People + Coupons = Groupon!

High on everyone's list these days is saving money, so the fact that one of my favorite email lists exists is probably not surprising, but still fantastic: the Groupon.

What in the world, you might ask, is a Groupon? Shortest explanation: a group coupon!

It was started in Chicago in November 2008, and has since spread to Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with groups launching soon in Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Dallas, Denver and Houston. Basically, Groupon collects email addresses of people in a metro area where they'd like to get a group going, then once they hit whatever their magic number is, they start soliciting merchants.

The merchants who agree to offer Groupons are guaranteed a certain number of customers who will purchase their offer - a number I believe they set at however many customers they would need to make the offer profitable for them - and one offer is sent out to each city's list every morning. They range from deep discounts at local bars and restaurants to half off (or more!) a scuba lesson, yoga class or salon treatment.

Everyone who wants to buy the day's Groupon does so online, although no one's card is charged until the merchant's "magic number" of participants is reached - a countdown to which is always visible on the site. Once enough Groupons have been bought, it's a done deal and the following morning, you can print your Groupon and head off for some cost-effective fun. (Each Groupon has an expiration date set by the merchant, but most are at least a month after the purchase date, so you don't have to rush to use it.)

Since the first Washington Groupon on May 26th, I've bought two of them - a $30 5-class card for Mind-BodyFitness (worth $75), the Pilates studio I told you about in last week's Food for Thought, and a $25 offer for $50 worth of supplies and time at Color Me Mine, one of those "pick something ceramic and get creative with paint" places.

I've been tempted by a few more - half off a scuba lesson, half off kayak and canoe rentals, a discounted all-day paintball session - but my practical, frugal side kicks in most of the time and says "Really? When (and where?!) are you going to scuba in the near future? You've never been paint-balling and it's out in the middle of nowhere; would you actually go, Miss I-Live-In-Metro-Mecca-DC-So-I-Refuse-to-Buy-a-Car?" Still, it's great to be able to (occasionally!) splurge on things I really want to do, knowing that I'm getting a fantastic deal.

If you live near one of Groupon's current or future cities, I highly recommend signing up and taking advantage of their amazing discounts. It's a great way to get out, try new things and make the most of what your area has to offer!

Food for Thought

Since I don't always have time to write a full blog post, a sad fact that results in far fewer posts than I'd like, I'm beginning a new type of post today called "Food for Thought." Basically, it'll be a few quick blips about things that are on my mind and might be on yours, usually written while I grab a bite to eat between items on my schedule (hence the title). So, here goes!

• A friend of mine introduced me to charity: water this morning (thanks, P.!) and as she put it, "I want to give them all my money!" This is the second charity whose website has made me cry this year (yes, literally - the first being The Girl Effect) and served as a reminder of why I wanted to go into non-profit/NGO work in the first place.
• I'm still loving my TIME Magazine subscription, and read three good articles on this morning's commute: "Moon Walkers," the cover story about the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and a look back at the history of the space program's Apollo missions (the print edition also has nice photos and mini-bios of the Apollo astronauts); "What Price Journalism? What Would You Pay?" that talks about how nothing in journalism is free, including the freebies, and is a different take on the "print journalism is struggling/dying" issue; and "The CIA Is Keeping Secrets. Hello?" written by Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer. The last one is particularly interesting (and the title made me laugh), since it gives a former insider's perspective on CIA secrecy, and makes some great points about hypocrisy in government for appearances' sake, as well as the impracticality of too many checks and balances.
• Have you seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince or (500) Days of Summer yet? I want to see both despite the fact that I know the latter will make me cry, and have heard mostly-great reviews so far. And just finished a re-read of Harry Potter VI in preparation for the film! I only have that one in French though, so I may (as usual) be a bit confused...
• New on my list of favorite places in Washington!: Mind-BodyFitness, a Pilates studio near the Convention Center. They offer both mat and reformer workouts, and both seem to be more affordably priced than most yoga and Pilates studios in the area. Mat workout classes start at $18 for a walk-in and drop down to a little more than $12 each with a 15-class card for $185 - or a $300 pass for unlimited classes for three months. It's been awhile since I've done Pilates seriously (plus, I don't want to be so sore that it affects my running), so I'm sticking with the intro class for now, and after two classes - third one tonight! - I love it. Chris is the intro instructor and is great: I could easily do the entire class with my eyes closed, his descriptions of what you should be doing and how are so good. And the switch from the Pilates Method I learned in college to the BASI Pilates the studio uses has been easy.

That's what's on my mind today! What's on yours?

Meditation in Motion

Ever since I started doing pilates a few years ago, I've been telling myself I should try yoga, because finding that centered calm that's supposed to come with it would probably be really good for me. (I've only tried meditation once, and given that I was 16 at the time and at the height of teenage angst, you probably don't need me to tell you that it didn't go very well.) But when I even think about actually trying to meditate, or holding a yoga pose for an extended period of time, I get antsy, and start to think about all of the productive things I could do instead, which makes relaxation all but impossible.

Exercise has been my way of clearing my mind since my freshman year of college. It warms my muscles, and post-workout stretching gets out the kinks. It gives me a chance to let my mind wander while still doing something I think of as productive, and I almost always end a workout feeling energized, relaxed and happy. When running, my "zone" is usually when I stop thinking about running and just do it, my body involved in the physical aspects of the exercise and my brain off on some other tangent. But in the last seven or eight months, that's started to change.

I was running one morning last summer - I think it was a 16 or 18-miler - and about halfway through, my vision changed. I was focused on the road, but it was slightly blurred around the edges, and it felt as though my visual as well as my mental focus was suddenly much more internal than external. My initial reaction was, "Okay, this is weird..." but I gradually realized that it felt good. I was more tuned in to my body than usual, and felt no compulsion to think about anything - I was running, and focusing on the feeling of each stride was enough.

I've started clicking into this zone more and more often since then, and have come to really enjoy feeling that sudden shift in my vision. It's accompanied by a mentality of "Enough messing around, let's get down to work and run, kid!" My stride lengthens, my muscles seem to stretch further and I'm flooded with a feeling of heady strength that has me bearing down and picking up speed without even thinking about it. The giddy glee of a runner's high bounces around in my blood, but it's coated with a layer of calm that tamps it down and directs all of my energy into that steady focus that pushes me further, faster.

I call it my "runner's zen," since it seems to be just that - a sort of active calm, almost a meditative state, from what little I know of them, but one that directs relaxation into power of movement. It's not something I can trigger at will yet, but I'm able to hold onto it a little longer each time it happens - yesterday, it lasted for the final two miles of my 8-miler, and felt absolutely amazing. Until then I'd just been jogging along - feeling good, but taking my time - when all of a sudden, almost exactly as I hit mile six, my visual and mental focus turned inward, my stride stretched out and my pace picked up.

It's a great feeling, and is as close as I've ever felt to flying. That centered focus is an intense and powerful tool, and one I hope I can learn to use and control as I continue my training. But for the moment, I'm happy just to revel in my runner's zen every time I manage to slip into it - I may not be much for sitting still long enough to meditate, but if I can meditate on the go, this seems like a great way to do it!