I celebrated my birthday on Tuesday in the Caribbean aboard The World.  It was a perfectly fabulous day as far as birthdays go. I woke up without the aid of an alarm, worked out, enjoyed a massage at the spa, had some fabulous lunch and read a book poolside as I sipped on a margarita.  The day was stellar on just about every level.

On the eve of my birthday it came to my attention that I’m a rule follower for the most part.  I always have been for whatever reason.  Probably because my older brother Wally was always NOT following the rules and creating all kinds of problems for everyone when we were growing up in Carlisle.  Even today, I’m usually the one following the rules, listening and doing as I’m told.

In what I can only describe as one of the best gifts I have ever received, I gave myself this.  Permission to not be such a stickler for rules any more.  Of course, I’m not talking about the big ones but rather some of the smaller things.  Basically I’ve decided to cut myself some slack and make my own rules and stop living by someone else’s rules.  You following me?

On Monday, I dove right into my new gift of ‘breaking some rules’ as I swam with the sting rays in the North Sound of Grand Cayman.  There isn’t any official rule stating you cannot swim with sting rays that I am aware of.  It is, however, advisable not to do such a stupid thing!  After all, they are wild animals.  I’ve been to Cayman twice before and wouldn’t even entertain the thought of jumping in the water.  This time around, I decided, “What the heck?”  But, only after Mark got in the shallow water and fed the sting rays himself.  I may have decided to break a few rules, but I didn’t say I’d also given up being smart about the timing of breaking them!

I tapped into my yoga breathing, tried to relax and just hang with the rays.  It was a fabulous experience.  Our guide, Paul, rounded up a ray for me and explained how to keep her in my arms. It worked!  I have included the photo to prove it.

These floating creatures are nothing more than graceful moving pieces of cartilage that feel a bit like a Portabello mushroom.  We even found some small babies in the mix as we indulged them with squid.  Which begged the question from the ever curious journalist in my brain, “If these are babies, how can we be sure they are tame enough to play this game with us?”  The answer – we weren’t sure and luckily we enjoyed the experience without ending up in the headlines.  Can’t you see it? New York City Tourist Killed By Ray – What A Dumb A** She Was!

Mission accomplished.  I broke a rule or maybe just decided to freaking live a little and stop being so concerned about all of the details.  I decided to be open minded and not attached to my preconceived ideas about the situation I was in at the moment.  There is a saying … have a mind that is open and attached to nothing.  Sounds easy enough, right?  It is not! Keep this in mind when you argue with your spouse, when you are trying to calm down a child and even attempting to listen to someone with different political views than yours.  My mind is already in a retreat mode just contemplating a discussion with a Sarah Palin!

As I start another year on this planet, I’m going to work on keeping an open mind and a couple of other things:

1.   Cut my self some slack.  Break some rules, discard the ones that no longer serve me, make my own and at times break those, too.

2.   Let go of ideas, things, people and situations that no longer serve me.

3.    Spend more time with my friends both old and new, especially those who allow me to be who I am and love me regardless of what I might say or do.  They know I am only sharing with them what I’d like to receive in return – a simplistic human connection.  Pure and simple.

4.    Be present.  Love more.  It really is the best way to live, isn’t it?

You can keep up with DJ’s adventures in the Big Apple by following her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook.  Find more atwww.djduckworthyoga.com/blog. DJ is a contributing writer for New York Family.  She lives in New York City with her three boys – Mark, Corbin and Leo – woof, woof!

Staying physically fit has always been a top priority for me. If you ask any of my friends, they will tell you that I’m either heading to a yoga or work out class of some flavor. Spending more than 10 years on television – first as a reporter and later as a spokesperson – added extra pressure to stay trim, too. And of course, you can’t rule out vanity! I want to look good.

However, there have been times when I wasn’t in the best shape. The freshman 15 showed up during the second semester of college. It’s hard to drink beer, eat pizza, study and stay trim. After I got married, a few more pounds made their way onto my frame. We were hop scotching all over the place, eating, drinking and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. When things finally slowed down, I found out I was pregnant. Hello, 40 pounds.

Fast forward seven years, I am looking pretty good physically if I do say so myself. It didn’t happen without a tremendous amount of discipline, hard work and some words of encouragement though. Actually, they were not words of encouragement. They were the words that every married woman NEVER wants to hear her husband say. It went something like this, “Honey, that’s not fat. That’s just a midlife pooch.” Lucky for him and more importantly my son, he is still alive and breathing.

It was all I needed to hear – coupled with the fact that my parents had both recently committed to starting a medically supervised weight loss program. My Father is a two-time heart attack survivor with diabetes. My Mom is in overall good health but needed to drop some weight. They made up there minds they were going to stick to the plan and started with fierce determination. I’ve included a photo of them from Christmas. I am so proud of them for their accomplishments.

My parents’ weight loss, along with my husbands poor choice of words, were all the encouragement I needed to start a serious workout plan. My three times a week yoga sessions were keeping me flexible and calm, but I needed to tone and tighten up my 1970s model body. I was on a mission. I stumbled across a video clip of Heidi Klum’s trainer, David Kirsch. I clicked on it, liked it and started doing some research. During this process ironically, I met David backstage at a fashion show at Lincoln Center in September. He and his adorable twin girls were taking part in the show that I was helping with. After introducing myself, I told him I wanted to start working out and liked his approach to training women, specifically. Shortly afterwards, I called and made an appointment with him at the Madison Square Club.

David is known for whipping Heidi Klum back into runway shape for a Victoria’s Secret show after giving birth. He has also worked with Anne Hathaway, Ellen Barkin, Linda Evangelista and Liv Tyler. While I will never be a supermodel or look like one, I decided it would be great to train like one. David’s approach is all about wellness, focusing on your diet and your workout. He helped me clean up my diet and his team of trainers kicked my butt into shape! I am lean, tone, slimmer and happier about my overall physical health thanks to David and his crew.

So you may be thinking, “That’s great D.J., but how can I work out like that”?

It’s really easy, actually, thanks to technology. David has an online workout/wellness plan called The Ultimate New York Body Plan. It is an online training plan you use at home. Once you sign up, you have to enter information based on your health, physical fitness level, eating habits and most importantly your goals. The work outs are designed for your body type and your fitness level.

Several of my girlfriends have agreed to start The Ultimate New York Body Plan compliments of David. Over the next several weeks, the girls will be doing the workouts, following David’s eating plans and incorporating his supplements into their daily routines. I’m looking forward to seeing their results, gathering feedback and keeping YOU informed on their transformations. This is not all about losing weight. It is about being fit, healthy and well in 2013.

Stay tuned for more on the results from my girlfriends as they get “Kirsched.” Thank you, David Kirsch. You are an inspiration to us all!

Keep up with D.J’s adventures in the Big Apple by following her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook. DJ is a contributing writer for New York Family magazine. She lives in Manhattan with her three boys, Mark, Corbin and Leo – woof, woof!

My trip to Canada with the boys is in the books.  It was a once in a lifetime excursion off the coast of Vancouver.

It was an amazing adventure that I would have never booked for myself.  Luckily, someone else planned it and we decided to join in on the fun.   That is usually not how I like to travel.  I prefer doing my own thing and not sticking to a strict travel schedule.  I like my itinerary to look something like this:

1.  depart at a comfortable time after 11 a.m.

2.  have some fun, relax, shop, eat, shop, explore, eat, shop, explore, eat and drink champagne.

3.  remind myself not to eat so much and get my eating-drinking-fluffy-fied self to the gym for some yoga

4.  depart after I’ve squeezed as much fun as possible out of my getaway

So the idea of flying from New York City to Vancouver and going on a bike ride in Stanley Park followed by a tour of a world famous aquarium did not ring my bell in the least.  After some discussion, I explained to Mark that he and Corbin could enjoy the action packed travel day while I chilled out horizontally at the spa in our hotel.  Life was good….until Corbin returned, stripped off his clothes and crawled into his bed with a fever.  Not a good start for our once in a lifetime Canadian eagle, bear, whale, seal and surfing excursion.

My lifelong friend Tori says you haven’t been on a real vacation until you’ve visited a local pharmacy.  When she first told me this, I thought she was crazy.  After traveling with a child, I have elevated Tori to the status of traveling genius for passing along this little nugget of wisdom. Our first vacation purchase was children’s Tylenol, Advil, Kaopectate and a thermometer at the nearby London Drug which was across the street from our hotel.

I took Corbin’s temperature.  39 degrees!  What?  He should be dead.  I quickly realized this was 39 degrees celsius and not Fahrenheit.  We crunched the numbers (The iPad did all the work. Although I had flashbacks of math classes in Carlisle, Arkansas where I was being taught this very lesson on conversions.  This would be the first time in my life I really needed that skill) and figured out he had a pretty high fever.  Lovely.  And then the diarrhea started.  Fabulous.

Poor kid.  This Once in a Lifetime bug stayed with him for the entire week.

Life teaches us lessons everyday…even on traveling days that you’ve anticipated for over a year! I was once again reminded to keep my expectations low and therefore not set myself up for disappointment when things don’t necessarily go as planned. However, I am sticking to my guns on leaving after 11 a.m. A morning person I am not!

We only missed one whale watching excursion.  Instead, we visited a Canadian doctor who told me we just need to ride out the illness.  Not the best of news when you’re little guy could use a quick fix for his stomach bug.

I’ll leave you with a few photos from the trip.