A new beginning in life 12/29/17

I started my new focus on me yesterday...

My caregiving years ended this year - a blessing for both me and for Mum who is now gloriously happy and free and truly herself once more.  I am 71 years old - hard to imagine when I feel like I am 18!!!  I am in good health and on no medications.  I eat a healthy mostly organic diet with some meat. 

Now I am focusing on regaining me.  I have not exercised regularly in five years and am in the worst shape I have ever been in.  So I am being loving to  myself and starting slowly and easily.  I want this to be a fun journey and I want to be proud of my body once more.

So I am going to keep track of my progress here because I love to write and because it is part of my purpose to be aware of what I am doing for me.

I am incorporating all kinds of elements into this journey for me.  I have decided to turn the master bedroom on the main floor into an exercise palace rather than move into Mum's old room right now.  I don't need to have a big guest room because I don't get guests often enough to warrant saving that much space for them.  I can manage that in the front room which is now my study, breakfast and lunch room but has a love seat that makes into a comfortable single bed.  It has been tried out successsfully I am happy to say.

So my plans for a king size bed in the master bedroom are toast.  Instead I have moved my mini trampoline down there and my exercise mats.  I moved my weights in there too.  Once the christmas tree comes down and I can move the extra furniture into the living room again - I can finish my love my body room.  I put two mirrors in there and think I will add many more - the cheap ones from Walmart... just so I can see what I am doing and watch my body improve itself!!

So - yesterday I began.  First I did a pull up on the pull up bar.  Now you have to understand that I am not doing a chin up...  maybe in the future.  For right now - I hang bending my knees so that my entire body is stretched out - and when I feel fully stretched then I pull my body off the floor and up just a fraction.  I did not think much of this accomplishment until a month ago when I found out that a much youmger friend of mine could not do that at all.  So now I am feeling pretty accomplished that I can!!  then I did about 10 minutes just easily bouncing on the bouncer - being aware of my posture.  I threw my feet up the wall for another 10 minutes or so and did the 90 degrees apart leg exercise... just stretching and I lifted my butt of the floor 10 times using my stomach muscles sliding my feet up the wall.  I put on an exercise program - a gilead? one and did the first 10 minutes of that as well.  very aerobic and so happy I could keep up with them.  I also did a plank that I held for 20 seconds.

And now today...  12/29/17 - Friday

Once again I started  with my pull up.  I have the bar in the laundry room door which accomplishes two things.  I can use it easily whenever I want and it stops the door from closing so the dog does not get stuck in there.  Again I focused on just letting my whole body hang and stretch out completely.  And then I did my pull up - I pulled myself up as much as I could and held it for a slow count of ten - more or less 10 seconds...  and then I moved on to the bouncer - 15 minutes today - still easy bouncing.  I maintained a good posture  and read my book.  It felt good and I imagined healing energies flooding my body - as I brought my cells into alignment with my higher self.  Next it was legs up the wall same as yesterday - with the same exercises.  then I did a few weight exercises for my arms using the 4 pound weights.  I will have to get a set of 8 pounds as I get stronger.  And I have the 80s music channel on so I did some dancing to that.

I am also studying astrology and thinking about teaching a class in basic astrology possibly via the internet as  a friend of mine out of state wants to be included.  So my mind is also playing with that.  I also teach belly dancing at the local senior center.  I have not yet added dancing seriously back into my schedule.  This is a slow climb for me mentally physically and spiritually.  I am just so happy that I can even start my focus on me you have no idea.

I did some of my regular floor exercises to support my back...including leg raises and scissors and exercises to relax the psoas muscle, some legs twisting to the side and a bridge with pelvic pulses to work buttocks stomach and thighs.   And I did my one plank held for 30 seconds...phew.  but it feels so good to be doing thjs for my body. 

and now that my  one of my best friends figured out how too hook up the DVD player I can play my DVDs and of course I chose the belly dancing one.   Boy do I have work to do but it felt wonderful focusing on all those movements.  Time to build up that flexibility and control and stamina!! But....I could do the movements  all of them.. well except the reverse belly roll...that is a challenge because I did not learn that one years ago.   What a trip!!  Intense concentration and I brought those two mirrors out of the exercise palace into the living room...or is that my dance palace...?  so that I can see what I am doing.  Tomorrow I will dress the part...and have even nore fun!!  I am so loving the me that I am and the me I am becoming! !  Life is so good!!

And I took my green drink and next are my vitamins.  I did not do too well with my water but tbat is okay.  Tomorow I will do better...  develop new habits one day at a time!!