Morning mindfulness in a quiet NYC park. You’d never know that I had just given one of the most stressful high-level presentations I’ve ever had to deliver in my life. Our bodies and minds are super resilient!
I think many people need overall stress relief these days. I’ll share some of my insight on how you can become aware with mindfulness.
People walk around seemingly unaffected but underneath their skin, they are stressed out, anxious, annoyed, or irritated. You know that because of the stress statistics, and because you have shared and felt those same feelings at some point. That makes us human. And, if you live in a city or busy, suburban area around people, you probably know that all too well.
Living chronically stressed is one of the worst things you can do for your health (it’s a slow form of dying as I think settling into retirement is, but that’s another story for another day).
You may know stress is linked to 6 of the leading causes of death and probably more as our society is growing even more complex and filled with daily stressors. The saddest result from stress is if a person tragically considers ending their life or lives on anxiety medication. Inside of each of us, there are healthy alternative solutions, and that is the answer to life.
Jon Kabat -Zinn is known for his mindfulness and meditation work and writing. He worked on a study where employees practiced a mindfulness technique for 30 minutes a day for 8 weeks. Their brains were scanned before and after. Following the mindful 8 weeks, the participants had more activity in the left side of their front brain that showed enthusiasm and joy.
The study is an example of how we can affect our stress and daily lives by our thoughts. Most adults carry some out-of-control problems and walk around with varying levels of burden or worry in the mind-body construction we’re given.
Often, we don’t know what we can do to fix our immediate problems or we’ve already tried without a definitive solution, so we just accept that’s just how it is, at least for this season. And the season can be lifelong if never addressed again or if giving up or coping is the way of being.
That’s this life. It’s what you do with your thoughts and making them positive in some way, that makes all the difference in the world.
If you’re a natural Vata-Pitta type and live in a city environment, like I am and do, you’re highly susceptible to stress-related health issues. You can get warning signs initially showing up as acute or chronic anxiety, strong judgment, inflammation, aches, or pains that you can’t pinpoint the exact cause of. Over time these stress symptoms wear down your mental health and you can suddenly one day no longer get excited about your work, even though it was a gradual accrual.
So I starting making stress relief and work-life balance a priority in my late 20’s. I knew my health and appearance would suffer if I didn’t make changes.
We all want to live actively, and full of energy now and especially in our older years. Plus we have our individual desires like I want to look 20 years younger than my real age… and, I know I’m not alone in those wants.
Looking back in my young adult life, I had put my health on auto-pilot, prioritizing goals to climb the corporate ladder. And then I had small health situations, one after another, that made me question if my work lifestyle was contributing.
I took my job more seriously than my own health. Like, one time I had a panic attack and just went on with the day as though nothing had happened. I never forgot about it though.
Another time, I ignored the initial call to walking pneumonia. Not until the CEO of the company I worked for, urged me to go see the doctor, did I actually prioritize health over my job. I was lucky to get the encouragement and luckily I went to get medical help.
Those were warnings. They may have panned out okay for a healthy 20-something-year-old, but even a few years later makes a difference in the aging process as I started to notice my health more as I got more balance in my life.
I had accumulated stress in my body-mind for many years before I noticed or took any positive action. The body keeps score.
The stress I accumulated had started years before.
I grew up in a house with struggling immigrant parents. There was a lack of daily consistency. There was weekly household expressed anxiety-anger that got recorded in my young brain. And, I suppressed my emotions. As an adult, to become whole and healed, I needed to let out and process post-trauma still living actively in my old child’s brain and affecting my new adult decisions.
I didn’t know mindfulness could be an even better cure (than therapy). Back then in my 20’s, I didn’t know I had an issue, until I started learning more and getting aware (in our pre-vulnerable sharing society days we live in today).
As a young adult, I was just trying to put a roof over my head. That led to a panic attack incident from accumulated stress building up from a prior work victimization situation, then-current toxic management issues, and also working 55 plus grueling work hour weeks.
Different situations, but those are the types of multiple, complicated layers that many adults walk around with daily, that’s running in their mind-bodies. And they hold it all in instead of finding a healthy, sustainable solution that’s readily available (like I found).
In my case and so many others, my brain had recorded current stress-filled situations and mixed them with past emotional childhood trauma that was never healed. The body can then snap.
Our regular healthy bodies are naturally resilient but they can only take so much before there’s a breakdown, and that’s what happened in my case.
Most people live like that, unconscious and unaware about the damage carried around in the cell memories of the mind-bodies. Getting stress relief awareness is life and investment in your future health.
Plant-based diet doesn’t mean you have to give up non-plant based foods like meats. It simply means adding more natural plants into your diet (and less processed plants 🏭).
A plate of greens is good for adding more plant-based foods into your system 🌱 that are healthy and sustainable (vs. plant based) 🏭
While a full plant-based diet is not what I do, I have incorporated one plant-based meal per day that matters. I share below a meal plan that I think is a good way to maintain a consistently healthy ideal weight, year after year.
Eating healthy and balanced doesn’t just affect your physical body, it also positively impacts your brain, daily thinking mind, and mental health.
Getting proper vitamins and minerals that come from animal proteins help our brains function properly, that helps us keep our mind-body system balance.
I believe that not including fish, meats, carbs, fruits, and vegetables is missing what God gave us here on this earth. We hurt our bodies when we don’t eat enough from any of these categories, or we eat too much.
In most meals, strict vegetarians don’t receive enough vitamins and micronutrients (minerals), some that are richly found in animal protein. Fish that are also considered animal meat, contains necessary B vitamins and good omega fat sources that healthy vegetarians usually come to realize they’re missing.
If only we could take vitamin supplements as a 1:1 nutrient exchange for food, but that’s not the case and especially with diluted vitamin pills.
Here’s just a quick journey into how I evolved into my way of eating today.
Journey to My Daily Meal Plan
I’ve eaten the same general diet for over two decades now, which includes the same food categories that are on the nutritional food charts. That may sound boring, but it has worked to keep me at the same ideal healthy weight.
Growing up, the four basic food groups turned into the FDA-approved 23 servings per day pyramid food group that’s still used. In America, we don’t necessarily take FDA rules as gospel as there are always changes, but that should tell us a ‘lil something. Whether it’s 4 categories or 23 servings, we need many food vitamin sources to function daily, in a healthy way.
When I was a child, my diet contained mostly fruits, vegetables, breads, cereals, rice, pasta, whole milk, yogurt, animal proteins, and too many processed snacks. Like many American diets back then when there were less healthy options, I ate more orange salty snacks than orange fruits. Definitely as far away from a plant-based diet as one could see.
And, yoga poses are gradually are becoming creative yoga poses to help restore specific muscles, joints, and get balance in our day.
Evolving into creative yoga poses can be a powerful way to discover how to cure your own body aches and pains.
I didn’t particularly like yoga when I first started. It was intimidating and there was a learning curve to keep looking at specific body parts, making sure that it matched with what the yoga instructor was saying and doing.
Somehow I got myself to go back to class. And I started to learn and get into certain poses that became familiar. Child’s pose and other resting yoga poses were my respite in the beginning.
Gradually with added stamina and skill, I added new poses as my body helped to intuitively remember. The body cells have distinct memory.
Being at home means you still can do yoga poses at home or anywhere, even if you usually relied on attending in-person classes for form and instruction. If you didn’t learn yoga foundations, you can take the extra step and watch YouTube videos or take virtual classes.
Date muffins recipe below that would be good for your yoga days!
Here’s a good way to begin:
Sit on your yoga mat or on a brick with your sit bones (the yoga language for your bottom), and stretch your legs out into a “V.” Reach down on each side of your legs to your feet, or as far down on your legs as you can.
We sit down, lay down, and stand too much in our daily lives. Just by sitting in this unique pose and doing seat yoga poses, allows your legs, back and arms to stretch in a different position than it normally is in.
That’s the name of the game. Our bodies want us to stay limber and stretch other muscles and parts of our body.
I have a kneeling pose that I particularly like that feels good, where I crouch down almost to the floor. I prefer this over bending down. If you like roller skating as I did back in the day, then you know this pose from the game called “shoot the duck” where you crouched down with bent knees as far as you could and extended one leg straight out.
That takes some balancing and flexibility. Usually, one leg was better or stronger than the other on any day. Then you rolled yourself forward using the law of motion and force and tried to make it under the limbo bar without knocking it over.
This can be a metaphor for life in finding balance, as on your yoga mat or floor, you can go from balancing your body from feet on the ground to your tippy toes in this similar duck pose.
In this yoga duck pose (I made up the name so won’t find it researching!), I like to flip through books and recipes, look inside the oven when a bake is completing, or clean floor spots in this familiar pose.
I don’t know why, but it’s a comfortable position for me. It’s a balancing pose that stretches the back, and rounds out the spine. Similarly, you can find the comfortable positions that give yoga a new name (and some of these poses can even cure you of aches and pains).
You may like this crouch (not couch) pose, or make up your own. The point is to try new bends as often as you can remember.
Without weight and while standing, you can observe when you touch your toes, and then try to reach your ankles. You can prefer to bend down with your knees bent or bend at your torso (not everyone can do this). Try attempting both and seeing how that feels.
This torso stretching is particularly good for your back and hamstrings that can get really tight if not used often. Remember in school gym class, how they started out with stretches so you wouldn’t hurt yourself?
Besides our backs and back of legs, another area that often gets ignored is the arms. As much as you can throughout the day, move them back behind you. That also stretches your shoulder muscles that can get sore. If you work on a computer all day, you can find ways to counteract hunching forward with your typing keyboard hands, and arms.
One season I went to physical therapy because I had a daily right arm and shoulder pain that wouldn’t go away. It was nagging for relief from daily right-handed motion overuse, and typing contracts all day.
That’s how voice technology can help our future aging and aching bodies.
Anyway, from my own testing, I figured out which arm stretch would make a difference and correct the pain problem after months and years. That was by self-discovery because no one can pinpoint where your pain actually is, but You, and you alone.
Especially if you didn’t get in an accident or the pain point doesn’t show up as an injury on a scan. Having had multiple x-ray scans reviewed by an orthopedic physician and chiropractor, I felt I went round and round with the same issue and was left to come up with my own solutions.
In hindsight, that’s where I should have started… but when you don’t know, you don’t know.
I found that if I took my right arm out and raised it to shoulder level like an airplane wing, and then I bent my wrist straight down, then that caused tightness and sometimes slight pain that went up to my entire arm through the main radial nerve, and that corrected the problem. ...So simple! All I needed to do was stretch in the right way. I call this Airplane Wing Pose… just kidding!
And then when I took the airplane arm wing back about 45 degrees and bent my wrist straight down, that gave another tight stretch that is what I needed to provide pain relief. Hallelujah!
So my suggestion is if you have any slight aches or pains and there’s no known injury, start with questioning how that could have come about.
If nothing concrete emerges searching your thoughts, then try light and gentle stretches. Moving your body is healing for daily wear and tear symptoms and maybe just what the doctor ordered!
Not moving your body can be just as hurtful to your body, as moving is to an injury.
If you did possibly hurt yourself, that can come from something as simple as bumping a table corner or carrying a bag of groceries too heavy without bending your knees, then that can be a deeper injury like a sprain to the body. Your resilient body will heal over time, but needs rest instead of movement.
An example of this is when you have a swelling inflammation. You could apply ice in a ziplock plastic bag (not a bag of frozen vegetables that isn’t cold enough).
If a body area is sore or has tired muscles, then a heating pad and stretching can help, but that’s if you have determined there’s no inflammation. If you’re not sure, you’re better off trying ice and seeing if it improves over a few days.
Then when you’re getting better, start gradual, light yoga poses and stretching again.
Sensitively figuring out in discernment what your body needs is the healing balance. When or if you should explore medical help over self-diagnosis is an individual question.
Implementing yoga, stretching, and movement is almost always beneficial, as that’s what they have you do in rehabilitation.
With the comfortable yoga poses and stretches you come up with, you can use those as starting points to create other poses that your body will be thankful you did to take care of yourself.
As you become aware, you get to know other parts of your body and that helps you to become more flexible.
If you’re someone who believes you’re not flexible, change that to you are getting flexible every time you stretch. Your body and mind (and mind-body balance) are your most powerful tools and assets to invest in, so you can keep doing all that you do daily.
In my life, I first noticed my performance anxiety early on when it came to test-taking time in school.
Since then I figured out that performance anxiety comes from panic, perfectionism, and overthinking. Those all had one thing in common – my mind.
That’s where it all started when I believed I wasn’t prepared enough.
That set my subconscious mind sending unclear messages that left me in an internal nervous frenzy and blowing up into anxiety and panic, which further prevented productive rational conscious thinking (and maybe this has happened to you also).
All through childhood, I grew up achieving ideal perfectionist standards that aren’t so easy to shake off as an adult, even with constant reminders.
But doing it imperfectly and progress over perfection is the better mantra way, that has also changed in schools.
In school terms, that’s being a “C” student and passing, over being an excellent “A” student as the only successful path.
A few years ago, I may have cringed at that thought. But we’ve turned into a more empathetic world that allows us to be brave and follow Nike’s long-running ad advice, just do it.
There are still times when you’re asked in your work to strive for perfection. On those occasions, you’re asked to nail the performance or delivery, and you’re not gonna turn down the ask if it’s your employer.
But if it’s self-imposed, then that’s something to be observant about and look out for.
You can ask yourself why you didn’t hit send or complete the intended task imperfectly. That’s what I do as checks and balance along with believing, love is in detail (the positive side of perfectionism).
In our gray decision-making world and in finding our own individual balance, we can get better at when to turn it on or off for different scenarios.
In a test-taking performance environment, overthinking test questions and re-writing subjective essay answers can hurt a test taker.
Usually, your gut instinct and the first thought are better than second-guessing. If you’re not sure, stick with your first guess.
When you combine these complex dimensions of growing panic, aiming for perfectionism, and overthinking, those elements mixed together are a recipe for performance anxiety and a test-taking disaster (and in my scenarios all I could do was hope for the best and move on).
Performance Anxiety on The Great British Baking Show Competition
Alice – Season 7 Finalist
David – Season 7 Finalist
Steph – Season Finalist
On the topic of combining and mixing, in The Great British Baking Show series, the invited competitors are challenged to create great bakes, that require overcoming performance anxiety on top of great talent and skill.
They’re the nation’s best bakers.
If the contestant can wow the judges week after a week staying in the competition, stay calm, keep emotions in check, and not lose his or her marbles, they move onto the final rounds.
By the final week, nerves can grow for each contestant, as you would expect. The final ones that get in their heads with worry and anxiety are the ones that end up making mistakes and messing up because of their overriding emotions and minds sending mixed messages.
They can have the greatest talent and high skills under low-pressure conditions like baking at home, where they could create perfect masterpiece bakes.
Washington DC metro is area is a unique place. I know because I grew up there with the Washington Monument as a backdrop.
The Washington Monument is one of the most iconic Washington DC monuments you can see standing on rooftops across the river. It’s in the middle of the downtown mall (closer to the newer MLK and WW2 Memorials) and sandwiched in between The US Capitol and The Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln Memorial is open year round as an open monument.
It’s a transition area where many come and go. And tons of tourists during spring and summer tourist season that starts around the Cherry Blossom festivities near the downtown DC mall that starts at the Lincoln Memorial (and Thomas Jeffereson Memorial is also close by).
I held many work career positions downtown in DC and also surrounding Alexandria, Tysons Corner, and Reston in the DC metro area known as Northern Virginia.
I grew up there as a toddler and lived there until I was an adult.
And if the DC metro area is new to you or you’re moving to the area, DC is as safe as any big city to move to and has cleaned up considerably over the years.
14th Street corridor when I was growing up was not just seedy but you avoided. It’s now a revival part of the city that’s hip to visit.
Nearby residents are moving back into the city to be closer to their work and a more exciting city lifestyle that the downtown offers. City Center and The Wharf today were not attractive areas decades ago.
Then just across the bridge by metro or car, the accessible suburban areas are filled with calm shopping and small livable communities.
That makes the DC metro area a great place to live and work! …and with all the new companies like Amazon coming to town creating buzz.
I was living a stone’s throw away from the building during the pandemic so I could see the progression.
From an inside view, I became aware of the transient-ness vibe of the metro city area early on when I kept seeing an influx of people move in and out for a government job, other career, or friends and family.
The local residents who have grown up in the area (or lived in the area for most of their lives) are mostly friendly, helpful, educated, and cultured.
You’ll find that many in the area are well-educated, have traveled overseas, and are savvy on many subjects.
Like me, some have gone to school locally. I received my first degree there and attended 3 local universities.
What to Expect At Work In The Washington DC Metro Area
If you’re a new transplant adapting to the DC metro area, work-life balance can be tricky as you find your groove.
Most people may not be as relaxed as you may be accustomed to depending on where you moved from.
And that shows in the competitive driving style. You will know if you’re in the wrong lane driving the wrong speed.
If you moved here for work, your employer will have high expectations in a competitive city and maybe higher than where you came from.
When I was growing up, the nation’s top public schools based on school grades were in the Washington DC metro area. And yes, I was in those counties.
You can expect stressful demands from employers, and coming up with tactful and smart ways to address complex decision-making areas.
Just remember, you gain experiences each time. And tomorrow is always a brand new chance for something new and changes.
I worked in corporate management jobs so I lived and breathed this for decades.
Work weeks had long hours.
So expect to embrace those ways if that’s part of the industry you’re in and want to be promoted. You always have the opportunity to step out and into other work growth areas and careers.
And in most career jobs, even if you didn’t specialize in learning how to teach or do digital marketing tasks, unless you’re a scientist or removed from working with people, expect to use those skills in general administrative and presentation skills. They will help you in the future.
Likely, your companies you work for will expect you to run Zoom and the like-meetings, train others, and use digital communication tools at the very least.
The positive is you’ll be learning a lot, building skills, and gaining experience for whatever your next steps are.
Wearing many hats that may or may not fit you at the time helps you to be adaptable and you will use that in your life, so that helps you better build resilience and perserverance.
Speeding up your learning curve can play on your overall health and emotions, but on the other side you’ll be grateful you got over the toughest parts.
Also, expect high ego bosses and pressure in the area. Understand that they may not have done shadow work for their past, so all their weaknesses show up in their high pressure cooker position that comes from the top down and being in the Washington DC metro air.
For your healthy and happy, find ways to relax, handle stress, and find work-life balance, especially if you’re planning to stay long term.
You want to stay connected to your core values and what your boundaries are. Expect that what you signed up for may not be the agenda you signed up for. But again, you’re gaining experiences and making new connections.
There are political agendas in most organizations, and especially in the ones in the Washington DC metro area even if you’re not working in the government.
And another area that adds up is work day food and beverage costs.
It can get costly to go out and eat around this town. $5 coffees and $15 lunches add up daily, so having easy recipes at your fingertips to prepare at home can save you.
You can make an easy calzone that you stuff with your favorites that’s a no-mess eating, no-clean up lunch meal. Recipe is below. 🧡
….And so that you don’t wonder where all your rainy day fund went.
Like living in most cities, the Washington DC metro area has plenty of convenient delivery options and services that can help make your life easier when you need to save time and have service options.
There isn’t one good hairstylist, burger joint, or dry cleaner in town. There are many to choose from that’s a benefit of living in a big city.
Keep re-centering. It’s easy to forget your own goals and get off-balance when most jobs require more than working 9-5, or 8 hours per day. It’s easy to focus on busy culture that cities like the Washington DC metro area is centered on.
And if you work remote, balancing your life and digital life can be the positive difference for your well-being and success.
And you’re here for a reason.
One reason could be that the large DC metro area attracts many go-getters (…maybe you?) with a larger pool of jobs and work opportunities that other cities may not have as much to offer.
These are just a few industries in the area worth checking out if you’re looking for a good work-life balance:
You can find sustainable jobs that do fall in work life blend categories.
Associations – most people don’t know that the DC metro area is one of the largest association towns in the U.S. Old Town Alexandria and downtown DC houses many of the nation’s largest and well-known associations.
While the U.S. does have a reputation for a work-to-play lifestyle, many locals think to work hard now and relax at retirement age around 65.
Taking breaks and getting work freedom isn’t the path norm, but this is changing as people pivot and have second and third careers, or choose the side hustle lifestyle.
Many associations have more traditional office organization structures, and turnover is relatively lower. It’s not uncommon to see an employee at one association for most of their career even in today’s standards.
Associations can be attractive because most offer a work-life balance with a reasonable 9-5 working hours and 5 weeks of vacation starting out your first year, as an industry practice.
In many associations and non-profits, most aren’t expected to work past 5 pm.
Many other work industries expect you to burn the midnight oil as they want to get as much value out of you as they can.
Working for an association isn’t the overworked lifestyle that most people think of as the overworked American work lifestyle.
But just like choosing to work for a federal government position, you have to decide if you can handle the political side or the Board who often makes the decisions.
Overall, associations offer good health benefits and lifestyle perks, as some offer yoga and other classes during the workday and hour-long lunches which is a longer lunch in America.
Those were my experiences working for 3 different non-profits and associations.
So, any downsides to the job you have, you can make up with stress-relieving meditation or free time to clear your mind while on your break.
In general, for many industries, U.S. employees usually choose when they want to vacation giving enough vacation notice.
Compared to European countries, like say Italy where they have set vacation holidays, such as the annual Ferragosto in August that can last for over a month (and where the country and retail businesses shut down), and again in December during Advent Season.
Americans can choose time off dates with approval from employers.
Often, a worker who is raising a family chooses vacation time based on their children’s school breaks that peak in the mid-summer (July/August) and winter holiday breaks in December/January.
Technology companies – the Washington DC metro area is a high-tech area. Next to Silicon Valley out on the west coast, DC on the east coast is probably the next largest tech hub.
The technology worker lifestyle is a good one.
Starting pay for many DC metro tech job workers is higher than the highest-paid employee in some industries.
Besides being compensated well, tech employees usually have flex-time schedules (good work-life balance).
They can choose to work certain days and times in a schedule that works for them and their employer.
Unlike emergency and front-line worker jobs, there are few tech emergencies that can’t wait until the next day.
Tech workers often can do work remotely and is a common way to work.
And many have customers and team members in other time zones around the country and world, so they can adjust their schedules further based on those needs.
You can expect to do travel for work, attending meetings and conferences.
That can be a plus if you like that idea or are single, but if you have a family or pets to care for or are tired of traveling that lifestyle can be additional wear and tear.
But overall I think the tech job’s daily wear-and-tear stress is less than in other industries (at least the ones I worked in).
The good work-life balance and higher pay outweigh the traditional standard job vacation time, which can be around 2 weeks per year for the starting employee.
As with many larger U.S. employers, tech and larger companies offer perks like gym benefits and discounts to favorite stores and services.
Hospitality – there are many restaurant and hotel opportunities that are usually long hours.
But, you can find more work-life balance in niched event planning and conference centers. There are many entertainment venues and wineries in the area.
Amazon – is coming to the area. The second headquarters to Amazon was announced as the Washington DC area, and they’ve broken ground. In 2021, the new tech and business office buildings went under construction.
This is the newest, exciting business news in the area since the tech companies started cropping up post-Dot-com in the Dulles Corridor area closer to Washington Dulles Airport (that I remember well).
The DC metro system has near-future plans to build out further along where the Dulles Toll Road already exists, to expand commuting options eventually to Dulles Airport.
Federal/government – it’s obvious that many migrate from around the country to the DC area to work on The Hill. If you want to learn how lawmaking is done, DC is the city to be in.
In high school as a senior, we were required to take a Government semester class and pass to graduate that most people I know didn’t have to do. We took a photo in front of the Capitol Building.
Full of movers and shaker politicians, the Washington DC area is also a popular legal town full of attorneys.
Education – The area has plenty of higher-education opportunities. Besides working for some of the larger universities in the areas such as Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, and American University, there are many opportunities for those in the area to add certifications and higher learning specialization skills to resumes.
The Washington DC metro area is different in that getting specialized certifications or earning higher education degrees is a common norm as most do at some point on a work career route.
Those who do, usually go to school at night or on weekends. Learning in a graduate master’s program is optimized because what is learned in school is applied in their current job place and work (and not as theory).
Enjoying Life-Balance On Weekends
You’ll know it’s the weekend because the traffic pattern changes. You can drive into DC without traffic unless there’s a major game like a Nationals baseball game ⚾️ or during the Cherry Blossoms Festival. 🌸
The Washington DC metro area is so much more than the tourist attraction of Presidential monuments and history museums on the downtown mall that thousands from around the world annually come to tour and see.
The area is dynamic with new indoor and outdoor museums and interesting memorials and exhibitions, so it’s interesting for locals to take day-field trips to see what’s new.
When the colorful row of DC lunch food trucks grew near downtown L’Enfant Plaza, that caught some buzz and attracted nearby museums workers and tourists.
Weekends will be significantly less busy for a commute in and around the city. On weekdays, when commuting, you should be aware of rush-hour patterns as drivers can sit in traffic for hours if there’s an accident. In the suburbs when schools are busy in session, there are noticeable traffic pattern changes, and school buses have the right of way.
Washington DC is a multi-cultural metro area and a good representation of the “melting pot” that America is known for.
There are many opportunities to learn about other countries and cultures from the opportunities to attend Embassy events and visit the various districts downtown. There are many large and small entertaining festivities and parades that happen in and around the city.
In the backdrop of the famous historic monuments, the still Potomac River makes the area less city-like and year-round livable.
The GW Parkway and W&OD are scenic paths for bicycles, runners, and pedestrians that connect DC to parts of the suburbs.
Then there are amazing wonders, one that’s well known is the Great Falls waterfalls park. And the many parks and other well-groomed Meadowlark Gardens.
The best time of the year is year-round as Washingtonians rarely see snow or hot extremes in mild temperatures. You also get to see the gradual changing of the leaves in the fall, cherry trees in the spring, and pops of bright colors from flowers in the summer against many historic architectural styles and newer buildings.
And when you’ve had enough of nature, then you can appreciate all the retail opportunities, in indoor and outdoor shopping malls.
Tysons Corner Mall is the largest mall on the east coast and now has 3 built-in metro stops in that bustling heart center of Northern Virginia where NoVa actually began.
So, DC is easily accessible. Then on top of many area malls, there are 3 mega retail outlet malls in the area in National Harbor, Leesburg, and Woodbridge that you can get to with a car.
So no matter what end of the metro area you live in, you have access to local town centers and the best lifestyle shopping from Anthropologie to Zara.
You don’t have to go far to find places to hang out or do work.
Music – You can find free outdoor concerts in Tysons and in summer months when towns have their own celebrations near and around Independence Day, not to mention the Capitol Fireworks that you can see from miles away.
You can also listen to your favorite bands and music genres in indoor and outdoor large concert halls, at Wolftrap, Capitol One Center (formerly Verizon Center), Jiffy Lube Live, and newer and smaller venues like The Anthem on the DC Waterfront or the Theater at MGM Hotel and Casino at National Harbor.
The Kennedy Center is popular for all forms of entertainment plus the theatre district in DC that is near a busy and popular area called Gallery Place in Penn Quarter (where the Caps and large concerts come to play).
Food – There are many foodie fast food places like Shake Shack and healthy options to choose from. If you want to get healthy, you can find many choices from grocery stores, delivery services, restaurants, and cafes.
You can find a Starbucks just about everywhere and in Giant or Safeway grocery stores.
You can always take an Uber that’s a popular way to get around if you don’t have a car or metro access.
Many visit nearby Whole Foods and Harris Teeter grocery stores, where during normal times and hours, they have prepared foods sections that include many cold and warm selections from crab cakes and comfort foods, to salads and everything in between.
The Washington DC metro area is home to world-famous World Kitchen chef Jose Andres who’s always in the news. He became a household name earlier on when he started his Think Food Group, a group of foodie restaurants that include the longer-standing Jaleo, Zatinya, and Oyamel restaurants in the Penn Quarter district.
Besides many upscale casual, fine dining, famous chains, and ethnic family restaurant options, there are many convenient grocery store options including food delivery services. And many farmers’ markets in various neighborhoods including a large year-round Eastern Market.
Fitness/Classes – There are also many studios to choose from, sprinkled throughout the area with specialized classes for yoga, cardio, barre, kickboxing… you name it.
You can join a city gym like a Vida, a mega gym like a Sport & Health, YMCA, or anything in between. Many are working off their Pitta edge and enjoying themselves on a court or in a studio.
You can find making outside friends in a fitness community easier in a faster-moving, transient city like the Washington DC metro area.
Divide dough into 4 pieces and roll into 1/4 inch circles. Tip: to make round shape, using the cupping method I learned working as a teenage pizza maker. Cup your hand around the sides of the dough and move circularly around until you get a round shape. You may need to knead back down as you want a level piece.
Add sauce layer.
On one circle end, add cheese.
Add oregano or other spices.
Fold the circle to make a half circle or half moon.
Join the two halves, with the crimping fork method (like you would see in hand pies) or my favorite is the pinch and fold on top crimp method to give a fancy but homemade edge vibe like in the photo.
