Week Ten - Summer in the City

Summertime is always the best of what might be .... Charles Bowden

---

Fundraising

by Coach Anita

Some common refrains I hear from people about direct fundraising efforts - asking people to contribute money to a cause - is they don’t know enough people; the people they know don’t have any money; they aren’t any good at fundraising; and it makes them uncomfortable. I’ve heard people say they’d rather do ANYTHING other than fundraise.

If you fall into this camp, I want to encourage you to see Komen’s More Than Pink Walk fundraiser as a GROWTH opportunity. Taking steps to do something that you know is inherently good but makes you uncomfortable (i.e. taking risks) helps you:

• Develop confidence - which benefits areas of your life outside of the activity. 
• Overcome the fear of, as well as redefine the definition of, failure - you learn the worst thing that will happen isn’t really anything at all (and how bad is that?).
• Discover unforeseen opportunities - the opportunities available for additional support (e.g. company matches, long-term sponsor) rarely come out of the blue, but when asked, people enjoy the opportunity to support.
• Fosters creativity - learning how to structure an ask so that you’re comfortable with it can lead to incredibly creative endeavors.

I will not say I enjoy raising money, but it’s something I have confidence doing. Here are a few things I find effective when soliciting support.

I explain my relationship to the subject. 

I have had the great privilege of being on the coaching staff of Pink Phoenix, the first all-breast cancer dragon boat team in the US, for the past 13 years.

I answer the “why I am asking” question and give an overview of what the fundraising will do.

We haven’t been able to race this season, and the need for community resources and investment in research have not diminished in this time of COVID-19. So the team has committed to supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s fundraiser, More Than Pink Walk. Their goal is to reduce breast cancer deaths by 50% by 2026.  We want to help them reach that goal.

I state my fundraising goal and ask them to contribute.

I set a goal of raising $250. I am very grateful if you are able to make a donation to support my effort. Every contribution amount helps.

You are not asking someone to pay your cell phone bill or buy your groceries - you are asking them to support an organization that you support. People are going to contribute because they want to support you. They’ve probably seen ads in newspapers or billboards, but they are going to donate to you because YOU asked them.

Realize that not everyone you ask will give, so you need to cast a wide net. I sent my Facebook “invitation to donate” to 219 people. 19 people initially contributed. Then I made another post and, at the time of this writing, an additional 2 people contributed. That’s a 10% response rate. 

Don’t expect someone in particular to donate, but enjoy the surprise of who does donate. I am ALWAYS surprised and delighted by who contributes to my fundraisers! And if I didn’t ask them, they wouldn’t have donated.

A couple of other thoughts.

• By starting with a modest goal, you can always adjust up. I started with a $250 goal. With one ask I raised more than $750, so I decided to put in a little more effort and stretch the goal to $1,000. But maybe a challenge is what gets you going, so starting big keeps your fire lit. Do whatever is comfortable for you. 
• In fundraising the word “small” is not positive. Keep language neutral to positive. Every contribution amount helps.
• Fundraisers can involve your talents in exchange for a contribution. As a thank you for your contribution, I will send you one of my personalized Chinese calligraphy notecards. 
• Utilize Instant Messenger. This enables you to personalize your ask to your Facebook connections and include a donation link. The one-on-one ask is very effective.
• Write an email. If you or your circle of friends, family and acquaintances are not active on Facebook, write an email and include a link for them to make an online donation. 
• Thank people as soon as possible and make it genuine. If you’re using Facebook, you can thank them on their wall or your page, as well as on a post to your Susan G. Komen fundraising page.

Remember that no one is going to think less of you for asking. Ask yourself, what’s the worst thing that could happen by asking? The answer is, Absolutely nothing. They don’t contribute, so you’re in the same situation as if you didn’t ask. But what CAN happen if you ask? A whole lot of good.

---

Week 10 - Looks Like Week 7 -  Pinks Stay Strong Workout With Coach Oden 

Link to Written Workout 

---

Coach Oden’s Corner:

So, anybody that knows me, knows that I lift weights. I’m comfortable moving things around and throwing them down… that’s my world. In the past three months I’ve reevaluated what my body needs and what equipment I have on hand.

What I have discovered, is that I have more things to work with at home than I realized. While virtually training with clients, I’ve found things to use that weren’t necessarily equipment before… milk jugs, cans, wine bottles… all the things. But it left me yearning for heavy equipment. In turn, I became a little stressed. So, what did my body need to help it de-stress? If I wasn’t lifting weights, how was I going to make that happen?

With a little nudge I began to do yoga occasionally. Maybe a little stretching, meditation, walks. Moving at a slower pace. My occasional yoga has now turned into a 30-day challenge, which I just completed day 21 of. Don’t get me wrong… I miss my heavy weights. But I also know that there will be a time for that again. My body has truly appreciated the time that I’ve spent getting in touch with what it needs.

I guess what I’m trying to say is “don’t be afraid to try new things to let your body tell you what it needs”. We all are desperately missing the water, but it’s only for a season. We will be back. But in the meantime, let yourself incorporate new things. Try new things. Be open to new things. Who knows, my next job might be a yoga instructor, (haha).

With that, I’m leaving you with a workout to try today rather than filming another. Give it a shot, see if that’s what your body needs today. You can always repeat a past workout or find something anew.

Today’s Workout:

10

min. Best Yoga Practice

-         

Coach Oden

---

10 things you probably didn't know about the Dragon Boat Festival

There’s more to it than just dragon boat racing

From By Time Out Hong Kong Posted: Tuesday June 4 2019

The annual Dragon Boat Festival is upon us, which means that we’re gearing up our stomachs for a healthy amount of zhong (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, a traditional holiday delicacy) and praying that the typhoon season will have mercy on the exciting dragon boat races and rowdy festivities. While many of us celebrate the holiday year after year, there are many little known details and stories about the festival and how it came to be. Here are 10 fun facts that might surprise you about the Dragon Boat Festival. By Mabel Lui and Kaitlyn Lai

The date doesn’t actually change every year
While the Dragon Boat Festival falls on a different date every year on the Gregorian calendar, the holiday actually occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month every year on the Chinese Lunar New Year calendar. Due to numerous legends and the date’s concurrence with the annual flood period and midsummer, a time when insects and bacteria tend to spread quickly, people considered this day to be a time of misfortune and adopted several customs to ward off bad luck and pray for good fortune.

The sticky rice dumpling didn’t originate with the Dragon Boat Festival
This might come as a shock to you but the true origin of the sticky rice dumpling did not derive from Qu Yuan’s death. The dumplings were originally called jiao shu (jiao = horn, shu = grains, polished rice). In the agricultural society of ancient China, rice placed in cattle horns were used as sacrifice. As time progressed, leaves shaped as horns later replaced the horns for economical reasons.

Kong population!

Qu Yuan is not the only person remembered on this day
Despite the popular legend of Qu Yuan, communities around China pay tribute to different people during the Dragon Boat Festival. In present Guizhou province and South China, the festival commemorates Wu Zixu, a loyal advisor to the king; Yan Hongwo in Yunnan province is celebrated among the Dai community during the same day.

The festival is listed in the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity after a minor international incident

Prior to South Korea nominating the Gangneung Danoje Festival (the Korean equivalent to China’s Dragon Boat Festival) as an intangible cultural heritage property to Unesco's list, the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival was not formally under Unesco’s protection. South Korea’s move to nominate their own festival sparked an uproar amongst the Chinese, who argued that their intangible heritage was stolen by the Koreans. Eventually, China nominated the Dragon Boat Festival to be added to the Unesco list and managed to avoid any major international incident.

 People wear a fragrant sachet to ward off evil
Traditionally, people have worn fragrant sachets to ward off evil on this unfortunate day. Filled with aromatic herbs, these colourful ornaments often feature intricate embroidery to welcome good fortune and a long and healthy life. Outside of the Dragon Boat Festival, these sachets are often used to attract better income.  So keep 'em handy all year round. 

Whats up with all the dragons ?

In Chinese mythology, having control of the dragons gives you the power to control rivers and rainfall, one especially handy at the height of summer. Carving dragon heads onto the front of boats is a way to appease the river dragons and to prevent droughts while promising good rainfall for the rice harvest.

Some form of drinking is always involved

Sure the dragon boat races, especially the revelry that takes place in Stanley Main Beach, feature plenty of beer-drinking action. But alcohol consumption is very much a traditional custom that is practised during the holiday. When the festival rolls around, people break out the realgar wine, a Chinese cereal wine mixed with powdered realgar (an arsenic sulfide mineral). The concoction is believed to be an effective antidote against mosquitoes, poison, disease and evil spirits, so take this as an opportunity to drink up!



Dragon boat racing has taken over the world

The only sport celebrated with a public holiday in Hong Kong, dragon boat racing is now an internationally recognized sport. Today, it is practiced in more than 50 countries, with an estimated 50 million active dragon boat paddlers in the world – that’s more than five times the entire Hong Kong population!

If you think you've tried every variation of the zhong, think again

There are more than 20 variations of sticky rice dumplings in China alone. While you would have to do some travelling to sample all of them, there are plenty of varieties to try in Hong Kong. You can go for ones with sweet fillings like red bean paste, date and melon, or dumplings with savoury fillings like salted egg, roast pork and dried shrimp. Some offer flavours with a modern twist like truffle sauce, crab meat and even sweet potato for those looking for a healthier alternative. There’s literally something for everyone’s taste buds

You can buy zhong in most dim sum restaurants

Zhong can be found at many dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, but you can also sample them at local congee shops around town. If you’re looking to splurge a bit and try something different, InterContinental Hong Kong’s Yan Toh Heen offers an organic apple and black glutinous rice dumping ($218), while Chinese restaurant Tsui Hang Village offers two vegetarian options – dried morel mushroom and multigrain, as well as a golden kumquat zhong ($338).

Read More

Week Ten - Summer in the City

Summertime is always the best of what might be .... Charles Bowden

---

Fundraising

by Coach Anita

Some common refrains I hear from people about direct fundraising efforts - asking people to contribute money to a cause - is they don’t know enough people; the people they know don’t have any money; they aren’t any good at fundraising; and it makes them uncomfortable. I’ve heard people say they’d rather do ANYTHING other than fundraise.

If you fall into this camp, I want to encourage you to see Komen’s More Than Pink Walk fundraiser as a GROWTH opportunity. Taking steps to do something that you know is inherently good but makes you uncomfortable (i.e. taking risks) helps you:

• Develop confidence - which benefits areas of your life outside of the activity. 
• Overcome the fear of, as well as redefine the definition of, failure - you learn the worst thing that will happen isn’t really anything at all (and how bad is that?).
• Discover unforeseen opportunities - the opportunities available for additional support (e.g. company matches, long-term sponsor) rarely come out of the blue, but when asked, people enjoy the opportunity to support.
• Fosters creativity - learning how to structure an ask so that you’re comfortable with it can lead to incredibly creative endeavors.

I will not say I enjoy raising money, but it’s something I have confidence doing. Here are a few things I find effective when soliciting support.

I explain my relationship to the subject. 

I have had the great privilege of being on the coaching staff of Pink Phoenix, the first all-breast cancer dragon boat team in the US, for the past 13 years.

I answer the “why I am asking” question and give an overview of what the fundraising will do.

We haven’t been able to race this season, and the need for community resources and investment in research have not diminished in this time of COVID-19. So the team has committed to supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s fundraiser, More Than Pink Walk. Their goal is to reduce breast cancer deaths by 50% by 2026.  We want to help them reach that goal.

I state my fundraising goal and ask them to contribute.

I set a goal of raising $250. I am very grateful if you are able to make a donation to support my effort. Every contribution amount helps.

You are not asking someone to pay your cell phone bill or buy your groceries - you are asking them to support an organization that you support. People are going to contribute because they want to support you. They’ve probably seen ads in newspapers or billboards, but they are going to donate to you because YOU asked them.

Realize that not everyone you ask will give, so you need to cast a wide net. I sent my Facebook “invitation to donate” to 219 people. 19 people initially contributed. Then I made another post and, at the time of this writing, an additional 2 people contributed. That’s a 10% response rate. 

Don’t expect someone in particular to donate, but enjoy the surprise of who does donate. I am ALWAYS surprised and delighted by who contributes to my fundraisers! And if I didn’t ask them, they wouldn’t have donated.

A couple of other thoughts.

• By starting with a modest goal, you can always adjust up. I started with a $250 goal. With one ask I raised more than $750, so I decided to put in a little more effort and stretch the goal to $1,000. But maybe a challenge is what gets you going, so starting big keeps your fire lit. Do whatever is comfortable for you. 
• In fundraising the word “small” is not positive. Keep language neutral to positive. Every contribution amount helps.
• Fundraisers can involve your talents in exchange for a contribution. As a thank you for your contribution, I will send you one of my personalized Chinese calligraphy notecards. 
• Utilize Instant Messenger. This enables you to personalize your ask to your Facebook connections and include a donation link. The one-on-one ask is very effective.
• Write an email. If you or your circle of friends, family and acquaintances are not active on Facebook, write an email and include a link for them to make an online donation. 
• Thank people as soon as possible and make it genuine. If you’re using Facebook, you can thank them on their wall or your page, as well as on a post to your Susan G. Komen fundraising page.

Remember that no one is going to think less of you for asking. Ask yourself, what’s the worst thing that could happen by asking? The answer is, Absolutely nothing. They don’t contribute, so you’re in the same situation as if you didn’t ask. But what CAN happen if you ask? A whole lot of good.

---

Week 10 - Looks Like Week 7 -  Pinks Stay Strong Workout With Coach Oden 

Link to Written Workout 

---

Coach Oden’s Corner:

So, anybody that knows me, knows that I lift weights. I’m comfortable moving things around and throwing them down… that’s my world. In the past three months I’ve reevaluated what my body needs and what equipment I have on hand.

What I have discovered, is that I have more things to work with at home than I realized. While virtually training with clients, I’ve found things to use that weren’t necessarily equipment before… milk jugs, cans, wine bottles… all the things. But it left me yearning for heavy equipment. In turn, I became a little stressed. So, what did my body need to help it de-stress? If I wasn’t lifting weights, how was I going to make that happen?

With a little nudge I began to do yoga occasionally. Maybe a little stretching, meditation, walks. Moving at a slower pace. My occasional yoga has now turned into a 30-day challenge, which I just completed day 21 of. Don’t get me wrong… I miss my heavy weights. But I also know that there will be a time for that again. My body has truly appreciated the time that I’ve spent getting in touch with what it needs.

I guess what I’m trying to say is “don’t be afraid to try new things to let your body tell you what it needs”. We all are desperately missing the water, but it’s only for a season. We will be back. But in the meantime, let yourself incorporate new things. Try new things. Be open to new things. Who knows, my next job might be a yoga instructor, (haha).

With that, I’m leaving you with a workout to try today rather than filming another. Give it a shot, see if that’s what your body needs today. You can always repeat a past workout or find something anew.

Today’s Workout:

10

min. Best Yoga Practice

-         

Coach Oden

---

10 things you probably didn't know about the Dragon Boat Festival

There’s more to it than just dragon boat racing

From By Time Out Hong Kong Posted: Tuesday June 4 2019

The annual Dragon Boat Festival is upon us, which means that we’re gearing up our stomachs for a healthy amount of zhong (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, a traditional holiday delicacy) and praying that the typhoon season will have mercy on the exciting dragon boat races and rowdy festivities. While many of us celebrate the holiday year after year, there are many little known details and stories about the festival and how it came to be. Here are 10 fun facts that might surprise you about the Dragon Boat Festival. By Mabel Lui and Kaitlyn Lai

The date doesn’t actually change every year
While the Dragon Boat Festival falls on a different date every year on the Gregorian calendar, the holiday actually occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month every year on the Chinese Lunar New Year calendar. Due to numerous legends and the date’s concurrence with the annual flood period and midsummer, a time when insects and bacteria tend to spread quickly, people considered this day to be a time of misfortune and adopted several customs to ward off bad luck and pray for good fortune.

The sticky rice dumpling didn’t originate with the Dragon Boat Festival
This might come as a shock to you but the true origin of the sticky rice dumpling did not derive from Qu Yuan’s death. The dumplings were originally called jiao shu (jiao = horn, shu = grains, polished rice). In the agricultural society of ancient China, rice placed in cattle horns were used as sacrifice. As time progressed, leaves shaped as horns later replaced the horns for economical reasons.

Kong population!

Qu Yuan is not the only person remembered on this day
Despite the popular legend of Qu Yuan, communities around China pay tribute to different people during the Dragon Boat Festival. In present Guizhou province and South China, the festival commemorates Wu Zixu, a loyal advisor to the king; Yan Hongwo in Yunnan province is celebrated among the Dai community during the same day.

The festival is listed in the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity after a minor international incident

Prior to South Korea nominating the Gangneung Danoje Festival (the Korean equivalent to China’s Dragon Boat Festival) as an intangible cultural heritage property to Unesco's list, the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival was not formally under Unesco’s protection. South Korea’s move to nominate their own festival sparked an uproar amongst the Chinese, who argued that their intangible heritage was stolen by the Koreans. Eventually, China nominated the Dragon Boat Festival to be added to the Unesco list and managed to avoid any major international incident.

 People wear a fragrant sachet to ward off evil
Traditionally, people have worn fragrant sachets to ward off evil on this unfortunate day. Filled with aromatic herbs, these colourful ornaments often feature intricate embroidery to welcome good fortune and a long and healthy life. Outside of the Dragon Boat Festival, these sachets are often used to attract better income.  So keep 'em handy all year round. 

Whats up with all the dragons ?

In Chinese mythology, having control of the dragons gives you the power to control rivers and rainfall, one especially handy at the height of summer. Carving dragon heads onto the front of boats is a way to appease the river dragons and to prevent droughts while promising good rainfall for the rice harvest.

Some form of drinking is always involved

Sure the dragon boat races, especially the revelry that takes place in Stanley Main Beach, feature plenty of beer-drinking action. But alcohol consumption is very much a traditional custom that is practised during the holiday. When the festival rolls around, people break out the realgar wine, a Chinese cereal wine mixed with powdered realgar (an arsenic sulfide mineral). The concoction is believed to be an effective antidote against mosquitoes, poison, disease and evil spirits, so take this as an opportunity to drink up!



Dragon boat racing has taken over the world

The only sport celebrated with a public holiday in Hong Kong, dragon boat racing is now an internationally recognized sport. Today, it is practiced in more than 50 countries, with an estimated 50 million active dragon boat paddlers in the world – that’s more than five times the entire Hong Kong population!

If you think you've tried every variation of the zhong, think again

There are more than 20 variations of sticky rice dumplings in China alone. While you would have to do some travelling to sample all of them, there are plenty of varieties to try in Hong Kong. You can go for ones with sweet fillings like red bean paste, date and melon, or dumplings with savoury fillings like salted egg, roast pork and dried shrimp. Some offer flavours with a modern twist like truffle sauce, crab meat and even sweet potato for those looking for a healthier alternative. There’s literally something for everyone’s taste buds

You can buy zhong in most dim sum restaurants

Zhong can be found at many dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, but you can also sample them at local congee shops around town. If you’re looking to splurge a bit and try something different, InterContinental Hong Kong’s Yan Toh Heen offers an organic apple and black glutinous rice dumping ($218), while Chinese restaurant Tsui Hang Village offers two vegetarian options – dried morel mushroom and multigrain, as well as a golden kumquat zhong ($338).

Read More