Thursday, January 1

The journey continues...

It's been a few months since I have updated this blog. It isn't that I stopped doing DDP Yoga, I just went quiet and listened for a while, I guess. I am back, ready to blog, and today, January 1st, I had a sort of epiphany.

A couple of months ago, in my sleep, I did something to my wrist. I did something that hurt whenever I bent my hand down toward my wrist, and it hurt a lot. This made it really difficult to do almost all DDP Yoga moves that require your hands, like down dog, inverted table, broken table, broken airplane. At first, thinking the recovery would be just a couple of weeks, I was optimistic and fine. I modified, I made it work. But then it became apparent that this was not going to heal quickly and I got frustrated. My workouts suffered some, because I had to do what I could. I stepped up my walking, and can proudly say that I have been over 5000 steps, closer to 6000 and a couple of 10,000 days. 10,000 for me, is almost a miracle, because with the Achilles injury this past year, ongoing heel Spurs, and previous three years of plantar fasciitis, I was not able to walk more than 3000 steps. Thanks to the flexibility and continuous stretching of DDP Yoga, I have reversed most of that, and I also have gained a better understanding of the mechanics of my musculature-- what is connected to what and affects what. Knowing that has been a huge key!

So, back to today. I woke up, I was fine. I decided that it would be nice to get my workout done in the morning so that I didn't have to do it later. The minute I made that decision, I shut down. I felt it. I felt myself inside ship rival up and go NO. No explanation, it just was a resounding no. I sat for a while, willing it to go away. I finally went online and admitted to Mark Furniss, my accountability partner, that I was going to need a swift kick later. He said we would talk. I figured that would be enough. I put the thought of a workout aside and chatted with my soul sister, Willow Cartright, who overcomes HUGE physical setbacks to do her DDP Yoga every single day, and she quietly, without kicking me, got me to look at something other than self pity and get it in gear. She suggested Red Hot Core and Stand Up. hmmmm. maybe. She brought up Mexico, quietly saying that I needed to be careful so I wasn't injured for Mexico. I told her I would go try.

This is how I looked before my workout. Notice the half hearted smile... But I put on my new DDP Yoga gear, because I figured it might add to my determination.
During Red Hot Core, I got very introspective. I analyzed each pose as I moved into it, and before I finished, I realized how freaking proud of myself I am, and how strong I am. I may not be able to do a black crow yet, and my pushups might suck, but I own Red Hot Core. I figure I did about 90% of it Unmodified. Bang! 

Going into Stand Up, I felt a bit tired, but ready. Again, because of my mood I think, I got very introspective again, and really visualized myself as someone else might see me. My balance is so so SO much better. Right now, I'm in the middle of getting a tooth crowned. I had a huge metal filling removed and have had some balance issues that I think were caused by my body recovering from the removal of the metal. But today? Yea, today. The balance was there in spades. I held broken hood ornament for the entire time on both sides. I held my leg up for the 2 leg holds at the start for just about the entire time. I realized that when I started, NONE of this was possible. There was more, but I won't bore you with a play by play. About halfway through, I realized my heart rate was spiking a bunch, I was starting to feel weak, and decidedly hungry, so I stopped. I didn't quit, I made a conscious decision to listen to my body and I stopped. 

Here's me after the workout.
Strong, proud, oh, and shirtless. I got HOT! :)

What did I learn today? I learned that being a warrior isn't always easy and isn't necessarily fun. I learned that I know my body better now than probably ever before. I know my limits, and I know how far to stretch them before stopping, and I learned that I am a hell of a lot stronger than I was when I started this journey. I am proud of what I've accomplished, and I can't wait for the retreat in Mexico in October. Bring it.

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