move your feet farther away from you to incorporate your hamstrings as well. For clamshells, lie on your side with your knees bent and stacked evenly. You can rest your head on your arm or prop yourself up on your elbow. Your hips should be stacked. Lift the top knee as high as possible without rotating your hips, keeping your feet together. Lower the knee back down and repeat for 10 to 15 reps, then switch sides. Do 1 to 3 sets a couple of times per week. You can add a band above the knees to make the move more challenging.

• During your workday, be sure to incorporate movement by alternating between sitting and standing. If you don’t have an adjustable or standing desk, make it a habit to stand or move every time you make or answer a phone call. March in place or pace to keep moving. Stand up and walk around at least once an hour. When you take a break, move to a different room or floor and stretch rather than sitting in place.

• Skater jumps are a plyometric exercise that builds strength, endurance, and power in the lower body. This exercise requires balance and helps improve core strength, agility, coordination, and stability in the hips, knees, and ankles. Stand tall with your chest up, back straight, knees slightly bent, and feet shoulder-width apart. Jump to the right and land with a slight bend in your knees. As you jump, lean forward, swing your left leg behind you, and swing your left arm in front of your body. Repeat on the other side – jump to the left, swing your right leg behind you, and bring your right arm in front of you. Keep hopping from side to side, transferring your weight from one side of your body to the other. If hopping is too challenging, start by stepping side to side and allow your back foot to touch the floor. You can adjust the speed and size of your steps or jumps to make them more or less intense.

• Make time for rest and recovery, and be sure to stretch. Yin yoga is a great way to maintain your range of motion because it works with your connective tissues, including the fascia, ligaments, and tendons. You can read more about the benefits of yin yoga here and check out our 60-minute Yin Yoga Post Hike Class on YouTube. If you only have 20 minutes, try this 20-Minute Yoga to Find Calm.

Most importantly, find a way to move that you enjoy. If you like what you’re doing, you’re more likely to stick with it. Keep moving, protect your strength and balance, and you’ll give yourself a powerful nudge toward a longer, healthier life.

What's your favorite way to move? I like to get my exercise outside, whether it's mountain biking, trail running, paddleboarding, or hiking.

The goal of this series isn’t flexibility. It’s about finding neutrality. When your pelvis sits level, your core can engage naturally, your glutes can fire correctly, and your lower back can finally stop doing everyone else’s job.

This is a perfect time to harness the healing power of spending time outdoors. As highlighted in the article from The Art of Living Retreat Center website about Ayurvedic rituals for seasonal cleansing, “Spending time outdoors helps align our internal rhythms with the natural world. Walking among trees, breathing fresh air, and soaking in sunlight all support physical and mental renewal.”

Witnessing the unfolding of the natural world in the spring is also a great reminder that the process of becoming is slow and steady; it is not a race.

The anticipation of flowers and trees beginning to blossom brings to mind a passage from Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening regarding the pain of becoming. In this passage, Nepo shares his thoughts regarding how, as humans, we can be impatient with change and push ourselves to “unfold faster or more deeply than is natural.” He explains that “The simple rose, at each moment of its slow blossoming, is as open as it can be…if a flower were to push itself to open faster, which it can’t, it would tear.”

Transformation takes time. Instead of comparing our current position with the final goal we’re aiming for, which can cause feelings of inadequacy, we should acknowledge that wherever we are on our journey is sufficient. At every stage of growth, we are exactly where we need to be. Like the rose, with each step in the journey of blooming, we are stretched to our limits.

I sometimes get impatient with how long the process of writing my second book has been; however, each step along the way is a milestone. Every time I write a chapter or research a potential agent or publisher, I learn something new that helps in the next stage of development.

If we constantly push ourselves to go faster and beyond our current limits, we do ourselves a significant disservice – it could result in injury, illness, or worse.

When you catch yourself judging your current state against the imagined ideal of what you'd like to become, pause and focus on the image of a flower in bloom. See the beauty in the early stages of growth. Then, as Nepo suggests, “inhale and appreciate the beauty of yourself about to open.”

As you work toward becoming who you want to be, it can be hard to see that each step you take shows progress. The process of “becoming” can be long and painful, but it’s a vital part of growth. Enjoy the journey.

Living in Colorado, being landlocked, means I seek out water whenever I can. I work on the water during the summer, teaching stand-up paddleboard yoga on small lakes near our home. When we go camping, we always pick a spot close to a lake or creek. Our vacations are usually to places by the water. Costa Rica draws me every year not only for yoga but also for its beaches and waterfalls.

Tomorrow, we’re flying to Mexico for a long weekend of scuba diving so I can drift silently among the fish, turtles, and whale sharks. I feel at peace breathing through my regulator many feet below the surface.

During Ride the Rockies in 2015, as I pedaled over 400 miles through the Colorado mountains, my favorite days were when the road followed a river. I had hours on the bike to contemplate my love for water and why it calms me. I thought about all of the ways I can relate to the river.

Like a river, I am always moving, flowing through life, taking new things in and carrying them until they no longer serve me, then depositing them along the shore. When I face obstacles, I may need to change course or find a way through, over, or around them, but I keep moving forward. Sometimes I influence those I meet—shaping or smoothing their edges. I can be unintentionally destructive when my life is stormy. My life’s goal is to help others grow and thrive.

Water gives life and can be gentle and peaceful, but it can also be powerful enough to carve canyons, reshape landscapes, or even end lives. Water can change from liquid to solid and back again. It reminds us that the only constant is change, but we have the tools and resources to keep moving through it all.

Last summer, I wrote a post about how living near water provides various psychological and physical health benefits, such as reducing stress, encouraging physical activity, and enhancing air quality. I’ve linked it below.

I’ll leave you with this quote from E.E. Cummings: “For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It’s always our self we find in the sea.”

Variety is the Spice of Life

The Power of Blue Spaces

Most areas in the United States experience high temperatures in August, so I felt this was a good time to write about one of my favorite subjects—water…

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10 months ago · Carrie Lehtonen

This is the final video in this series, but stay tuned for the next series focused on the hips.

Stay tuned for the last video in the series coming on Friday.

Stay tuned for two more videos in this series.