I recently vowed to myself that coming up on forty meant it was time to reassess the state of my body and start some sort of exercise program. But since I have learned that drastic measures never last and that it takes 30 days to develop a habit I had to resort to something simple to start.
Yoga.
So I started today. Borrowing the yoga mat from my son's bedroom I plopped my butt in front of our tv for the morning yoga show that I discovered channel surfing a few days ago. Hey, it's free. I figure if I take it slow and not pressure myself I might gradually make some progress. The timing is perfect because the guys leave at the same time the show starts. Taking 30 minutes to an hour to do this is not going to put too much of a dent in my day as it typically takes me that much time to wake up and function. Maybe this will jump start it.
Call me crazy.
The deal is, I have noticed that spending most of my time in front of a computer has kind of atrophied my entire body in the shape of my chair. So I figure a little yoga will loosen the joints. It can't hurt.
So at 7:30 this morning I was attempting the lotus position. Operative word being, "attempting". Mind you, I have never been very flexible. Having a genuine fear that if I really forced that position I would get stuck that way and my guys would arrive home to discover the pretzel and have to pry me apart, I settled for just crossing my legs. Really my goal is just getting some good stretching in so that I don't feel so stiff all the time. So I watched the show, with my little purple mat, doing as many positions as I could. No pressure.
It's a start.
And I have to admit, with the last few weeks of stressful business transitions and endless election coverage, it was good to do something intentionally calming. I have found in stressful times extended prayer doesn't calm me. For me, truly "giving it over to god" often means just saying, "here". It is long drawn out prayer that actually makes me overwork a problem and so get more stressed out. Sure it is conversation with god, but prayer like that (for me)rarely involves listening. (Is there such a thing as a spiritual introvert?) When I find myself in a corporate prayer setting I am reminded that I am the one without the gift of intercession. In fact, once in a small group setting, after going around the circle, me being the last to pray, I offered the word, "ditto". Hey, god understood.
So, yoga is perfect. Because you spend so much time concentrating on your breathing, it puts you in a great zone for listening.
Put the cordless phone handset near you when you plop down in front of the TV. If you call, I'll come over and untangle you. I promise I won't tell. I may snicker, but I won't tell.
I need to get my ass to the gym in a major way. Good for you, starting a new thing.
You have to keep believing that it's helping. I pray that God will honor your desire to get rid of that chair shape!
oh - spiritual introvert. I like that. Good on ya for the yoga too.