"Chanabana pushes me to walk and enjoy the outdoors"

Born in Toronto Canada. Living in Beit Shemesh, where I made Aliya to in 1992.

I raised my five children with my wonderful husband Gavriel for the most part in Beit Shemesh, after we spent 5 years on Shlichut, one year in Houston, TX and 4 years in Lancaster PA, where my husband was a Rabbi at Degel Israel Congregation. Living in Israel is a dream come true, one I had since age 11, when my Simon Family celebrated my big brother’s bar mitzva at the Kotel (Western Wall).

My main focus is my family, but I try to balance that with work and personal quality of life.

Fitness is more my thing than sports. As a teen, though, I participated in many sports: horseback riding, tennis, gymnastics, and swimming, but that waned away as I moved into adulthood and motherhood.

Now, I fit in fitness in between living life. I’ve gotten back to swimming about once a week, and I try walking 3 times a week. Not a pitch for Chanabana, I will say that the black Chanabana sports skirt I have doubles as a walking skirt and as a swim skirt when I need a quick bathing suit or beach skirt.

I love color, and the Chanabana sportswear motivates me to get dressed and go out to walk, the colors and styles are pretty as well as flattering.

Point in fact, today I went walking in a turquoise Chanabana skirt with fuschia multicolor trim, and some subconscious trigger attracted me to the most beautiful fuschia beauganvillia plant that was roaming along the trellis at the corner of my street. I was compelled by the beauty, and snipped a piece off from the common area (not in someone’s garden). It gave me joy having that bouquet. I placed it on my dining table in a crystal bud vase which was my mother’s on my dining table, and it continues to cheer me, especially on this Mother’s Day, when I long for my own mother who is gone now 36 years too long.

Back to Chanabana, yes, I love the fabrics, colors and styles, straight away out for a morning walk, and as I move on through a busy days, when I put on a Chanabana outfit, it pushes me to walk and enjoy the outdoors. I never had that before. Walking meant frumpy skirts that held me down, and random combinations of tops and skirts.  

For me, optimum health embodies body, mind and spirit, all of it in good measure.

How to get started when you’re not in the mood? If You want to get up and exercise, tell yourself it will be just 5 minutes. Get out there. The 5 becomes 50. Just like with my swimming, I say I’ll do a few laps, and once I’m in the water, the 4 laps becomes 30 or 40 laps.