Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

Stuff gets done here

recent posts

  • Stability, agility

    Just wrapped up six days of hiking on the islands surrounding Stockholm. They weren’t tough days; we didn’t log more than 9 miles on any given day, but it’s a couple decades since I logged these kinds of miles several days in row. I’m thanking all of the Nia dance practice in the past year, which emphasizes, among many other things, flexibility, mobility, agility, strength and stability.

    Some days we were scrambling up rocky hills (to get to those amazing ocean views), and we’d be stepping up from one boulder to another, distances from 18 inches to 2 feet in a single stride. Going up required the agility. Going down called for stability.

    I so appreciate the dance training, and the fact that trainers actually ask us to think about these attributes that dance helps build.

    I bother to share this because I’ve never been anything special in the exercise realm. I’ve been a sedentary, ordinary person. Nia has helped me say “yes I can” to a whole range of things.

  • Dance after walking

    We logged close to nine miles yesterday just gawking around the Sodermalm area of Stockholm (its own island, with many fine viewpoints). But after a two-hour ferry to Dalaro island, I just needed music and a full-body experience. Nia’s “Alchemy” routine (yes, I know, my favorite) was perfect, and the cabin we’re staying in had just enough room to let me move.

    So glad Nia’s routines exist online: niaondemand.com

  • Essence of lilac

    Stockholm loves its lilacs, which are blooming now everywhere. So many enormous lilac trees fill so many gardens, that the aroma of the blooms, swirls around all day.

    That was yesterday. Today, we are on Dalaro, one of the many islands in the archipelago. And the lilacs crowd all the lanes. From soft white to deep purple.