Ah St Valentine’s Day. What a way to undo all the work you’ve been doing with our Pilates classes online in one heavenly day!
With its fancy dinners, lovely wines and tempting chocolate, it’s a wonderful day of the year to celebrate all things love and romance. But it also brings with it some of the naughtiest and most tempting foods out there. It can break all those great habits you’ve built up, health-wise. Plus, it can get quite expensive if you allow it.
So this year, Body beyond Birth are popping on our Cupid’s wings and showing how you can have a fun and healthy St Valentine’s Day that doesn’t break the budget!
Romance at the picnic
Sick and tired of cooking but don’t want to spend big on a fancy dinner or break your good food habits? Why not take the picnic option? Grab a few of the salad recipes, some gorgeous summer fruits and a selection of deli items and the world is your oyster.
In addition to the Pilates classes online, don’t forget Body Beyond Birth has an extensive recipe section that includes some amazing salads, snacks and treats that would be perfect for your picnic hamper.
A picnic is great because you can take it to almost anywhere- the local beach, park, hinterland are great spots. So too is a little backyard picnic with tea light candles and incense. Or even in the lounge with candlelight and the right kind of music to put you in the mood.
The best thing about a picnic is you can be as fancy or as simple as suits your taste.
It’s a Knock Out
Shows like It’s a Knockout or Wipeout are great fun to watch. But what’s to stop you channelling your competitive spirit with your partner (and even the kids) by creating an obstacle course of your own in the backyard or local park?
This is where your Body Beyond Birth experience with resistance exercise and Pilates might come in handy. You could even challenge him or her to try our Pilates class online and see who has the better result!
If you make use of the local park, there’s climbing frames and chin up bars to use. If you’ve decided you’ll be doing it at home, think about the sorts of things you can bring in to make for a challenging competition.
For example, a few backwards chair presses could be tough. Tougher still could be running around well placed milk crates or outdoor furniture and then digging into some planking. Use those milk crates again to weave the soccer ball around.
Use chalk to draw hop scotch or boxes on the ground and jump from place to place.
Try some animal themed exercise. Try scuttling side to side across the yard in a crab formation. Channel your inner frog by crouching and leaping towards the finish line. Or raid the kid’s toy box and try to hold your hula hoop for 20 seconds or more or see who can jump rope individually or in a group the longest.
Get the kids involved to keep you honest or to create another obstacle with well placed water pistols as you and your partner run past.
Think about what you can do and declare war the fun way with a St Valentine’s Day family competition.
Art is the way to my heart
Making and creating can be a very sensual activity. Ghost pottery scene, anyone?
It can also be an economical, fun and special activity for the whole family.
Creating together gives you the chance to practice mindfulness as well. This in turn can help lower stress and leave you feeling a natural high. The restoring nature of mindfulness through creativity can really help a mother on the go, health wise.
Mindfulness is something we recommend beyond our Pilates classes online because we know the stress reduction value of those brain quietening moments.
First of all, you don’t have to play top dollar at the fancy art store. You can find a surprising amount of canvasses and art supplies at a large amount of discount stores. You can also try places like Riot Art and Craft, who deliver from their online shop as well as have stores in quite a few towns and cities. The good thing about Riot is they also have helpful videos to inspire you.
Secondly, it doesn’t take much to create a wonderful art experience. Grab a tarp from the discount store and you can cover the kitchen table. Or you can take that outside to the backyard. Set up your paints and other supplies. Grab some jars and containers from the recycling, give them a bath and use them as your brush water. Make sure you have old clothes on and that you make use of a smock for the kids.
Think about the sorts of projects you’d like to do. You might want to create a Valentine from card, paper and other bits and bobs. Or you could try painting or sketching your love’s portrait. Perhaps something more abstract is your thing where you can both get a bit messy and flirty with the paint.
Perhaps you could skip the real paint, find the kids a place to go for the night and try edible body paint. Add wine, nibbles and a sense of adventure and you could be in for a whole lot of romance.
Whatever the case, spending some time expressing your love in a creative way is a great way to spend some high fun yet low cost time with your partner.
A romantic stroll or cycle for two
Many a romantic movie features the couples of old taking a romantic stroll. So why not try this for you?
A walk around the local flower gardens, on the banks of the river or on the beach is incredibly romantic. It’s also great exercise for you both. The beautiful thing about a romantic walk is you can touch via holding hands to build the intimacy. Plus it gives you the opportunity to talk to each other and reconnect with each other’s lives in a relaxed setting.
If you’re more the cycling time, a romantic bicycle ride could be just the ticket. Choose a beautiful scene and grab that picnic basket from before and you’re on your way. Chatting over the picnic basket post ride can be incredibly romantic and fulfilling.
You could also find the local bike hire and see if they have a tandem bicycle and ride the ultimate romance machine, the bicycle built for two!
Just make sure you remember to keep alcohol consumption to a minimom for your own personal safety and for the safety of others when riding home.
Try romance with a twist this St Valentine’s Day
If you want to have a lovely and love filled time with your partner, it doesn’t have to be expensive. Look for the opportunities to craft your own fun and try something new. Experiences are what bring us together and they are the things we cherish the most. So take the time to think about the kind of romance that appeals to you- and go for it.
Plan your outing in nature, get the creative vibe or make it a time to channel your competitive spirit in a fun way.
We’d love to hear your stories – so jump on into our private Facebook group today and share your ideas and dates. You can even share a photo of your partner trying our Pilates classes online! Go on, you know you want to.
