This morning, while sitting at my desk, I was feeling achy after some hard rowing machine exercises recently. The plan for today called for two sets of high-speed intervals, which (to be honest) I didn’t feel motivated to do. When I sat down on the Hydrow around noon, I was grumbling to myself about having too many demanding workouts right before Christmas vacation, rather than being able to relax and wind down.

I started to feel better after an easy 15-minute warmup, though. Watching the virtual-journey scenery (the one I chose was a river in Australia) go by on the monitor was relaxing, and the aches faded away. When I did the intervals, I was faster than the previous time I’d done them, and I felt stronger. Afterward, I did an easy 30-minute cool-down row to flush out the muscles, and later in the day I did some exercises with a soft foam roller. I’m feeling pretty good now—there was nothing to grumble about, after all.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”