I had an interesting conversation with my son yesterday before I went to my yoga class. My son sees auras. He also sees wings on people. For example he sees wings on me that are shaped like a dove. He saw wings on my mom that were like angel wings. My wings, as well as my aura are an orangey-pink when I am in a pretty good space. He says the aura and the wings are attached to the spirit. The colour will change according to illness or stress, etc. I do not see auras. I can see an energy line around people and things, but I do not see colour so this fascinates me. But what I found really interesting, is what he told me next. He said that after a yoga class, my wings are brighter and shiny, like sparkling shiny. He said, "Mom, yoga is good for your spirit as well as for your body." I just thought that was a neat observation I wanted to share.
I missed yoga class on Tuesday again because of the weather. But I did make it Friday. I was alone in the class with Kris because my partner in crime was not feeling well. So we got into a very interesting conversation about wings and animal totems which put us behind schedule so we went straight into stretches. I have found more muscles. This morning, muscles in my back and legs are complaining to me about having been woken up. On the one hand that's not the best feeling in the world, but on the other hand I know I am doing something necessary and healthy for my body. And it will pass. They will get strong like the other muscles in my body. From stretching we went to balance work. I am getting there. I need to practice balance every day, just standing on one foot is a challenge for me. But I am getting there. I do much better at balancing in the morning before I have done too much. Yesterday before yoga I had already been into town once to get my truck from the body shop and do grocery shopping. I had already put in my 5000 steps by the time I got to yoga. I wasn't feeling tired or sore, but perhaps for the purpose of balancing, my legs were a little fatigued by then. Then we followed up with vinyasa. I lost my balance on one of the poses. I think I just had my stance a little bit too wide. But I got back into it again. Savasana was wonderful as usual. I think I appreciate that time more than any of the rest. The stillness and quiet. My son is very hyperactive and has some issues stemming from a past with his biological family and so our household has a tendency often to be quite busy and noisy. That stillness is a sweet time.
That's all I have to share for this week.
Namaste.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
How to Make Your Yoga Teacher Excited
For those of you who weren't aware of it and were not able to read back, I posted a gadget that allows you to get my updates right in your email inbox. At least I hope you can. I haven't had anyone tell me yet that it didn't work. But I guess we'll find out today for sure. You can also google+ me if you are a google+ member. I'll get all this down sooner or later!!
Finally made it to a yoga class again. For those of you not in our area and who don't get my facebook updates, we had a really good little winter storm the first few days of the week and I couldn't get into town to have yoga on Tuesday, in fact, Kris cancelled all her classes at the beginning of the week. She gave me some instructions to do my own at home which I did. And I used my yoga ball!! I finally got it filled to the right size and it works wonderfully. It's the perfect height for sitting and I even used it for stability while practicing some of the poses that takes balance. I think I need to get a stand to keep it from rolling away between poses, though.
Anyway, back to class. My yoga partner and I are branching out a bit. We are at different places right now in our abilities and Kris is really doing an awesome job letting us progress at our own rates. She worked a little one on one with my exercise partner yesterday while I worked on some of the things I am working on. And she still managed to give me encouragement and feedback along the way. I love this uber-yoga class! Kris is doing a fantastic job modifying poses for each of our abilities!! I hope that it catches on and those in our area contact Kris about getting started in yoga, even if they think they can't. And I hope in other locations yoga teachers take the initiative to do the same thing.
We learned a few new poses too. I really stretched my back out well. At one point I felt a twinge as I got out of a pose and I was a little worried that today would be a painful day, but you know, other than being a little stiff when I got up this morning, there has been no problems. I think the twinge might have been a good one!! I know when I left yesterday I was feeling a little taller. The other thing of note yesterday was that Kris had us stand in a wide stance and bend at the waist, to see how far we could go. I know my partner in crime made it forward all the way to where she could put her hands flat on the floor. I could get my fingers flat on the floor but my arms are just a little bit too short to get the whole hand flat to the floor. Kris was really excited at how flexible we are. I am a wee bit frightened about what she has in mind for us next. LOL I guess on Tuesday I will find out. I can't remember what the pose is called that this ability to lean forward and put our hands on the floor is heading towards, but Kris said something about bending over until our head is on the floor. Seriously? Ok, well, I am all for working towards that.
So Kris may have been excited because of the possibilities for more poses. I was excited because it reminded me of how flexible I used to be. I recalled the days when I could do walkovers and backward walkovers, somersaults and such. That was of course 200- 250 lbs ago. I really think what is holding me back from being more flexible is the bulky tummy I have. But I am not going to get rid of that tummy until I get it moving. The thought of what I will be able to do once it's gone is a huge motivator to me. If I can do as much as I am doing now with my bulk, then just imagine what I will be able to do without it!!!
More evidence of how good yoga has been to me: No pain today. I do not remember the last time I sweated and stretched as much as I did yesterday and had NO PAIN the next day. None. A little stiffness first thing this morning, but that was all. I am heading out this morning to shop at Sam's Club with my son and before yoga that would have been unheard of after a day like yesterday. While I was doing yoga and for a while afterwards I had no acid reflux. It went away.
Still having some acid reflux. I started taking my vitamins again and the acid reflux was pretty bad last night. But I ate a little later, too and I think that is one of my problems. Tonight is pizza night. I am picking up a gluten free pizza for me but I am still expecting some reflux issues from the pizza. Tomorrow I will try to take the vitamins again and eat things that normally don't bother me and see if the vitamins are causing me problems. I need to get back in to Alt Med and see Randy again. I am not scheduled to see him for another month yet and if I can last that long I would like to. We'll see what happens.
That's all I have for now. Until next time, be safe, stay warm and dry and enjoy the beautiful spring weather when it is there. I love spring!!
Namaste.
Finally made it to a yoga class again. For those of you not in our area and who don't get my facebook updates, we had a really good little winter storm the first few days of the week and I couldn't get into town to have yoga on Tuesday, in fact, Kris cancelled all her classes at the beginning of the week. She gave me some instructions to do my own at home which I did. And I used my yoga ball!! I finally got it filled to the right size and it works wonderfully. It's the perfect height for sitting and I even used it for stability while practicing some of the poses that takes balance. I think I need to get a stand to keep it from rolling away between poses, though.
Anyway, back to class. My yoga partner and I are branching out a bit. We are at different places right now in our abilities and Kris is really doing an awesome job letting us progress at our own rates. She worked a little one on one with my exercise partner yesterday while I worked on some of the things I am working on. And she still managed to give me encouragement and feedback along the way. I love this uber-yoga class! Kris is doing a fantastic job modifying poses for each of our abilities!! I hope that it catches on and those in our area contact Kris about getting started in yoga, even if they think they can't. And I hope in other locations yoga teachers take the initiative to do the same thing.
We learned a few new poses too. I really stretched my back out well. At one point I felt a twinge as I got out of a pose and I was a little worried that today would be a painful day, but you know, other than being a little stiff when I got up this morning, there has been no problems. I think the twinge might have been a good one!! I know when I left yesterday I was feeling a little taller. The other thing of note yesterday was that Kris had us stand in a wide stance and bend at the waist, to see how far we could go. I know my partner in crime made it forward all the way to where she could put her hands flat on the floor. I could get my fingers flat on the floor but my arms are just a little bit too short to get the whole hand flat to the floor. Kris was really excited at how flexible we are. I am a wee bit frightened about what she has in mind for us next. LOL I guess on Tuesday I will find out. I can't remember what the pose is called that this ability to lean forward and put our hands on the floor is heading towards, but Kris said something about bending over until our head is on the floor. Seriously? Ok, well, I am all for working towards that.
So Kris may have been excited because of the possibilities for more poses. I was excited because it reminded me of how flexible I used to be. I recalled the days when I could do walkovers and backward walkovers, somersaults and such. That was of course 200- 250 lbs ago. I really think what is holding me back from being more flexible is the bulky tummy I have. But I am not going to get rid of that tummy until I get it moving. The thought of what I will be able to do once it's gone is a huge motivator to me. If I can do as much as I am doing now with my bulk, then just imagine what I will be able to do without it!!!
More evidence of how good yoga has been to me: No pain today. I do not remember the last time I sweated and stretched as much as I did yesterday and had NO PAIN the next day. None. A little stiffness first thing this morning, but that was all. I am heading out this morning to shop at Sam's Club with my son and before yoga that would have been unheard of after a day like yesterday. While I was doing yoga and for a while afterwards I had no acid reflux. It went away.
Still having some acid reflux. I started taking my vitamins again and the acid reflux was pretty bad last night. But I ate a little later, too and I think that is one of my problems. Tonight is pizza night. I am picking up a gluten free pizza for me but I am still expecting some reflux issues from the pizza. Tomorrow I will try to take the vitamins again and eat things that normally don't bother me and see if the vitamins are causing me problems. I need to get back in to Alt Med and see Randy again. I am not scheduled to see him for another month yet and if I can last that long I would like to. We'll see what happens.
That's all I have for now. Until next time, be safe, stay warm and dry and enjoy the beautiful spring weather when it is there. I love spring!!
Namaste.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Follow me!
Ok. You can now follow me and get my updates in your email. At the top of the right hand column is a box where you can enter your email address and Follow me by email. If you are a google+ member you can recommend me to your friends by clicking the google+ badge at the very top of the page. I hope that helps!!
Namaste!!
Namaste!!
Busy Busy Bee
Wow, I have been so busy the last few weeks. I can't believe how long it has been since I have been in here. I think it would be easiest to talk today about some observations about my program. I had a chance on March 22nd to weigh in again, and I lost 4 lbs in 10 days. Not too bad. I'll take it! People asked what I was doing and let's see... I was taking herbs and nutritionals to get rid of water retention and congestion in my body, watching my portion sizes, making sure I got my 5000 steps in a day, and doing yoga. I have not had an opportunity since then to get back in to weigh in.
I see some water retention returning and some coughing is returning this week. I have been off of all the herbs and nutritionals now for a little while. I started having a lot of issues with acid reflux. Enough that it was keeping me up at night. I did some research and found that horehound can cause excess stomach acid. And I have a hiatal hernia that I am sure has been irritated with all the coughing I was doing. Talking with Randy, I reduced it and cut it out completely. I tried to take the other things I was on, but still have the problem. So I am off of everything right now. I have changed my eating so I eat a very early evening meal and I rarely snack at night. It has helped. I have a problem about every third night or so. I have cut back even more on portion sizes also.
Kris gave me some poses in yoga that I can do that can help with acid reflux. It provides some relief, but still I have issues often enough that I am not yet comfortable starting back on any of my other pills. The last time I did I got acid reflux again really badly.
Other things I have observed that I think are directly related to the yoga are an increase in stamina, more calm and peace in my dealings with my teenager, and just in general a feeling of calm and acceptance of things I cannot change.
Last week I was on the go all the time. You must understand that I am used to being pretty sedentary. With the weight I carry, I tired out pretty easily if I did a lot, so I was doing baby steps, increasing my activity slowly but regularly. Last week was huge activity wise. My son had appointments in the city on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I had yoga on Tuesday, and on Thursday, my one day at home, I had laundry and housework to do. Saturday was a day we were on the run as a family as well. In the past I would have not been able to move by the end of a week like that. Well... I kept going. Yes, I was physically exhausted, but I wasn't experiencing the pain I used to when I was busy like that. At the end of each day, I hurt a lot, but by the next day I was not hurting, just tired. And I could push myself to go again. I know that the ability to keep going like that has come from the yoga. I also used to nap every single day, sometimes two or three times in a day, and sometimes for up to three hours at a time. The other day after a sleepless reflux night, I laid down for a nap, for the first time in ages. Yes, if I am in my recliner (fondly referred to as my sleeping chair) I will fall asleep sometimes. But even that is happening less often. I believe I am gaining the energy and the stamina from yoga.
I have a 16 year old son and though I do believe boys are easier than girls, he is still a teenager and he still is trying to exert his independence, sometimes in ways we don't think are appropriate. He has a tendency at times to want to start arguments. Since I have started working with Kris at Yoga One, I have been taking the bait less, letting him see for himself that his decisions may not be the best and just staying more calm and peaceful in general when it comes to dealing with my son. He is not getting away with any more than he ever did, but its handled in a much calmer way, and what I like to call the trickle effect is happening too. He is staying calmer as well.
After my mom passed away suddenly, I began to experience anxiety for the first time ever. Panic attacks became prevalent, because I didn't want to die suddenly as she did. I had managed with the help of another good friend who was prone to panic attacks, to lessen them a whole lot, but they are pretty much non existent now, and I have noticed that they have all but disappeared since I started yoga. I am a lot calmer and more centered every day, in every thing I do. Thanks to yoga. Thank you Kris! You're the best!!
I know there are people who would like to follow my blog. I am off now to look for the gadget to add so that you have a clickable link to "follow me". As soon as I have it installed on my blog I will let you all know how to follow me. Thanks so much for your interest.
Namaste.
I see some water retention returning and some coughing is returning this week. I have been off of all the herbs and nutritionals now for a little while. I started having a lot of issues with acid reflux. Enough that it was keeping me up at night. I did some research and found that horehound can cause excess stomach acid. And I have a hiatal hernia that I am sure has been irritated with all the coughing I was doing. Talking with Randy, I reduced it and cut it out completely. I tried to take the other things I was on, but still have the problem. So I am off of everything right now. I have changed my eating so I eat a very early evening meal and I rarely snack at night. It has helped. I have a problem about every third night or so. I have cut back even more on portion sizes also.
Kris gave me some poses in yoga that I can do that can help with acid reflux. It provides some relief, but still I have issues often enough that I am not yet comfortable starting back on any of my other pills. The last time I did I got acid reflux again really badly.
Other things I have observed that I think are directly related to the yoga are an increase in stamina, more calm and peace in my dealings with my teenager, and just in general a feeling of calm and acceptance of things I cannot change.
Last week I was on the go all the time. You must understand that I am used to being pretty sedentary. With the weight I carry, I tired out pretty easily if I did a lot, so I was doing baby steps, increasing my activity slowly but regularly. Last week was huge activity wise. My son had appointments in the city on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I had yoga on Tuesday, and on Thursday, my one day at home, I had laundry and housework to do. Saturday was a day we were on the run as a family as well. In the past I would have not been able to move by the end of a week like that. Well... I kept going. Yes, I was physically exhausted, but I wasn't experiencing the pain I used to when I was busy like that. At the end of each day, I hurt a lot, but by the next day I was not hurting, just tired. And I could push myself to go again. I know that the ability to keep going like that has come from the yoga. I also used to nap every single day, sometimes two or three times in a day, and sometimes for up to three hours at a time. The other day after a sleepless reflux night, I laid down for a nap, for the first time in ages. Yes, if I am in my recliner (fondly referred to as my sleeping chair) I will fall asleep sometimes. But even that is happening less often. I believe I am gaining the energy and the stamina from yoga.
I have a 16 year old son and though I do believe boys are easier than girls, he is still a teenager and he still is trying to exert his independence, sometimes in ways we don't think are appropriate. He has a tendency at times to want to start arguments. Since I have started working with Kris at Yoga One, I have been taking the bait less, letting him see for himself that his decisions may not be the best and just staying more calm and peaceful in general when it comes to dealing with my son. He is not getting away with any more than he ever did, but its handled in a much calmer way, and what I like to call the trickle effect is happening too. He is staying calmer as well.
After my mom passed away suddenly, I began to experience anxiety for the first time ever. Panic attacks became prevalent, because I didn't want to die suddenly as she did. I had managed with the help of another good friend who was prone to panic attacks, to lessen them a whole lot, but they are pretty much non existent now, and I have noticed that they have all but disappeared since I started yoga. I am a lot calmer and more centered every day, in every thing I do. Thanks to yoga. Thank you Kris! You're the best!!
I know there are people who would like to follow my blog. I am off now to look for the gadget to add so that you have a clickable link to "follow me". As soon as I have it installed on my blog I will let you all know how to follow me. Thanks so much for your interest.
Namaste.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Salute the Sun
Good morning. I am a little late in commenting about last week's activity and results but better late than never. On Tuesday in yoga I learned the sun salutation. Definitely a wonderful way to start the morning. I did start a few mornings in this past week with it. Gets the energy going and its just simply a feel good exercise. Kris gave me the most awesome compliment. She told me I do really well at keeping a straight back when bending for some of the poses. I think the key is to bend at the waist, not to try to bend at the shoulders and roll down to the position... Kris said its like leading down with your chest rather than your head. Both are really good tips I think for keeping a straight back. So bending at the waist, leading with the chest. :)
On Friday I missed yoga class. Our weather was turning. I went into town to pick up some things before class and I stopped in at Alt Med for some more burdock root blend and to step on the scale. Yahoo!! I lost 4 lbs in ten days!! I will take that loss. :) When I was done at Alt Med I thought it might be a good idea to call Kevin about the weather at home. He said we had already gotten more snow than we have all winter. He was at the bus stop waiting for the bus and it was an hour late. They had let the kids out early so Jesse should have been home at 2:45. Here it was at 4 and he still wasn't home. Add that to a feeling I had and I thought I better head home early. I called and left a message for Kris and let my friend Julie know also that I wouldn't be at yoga while Kevin started out to drive the bus route to look for the bus.
As I drove home the snow wasn't bad, until I turned onto South Rockerville Rd. Almost immediately the snow was much deeper and slushy. I switched to 4 wheel drive. I did pretty well navigating on the road. I took my time. I am used to ice and snow, coming from Saskatchewan and Alberta, but what I am not used to is ice and snow on windy mountain curves. I have lived here now for almost 7 years, but we haven't really gotten a lot of ice and snow in that time. And when it is icy, I just simply stay home or have Kevin drive me.
Anyway, I did very well until I got past the Black Hills Children's Home. I got up the next hill fine, but the hill after that one... at the top it curves and I went into a skid. I was only doing about 25 mph, but I probably put a little gas on to keep going up the hill. Anyway, I started to skid. Straight for the drop off ahead of me. I knew I had to steer the direction I wanted to go and I wanted to go around the curve. So I steered that direction, but I must have oversteered because I headed straight for the outcrop of rock on the other side of the road. I didn't want to steer the other way again, because I didn't want to end up oversteering and going into the drop off. I was picking up speed because now I was heading downhill again so I went with the skid and ended up kissing the outcrop of rock. My wheel caught on a rock and I started to tip over. That was a scary moment, but then the truck righted itself and I landed on my four wheels again. A very kind man who had been following in his car stopped and helped me get back onto the highway and pick up the air dam that fell off. He gave it a once over and we determined I could drive it home. I got home and the truck is pretty banged up. I lost the air dam, the grill and loosened a headlight and banged the bumper up pretty darn good. Kevin figures pretty much a whole new front end. I am fine. I was calm and cool and collected almost the entire time. But I am glad I didn't wait. An hour later it would have been that much worse on S. Rockerville Rd. But also the highway by that time was closed north of Keystone due to a semi truck jack-knifing and blocking the road. Sometimes it helps to trust the instincts. I did miss going to class, but I am sure Kris and Julie had a good time getting to know each other. At least the truck is still drivable until I get it into the body shop. I will be making calls to the insurance today.
On a happy note, it was a really good snowfall we had. Some much needed moisture in the snow, big white wet flakes and we ended up with about 6 inches. It didn't snow for the three days that was forecast, just the one, and we are still way behind normal for precipitation this year but it helped. Now we are warming up and expect temperatures into the 50's by the weekend. Yay!! Maybe we can finally get some spring. Can't wait to see the trees start to bud! I love spring. Its my favourite time of year.
Namaste.
On Friday I missed yoga class. Our weather was turning. I went into town to pick up some things before class and I stopped in at Alt Med for some more burdock root blend and to step on the scale. Yahoo!! I lost 4 lbs in ten days!! I will take that loss. :) When I was done at Alt Med I thought it might be a good idea to call Kevin about the weather at home. He said we had already gotten more snow than we have all winter. He was at the bus stop waiting for the bus and it was an hour late. They had let the kids out early so Jesse should have been home at 2:45. Here it was at 4 and he still wasn't home. Add that to a feeling I had and I thought I better head home early. I called and left a message for Kris and let my friend Julie know also that I wouldn't be at yoga while Kevin started out to drive the bus route to look for the bus.
As I drove home the snow wasn't bad, until I turned onto South Rockerville Rd. Almost immediately the snow was much deeper and slushy. I switched to 4 wheel drive. I did pretty well navigating on the road. I took my time. I am used to ice and snow, coming from Saskatchewan and Alberta, but what I am not used to is ice and snow on windy mountain curves. I have lived here now for almost 7 years, but we haven't really gotten a lot of ice and snow in that time. And when it is icy, I just simply stay home or have Kevin drive me.
Anyway, I did very well until I got past the Black Hills Children's Home. I got up the next hill fine, but the hill after that one... at the top it curves and I went into a skid. I was only doing about 25 mph, but I probably put a little gas on to keep going up the hill. Anyway, I started to skid. Straight for the drop off ahead of me. I knew I had to steer the direction I wanted to go and I wanted to go around the curve. So I steered that direction, but I must have oversteered because I headed straight for the outcrop of rock on the other side of the road. I didn't want to steer the other way again, because I didn't want to end up oversteering and going into the drop off. I was picking up speed because now I was heading downhill again so I went with the skid and ended up kissing the outcrop of rock. My wheel caught on a rock and I started to tip over. That was a scary moment, but then the truck righted itself and I landed on my four wheels again. A very kind man who had been following in his car stopped and helped me get back onto the highway and pick up the air dam that fell off. He gave it a once over and we determined I could drive it home. I got home and the truck is pretty banged up. I lost the air dam, the grill and loosened a headlight and banged the bumper up pretty darn good. Kevin figures pretty much a whole new front end. I am fine. I was calm and cool and collected almost the entire time. But I am glad I didn't wait. An hour later it would have been that much worse on S. Rockerville Rd. But also the highway by that time was closed north of Keystone due to a semi truck jack-knifing and blocking the road. Sometimes it helps to trust the instincts. I did miss going to class, but I am sure Kris and Julie had a good time getting to know each other. At least the truck is still drivable until I get it into the body shop. I will be making calls to the insurance today.
On a happy note, it was a really good snowfall we had. Some much needed moisture in the snow, big white wet flakes and we ended up with about 6 inches. It didn't snow for the three days that was forecast, just the one, and we are still way behind normal for precipitation this year but it helped. Now we are warming up and expect temperatures into the 50's by the weekend. Yay!! Maybe we can finally get some spring. Can't wait to see the trees start to bud! I love spring. Its my favourite time of year.
Namaste.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Update
On Tuesday I got to visit with Randy who affectionately called me "germ girl". Last week it was "slime girl" so I think that's an improvement. LOL!! I got taken off a couple of herbs and put back onto some of the basic vitamins-- B, C, D3, and a new herb-- horehound which is for coughing and phlegm removal. So I think that part is going to see some results soon. I know I have been using the bathroom a whole lot more the last few days, so my body is getting rid of something!! There is movement with all this coughing and congestion etc. that I have. I was in a constipated phase of my irritable bowel cycle and I still lost 1 lb. In two weeks, it isn't the loss I would like to see but at least it is in the right direction. I have to also consider the fact that I have been building muscle. That is noticeable in my yoga warrrior poses. I think my arms are stronger. It sure doesn't hurt as much to hold them strong, anyway. Randy doesn't think I will need to see him again now until the beginning of May. May 14th was the soonest I could get in with him in May at a time that works with my schedule. They are busy people over there at Alt Med. But I can tell you that they are busy for a reason. They are good at what they do.
As for yoga, due to family issues for Kris, this week was a bit different schedule. My friend Julie and I both met with Kris on Wed evening instead of Friday and my Tuesday class. We learned another vinyasa which I need to practice today at home. We also learned the beginning of the sun salutation. I really honestly did not think a person could work up a sweat just standing still, but I was wrong!! I really put in a workout on those poses. One thing I did learn is that evening classes aren't the best for me. I don't mind them occasionally, but we go to bed far too early in the evening for me to be getting blood flowing after supper. I felt great, until I started to stiffen up. I am not sure exactly which move we learned that found that new muscle in my back, but I think that muscle would have preferred to stay asleep!! It complained all day Thursday. I was full of energy Wednesday evening, though, until about two hours after my normal bedtime. The best part of that is that it should mean I was burning fat. :) That's the best thing!! So occasionally I don't mind that evening burn. It's all good!!
Namaste
As for yoga, due to family issues for Kris, this week was a bit different schedule. My friend Julie and I both met with Kris on Wed evening instead of Friday and my Tuesday class. We learned another vinyasa which I need to practice today at home. We also learned the beginning of the sun salutation. I really honestly did not think a person could work up a sweat just standing still, but I was wrong!! I really put in a workout on those poses. One thing I did learn is that evening classes aren't the best for me. I don't mind them occasionally, but we go to bed far too early in the evening for me to be getting blood flowing after supper. I felt great, until I started to stiffen up. I am not sure exactly which move we learned that found that new muscle in my back, but I think that muscle would have preferred to stay asleep!! It complained all day Thursday. I was full of energy Wednesday evening, though, until about two hours after my normal bedtime. The best part of that is that it should mean I was burning fat. :) That's the best thing!! So occasionally I don't mind that evening burn. It's all good!!
Namaste
Monday, March 11, 2013
Progress Report
As I sit here this morning adjusting to the time change and sipping my hot cinnamon and honey, I think its time to look at some of my progress over the last month.
I used to nap several times during the day and still sleep at night. Now the only times I grab a nap is if I have had a rough night the night before. I go through cycles where I have a few nights where I don't sleep well. Something I think I got from my mom. . I do still fall asleep when I am sitting in my recliner watching tv, especially in the evenings. but I don't consider those the same as naps where I actually crawl into bed. LOL I know as I get more healing in even those recliner naps will go away. I have never felt guilty about napping. I know that most healing takes place during sleep. The body uses sleep time to pull the toxins from the cells, then the awake time is the time to eliminate them from the body. But its nice to have some energy and be able to have more of a day because I am sleeping less.
If I was out once or twice a week running errands, etc. The following day I was totally useless, unable to move, no energy, etc. This past week, I went to yoga class and then ran errands on Tuesday and went to a party Tuesday night (UNHEARD of prior to that), Wednesday I was a little stiff and sore but I still got some laundry done and my steps in. :) Friday I ran errands and then went to yoga. I was really sore Friday night and didn't want to move. But Saturday I was up early and doing all I needed to do to get to a party I was consultant at on Saturday afternoon. Again, something unheard of a few months ago after a day like Friday. Now, I do admit yesterday I was pretty darn tired and didn't have the motivation to do too much. But when I look at what I was able to accomplish before I got to that point, and the fact that it was a time change weekend, I think I did pretty darn well last week.
Plantar Fasciitis is still there some mornings, but not as bad. The pain isn't as severe and it goes away with only a few steps. It is not often there through the day when I sit and then get up anymore and there are days I don't have it at all. :)
My balance is improving. I still have a way to go, but it is slowly coming along. Even in my every day walking around I don't feel like such a lumbering ox anymore. I am beginning to feel a little more graceful, moving a little more confidently and with a little lighter step.
So yes, I would say yoga is good for me. Even though I still have evenings where I am doing the Tim Conway old man shuffle, the evidence is pretty clear.
Namaste
I used to nap several times during the day and still sleep at night. Now the only times I grab a nap is if I have had a rough night the night before. I go through cycles where I have a few nights where I don't sleep well. Something I think I got from my mom. . I do still fall asleep when I am sitting in my recliner watching tv, especially in the evenings. but I don't consider those the same as naps where I actually crawl into bed. LOL I know as I get more healing in even those recliner naps will go away. I have never felt guilty about napping. I know that most healing takes place during sleep. The body uses sleep time to pull the toxins from the cells, then the awake time is the time to eliminate them from the body. But its nice to have some energy and be able to have more of a day because I am sleeping less.
If I was out once or twice a week running errands, etc. The following day I was totally useless, unable to move, no energy, etc. This past week, I went to yoga class and then ran errands on Tuesday and went to a party Tuesday night (UNHEARD of prior to that), Wednesday I was a little stiff and sore but I still got some laundry done and my steps in. :) Friday I ran errands and then went to yoga. I was really sore Friday night and didn't want to move. But Saturday I was up early and doing all I needed to do to get to a party I was consultant at on Saturday afternoon. Again, something unheard of a few months ago after a day like Friday. Now, I do admit yesterday I was pretty darn tired and didn't have the motivation to do too much. But when I look at what I was able to accomplish before I got to that point, and the fact that it was a time change weekend, I think I did pretty darn well last week.
Plantar Fasciitis is still there some mornings, but not as bad. The pain isn't as severe and it goes away with only a few steps. It is not often there through the day when I sit and then get up anymore and there are days I don't have it at all. :)
My balance is improving. I still have a way to go, but it is slowly coming along. Even in my every day walking around I don't feel like such a lumbering ox anymore. I am beginning to feel a little more graceful, moving a little more confidently and with a little lighter step.
So yes, I would say yoga is good for me. Even though I still have evenings where I am doing the Tim Conway old man shuffle, the evidence is pretty clear.
Namaste
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Dance
I'm improving!! Balance is improving, the poses are getting easier to do, my strength is improving. All is going in the right direction. Next Tuesday I will be able to step on the scale and see if there has been improvment there as well. All is well in my world. :)
In yoga yesterday, Kris led me through a "choreographed" vinyasa (series of poses that flow into each other). It's like a beautiful dance. And I was even graceful!! We did three-- Warrior 1 into Warrior 2 and then into the Triangle pose. It was lovely and I think will help improve my stamina. I still have some trouble keeping my breath even and deep while holding my poses, especially during our modified plank and downward facing dog poses, but it is coming too. At least I am not holding my breath anymore. I learned a new pose. We figured out a way to do the cat pose in a chair, and Kris showed me a few things I can do to work on balance. We added another step to the downward facing dog. I still have a way to go, but it is coming. I love seeing improvement like this!!
And the best thing is that the improvements are transferring into other areas of my life. I am getting my steps in through the day much more easily. On Monday I got in my 5000 steps without even really trying. Yesterday I was out and about after my yoga class, running errands etc. so I got them in without any issue. I have a good feeling about this week, that I will achieve my goal of 5000 steps every single day. Then next week we take a baby step forward and set a goal of 6000 steps one day and 5000 steps all the other days. This is how the baby steps program I have created for myself works. But I am stronger now and I am feeling more graceful. I am breathing better, sleeping better, and just able to do more day to day things. I think much of that is due to yoga. I love it!!
I really want to take this moment to encourage others to give yoga a try. No matter your size, your fitness level, or your abilities, I do believe that yoga can be modified for anyone's needs. Sometimes it might take talking to many different teachers to find one who will be willing to be creative and work with you on modifications, but once you find that person, it will be totally worth it! And of course, if you live in the Black Hills, there is always Kris... ;-)
Make a great day everyone!
Namaste
In yoga yesterday, Kris led me through a "choreographed" vinyasa (series of poses that flow into each other). It's like a beautiful dance. And I was even graceful!! We did three-- Warrior 1 into Warrior 2 and then into the Triangle pose. It was lovely and I think will help improve my stamina. I still have some trouble keeping my breath even and deep while holding my poses, especially during our modified plank and downward facing dog poses, but it is coming too. At least I am not holding my breath anymore. I learned a new pose. We figured out a way to do the cat pose in a chair, and Kris showed me a few things I can do to work on balance. We added another step to the downward facing dog. I still have a way to go, but it is coming. I love seeing improvement like this!!
And the best thing is that the improvements are transferring into other areas of my life. I am getting my steps in through the day much more easily. On Monday I got in my 5000 steps without even really trying. Yesterday I was out and about after my yoga class, running errands etc. so I got them in without any issue. I have a good feeling about this week, that I will achieve my goal of 5000 steps every single day. Then next week we take a baby step forward and set a goal of 6000 steps one day and 5000 steps all the other days. This is how the baby steps program I have created for myself works. But I am stronger now and I am feeling more graceful. I am breathing better, sleeping better, and just able to do more day to day things. I think much of that is due to yoga. I love it!!
I really want to take this moment to encourage others to give yoga a try. No matter your size, your fitness level, or your abilities, I do believe that yoga can be modified for anyone's needs. Sometimes it might take talking to many different teachers to find one who will be willing to be creative and work with you on modifications, but once you find that person, it will be totally worth it! And of course, if you live in the Black Hills, there is always Kris... ;-)
Make a great day everyone!
Namaste
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Empowering Yoga
Good morning! It's a peaceful 5am on a Saturday morning here. I found a new muscle yesterday and it's complaining rather loudly about being found so I decided to get up and get moving around a bit. I realize I have not been in here to update in too long. Somehow my life has gotten rather busy. We are getting ready for some renovations to start next week so I have some rooms in my house to clear out. Furniture and fixtures for sale if anyone is interested.
So yesterday I got my steps goal met before I even went to yoga class. And I am not sure if this muscle was found during the clearing out of my front room or if I found it in yoga class. Either way it is not a happy camper.
Before I begin my update, a little housekeeping. I changed my settings (I think) so that anyone can comment. I thought why not let a good discussion get started if its going to? Maybe my readers can also encourage each other. So don't be shy. I do have a delete button for any comments that are inappropriate but I am hopeful that I won't need to use it.
If you recall, last week I talked a bit about the detoxification process. Well, definitely my body has been pulling out toxins. And I have a lot of them. After Christmas my whole family spent the month of January sick with a stupid virus that seemed to pick our individual "weak spots" to settle into. My husband got it in his chest, my son got it in his sinuses, and I got it in both, but not at the same time. We would get better and then relapse, all month long. Jesse has a kick butt immune system that Kevin and I don't have (how nice to be so young) and so his only lasted a day or two each time. When he got a sore throat that lasted more than two days I trucked him into the doctor and sure enough it was strep. By the time he started the antibiotics for it, though, he was feeling better. Go figure. Fortunately Kevin and I did not get it. I was a good little mom though and kept him from school until he had been on the antibiotics for 48 hours. In case you did not know, strep is contagious until the person has been on antibiotics for 24 - 48 hours. Untreated, strep can cause rheumatic fever and/or kidney failure. So through the month of February I continued with my coughing and some congestion here and there, with the congestion sometimes hitting my ears. Now I can handle most pain but even just a little discomfort in my ears drives me batty. So when Angi at Alt Med had to cancel my appointment in Feb (she is only there one week a month anymore) I booked in to see Randy. My cold had gone bacterial in January and I needed to make sure it was cleared up. Unlike Jesse who has full medical coverage through the state, I have none so since I pay anyway, I choose to do everything with the help of the Alt Med staff, as naturally as possible. (a couple times in my suffering I made the poor choice of trying nyquil, but the nyquil hangover the next day rendered me useless-- even at half a dose so I think I am cured of trying anything like that again). Randy used to be the go to guy for me, but I switched to Angi because she was able to do the bloodwork to keep track of my blood levels and also the body composition testing to keep track of my water retention and fat and muscle percentages. But Randy is wonderful and I have seen Corey (the head honcho) as well over my time with Alt Med.
Tuesday was my appointment with Randy. The first thing I did was step on their scale. They have one there that will weigh me. I almost keeled over in shock. I GAINED 14 lbs. I weighed on Dec 21 and then on Jan 21 where I gained 9 lbs. I rationalized that away with Christmas and New Year celebrations and the candy and stuff left over from there all month. Also I wasn't taking any iodine supplements because we forgot to add them to the plate in December. I had once asked Corey why I gain weight when I get sick when most people lose weight. He said the immune system uses iodine too, as well as the thyroid. When I get sick I burn through all my iodine stores including that meant for my thyroid, and a thyroid with no iodine is a slow one, hence, weight gain. So in January I started back on iodine supplements so that really surprised me that I had such a large weight gain in February. Well, when Randy got testing me with the electrodermal screening they use, and listening to my cough, he determined that my body is definitely detoxing, but not eliminating the toxins or the gunk that my colds have created in my body. He said he wouldn't be surprised if I had about 12 lbs of gunk and mucous and such in my system. So I came out of there with herbs and nutritionals to help my body eliminate all this gunk. I shared this with Kris in our class and she gave me another suggestion which I also use. She had read somewhere that 1 Tbsp of honey and 1 tsp. of cinnamon mixed in with hot water in the mornings, half an hour before you eat will aid in the elimination process. Well, I have to say, I love it. It does taste like those red hots candies. It seems to satisfy the sweet tooth I have for the day, too. And between that, the increased water I am drinking and what Randy has me on, I have become close personal friends with my hallway bathroom. But I can feel my water retention going away. Yesterday when I was driving into town I realized my shoes didn't feel as tight as usual right off the bat. Yay!! I can't wait until my next appointment at Alt Med in two weeks. I will step on that scale again and see if I can see the results there.
Wednesday night I felt pretty lousy. I was congested and headachey again. So that was when I tried the nyquil at half a dose. Bad idea. Thursday I was out of commission. Honestly, when I did all the partying and drinking I did in college, I never had such bad hangovers!! Despite the nyquil hangover, I did my yoga practice and got my steps in on Thursday even though it meant at bedtime I was doing laps half asleep to get them in. NO EXCUSES is my new motto. Then Thursday evening my ears started fluttering... you know that sound and feeling you get when you are swimming and get water in your ear? OMG it drove me crazy!! I was congested in my sinuses, my entire head had ached all day and then this. So I went looking online to see what to do about the ears and I found a you tube video which shows self massage for lymph drainage from the ears. Yes!! Lymph drainage massage was something Rochelle used to do for me at Alt Med. She has since left to be with her ailing mother on the other side of the state so I haven't been doing it. I thought this is awesome. And so I followed the video and I did it on myself... and it drained my ears, my sinuses, the sinus headache went away and whatever congestion was causing the back and crown of my head to ache went away. I was able to sleep!!
That brings us to yesterday. In the morning I went to work hard clearing out the china cabinets and shelves in the front room and dining room while the apprentice from Kevin and JR's company helped me haul things upstairs or downstairs to store and took down the paintings and such. (He was out on a call and she was here and he had to have her do something.. and I appreciated the help). Then I went to yoga class, and... the exciting part.. I had convinced a friend to give it a try with me. :) She came and she loved it. My friend has the same problem with the knees and getting up and down off the floor that I do. She hasn't gained as much weight as I have, though she has gained some since she retired from the Air Force, so I knew she would be able to do some of the yoga without the modifications, but I figured that if she had to use modifications for some of it she might be more comfortable doing it with me. She was a natural. Her poses and shapes were beautiful!! And she loved it!! She will be joining us every Friday. I am so excited!! Now, I am an attention hog when I have it (trained in the theatre, I loved being on stage) , I LOVED the one on one attention I was getting from Kris, but I also know that I don't have to always have center stage and unlike my son and his siblings, I can share the attention. It was great. Extra energy in the room. And I know that my friend is as unjudgemental as I try to be. And in yoga you really need to focus on yourself and what you are doing anyway, so I felt totally safe having my friend there with us. And it added so much to the class!! I even could go a little farther in the triangle pose than I had been before. Balance was off yesterday, but then, as I said, I had already put in my steps goal before going, so my feet and legs were very tired. But I felt stronger in the poses. It was easier to do the warrior 2 pose. My arms didn't feel so heavy to hold. It was a great day at Yoga.
My friend made a comment that I have to share. She said, "It felt good to feel strong again." Yes!! That's it exactly!! Yoga is very empowering! It helps you feel strong. And its beautiful, too. As you learn the poses and can fluidly move from one to the other, its like an absolutely beautiful dance and it makes you feel graceful. That's something I never thought I could ever feel at 400+ lbs. Empowering is the word to use. If I had to describe yoga in one word, that's what it would be. Empowering.
On that note, I am going to get on with my day now. My honey and cinnamon drink await me. I apologize for the novel today. I will make time more often through the week to update my blog so it isn't such a long read each time.
Namaste
So yesterday I got my steps goal met before I even went to yoga class. And I am not sure if this muscle was found during the clearing out of my front room or if I found it in yoga class. Either way it is not a happy camper.
Before I begin my update, a little housekeeping. I changed my settings (I think) so that anyone can comment. I thought why not let a good discussion get started if its going to? Maybe my readers can also encourage each other. So don't be shy. I do have a delete button for any comments that are inappropriate but I am hopeful that I won't need to use it.
If you recall, last week I talked a bit about the detoxification process. Well, definitely my body has been pulling out toxins. And I have a lot of them. After Christmas my whole family spent the month of January sick with a stupid virus that seemed to pick our individual "weak spots" to settle into. My husband got it in his chest, my son got it in his sinuses, and I got it in both, but not at the same time. We would get better and then relapse, all month long. Jesse has a kick butt immune system that Kevin and I don't have (how nice to be so young) and so his only lasted a day or two each time. When he got a sore throat that lasted more than two days I trucked him into the doctor and sure enough it was strep. By the time he started the antibiotics for it, though, he was feeling better. Go figure. Fortunately Kevin and I did not get it. I was a good little mom though and kept him from school until he had been on the antibiotics for 48 hours. In case you did not know, strep is contagious until the person has been on antibiotics for 24 - 48 hours. Untreated, strep can cause rheumatic fever and/or kidney failure. So through the month of February I continued with my coughing and some congestion here and there, with the congestion sometimes hitting my ears. Now I can handle most pain but even just a little discomfort in my ears drives me batty. So when Angi at Alt Med had to cancel my appointment in Feb (she is only there one week a month anymore) I booked in to see Randy. My cold had gone bacterial in January and I needed to make sure it was cleared up. Unlike Jesse who has full medical coverage through the state, I have none so since I pay anyway, I choose to do everything with the help of the Alt Med staff, as naturally as possible. (a couple times in my suffering I made the poor choice of trying nyquil, but the nyquil hangover the next day rendered me useless-- even at half a dose so I think I am cured of trying anything like that again). Randy used to be the go to guy for me, but I switched to Angi because she was able to do the bloodwork to keep track of my blood levels and also the body composition testing to keep track of my water retention and fat and muscle percentages. But Randy is wonderful and I have seen Corey (the head honcho) as well over my time with Alt Med.
Tuesday was my appointment with Randy. The first thing I did was step on their scale. They have one there that will weigh me. I almost keeled over in shock. I GAINED 14 lbs. I weighed on Dec 21 and then on Jan 21 where I gained 9 lbs. I rationalized that away with Christmas and New Year celebrations and the candy and stuff left over from there all month. Also I wasn't taking any iodine supplements because we forgot to add them to the plate in December. I had once asked Corey why I gain weight when I get sick when most people lose weight. He said the immune system uses iodine too, as well as the thyroid. When I get sick I burn through all my iodine stores including that meant for my thyroid, and a thyroid with no iodine is a slow one, hence, weight gain. So in January I started back on iodine supplements so that really surprised me that I had such a large weight gain in February. Well, when Randy got testing me with the electrodermal screening they use, and listening to my cough, he determined that my body is definitely detoxing, but not eliminating the toxins or the gunk that my colds have created in my body. He said he wouldn't be surprised if I had about 12 lbs of gunk and mucous and such in my system. So I came out of there with herbs and nutritionals to help my body eliminate all this gunk. I shared this with Kris in our class and she gave me another suggestion which I also use. She had read somewhere that 1 Tbsp of honey and 1 tsp. of cinnamon mixed in with hot water in the mornings, half an hour before you eat will aid in the elimination process. Well, I have to say, I love it. It does taste like those red hots candies. It seems to satisfy the sweet tooth I have for the day, too. And between that, the increased water I am drinking and what Randy has me on, I have become close personal friends with my hallway bathroom. But I can feel my water retention going away. Yesterday when I was driving into town I realized my shoes didn't feel as tight as usual right off the bat. Yay!! I can't wait until my next appointment at Alt Med in two weeks. I will step on that scale again and see if I can see the results there.
Wednesday night I felt pretty lousy. I was congested and headachey again. So that was when I tried the nyquil at half a dose. Bad idea. Thursday I was out of commission. Honestly, when I did all the partying and drinking I did in college, I never had such bad hangovers!! Despite the nyquil hangover, I did my yoga practice and got my steps in on Thursday even though it meant at bedtime I was doing laps half asleep to get them in. NO EXCUSES is my new motto. Then Thursday evening my ears started fluttering... you know that sound and feeling you get when you are swimming and get water in your ear? OMG it drove me crazy!! I was congested in my sinuses, my entire head had ached all day and then this. So I went looking online to see what to do about the ears and I found a you tube video which shows self massage for lymph drainage from the ears. Yes!! Lymph drainage massage was something Rochelle used to do for me at Alt Med. She has since left to be with her ailing mother on the other side of the state so I haven't been doing it. I thought this is awesome. And so I followed the video and I did it on myself... and it drained my ears, my sinuses, the sinus headache went away and whatever congestion was causing the back and crown of my head to ache went away. I was able to sleep!!
That brings us to yesterday. In the morning I went to work hard clearing out the china cabinets and shelves in the front room and dining room while the apprentice from Kevin and JR's company helped me haul things upstairs or downstairs to store and took down the paintings and such. (He was out on a call and she was here and he had to have her do something.. and I appreciated the help). Then I went to yoga class, and... the exciting part.. I had convinced a friend to give it a try with me. :) She came and she loved it. My friend has the same problem with the knees and getting up and down off the floor that I do. She hasn't gained as much weight as I have, though she has gained some since she retired from the Air Force, so I knew she would be able to do some of the yoga without the modifications, but I figured that if she had to use modifications for some of it she might be more comfortable doing it with me. She was a natural. Her poses and shapes were beautiful!! And she loved it!! She will be joining us every Friday. I am so excited!! Now, I am an attention hog when I have it (trained in the theatre, I loved being on stage) , I LOVED the one on one attention I was getting from Kris, but I also know that I don't have to always have center stage and unlike my son and his siblings, I can share the attention. It was great. Extra energy in the room. And I know that my friend is as unjudgemental as I try to be. And in yoga you really need to focus on yourself and what you are doing anyway, so I felt totally safe having my friend there with us. And it added so much to the class!! I even could go a little farther in the triangle pose than I had been before. Balance was off yesterday, but then, as I said, I had already put in my steps goal before going, so my feet and legs were very tired. But I felt stronger in the poses. It was easier to do the warrior 2 pose. My arms didn't feel so heavy to hold. It was a great day at Yoga.
My friend made a comment that I have to share. She said, "It felt good to feel strong again." Yes!! That's it exactly!! Yoga is very empowering! It helps you feel strong. And its beautiful, too. As you learn the poses and can fluidly move from one to the other, its like an absolutely beautiful dance and it makes you feel graceful. That's something I never thought I could ever feel at 400+ lbs. Empowering is the word to use. If I had to describe yoga in one word, that's what it would be. Empowering.
On that note, I am going to get on with my day now. My honey and cinnamon drink await me. I apologize for the novel today. I will make time more often through the week to update my blog so it isn't such a long read each time.
Namaste
Monday, February 25, 2013
Busy Bee
I haven't been in to update for a few days. I have been super busy!! I get weeks like this where I am constantly on the go for several days, then it settles down a bit. I am so glad. I am not sure how I would handle it if I didn't have a day to rest in there somewhere. I was really in a lot of pain last night.
My knee started to hurt Tuesday night. I usually blame the weather. My last winter in Canada, I slipped on ice and hyper extended both knees. Since then one or the other of my knees would give me issues, especially if there was a change in weather, and our weather this past week has been a roller coaster. On Friday, because both Kris and I were in a bit of a hurry, we decided to do a short yoga class, standing. I agreed to do what I could with a sore knee, and interestingly enough, it didn't hurt much at all. I even did some tree poses, and balanced for a few seconds. Yay!! I can balance for a few seconds!! Where it started to hurt was doing a few of the stretches. So we stopped when the knee said to. It was all fine.
I spent quite a bit of time on cement on Saturday and on Sunday I went shopping for flooring at Lowe's and then to an open house and then grocery shopping. Lowe's kills me. I do not have to walk far in their store before I hurt, even when I don't have any pre-existing pain. I don't want to come down hard on Lowe's, I think its any big warehouse type store that would do it to me. And then to do two other things after that.. well last night I was not walking very well. My knee hurt to put any weight on it at all. I hobbled to bed early and slept through the night, woke up this morning and it was fine. I am physically very tired today, and today is a rest day, just doing a bit of laundry, the yoga I didn't get done yesterday, and if I feel up to it later I will do some prep work for the renovations. Maybe some computer work. But I was very tired so I got up and sat down. And while I was sitting my knee started aching. When I got up and did some moving around again, the pain subsided. I don't know what is going on with this knee. Tomorrow I go to alt med. Maybe Randy will have an idea.
On Wednesday I had a horrible horrible headache. It felt like a detox headache. In natural health, when you draw toxins from your cells into the blood stream to be removed from your body through kidneys, bowels, skin and lungs, utilizing the lymph system, sometimes you get sick. Often you get these headaches. Or at least, I do. I haven't done anything differently to cause any extra detoxing in my body except the yoga. I know that yoga can realign your body's energy meridians and open up chakras and such, so I wondered if it can have a detox effect, so I asked Kris and she told me she believed it can.
I also went searching and I found this site Yoga Detox. So what we are doing, even the modified version, is getting those systems moving in my body and getting some detoxification happening. I look forward to some day being able to do the other detox poses she talks about in the article. (I do a modified version of downward dog now). For now, what we are doing is obviously doing some work on that part of my healing now. Pushing it is not necessarily what I want to do. Too much detoxing at one time can be extremely painful and uncomfortable. And if the elimination organs aren't functioning at 100% too much detox can cause blockages there.
Last night I had a huge coughing spell. Still not completely over the crud, and Saturday night I spent quite a lot of time outside so yesterday I did a LOT of coughing. When I didn't know if I would be able to stop coughing last night, I did yoga breathing. It stopped the coughing enough for me to get to sleep, and then I slept well. So YAY for yoga!! All the good its doing for me, and its only been just over two weeks. :)
Namaste
My knee started to hurt Tuesday night. I usually blame the weather. My last winter in Canada, I slipped on ice and hyper extended both knees. Since then one or the other of my knees would give me issues, especially if there was a change in weather, and our weather this past week has been a roller coaster. On Friday, because both Kris and I were in a bit of a hurry, we decided to do a short yoga class, standing. I agreed to do what I could with a sore knee, and interestingly enough, it didn't hurt much at all. I even did some tree poses, and balanced for a few seconds. Yay!! I can balance for a few seconds!! Where it started to hurt was doing a few of the stretches. So we stopped when the knee said to. It was all fine.
I spent quite a bit of time on cement on Saturday and on Sunday I went shopping for flooring at Lowe's and then to an open house and then grocery shopping. Lowe's kills me. I do not have to walk far in their store before I hurt, even when I don't have any pre-existing pain. I don't want to come down hard on Lowe's, I think its any big warehouse type store that would do it to me. And then to do two other things after that.. well last night I was not walking very well. My knee hurt to put any weight on it at all. I hobbled to bed early and slept through the night, woke up this morning and it was fine. I am physically very tired today, and today is a rest day, just doing a bit of laundry, the yoga I didn't get done yesterday, and if I feel up to it later I will do some prep work for the renovations. Maybe some computer work. But I was very tired so I got up and sat down. And while I was sitting my knee started aching. When I got up and did some moving around again, the pain subsided. I don't know what is going on with this knee. Tomorrow I go to alt med. Maybe Randy will have an idea.
On Wednesday I had a horrible horrible headache. It felt like a detox headache. In natural health, when you draw toxins from your cells into the blood stream to be removed from your body through kidneys, bowels, skin and lungs, utilizing the lymph system, sometimes you get sick. Often you get these headaches. Or at least, I do. I haven't done anything differently to cause any extra detoxing in my body except the yoga. I know that yoga can realign your body's energy meridians and open up chakras and such, so I wondered if it can have a detox effect, so I asked Kris and she told me she believed it can.
I also went searching and I found this site Yoga Detox. So what we are doing, even the modified version, is getting those systems moving in my body and getting some detoxification happening. I look forward to some day being able to do the other detox poses she talks about in the article. (I do a modified version of downward dog now). For now, what we are doing is obviously doing some work on that part of my healing now. Pushing it is not necessarily what I want to do. Too much detoxing at one time can be extremely painful and uncomfortable. And if the elimination organs aren't functioning at 100% too much detox can cause blockages there.
Last night I had a huge coughing spell. Still not completely over the crud, and Saturday night I spent quite a lot of time outside so yesterday I did a LOT of coughing. When I didn't know if I would be able to stop coughing last night, I did yoga breathing. It stopped the coughing enough for me to get to sleep, and then I slept well. So YAY for yoga!! All the good its doing for me, and its only been just over two weeks. :)
Namaste
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
My First At-Home Yoga Practice Session
One of my goals for this week is to do my two classes a week with Kris, and to do yoga at home twice. Today is already Wednesday and I figured I would do it and get it out of the way. I can tell you that yesterday's new pose, a modified form of the Dancer really woke up some muscles in my legs and they were complaining mightily this morning. But I did not let that deter me from putting to use what I was learning.
I began with breathing and did some of the modified chair stretches we had been doing and then I did some of the standing ones. There were some stretches and poses I didn't remember completely, but I did everything I could remember. My legs maybe weren't as strong as they were yesterday, but I did see some balancing improvement for a few seconds. I am really encouraged. Balancing on one foot or rolling up onto my toes with the amount of weight I carry was not something I was even really willing to try. I am beginning to believe that anything is possible. Tomorrow I rest, let my legs recuperate in time to do another class with Kris on Friday.
Now on to do my walking goal. Before Christmas and during the Christmas season I was doing 5000 steps a day and any day I was out shopping I was getting to 6000, 7000, or more. When I got sick after Christmas those steps fell way down. And for some reason last week I was really hard pressed to get to 3000 steps. Well now that I am mostly over the congestion and coughing I decided it was time to get back to where I was at before. So I set the goal for this week to 5000 every day again. Well.. its Wednesday and I have yet to meet that goal. So I am going to push for it. Here I come, house laps!! Of course, it would help if I would remember the dang pedometer. It's an app on my phone and I have this horrible habit that if I take my phone out of my pocket for some reason, like-- to answer it... I set it down when I am done and forget to put it back in my pocket. I am working on that. It's really hard to figure out how many steps you have taken when there is no pedometer in use. And it isn't counting my steps when it is sitting on my desk.
The pedometer app I use and really like is accupedo for my droid. It's free, but you can also pay a small fee to get the pro version which gives you more functions. But with the free one, it tracks my steps, archives them so I can look back and see what I did yesterday and the day before that and last month... and that's all that matters to me. There are other functions in the free version too, but really I don't use them. I like free. :)
Well, since I have a way to go yet to meet my step goal, and I can't walk while I type, I am going to say good bye for now.
Namaste!
I began with breathing and did some of the modified chair stretches we had been doing and then I did some of the standing ones. There were some stretches and poses I didn't remember completely, but I did everything I could remember. My legs maybe weren't as strong as they were yesterday, but I did see some balancing improvement for a few seconds. I am really encouraged. Balancing on one foot or rolling up onto my toes with the amount of weight I carry was not something I was even really willing to try. I am beginning to believe that anything is possible. Tomorrow I rest, let my legs recuperate in time to do another class with Kris on Friday.
Now on to do my walking goal. Before Christmas and during the Christmas season I was doing 5000 steps a day and any day I was out shopping I was getting to 6000, 7000, or more. When I got sick after Christmas those steps fell way down. And for some reason last week I was really hard pressed to get to 3000 steps. Well now that I am mostly over the congestion and coughing I decided it was time to get back to where I was at before. So I set the goal for this week to 5000 every day again. Well.. its Wednesday and I have yet to meet that goal. So I am going to push for it. Here I come, house laps!! Of course, it would help if I would remember the dang pedometer. It's an app on my phone and I have this horrible habit that if I take my phone out of my pocket for some reason, like-- to answer it... I set it down when I am done and forget to put it back in my pocket. I am working on that. It's really hard to figure out how many steps you have taken when there is no pedometer in use. And it isn't counting my steps when it is sitting on my desk.
The pedometer app I use and really like is accupedo for my droid. It's free, but you can also pay a small fee to get the pro version which gives you more functions. But with the free one, it tracks my steps, archives them so I can look back and see what I did yesterday and the day before that and last month... and that's all that matters to me. There are other functions in the free version too, but really I don't use them. I like free. :)
Well, since I have a way to go yet to meet my step goal, and I can't walk while I type, I am going to say good bye for now.
Namaste!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Changes and Inspiration
Kris posted a very inspirational video to my facebook page this morning and I really want to share it. Unfortunately I don't know how, so I am sharing the link. Inspirational Transformation Video And it really is inspirational. I was touched by it and it gave me hope that yes, I can do it. In class today I tried to give it a little extra push. I didn't want to go so much that I fell down, because getting up for me is a huge challenge and I am not quite ready for that yet, but I did push to balance without holding onto the ledge a little bit, and I found that I can balance for a few seconds. I was thrilled!! Improvement already. And I don't even care whether the improvement is in my actual muscle tone and balance or if it is an improvement in my feelings of fear. It is still an improvement.
My goal for this week is to do the two yoga sessions with Kris and two yoga sessions at home.
The other thing I wanted to mention today was about eating. Over the course of my life I have tried many different eating plans. When I went vegan, I became very anemic and my doctor told me I need meat. So I went back to meat. I also found out I am allergic to soy, so I went back to dairy. It is true that every individual is different and what is good for one person's body may not be good for another. Over time I have discovered I do better without wheat. It's not the gluten that seems to bother me, its specifically wheat. If I stay away from wheat, the water retention is less and my knees hurt less and so I am able to move more. I still have some once in a while, but I save it as a treat. The other thing I need to save for a treat is anything with sugar in it. Being insulin resistant, eating low glycemic foods keeps me from crossing over that thin line to diabetes. So when I am being good and on the ball, I tend to eat low glycemic foods with a few medium glycemic foods, and the occasional "treat" that is higher in sugar content. I stay away from anything with wheat in it, I drink lots and lots of water, and I eat whole foods, not convenience foods or processed foods. I find many processed foods have wheat, sugar, and salt in them, none of which do my body much good. Recently we began getting fruits and vegetables (and breads for my son and husband) through the Bountiful Baskets co-op. This came into being when we were looking for ways to cut back our grocery bill. We are blessed with Jesse, our 16 year old son, who has a voracious appetite and who does not gain weight no matter what we do to him. (If only that was contagious). So we need to let him eat but the cost of food is outrageous anymore. I want to start my own garden but unfortunately the last few summers I have not been healthy enough to get out and tend it, so what we have tried to start never reached fruition. Bountiful Baskets was recommended to us by Kevin's business partner and close friend. For 15 dollars a month, a contributor to the co-op receives 50% fruits and 50% vegetables, all good quality and valued at approximately 50 dollars. For an additional $10 we can make our basket an organic one. Then they have addons-- not always organice, but some of them are-- Its an amazing deal. We love it. It is a volunteer organization and is quite popular in many states. The link is Bountiful Baskets. I will add it to my recommended links on the side bar as well. With this help we have gone from sometimes organic fruits and veggies when I can get them to almost always organic. We also purchase our meat from a local farmer that we know for sure allows the animals to graze in wide open fields, who isn't certified organic, but does his best to use the bare minimum required antibiotics etc. and no growth hormones. It is the best meat as far as taste and fat content that we have every had. It is worth it to go looking for someone such as this from which to get your meat.
Anyway, when we started with Bountiful Baskets, the organic produce really put our bodies into a detox mode. Over Christmas we had a few weeks where we did not get the baskets and the difference at that time was incredible. Where I had become regular and my body was definitely removing a lot of garbage from my system, over the holidays and until we could get our baskets again my irritable bowel started acting up, and other health issues which were lessening increased again. I never would have believed that the one switch to organic produce would do that much for a body, but it did. Here is a tip I heard somewhere... if you can only afford some organic, choose to foods that do not have peels to buy as organic. Oranges and bananas can be washed and peeled and that alone can reduce a lot of the toxins that you find in non-organic varieties. Things like lettuce and tomatoes, apples, pears, etc. are harder to remove the toxins from. it made sense to me. :)
So there we have it. Be inspired to make some changes. I am every day. And the more I can find to inspire me to keep making the changes, the more successful this journey is going to be.
Namaste
My goal for this week is to do the two yoga sessions with Kris and two yoga sessions at home.
The other thing I wanted to mention today was about eating. Over the course of my life I have tried many different eating plans. When I went vegan, I became very anemic and my doctor told me I need meat. So I went back to meat. I also found out I am allergic to soy, so I went back to dairy. It is true that every individual is different and what is good for one person's body may not be good for another. Over time I have discovered I do better without wheat. It's not the gluten that seems to bother me, its specifically wheat. If I stay away from wheat, the water retention is less and my knees hurt less and so I am able to move more. I still have some once in a while, but I save it as a treat. The other thing I need to save for a treat is anything with sugar in it. Being insulin resistant, eating low glycemic foods keeps me from crossing over that thin line to diabetes. So when I am being good and on the ball, I tend to eat low glycemic foods with a few medium glycemic foods, and the occasional "treat" that is higher in sugar content. I stay away from anything with wheat in it, I drink lots and lots of water, and I eat whole foods, not convenience foods or processed foods. I find many processed foods have wheat, sugar, and salt in them, none of which do my body much good. Recently we began getting fruits and vegetables (and breads for my son and husband) through the Bountiful Baskets co-op. This came into being when we were looking for ways to cut back our grocery bill. We are blessed with Jesse, our 16 year old son, who has a voracious appetite and who does not gain weight no matter what we do to him. (If only that was contagious). So we need to let him eat but the cost of food is outrageous anymore. I want to start my own garden but unfortunately the last few summers I have not been healthy enough to get out and tend it, so what we have tried to start never reached fruition. Bountiful Baskets was recommended to us by Kevin's business partner and close friend. For 15 dollars a month, a contributor to the co-op receives 50% fruits and 50% vegetables, all good quality and valued at approximately 50 dollars. For an additional $10 we can make our basket an organic one. Then they have addons-- not always organice, but some of them are-- Its an amazing deal. We love it. It is a volunteer organization and is quite popular in many states. The link is Bountiful Baskets. I will add it to my recommended links on the side bar as well. With this help we have gone from sometimes organic fruits and veggies when I can get them to almost always organic. We also purchase our meat from a local farmer that we know for sure allows the animals to graze in wide open fields, who isn't certified organic, but does his best to use the bare minimum required antibiotics etc. and no growth hormones. It is the best meat as far as taste and fat content that we have every had. It is worth it to go looking for someone such as this from which to get your meat.
Anyway, when we started with Bountiful Baskets, the organic produce really put our bodies into a detox mode. Over Christmas we had a few weeks where we did not get the baskets and the difference at that time was incredible. Where I had become regular and my body was definitely removing a lot of garbage from my system, over the holidays and until we could get our baskets again my irritable bowel started acting up, and other health issues which were lessening increased again. I never would have believed that the one switch to organic produce would do that much for a body, but it did. Here is a tip I heard somewhere... if you can only afford some organic, choose to foods that do not have peels to buy as organic. Oranges and bananas can be washed and peeled and that alone can reduce a lot of the toxins that you find in non-organic varieties. Things like lettuce and tomatoes, apples, pears, etc. are harder to remove the toxins from. it made sense to me. :)
So there we have it. Be inspired to make some changes. I am every day. And the more I can find to inspire me to keep making the changes, the more successful this journey is going to be.
Namaste
Saturday, February 16, 2013
The Tim Conway Old Man Shuffle
Yesterday was an amazing day. When you sit back and watch scenes where people do yoga on tv or in movies, it looks pretty effortless. I figured I couldn't do yoga because of my size, trying to get into the positions. I was wrong, that is not the hard part. I viewed yoga as a relaxing, meditative thing, which it is... but... or should I say BUT when you are as out of shape as I am (maybe even if you are in shape, I don't know, haven't been in shape in a long long time), holding those poses really takes work. And muscle. And I have to say I am feeling many more of those newly awakened muscles today. Surprisingly, not the ones I thought I would feel.
I have a 40 minute drive home after yoga, during which time my newly awakened muscles like to stiffen up on me. So last night as I did the Tim Conway Old Man Shuffle (exaggerated for effect, of course) through my family room, I asserted to my friend Cheryl that yoga is good for me. We laughed about it. No pain, no gain. And once again, I guess I can't really call it pain. Discomfort maybe. The muscles in my back are what have tightened up today and on a scale of 1 to 10 are probably only really about a 3, so not much pain. Not as much as I am used to feeling. And I have to remember this is first thing in the morning, my back is usually at least this tight when I first get up. I sleep oddly sometimes and my back likes to be very vocal about letting me know that. I can't work on my core in yoga and not feel those muscles in my back.
What surprises me is that the muscles that were yelling at me, unhappy about being wakened during the class were my shoulders. My arms are heavy. Between the pounds of excess fat and the retained water, they are pretty heavy limbs. So my shoulder muscles were working hard to keep my arms in the warrior poses. I thought for sure those ones would be the ones hurting this morning, but nope. The muscles doing the complaining are in my mid and lower back. Good. Get that core woken up! This body has slept for far too long! It's time to wake up, get moving, and make something of itself!!
Another plus from yesterday is that I met my walking goal. I always feel good when I do that. I wasn't meeting it very often over the last 7 weeks while I have been sick with the crud that's going around and around and around. I just simply ran out of breath too quickly. I think I am finally shaking the crud. (knock wood). So now I am not running out of breath so quickly and I can get back to my walking goal too.I love meeting goals!!
Today, not sure how much walking I will get in... I get to sit in meetings all day. But it will be fun. This group of people usually are. And I am going to try really hard to get a good yoga practice in at home. I say that every day and so far the most I have fit in has been some yogic breathing or maybe a few stretches. But after sitting in meetings all day I think I will be doing myself a huge favour by trying to do a whole little session at home, doing the things I remember.
I am on the lookout for a yoga ball. I am not sure the exercise ball I have had since they first came out is going to hold my weight now. Oh, static weight, sure, but not dynamic weight. And much as it is an anti-burst ball, I still don't want to land flat on my assets while I am in the middle of the sitting something or other pose. I know that there are balls out there that will hold my dynamic weight. I am thinking that will solve the problem of getting my hips in the right position for the sit down portion of the yoga class until I can get up and down off the floor. In the meantime, my son can continue to go ahead and sit on this other ball I have, even though he is getting to be too tall for it.
Well, time to do the old man shuffle back to the kitchen to get myself some breakfast. I am awake now. It's probably more the middle aged out-of-shape woman shuffle now. I am looking forward to being able to do the guess-my-age skip through life. It's coming. I can feel it. :)
Namaste
I have a 40 minute drive home after yoga, during which time my newly awakened muscles like to stiffen up on me. So last night as I did the Tim Conway Old Man Shuffle (exaggerated for effect, of course) through my family room, I asserted to my friend Cheryl that yoga is good for me. We laughed about it. No pain, no gain. And once again, I guess I can't really call it pain. Discomfort maybe. The muscles in my back are what have tightened up today and on a scale of 1 to 10 are probably only really about a 3, so not much pain. Not as much as I am used to feeling. And I have to remember this is first thing in the morning, my back is usually at least this tight when I first get up. I sleep oddly sometimes and my back likes to be very vocal about letting me know that. I can't work on my core in yoga and not feel those muscles in my back.
What surprises me is that the muscles that were yelling at me, unhappy about being wakened during the class were my shoulders. My arms are heavy. Between the pounds of excess fat and the retained water, they are pretty heavy limbs. So my shoulder muscles were working hard to keep my arms in the warrior poses. I thought for sure those ones would be the ones hurting this morning, but nope. The muscles doing the complaining are in my mid and lower back. Good. Get that core woken up! This body has slept for far too long! It's time to wake up, get moving, and make something of itself!!
Another plus from yesterday is that I met my walking goal. I always feel good when I do that. I wasn't meeting it very often over the last 7 weeks while I have been sick with the crud that's going around and around and around. I just simply ran out of breath too quickly. I think I am finally shaking the crud. (knock wood). So now I am not running out of breath so quickly and I can get back to my walking goal too.I love meeting goals!!
Today, not sure how much walking I will get in... I get to sit in meetings all day. But it will be fun. This group of people usually are. And I am going to try really hard to get a good yoga practice in at home. I say that every day and so far the most I have fit in has been some yogic breathing or maybe a few stretches. But after sitting in meetings all day I think I will be doing myself a huge favour by trying to do a whole little session at home, doing the things I remember.
I am on the lookout for a yoga ball. I am not sure the exercise ball I have had since they first came out is going to hold my weight now. Oh, static weight, sure, but not dynamic weight. And much as it is an anti-burst ball, I still don't want to land flat on my assets while I am in the middle of the sitting something or other pose. I know that there are balls out there that will hold my dynamic weight. I am thinking that will solve the problem of getting my hips in the right position for the sit down portion of the yoga class until I can get up and down off the floor. In the meantime, my son can continue to go ahead and sit on this other ball I have, even though he is getting to be too tall for it.
Well, time to do the old man shuffle back to the kitchen to get myself some breakfast. I am awake now. It's probably more the middle aged out-of-shape woman shuffle now. I am looking forward to being able to do the guess-my-age skip through life. It's coming. I can feel it. :)
Namaste
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Surprise!!
I am titling this post Surprise!! Because I surprised both Kris and I in class yesterday by being able to do a whole lot more than I expected. She is awesome at modifying some of the poses so that I can do them and is really working hard to find ways for me to be able to do Yoga. It makes me want to work harder to do it.
So yesterday in class we did a whole lot of stretching, and I felt it pretty quickly after I got home. By bedtime I was feeling every muscle in my body, I am sure. For non yoga reasons, namely congestion from the cold I was fighting, I did not sleep well and I woke up at 2am and was unable to get back to sleep in bed. I was just too congested. So I got up and went to my recliner (also known as my sleeping chair because I fall asleep in it all the time) and I was pretty stiff. I still didn't sleep much once I was in my chair, but the muscle pain went away in all but two muscles. Today I could still feel my left hip and my back, by my shoulder blades.
Kris explained it to me this way. It's not really pain. (She's right) It's more that I am actually feeling a muscle that hasn't been used in a while, if ever. So I am aware of the muscle where I wasn't before. It makes perfect sense to me. I am loving this yoga class and Kris' instruction.
I meant to do some practice today, but I got busy working on some things that needed doing in other areas of my life and forgot all about it. It will take me some practice to get used to adding yoga into my daily routine. I will get there.
So in the meantime I will keep this blog entry short and sweet. My goal is to practice the yoga moves I am learning at home also, twice this week. I believe in those baby steps and I will get there.
Namaste
So yesterday in class we did a whole lot of stretching, and I felt it pretty quickly after I got home. By bedtime I was feeling every muscle in my body, I am sure. For non yoga reasons, namely congestion from the cold I was fighting, I did not sleep well and I woke up at 2am and was unable to get back to sleep in bed. I was just too congested. So I got up and went to my recliner (also known as my sleeping chair because I fall asleep in it all the time) and I was pretty stiff. I still didn't sleep much once I was in my chair, but the muscle pain went away in all but two muscles. Today I could still feel my left hip and my back, by my shoulder blades.
Kris explained it to me this way. It's not really pain. (She's right) It's more that I am actually feeling a muscle that hasn't been used in a while, if ever. So I am aware of the muscle where I wasn't before. It makes perfect sense to me. I am loving this yoga class and Kris' instruction.
I meant to do some practice today, but I got busy working on some things that needed doing in other areas of my life and forgot all about it. It will take me some practice to get used to adding yoga into my daily routine. I will get there.
So in the meantime I will keep this blog entry short and sweet. My goal is to practice the yoga moves I am learning at home also, twice this week. I believe in those baby steps and I will get there.
Namaste
Saturday, February 9, 2013
A New Beginning
Welcome to my new blog. My journey to wellness has been going on for some time now. This is a new beginning after quite a large setback in that journey and I plan to share my experiences as I embark on a new and exciting wellness plan. Along with my wonderful naturopathic team at Alt Med in Black Hawk, SD, I am beginning yoga with Kris Van Deusen at Yoga One in Rapid City. Words can't express how excited I am about the yoga. I really and truly believed that until I dropped some weight I would not be able to participate in yoga. Kris taught me otherwise.
I will begin with a little history. My weight is my main issue and many of my other health conditions are complications of the obesity. I was a "chunky" baby, as my mom used to say. My biological mom was diabetic and the believe after years of research into the situation as an adult, is that I was born with an overabundance of insulin. My bio mom had many insulin reactions while pregnant with me. Added to the situation was the fact that I was carried longer than a diabetic baby should be carried. Something about the baby developing faster than a non-diabetic's baby. 47 years ago in small town Saskatchewan mistakes were made and my mother was waiting on the doctors to tell her when I should be induced, and the doctors figured she should come to them when she was ready... How they expected a 17 year old on her first pregnancy to know when that time was, I am not sure, but that's a question and a story for another time.
Until the age of 7 I was at the high end of normal for my weight/height ratio. So I guess "chunky" is a good word for it. When I was 7 my dad passed away suddenly in an accident and much later in therapy we decided that I suffered from some abandonment issues. I began to put on a little more weight then. I was never an athletic type and preferred reading to any other activity so the extra pounds crept on little by little. By the time I was in junior high school and high school I was heavy enough to be bullied and teased for my weight and that was when I began to seek comfort from my friend, carbohydrates. It was in high school that I began to sneak food. In my senior year I weighed 170 lbs but lost 21 lbs through a very strict diet where I went in daily to weigh in and receive that day's worth of supplements because the diet was so restrictive that i required supplements to get all of my nutrition. I lost 21 lbs and graduated, weighing in at about 150 lbs. On a 5'2 frame that is still pretty heavy.
Then I went to college. Oh, college life... the parties, the alcohol, the poor food choices, the lack of sleep, the stress I placed upon myself with my studies... I ballooned up past 200 lbs that first year. And then it began. A consistent weight gain over the years. It was only a couple pounds a month, so hardly noticeable at the time. Until I finally stepped on a scale again in my late 30's and discovered that what I thought might be 260 lbs on my body was over 300. That was when I decided I had to start making changes. I was still healthy for the most part. I had developed asthma and an emotional disorder which were both controlled with medication. I sought out a life skills coach who helped me to become aware of things I was stuffing away and to become aware of my lifestyle and my choices. I made huge progress in my area but the weight alluded me. Doctors were stumped. I had changed my way of eating and it wasn't perfect, but it was far better than it had been. Tests for thyroid issues came back normal. All my tests came back normal. My doctor once told me that on paper I shouldn't be overweight. I had spent time in therapy and dealt with the abandonment issues and some abuse issues that took place during my college years. I healed emotionally so that I was able to go off of those medications. My life skills coach was wonderful and helped me so much during that time.
I met my husband in this time period and although I tried to drop weight before the wedding, like most brides do, I didn't have a lot of success with it. We married when I was 38 and with him being an American and me being Canadian I went through the immigration process to join him. It took two years. During that time I continued to work and my weight was beginning to make things difficult for me, though not impossible. During that last winter in Canada I slipped on some ice leaving work one night and hyperextended both knees. Since then I have had issues with my knees and what little walking I did became less because it hurt if my knees were acting up.
I finally had enough and began to work with the team at Alt Med in Black Hawk when I was 43. With their help I managed to heal my lungs so that I no longer had issues with asthma. But I learned what some of the other health problems were. My liver was overtaxed and not functioning properly. Some chest pain that I often got off and on and doctors would tell me was an inflammation of my chest wall actually was an inflammation in the endocardium (wall of the heart). They told me that my body wasn't letting go of the weight because it wasn't healthy enough to yet. But we would get there. Then we got kids.
Ny weight kept me from conceiving, so my husband and I decided to foster and adopt. Because of my experience working with adults and children with developmental disabilities and abnormal behaviours we decided to foster and adopt a therapeutic child, one who has a need for continued therapy at home as well as with a therapist. Jesse joined us at the age of 12 and the stress increased immensely. And my weight started to increase too. All that time I had continued to hover around the 300-320 weight, losing and gaining the same 20 lbs over and over. Then I climbed to 360 lbs. Then 380. I started to really focus on weight loss and again lost and gained the same 20 lbs over and over. After Jesse's adoption two years later, things were going very well. We decided in 2010 to try working with his biological sister and see if the two could be reunited. Jesse's sister joined our family in the early spring of 2011. Things did not work out. The stress in the house increased so that we all were ill all the time. Mine was worst. I caught every flu bug going that year. I was ill with the avian flu, followed closely by the swing flu, followed by a flu bug in my trapezoid muscle (and if you don't know how much you use that muscle, I can tell you, it is used in just about every move you make... the pain and stiffness was so bad I was pretty much paralyzed by it for two weeks). Then I got a relapse of both the avian flu and the swine flu. I was just coming out of all of that when, in October, a good friend of the family committed suicide. The foster placement with Jesse's sister disrupted in early November. And I stepped on the scale and weighed over 400 lbs. I was crushed. I asked my naturopath why when everyone else is sick with the flu they lose weight, but I gained. He did some tests and found that my body was completely depleted of iodine. Apparently the immune system also uses iodine and when it ran out of its stores, it took from the thyroid, throwing me effectively into a hypothyroid state. So I am on iodine supplements all the time now. I was just starting to feel good again when my worst nightmare came true. My mom passed away in December.
2012 was a very emotional year for me. I managed to hold my own with my weight, neither gaining any more nor losing. I started a walking program, adopting what I call "the baby steps" mantra. In the past I would go gung ho for exercise and do too much too fast, get sore and have to stop and then not get motivated to go again. This time I started slowly, walking around my house. I increased my time weekly by one minute each week. Soon I was walking for half an hour. When spring came I started walking outside and began to measure my walks in distance. Then I found an app for my phone that has a wonderful pedometer on it and I started measuring by steps and distance. I had a set back in September when I tripped and fell, doing soft tissue damage to my leg and damaging the lymphatic system in that leg. Edema is a huge issue for me and the walking had started to get that under control. With this damage it came back, I became sedentary while it healed, and have only just started getting back to where I was at before the injury. Over Christmas I decided to just let myself have what I wanted. It was the comfort thing, having just come through the first anniversary of my mom's passing. I gained 5 lbs over Christmas.
So far this year, my whole family has been ill with the cold viruses, passing them back and forth despite our attempts to keep them at bay. I am finally feeling better and Kris' suggestion couldn't have come at a better time.
I met Kris in 2010 through work. I quit the job shortly into it when we decided we would try to foster Jesse's sister. When Kris contacted me about a yoga group she would like to start for larger women, I was thrilled, but knowing my limitations, I didn't think I could participate well doing yoga. She read my story and suggested independent lessons. I jumped at the chance and here we are.
Yesterday was my first yoga class with Kris. She is so easy to work with and is willing to go with the baby step mantra that I follow. She truly cares and wants to help people. I feel so blessed and I know that our short "business" relationship was there so that she could be a part of my healing journey when the time was right. That time is now. God and the Universe is so wise!!
I didn't know what to expect, but Kris worked with me on what I could do. We discovered that my upper body is still pretty flexible and we did breathing and some stretches. I stiffened up a few hours later and thought I would be in for it this morning, but you know, I feel pretty good. I felt wonderful immediately after the class and I am thrilled that I don't have the pain I expected this morning. Don't get me wrong, I feel it. I know that those gentle stretches worked my arms, back, shoulders and even my legs (despite sitting the whole time, my legs do feel it). I have some stiffness in those muscles but not to the point where I am unable to move today. I am so looking forward to all the little milestones I am going to reach with Yoga. And I look forward to sharing each and every one of them here with you.
Namaste
I will begin with a little history. My weight is my main issue and many of my other health conditions are complications of the obesity. I was a "chunky" baby, as my mom used to say. My biological mom was diabetic and the believe after years of research into the situation as an adult, is that I was born with an overabundance of insulin. My bio mom had many insulin reactions while pregnant with me. Added to the situation was the fact that I was carried longer than a diabetic baby should be carried. Something about the baby developing faster than a non-diabetic's baby. 47 years ago in small town Saskatchewan mistakes were made and my mother was waiting on the doctors to tell her when I should be induced, and the doctors figured she should come to them when she was ready... How they expected a 17 year old on her first pregnancy to know when that time was, I am not sure, but that's a question and a story for another time.
Until the age of 7 I was at the high end of normal for my weight/height ratio. So I guess "chunky" is a good word for it. When I was 7 my dad passed away suddenly in an accident and much later in therapy we decided that I suffered from some abandonment issues. I began to put on a little more weight then. I was never an athletic type and preferred reading to any other activity so the extra pounds crept on little by little. By the time I was in junior high school and high school I was heavy enough to be bullied and teased for my weight and that was when I began to seek comfort from my friend, carbohydrates. It was in high school that I began to sneak food. In my senior year I weighed 170 lbs but lost 21 lbs through a very strict diet where I went in daily to weigh in and receive that day's worth of supplements because the diet was so restrictive that i required supplements to get all of my nutrition. I lost 21 lbs and graduated, weighing in at about 150 lbs. On a 5'2 frame that is still pretty heavy.
Then I went to college. Oh, college life... the parties, the alcohol, the poor food choices, the lack of sleep, the stress I placed upon myself with my studies... I ballooned up past 200 lbs that first year. And then it began. A consistent weight gain over the years. It was only a couple pounds a month, so hardly noticeable at the time. Until I finally stepped on a scale again in my late 30's and discovered that what I thought might be 260 lbs on my body was over 300. That was when I decided I had to start making changes. I was still healthy for the most part. I had developed asthma and an emotional disorder which were both controlled with medication. I sought out a life skills coach who helped me to become aware of things I was stuffing away and to become aware of my lifestyle and my choices. I made huge progress in my area but the weight alluded me. Doctors were stumped. I had changed my way of eating and it wasn't perfect, but it was far better than it had been. Tests for thyroid issues came back normal. All my tests came back normal. My doctor once told me that on paper I shouldn't be overweight. I had spent time in therapy and dealt with the abandonment issues and some abuse issues that took place during my college years. I healed emotionally so that I was able to go off of those medications. My life skills coach was wonderful and helped me so much during that time.
I met my husband in this time period and although I tried to drop weight before the wedding, like most brides do, I didn't have a lot of success with it. We married when I was 38 and with him being an American and me being Canadian I went through the immigration process to join him. It took two years. During that time I continued to work and my weight was beginning to make things difficult for me, though not impossible. During that last winter in Canada I slipped on some ice leaving work one night and hyperextended both knees. Since then I have had issues with my knees and what little walking I did became less because it hurt if my knees were acting up.
I finally had enough and began to work with the team at Alt Med in Black Hawk when I was 43. With their help I managed to heal my lungs so that I no longer had issues with asthma. But I learned what some of the other health problems were. My liver was overtaxed and not functioning properly. Some chest pain that I often got off and on and doctors would tell me was an inflammation of my chest wall actually was an inflammation in the endocardium (wall of the heart). They told me that my body wasn't letting go of the weight because it wasn't healthy enough to yet. But we would get there. Then we got kids.
Ny weight kept me from conceiving, so my husband and I decided to foster and adopt. Because of my experience working with adults and children with developmental disabilities and abnormal behaviours we decided to foster and adopt a therapeutic child, one who has a need for continued therapy at home as well as with a therapist. Jesse joined us at the age of 12 and the stress increased immensely. And my weight started to increase too. All that time I had continued to hover around the 300-320 weight, losing and gaining the same 20 lbs over and over. Then I climbed to 360 lbs. Then 380. I started to really focus on weight loss and again lost and gained the same 20 lbs over and over. After Jesse's adoption two years later, things were going very well. We decided in 2010 to try working with his biological sister and see if the two could be reunited. Jesse's sister joined our family in the early spring of 2011. Things did not work out. The stress in the house increased so that we all were ill all the time. Mine was worst. I caught every flu bug going that year. I was ill with the avian flu, followed closely by the swing flu, followed by a flu bug in my trapezoid muscle (and if you don't know how much you use that muscle, I can tell you, it is used in just about every move you make... the pain and stiffness was so bad I was pretty much paralyzed by it for two weeks). Then I got a relapse of both the avian flu and the swine flu. I was just coming out of all of that when, in October, a good friend of the family committed suicide. The foster placement with Jesse's sister disrupted in early November. And I stepped on the scale and weighed over 400 lbs. I was crushed. I asked my naturopath why when everyone else is sick with the flu they lose weight, but I gained. He did some tests and found that my body was completely depleted of iodine. Apparently the immune system also uses iodine and when it ran out of its stores, it took from the thyroid, throwing me effectively into a hypothyroid state. So I am on iodine supplements all the time now. I was just starting to feel good again when my worst nightmare came true. My mom passed away in December.
2012 was a very emotional year for me. I managed to hold my own with my weight, neither gaining any more nor losing. I started a walking program, adopting what I call "the baby steps" mantra. In the past I would go gung ho for exercise and do too much too fast, get sore and have to stop and then not get motivated to go again. This time I started slowly, walking around my house. I increased my time weekly by one minute each week. Soon I was walking for half an hour. When spring came I started walking outside and began to measure my walks in distance. Then I found an app for my phone that has a wonderful pedometer on it and I started measuring by steps and distance. I had a set back in September when I tripped and fell, doing soft tissue damage to my leg and damaging the lymphatic system in that leg. Edema is a huge issue for me and the walking had started to get that under control. With this damage it came back, I became sedentary while it healed, and have only just started getting back to where I was at before the injury. Over Christmas I decided to just let myself have what I wanted. It was the comfort thing, having just come through the first anniversary of my mom's passing. I gained 5 lbs over Christmas.
So far this year, my whole family has been ill with the cold viruses, passing them back and forth despite our attempts to keep them at bay. I am finally feeling better and Kris' suggestion couldn't have come at a better time.
I met Kris in 2010 through work. I quit the job shortly into it when we decided we would try to foster Jesse's sister. When Kris contacted me about a yoga group she would like to start for larger women, I was thrilled, but knowing my limitations, I didn't think I could participate well doing yoga. She read my story and suggested independent lessons. I jumped at the chance and here we are.
Yesterday was my first yoga class with Kris. She is so easy to work with and is willing to go with the baby step mantra that I follow. She truly cares and wants to help people. I feel so blessed and I know that our short "business" relationship was there so that she could be a part of my healing journey when the time was right. That time is now. God and the Universe is so wise!!
I didn't know what to expect, but Kris worked with me on what I could do. We discovered that my upper body is still pretty flexible and we did breathing and some stretches. I stiffened up a few hours later and thought I would be in for it this morning, but you know, I feel pretty good. I felt wonderful immediately after the class and I am thrilled that I don't have the pain I expected this morning. Don't get me wrong, I feel it. I know that those gentle stretches worked my arms, back, shoulders and even my legs (despite sitting the whole time, my legs do feel it). I have some stiffness in those muscles but not to the point where I am unable to move today. I am so looking forward to all the little milestones I am going to reach with Yoga. And I look forward to sharing each and every one of them here with you.
Namaste
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