Doing Pilates in the morning nearly every day since 2003 has made me a stronger, happier person. It's that simple. The routine below can become as easy to complete as brushing your teeth. It's a morning ritual with massive benefits that only takes about 15 minutes. It feels so good to check exercising off of your list first thing. Pilates can be done on a yoga mat or folded hotel blanket or towel or sarong on the beach sand. I've done pilates right in bed when I travel and the floor is not that exciting to get close to. You can do Pilates on the

Having a satisfying breakfast is one of the keys to losing weight and fighting off the urge to eat unhealthy food for snacks and lunch. It can be tough to make just the right amount of oatmeal. And recipes for leftover oatmeal often involve eggs, baking, and more time than I'm willing to put into saving cooked oatmeal from the compost. Here's a super quick and easy solution: Make leftover oatmeal into pancakes! *Get gluten-free oats if you eat gluten-free :) Makes 2 pancakes 1 cup of cooked leftover oatmeal (or however much you have left) A dash of vanilla A sprinkle of cinnamon Optional toppings: real

If there’s anything that my gypsy soul loves, it is wearing big skirts and spinning beneath the moon at the Pennsic Medieval Festival. I am so happy sleeping on the ground after hours of dancing. I smell campfire smoke in my hair and I dream as drum beats filter through my tent walls. Pennsic is not just a two-week festival with 10,000 DnD nerds armed with medieval weapons bludgeoning each other on the battlefield. It is also drum circles of people belly dancing around fires until the break of dawn. There are artisans and artists everywhere. Live music pours out of camps. There are

Part of what holds people back on the stage, the dance floor and the kitchen floor (where I like to dance) is the status quo. Let me rephrase that. It’s the power we are choosing to give to the status quo. This keeps us from moving and eating as the powerhouses that we are. We surrender our power to schemers. Manufacturers of manipulative messages and images that lead us to think we are not good enough without buying what they have to offer. Without following the masses. We move how we want around here. This status quo bull has been going on for some time. And