Hello friends
Those of you who know me well will not be surprised to hear I’m doing that insane amazing 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe again on June 5.

Last year I chose to participate in The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training program as a way to keep from going crazy with worry and curling up into a ball of self pity while my oldest son was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for Hodkgin Lymphoma.

The overall experience of the ride was challenging and yet so gratifying and rewarding; the amazing and inspiring people I met on my training journey, the remarkable generousity of my donors, and finally the incredible feeling of accomplishment when I rode my bike over the finish line with my teammates. I knew moments after I finished that I wanted to participate again as my way of giving thanks and giving back.

I’m riding once again in honor of my son Theo Wilson, who finished his chemotherapy, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College last May, and now is in remission. After an ardous year of treatment and recovery he has recorded and produced his first CD last fall(including a song called My Little Violence about his cancer which he composed the night he got his diagnosis) and is currently working as an assistant director on a play in New York.

I’m also proud to be riding in loving memory of my priest Father Elias Stephanopoulos. Father Elias was there to provide comfort to my family when my mother died suddenly many years ago, he performed my wedding ceremony 5 months later, and baptized all 3 of my children over the following 6 years. Most importantly to me he was an authentic and kind man with a great sense of humor, a wonderful deep throated laugh and a smile that could disarm anyone. Sadly – he succumbed to Non Hodgkin Lymphoma in 1994 after a determined and valiant 7 year battle with the disease. He is deeply missed.

My family continues to be grateful to the LLS for advances in science and medicine (many of them taking place right here in Portland) that have given my son an excellent prognosis- something that was not possible even 23 years ago when Father Elias was diagnosed.

Your donations do make a difference to individuals like my son who is alive to pursue his creative dreams. My goal is that everyone who experiences this vile disease called cancer be given
the same opportunity.

My goal is to raise $5,000 by June 1 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Will you help? Lets do this together. I’ll do the riding.

On June 6th, I will be cycling 100 miles around Lake Tahoe as a participant in America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride. Starting last month and for the next 4 months, I will be part of the Team In Training group from the Portland area composed of other dedicated cyclists of all sizes, ages & physical abilities – all passionately committed to raising funds to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Please see my website www.breathepilatesnw.com/ride for more information on how you can help me support the fight to end cancer.

Why I’m Riding

I am riding in honor of my son, Theo Wilson. Theo is a 2006 graduate of The Catlin Gabel School and presently a senior at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. In November of 2009, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Suddenly we became reluctant members of a club we never planned on joining. So we did what many devastated families do. We grieved, we despaired and then we got to work figuring out what our options were. The LLS was our lifeline helping our family with information, support and encouragement during this difficult time. Our initial thought was to pull him out of school and have him come home for his treatment. At this point, good fortune intervened when we were put in touch with an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. Dr. Carol Portlock urged us to keep Theo in school and have his treatment there. She even brought us some needed laughter when she said she had enough data to publish a paper on how college students going through chemotherapy get better grades! Theo loves his school and the close community of friends he has made there – so after some reluctance on my part, he left Oregon and went back to New York. Currently Theo is carrying a full class load for his final semester, intensively rehearsing for a play he is directing at the end of April AND going to Memorial Sloan Kettering every 2 weeks for his chemotherapy treatment.
Please do not be impressed by the physical endeavor I am attempting. Instead, I invite you to celebrate and marvel along with me the tenacity and determination of my son and others like him, not only to survive but to thrive.

Thanks for your support,

Stella

Well I have finally gone high-tech. I’m blogging now. What’s next? A hover-car? A holographic Iphone?

It’s also a new year. A new year always presents itself with new optimism and for many people, resolutions. Often people use it as an excuse to quit bad habits, eat right and the most popular of all resolutions… to get in shape.

I’d like to suggest that people think about “getting in shape” differently. Often if you set stringent goals for yourself, like “I’d like to fit into a size 6″, “I want to lose 20 pounds”, you can find yourself disappointed quickly as soon as you go off track. Lets face it, most of us aren’t teenagers and we no longer need to quantify our satisfaction with ourselves and our bodies with specific numbers. We no longer need to make silly rules for ourselves that are just as easy to break as they are to make. Give yourself permission to just try to be the best “you” that you can be.

So throw the resolutions aside. Getting started with a new Pilates routine, or any other exercise routine, shouldn’t feel mandatory and the idea of starting from scratch can often feel overwhelming. If you are reading this, you are probably an adult, and most adults have been physically active on and off in some way all their lives. Get rid of the idea of “starting over”, or “fixing something that’s broke”. Think of a Pilates routine as a fine tuning; a pleasurable lifestyle choice similar to reading the New York Times on Sunday. Something with which you are rewarding your mature body and mind.

Working out isn’t like dating and it isn’t a job. If you miss a few workouts, even a few years of workouts, you don’t have to quit or “break-up”. You can always go back and you can always enjoy the benefits of getting stronger, no matter how old you are and no matter how long it’s been. And if it has been a while, I want to promise you personally, that the joys of getting stronger with Pilates don’t stop at having a stronger, healthier body; the benefits are mental too. Exercising has so many psychological benefits from warding off depression to improving your memory. I truly believe that the mental benefits of Pilates are just as important of the physical benefits.

Treat yourself, don’t beat yourself up. Happy new year, you deserve it.