Day 23: "Bend and Stretch

Reach for the stars. Here comes Jupiter. There goes Mars. Bend and Stretch. Reach for the sky. Stand on tip-toes, oh so high." How many people remember that? It's from the old kiddie show "Romper Room". For some reason after all these years that little ditty still resides in the depths of my brain, along with a healthy chunk of lyrics from "Kids Are People Too" from Wonderama, any number of songs from Sesame Street, the Preamble to the Constitution and the address for writing to the show Zoom. "Write Zoom! Z, double O, M! Box 350, Boston, Mass, 0-2-1-3-4. Send it to Zoom!" There is all this useless trivia cluttering up my mind. And of course, if I learn something new, it's not a piece of useless trivia that gets pushed out, it usually some other more useful piece of information. I always said if I could learn to use my powers for good instead of evil, I could cure cancer.

The Romper Room song bubbled up into my consciousness as I was in yoga tonight. I was really enjoying the stretching aspect of class tonight, last week I felt completely bunched up and hunched over. Everything was tight like it was ready to burst apart at any moment. And my mood was kind of the same way. I'm not sure if the mood was the result of the physical or the physical was the result of the mood. But I'm just happy that the mood is passing.

So I really concentrated on the stretch tonight and it felt good.

There was one other thing I realized during yoga tonight. Jody had us do a few balance poses tonight. Poses where we had to balance on one foot. These have never been my forte. I always blame my weak ankles. As I rushed to get into each pose, I would lose my balance and fall over as soon as I lifted my other foot off the floor. Finally, I just stopped for a moment. I slowed down and concentrated on my one foot on the floor. I imagined it rooted to the floor. I concentrated on making that as strong and stable as possible. Then I lifted the other foot almost unconsciously, as if I was trying to ignore the fact that I was only on one foot. And you know what? It worked. I was able to get into the pose and hold it. There was a little wiggling and balance adjustments, but there I was on one foot.

All I really had to do was slow down. I need to take the time to establish that one foot as my base and really focus on making it as strong as possible before I moved forward. And once I did that, the other foot was able to go where it was supposed to. Gee, you think that maybe there is a life lesson in there?

Living and working in the New York City area, everything is rush, rush, rush. I walk fast to get where I need to be. I even catch my reflection in windows from time to time and see myself leaning forward as I walk as if that will get me there quicker. At work I program as fast as my little fingers can type so I can get more programs finished. Then after work, I rush to the Port Authority to get on a bus and get home as quickly as possible so I can attend to the personal things I need to do. And I rush through those. I rush through my meals. I rush through my exercise. I rush through this blog. And as a result? My shoulders and neck are so tight they feel like they are going to snap sometimes. And I gained .7 pounds.

So I think I need to slow down. I need to take a minute and really concentrate on making that one foot a solid base and maybe along with the other foot, my life will be able to go where it needs to be. And maybe the weight will come off, but not while I'm in such a rush. As y'all keep reminding me, slow and steady wins the race and baby steps are needed.

Of course putting this little life lesson into practice will be the challenge.

On Wednesday, I'm missing my yoga class so I can get a massage. Like I said, my shoulders and neck are so tight I feel like my shoulders are hunched all the time. I carry my stress there and in the tops of my thighs. I'm going to have him concentrate on those areas while I focus on my breathing and just slow down. Hopefully it will help.

But I think the first step is to just remember to breathe. So tomorrow, I will get up and I will breathe. If I feel myself bunching up again, I will find a quiet place and just breathe.

Let's see if I can stick to that. Namaste.