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Balls are really “in” these days. Fitness balls, exercise balls, balance balls, gym balls, Swiss balls, therapy balls, sports balls and yoga balls are just some of the names for this one fun piece of exercise equipment.

If variety is what keeps you moving, you’ve got to have one of these balls.

Some years ago I had a membership to a fitness club that boasted state of the art equipment. When I asked which one of the complicated machines would help me tone my abs, I was steered into the room with the exercise balls. They recommend the ball for a good ab workout, without added stress to the back.

I recently purchased an exercise ball from Walmart. For ten bucks I got the ball, a pump and an exercise chart. It’s a good way to tone the body and it’s a little more fun that most workouts I’ve tried. You can even use the ball as a chair while you work at your computer, as you need to maintain balance and muscles are being used while you work. It’s not recommended that you do that for long stretches of time though.

A word of warning: One of the first exercises on the chart that comes with a fitness ball, is the warm up exercise. It involves bouncing slowly on the ball and if for some reason common sense abandons you when I’m a Believer by Smash Mouth starts to play on your iPod and you find yourself bouncing and gyrating wildly, like a five year old, completely forgetting about your lower back problem, you will hurt. You will hurt every day and every night for a month and then you still may find yourself wondering if the pain will ever subside and cursing the wretched reminder that your body now has limitations. If you feel you may go down that road, then it would be worth procuring a copy of the Fat to Firm Fitness Ball Workout for Dummies and sticking to the program.

Amazon has a good deal on an exercise ball. For $14.12 you can get the ball, the pump, exercise chart and a DVD. If you need to do other shopping with Amazon, chances are your shipping will be free. You can click here to find out what size ball is right for you and there are anti burst varieties for those of you who don’t enjoy the adrenaline rush from feeling that at any moment you could be harshly deposited upon the floor.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve made a point of taking better care of myself, part of recovering from my past life and transitioning into my new life. Besides improving my diet and working on the weight loss side of things, I’ve also worked on putting time aside to pamper myself - mind, body and soul. A list has grown, the “JO” list. Things I like to keep on hand so that I never again return to a state of self neglect. I’m going to share some of the items from the list with you from time to time. Chances are you already enjoy some of them, but perhaps I’ll turn you onto something you didn’t know you couldn’t live without.

I’ve decided that fine, hand milled soaps are a “must have” and can really add to a sense of well being. I have, like a lot of people this winter, suffered with dry, itchy skin. No amount of moisturizing seems to have done the trick – until I spent a nice evening in a steamy bath with a bar of BC Spirit Soap. After the first session, I noticed a difference in my skin. It was softer and I slept through the night without waking up to the usual itchiness. I’ve been using it ever since and I can’t imagine going back to a commercial brand of soap.

This soap does not lather up in the same way commercial brands do, but it left me feeling much cleaner, softer and smelling good. Hand milled in Nelson, British Columbia, BC Spirit Soaps are made with olive oil, glacier water, pure essential oils, beeswax and lye. I asked Linda, the soapmaker, about the lye in the soap. Her reply was:

Fine hand milled soap has lye in it to set it. The lye over the 5 weeks of curing changes chemical composition so it is no longer harsh or caustic. Lye is in commercial soaps, usually listed as sodium hydroxide.

It is available in the following scents:

• rose
• geranium
• jasmine green tea
• rosewood
• peppermint
• lavender
• cedar
• pine
• lemongrass
• unscented

I use BC Spirit Soap daily and it has me feeling comfortable in my own skin. It’s going on my list as a necessary luxury. Go to BC Spirit Soap and order yourself a treat.