Musical Motivation

Since I generally "check" my magazines out of the library, it means I'm rarely reading the current issue. Yesterday, I knocked out the March 2011 issue of Fitness magazine. In their Live Healthy section, there was a neat article in which various Fitness editors responded to which song lyrics do they put on "mental repeat" to get them psyched for racing or working out. A few of the lyrics/songs were:

• "Ain't nothin going to break my stride. I got to keep on moving." (Break My Stride, Matthew Wilder)
• "Take it easy. take it easy. Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy." (Take It Easy, The Eagles)
• "What you waiting for. What you waiting for". (What You Waiting For, Gwen Stefani)

I think for me it's any song by the Red hot Chili Peppers. But if I had to choose one, it'd be Breaking the Girl by RHCP. To me, the song is infectious. The lyrics, the beat, Anthony Keidis' voice. I get lost in the song and find that "zone" that allows me to dig deep.

So what's your musical motivator? Do you have a go-to song that triggers that "go deep" feeling?

My Life in Lots of Poses

Earlier this week, I finished reading Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer. The book is 332 pages in length and since I'm a mom, wife, full-time worker and part-time runner, it took me nearly a week and a half to knock out. Glad I hung in there because I really enjoyed the book. She's very witty and I loved how she could tell a story about a certain point in her life and relate it to a single yoga pose. I'm not a fan of yoga how-to books, but after reading her book all I could think about was attending a yoga class...and stat!

Throughout the book she discusses her teachers - what she likes and dislikes, their style of yoga taught, music, chanting, meditation. It got me thinking about what I enjoy about yoga. For me, it's the music first. I simply do not enjoy that new agey (sp?) kind of music. If I wanted to listen to Enya, I'd download songs on iTunes (who am I kidding, I'd go to the library where it's free!). I enjoy more modern songs because I like getting lost in the music...and isn't that partially what yoga's about...getting lost in your practice? There's a teacher at my yoga studio, Kristen, who mixes in Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, and Radiohead. She's my favorite. She's also a runner and teaches a more athletic class that focuses on the legs, which let's face it, runners are weak on leg strength. But her music brings me back every time.

Last night, my daughter Meg and I attended a class with Jen. I had taken one of her classes before and I consider her music selection top notch, too. After the basic warm-up of Om, we moved into poses. Her first song was Just Breathe by Pearl Jam...the acoustic version.

So today's guilty pleasure will be beautifully done acoustic songs - and I'll leave you with this one:

Mind on My Money and Money on My Mind

My family makes fun of my inability to know song titles as well as my "creative" song lyrics.

For example, while we were in Denver a couple weeks ago, I saw a 7-11 Store across from our hotel. I turned to Greg and said there's a song with 7-11 in the lyrics. I could see the look on his face - the look of "crap, she's going to MAKE me guess this song." So I sang 7-11, 7-11 (as if that helped?!). Less than 5 minutes later, Greg shakes his head and says it's Ice Cube. Yes! Today was a good day!

So today, my daily Etsy email announcement arrived in the inbox. One of the featured artists has a sign Mind on My Money and Money on My mind. Damn. I know this. I. KNOW. THIS. but I could use Greg to confirm it, but he was in mid-air on a plane. Gotta be Dre. But knowing my history for screwing up lyrics (take me down to the bare ass city), I googled it just in case. And yes, I was right. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

Now I'm off to iTunes to add this one to my running mix!