My favorite self-care activity is exercise, followed closely by a good bottle of wine shared between friends and a bar of very dark chocolate-to eat all by myself.

 

Because of the unique emotional challenges we face, self-care is necessary to keep our work sustainable and rewarding. Last May I bought my first bike (a 'recycled' cycle) and started riding to work.  I couldn't believe how great it made me feel and what an effective use of time it was. I happily embraced the chance to get my heart beating and leave the stress and worries of the day behind.

Working as an advocate for domestic violence survivors and their children can be isolating work; sometimes you can't help but feel like you're on your own. There are days when all systems seem to turn against you: the courts have made their rulings, there is no shelter space available, and the women and kids you are working with seem to have lost all hope of a better life. Those days are hard. Those are the days when I think the cycle of violence will never end. Luckily, there are good days too.  There are days when a survivor reaching out, maybe for the first time, calls the crisis line and gets a chance to tell their story, create a safety plan, and find relief in knowing someone understands what they're going through. There are days when a family can escape from a violent home and find the time and space they need to imagine and work towards creating a better life.  These days are possible because of the support we receive from the community.

On the day of the WAVE, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. The chance for me to ride along side of my coworkers in support of our agency was a great opportunity, but the ride itself proved to be much more than just a bike ride. It opened my eyes to the large community of solidarity EDVP has among women on the eastside as more than 600 riders and support people turned out for the event. 

 

Since Cycle the WAVE, I try to remember on the bad days that we are not alone in our effort to stop the violence but that EDVP has many friends and supporters in the community. I look forward to seeing them again next summer when we can Cycle the Wave in hopes of breaking the cycle of violence.
 
 (Anna Terry is a Children's and Community Advocate at EDVP)

The hamstrings serve two major functions during cycling: hip extension and knee flexion. And it just so happens that during all 360 degrees of the pedal-stroke, a cyclist undergoes either hip extension or knee flexion ... so the hamstrings get nary a moment to recover.  Unless of course you're coasting, but remember it's called cycle the wave for a reason girls!

 

Now, forget the traditional leg curl machines.  They severely restrict movement throughout the body by putting you in lockdown mode.  Talk about the antithesis of cycling!  All we do is function in a state of instability thereby requiring complex coordination of multiple muscle groups.  Whew, that was a mouthful.  Let me simplify - hamstrings don't operate in a vacuum, they are only as strong as their weakest link.  This month's exercise will teach coordination of the hamstrings, core, glutes, and hips by using the stability ball.

Choose a stability ball appropriate for your height - 5'4" and under use 55cm, 5'5" and over 65cm. Lay face up on floor with heel on ball & thighs perpendicular to floor. 

* Contract your abs first!  
* Then lift butt off floor into bridge position.   
* Extend legs slowly, keeping hips lifted and toes straight up to the ceiling.

* Be sure to keep head and shoulder blades in contact with the floor. 

* Return to bridge position by using the hamstrings to draw the heels in towards your butt.  
* Continue to perform leg extension and curl in the bridge position without returning to the resting position on the floor until the end of the set.

The picture shows the advanced version of this exercise using only one leg - the preferred method.  It's tough!  So start by using both legs together as described above then progress to the single leg version when ready.  Perform this exercise 2 - 3X/wk on non-consecutive days.  For hours of free entertainment, introduce this exercise to your whole family and let the good times roll!

A Peloton is a group of riders!