New Year’s Day Pajama Art Party!

Join us Saturday January 1st at 11 am for our Pajama Art Party!

  • Who: You! And your friends.
  • What: New Year’s Day Pajama Art Party!
  • When: Saturday January 1st, from 11 am – 12 pm PST.
  • Why: Make art, dream about the new year, visit with each other and have fun!
  • Where: On Zoom (your house).


Snuggle up in your most comfortable jammies, robe, and slippers, make your favorite hot beverage, and join us on New Year’s Day!

We color, draw, and visit with each other, and I guide you through exercises that allow you to dream about the year ahead (not fitness type exercises, putting pen to paper).

Email me Anne@FluidPortland.com and I’ll send you the zoom link.

Please share this with your friends!

Free for Fluid Fit Club members. $20 for guests.

Why am I doing this? This week I got to hang out with my girlfriend and her two cute kids. We went for a walk, then did an art project. See my lil Santa?

This took about 15 minutes of me picking out tiny beads, placing them on a board, then ironing it to make this (kind of like shrinky dinks if you remember those from your childhood?). It was so relaxing to hang out with people I love and focus on a non computer related task. It’s just a silly little art project, and yet this brought me so much joy.

If spending time on a child like project and visiting with friendly faces sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday, I invite you to join us!

Moroccan Lamb Stew Recipe

How does a warm, spiced, hearty bowl of stew sound right now?

Have I told you how much I love my crock pot? It’s a great option for me because I can prep our meal during my breaks, then our dinner is cooking away while I work, and ready to eat after I wrap my last evening class.

This type of stew actually tastes better the next day, so it’s great for leftovers.

A note about crock pot cooking, the liquid does not cook out like it would if you were making this on a stovetop. Start with the listed amount of broth, then once its cooking, you can check it to see if you like the consistency. If you’d like it more “soupy” and less “stewy”, add more broth.

You can also make this on the stovetop, in a large stock pot. When you get to step 6, just turn the heat down low, and cover the pot, Check it every thirty minutes or so to make sure it still has enough liquid.

Your whole house is about to smell amazing!

Try this stew and let me know what you think…


Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds lamb stew meat cut onto 1 ½ inch cubes (I found a 2.5 lb shoulder roast and had the butcher cut into cubes). 
  • 2 teaspoons of each: salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and cumin seeds.
  • 1/2 red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil.
  • 1 onion, diced.
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped. 
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste.
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar.
  • 2 tablespoons honey.
  • 1  1/4 cups chicken stock.
  • 1, 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained.
  • ¼ cup raisins or dried apricots (chopped).
  • 1 bunch of collard greens, chopped.

Directions:

  1. Rub the meat with all the spices. 
  2. Let it rest, covered, in the fridge for a couple hours.
  3. In a large stock pot, brown meat in oil for 5 minutes, stirring every so often.
  4. Add onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
  5. Add tomato paste, vinegar, honey, and chicken stock, and warm it through (stir it for another minute or so).
  6. Carefully transfer meat mixture to the crock pot and put the lid on.
  7. Cook on high for 4 hours.
  8. Add chopped collards, and garbanzos and cook for another 2 hours.

Serve with cooked couscous or rice.

xoxo

Anne

Looking for more recipes? Here are my most popular:

Dark Chocolate Bark

Ahi Poke

Green Soup

Broccoli Salad

Baked Oatmeal

Solstice Meditation December 18th

Tuesday December 21st is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day (and longest night) of the year.

Celebrate this time with us! Watch the recording of our live solstice meditation from Saturday December 18th.

Our December meditation theme is slowing down, and listening to your intuition. At the end of all of our fitness classes we do a 5 minute guided meditation where sit quietly and ask our internal guide “what do I need right now?”.

If the idea of listening to your intuition seems daunting, no worries, you can strengthen your listening skills just as you would strengthen your biceps, by repetitive practice. Join us for one of our live zoom classes, and do this short meditation with us, or tune in to our 30 minute session on Saturday the 18th.

Why celebrate the solstice?

For ancient cultures, the winter solstice was seen as a time of rebirth, or new beginning, often celebrated with festivals and rituals.

You’ve most likely heard of the German yule log. Did you know about these other mid winter traditions?

Iranians gather at the house of the oldest relative to eat, drink and read poetry, feasting on nuts, pomegranates and watermelon.

In Japan the custom is to soak in a hot yuzu, or citrus fruit bath. This is thought to boost your immune system, so that you will not catch a cold during the winter.

I love rituals that encourage sharing good food with friends and family, and relaxing.


If slowing down sounds good to you right now, listen to our meditation from Saturday December 18th as we sit and contemplate this special time of year.

If you’d like to be notified of our next live event sign up for Fluid’s newsletters by entering your email address into that box over there on the right ->

Live Interview with McCartney Goff of Inspire Life Chiropractic

Dr. McCartney loves helping mammas, babies, and families live life to the fullest!

Her gentle approach, and her belief in our body’s innate ability to heal itself is what makes her special.

I’ve gotten to know her at our North Clackamas Chamber meetings and she is such a sweet, loving, positive gem, that want to introduce her to YOU!

Below you will find the recording of our recent live interview with Dr. McCartney (and Milo).

Learn how she got her start, who she loves working with, and what role Milo plays at the clinic.

About Dr. McCartney: She hails from Baraboo, Wisconsin and knew she wanted to become a chiropractor after the profound impact it had on her health in high school. She quickly learned this profession would allow her to inspire and empower others to live a higher quality of life like she experienced! She received her Doctorate of Chiropractic at the founding school of the profession, Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. Her goal is to help kids grow into healthy adults and help families live life to the fullest. To best equip her to serve children, pregnancy and families she pursued further certification courses through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. Her family has loved settling into Portland as their new home appreciating the vegetarian eats and less snow.

To receive updates about our next live interview please subscribe to my newsletter by entering your email in that box to the right –>>>

The November Five Exercises

What are The Five? Each month I offer five new exercises that we incorporate into most classes and training sessions, when appropriate. 

Why do these exercises? Improve your strength, balance, flexibility, and mobility. 

How do I do them? Watch this video to see me demonstrating your November Five. You may go through these on your own, or do with me in a live zoom class or one on one training session.

If you are following along with me in this month’s video, please use your best judgment as to how suitable these are for you right now.

The November Five:

  • Dead Bug
  • Thoracic Rotation
  • Leg Pull
  • Half Roll Back with Twist
  • Band Rows
Dead Bug
Thoracic Rotation
Leg Pull
Half Rollback with a Twist
Band Row

These photos are meant to remind you of work we have done together. Please see your medical professional prior to beginning a new exercise program. 

If you’d like more detailed information on these exercises, click one of the links below:

Join Fluid’s Fit Club!

Join a class

Schedule a 1:1 with Anne