Okay, so two things about mornings:
- I hate them. I choose sleep over just about anything - except getting fired - in the mornings... but!
- I found a way to use Jason Mraz songs for my phone alarm app and I now wake up to the joyous sounds of Jason's own struggle to wake up. He sounds way more accepting of mornings, but at least now - for the past 4 days - I have actually enjoyed waking up!
Which is great and all, when I'm setting my alarm to wake at my "usual" time. I wake up and I'm out the door in under 10 minutes! But when I want to get one Recover workout done in the mornings + one Restorative Yoga session in before bedtime... well, the morning routine ALWAYS loses.
PRO: I have managed to SET my alarm for 6:30am every morning before I go to bed. And I have managed to do my 15-minute restorative yoga session before bed for 4 out of 5 nights. The 5th night, I had a migraine.
CON: I end up entirely RE-setting my alarm around the 6am hour in my sleep -- out of habit. BAD habit!!!
My baby goal is to get one tiny workout in every day. I have almost accomplished that (darn migraine!)... so, starting this weekend (21 March), I hope to become more faithful to my future self: next week's baby step will be to do my restorative yoga every night, plus at least 4 morning workouts. These morning workouts are "easy" to do on the weekend, when I don't have to be at work at 8:30... I am soooo not a morning person. But If I can get at least 2 mornings in next week, I am calling it a "WIN!".
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Yoga!
Okay, so I already know that Yoga and Pilates are my best exercise bets, thanks to asthma & injuries. But I am so very tight and just plain incapable, after years without any kind of significant exercise, that I am unable to just jump right in. I have not exercised - or even walked for any length of time - since I herniated my C5-C6 disc in 2011. I am easing into this.
I explained 2 of the workouts in my program in my last post, so today I want to focus on Yoga. Because I took Monday & Tuesday off of the morning routine, I decided to at least get one "morning" exercise in this afternoon. Today's workout was Strength Recovery Yoga with Briohny Smyth (Bree-onnie Sm"eye"th). I was worried about the strength part. I had tried one of Briohny's regular yoga sessions a couple weeks ago & almost cried for 2 days. This was nothing like that! It was a short - 23min - workout where Briohny walked me through a Yoga routine. It allowed me to do exactly what my body would let me do, and it rocked!
Things I learned in this Yoga workout:
- My arms are strong enough to plank for approximately 10 seconds. Which is WAY longer than I have ever tried.
- I have a REALLY tough time in transitions, but once I learn the routine, I'm sure I'll be better :) and
- I am exceptionally good at the folds. I've never even thought of trying to fold my body into tight poses, but Briohny told me exactly where to put my limbs, where my weight should be balanced, and even when to breathe. I felt like a rock star when I could still place my right foot behind my left hip and bend my left leg over my right leg to place my left foot beside my right hip. AND TWIST my spine so that my hands were nearly facing backwards! It was CRAZY!!!
There are places in my body where I can already tell it's gonna hurt in the morning, but it will be a good hurt, yes! And Daily Burn arranges the workouts so that I am not focusing too much on any one part of my body 2 days in a row...
I'm hoping to post about my first experience with my new health coach, Beth, in the next few days. She sent me a survey to complete and a questionnaire to answer, so I just got those to her this afternoon. (This service is also included in Daily Burn for $28usd/month - less than the cost of a gym membership around here.)
PS: Sugar-free for 13 days! End of tomorrow = TWO WEEKS! Man! I am so very glad I did that cleanse!
Take care all,
xoxo
ss
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