“Slow Progress is Better Than NO Progress”

lifestyle.livemint.com

So says Lynn, my wonderful massage therapist who saves my life once a month. I’m kind of in “assessment” mode this morning, looking back to gauge lifestyle changes.

• This is DAY 162 of my effort to make daily yoga practice a habit. I’m definitely one of the hard-heads on how long it takes to make something a habit. I looked it up and found, according to some estimates, that it takes from 18-245 days to make something a habit. Day 162 finds me consciously making myself practice each afternoon – still finding myself quietly trying to make excuses for ‘missing-a-day’ and then just slogging around getting my mat, pillows and just doing it. It HAS become a normal part of my day, and I AM seeing some differences.
• I’ve added some new poses to my practice: Cobra, Downward Dog, ‘Basket,’ Boat, the Plank, and some abdominal exercises thrown in. My practice is about 45 minutes now, but it varies. Sometimes I concentrate on exercise numbers – other times the relaxation and stretching.
• I am listening to my body more since I started doing the daily practice. I’m aware when my shoulders and neck are ‘hunched,’ and I’m able to concentrate and relax more. I tell myself, “relaxing jaw, relaxing face,” and I can FEEL my shoulders GIVE, when I wasn’t aware how tightly I was holding myself. I’m able to stretch a bit farther now, breathing into the poses, holding them longer or doing a few more repetitions.
• I’m still putting the gold or silver glittery stick-on stars on my desk calendar. I guess I’ll never outgrow that being a motivator for me, but the emphasis is changing in my actual practice. I’m doing it for ME.
• I started trying to do the plank pose at the end of October. The first time I tried it, I held it for a quick count of 10. I worked up to holding it for a quick count of 45, but many times I couldn’t do much the next day, having strained myself. I found an article that said for for a woman of my ‘mature years,’ it’s actually more effective if I do the pose multiple times, holding it for a short while each time. Yesterday I held it for a count of 20 seven times.
• Since it’s too cold to work outside most days now, I’m going to try to add two things: (THING ONE – a short time on my elliptical trainer in the garage. It’s cold, but I think I can do several minutes out there every other day. THING TWO – I’m going to start doing the seated exercises with weights from Mike at MoreLifeHealthSeniors.com again. I’ll alternate these with the elliptical.

Know Your Meme

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I’m definitely making some kind of progress. It’s definitely slow, but it’s steady, and I’ll drink to that. :0)