The idea came to me when I watched Legend, 8, a homeless child, and his mother interact.
It was horrible. There are no words to describe the brokenness of a family lost.

If we could teach moms like her (homeless or not) to do something fun with their kids, (weekly) it could change their destiny. Instead of a cycle of criticism, inactivity, boredom, or roaming the streets like homeless do, they could run. Sounds crazy right? After all, homeless people who live in shelters or under bridges are just trying to survive.

But homelessness is about a loss of self and overall wellness. Try being homeless for one day. After roaming the streets foraging for food with no place to sleep or shower, you feel grimy and unkempt. After a week, depressed. After months, almost nonexistent. There are thousands of homeless children on the streets of Texas and our Nation. I figure if we can teach their moms and dads how to improve physically, mentally, and emotionally, we can change their world right away.

So I brought the idea to SOUL, a massive street ministry in Dallas that feeds the homeless. Their mission is to feed the minds, bodies, and souls. When we run each Sunday, we will have homeless men, women, and children run along with our mascot, Batman the homeless dog! We have doctors, wellness experts, and nutritionists lined up to come share their wisdom.

Want to help change lives? Lace up your sneakers! Come join me. For more information on how to start a homeless running club near you, contact Tammy Kling at www.escapesuburbia.wordpress.com or Facebook.

What are simple ways to improve your community and help those in need? How can you help change a life this week, month, or year?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Tammy Kling is a life coach, advocate for the homeless, and international author of 29 books including The Compass. Tammy is also the founderr of Write it Out, an organization that helps gang members, the homeless, and those living on the street write out their hopes & dreams via writers workshops, free journals and various other resources.

In addition to writing and coaching, Tammy is a mom of two boys, an avid trail and mountain runner, blogger, and adventure travel writer.

Girls on the Run International is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Designed for girls ages 8-13, the GOTR curriculum encourages positive social, emotional, and physical development through the combination of training for a 3.1 mi. race and activities that teach girls how to make positive decisions and avoid self-destructive behaviors.

The Girls on the Run program, which has been featured on ESPN, NBC, CNN, is based on a three-part, 24-lesson curriculum that teaches life skills through group processing, running games and workouts. Certified coaches lead the sessions and encourage participants to develop self-understanding as well as an awareness of their connection with the world. As part of the program, the girls select and carry out a community service project and complete a 5K running event together.

Girls on the Run is designed for girls in grades 3-5, while its sister program, Girls on Track, is designed for 6th-8th graders. The benefits for all participants are not limited to running success; evaluations of the program show a statistically significant improvement in body image, eating attitudes and self-esteem for girls who complete the GOTR program.

If you are interested in becoming a running partner to a young girl participating in the Girls on the Run program, please visit www.girlsontherun.org for more information about programs in your area. After my last-minute-fill-in in the Fall, I am hooked on the concept and eager to get involved earlier on in this unique opportunity.

How do you help your young girl build self-esteem and have confidence? What programs help young girls to develop these attributes?

Photo courtesy of Girls on the Run.

Signe Whitson is a licensed social worker and presents at professional conferences and seminars across the United States on topics related to child and adolescent emotional and behavioural health.  She also gives very sound advice on dealing with passive aggressive behavior. Signe also writes for My Baby Clothes.  A company working towards finding and providing the best baby clothes for you little bundles of joy, along with adorable tutus and matching baby headbands.

There’s nothing easier or less expensive than tossing on a pair of sneakers and walking out the door for a run. Whether you choose to set goals and run races or not, the mental, emotional, and physical health benefits from running can be life changing. Why fear the unknown? Every runner starts the same way; they put one foot in front of the other! Why not give it a try?

Getting Started

*As with any exercise or physical activity, you should always check with your doctor prior to starting a new program.

• Wear Appropriate Footwear: Choose a seamless athletic sock and a running shoe one half size larger than your normal every day shoe. This extra room will leave room for good blood circulation and accommodate any swelling in your feet as your heart rate increases.
• Keep Yourself Hydrated: Hydrate before, during, and after a workout. I live in Colorado and almost always run with a water belt or, on longer runs, a Camelbak. Staying properly hydrated by drinking water throughout each day will reduce muscle soreness and fatigue.
• Make Sure You Condition: Depending on your current fitness level, you may want to begin walking 2-3 times a week until you are able to walk comfortably for at least 30 minutes. In general, most people find success adding time in increments of 5-10 minutes each week until they’ve reached the 30 minute goal.
• Hit the Road: Everyone has a different reason or motivation for running. If you are the type of person who motivates best with a set goal go ahead and sign up for a local 5k race/walk. You can plot your training runs backwards from the day of the race. Your goal should be simple: Finish! There are a hundreds of different methods, schedules, and plans for running published in books and online-there is even a very popular plan titled Couch to 5k (there’s even a Couch To Marathon!). I recommend beginning with a run/walk interval method 2-3 days a week for 20-30 minutes. Keep your run intervals relaxed and easy, you should be able to carry on a conversation at this pace. The chart below shows a beginner plan I helped a yogi friend create. Each workout started with a 5 minute warm-up followed by run/walk intervals. You can see that by the end of 5 weeks she was jogging for her warm up and the recovery/walk portion of her intervals had dwindled to 1 minute. By Week 6 she was hooked on running and was able to eliminate walking altogether.

• Schedule Rest Days: Rest days are essential for injury prevention as well as muscle and joint recovery, particularly when you are first starting out. Alternative exercise such as strength training or yoga will keep you active but at the same time give your body a break from the impact of running. Do not underestimate the value of non-running days!

One of my favorite books ever is a book called The Courage To Start, in which the author John Bingham says, “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.”

How often do you run? If you don’t run, what’s holding you back? If you do run, why? What kind of enjoyment do you get out of running? What does your running schedule look like on a weekly basis?

Fiona Bryan is a freelance writer and new media marketing consultant in Denver, Colorado. She is the mother of three children and blogs about social media and all things “banter-worthy” at BanteringBlonde.com. Fiona is also founder of the multi-media outreach, MomActive, which strives to motivate and empower women to be positive role models for their families.

Studies demonstrate that Earth Footwear increases the rate of fat-burning inside the body.  Women wearing Earth Footwear burn 4x the fat than normal shoes.  The difference is in the Kalso Negative Heel Technology, which positions the toes 3.7º higher than the heels. The slight angle shifts weight subtly back over the heels, and help strengthen and tone the body while also burning more calories.

This is why Earth Footwear is so useful during the holidays.  While you are shopping, running errands and caring for the family, the shoes do the work for you.

Entry Requirements

You can earn up to three extra entries in this week’s giveaway by doing the following (one extra entry per completed item):

1. Follow @earthfootwear on Twitter.
2. Become a fan of the http://facebook.com/earthfootwear page and leave a comment there, sharing tips on ways to have a healthy holiday season.
3. Tweet and/or post a message on your Facebook profile page the following messages:

GIVEAWAY! Enter 2 win a pair of Exer-Walk shoes from @earthfootwear (3 winners!). http://bit.ly/73vJay #gno PLS RT

X

Join #gno Tues 12/1 (9-11 pm ET) 4 tips on how to enjoy a healthy holiday season w/@earthfootwear RSVP: http://bit.ly/7NOZ4H PLS RT

Entry Requirements

You have the option of getting three extra entries in this week’s giveaway. Make sure to leave a comment for each extra entry on this post.

1. Leave a comment on the Earth Footwear Whrrl story.
2. Tweet and/or post a message on your Facebook profile page the following message (one extra entry each):

Become a fan of the http://facebook.com/earthfootwear FB page for tips on enjoying a healthy holiday season! #gno PLS RT

The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Earth Footwear and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Wednesday, December 2 at midnight PT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older. One entry per person.