I’m struggling to figure out how to keep myself sufficiently active these days. I have a new, intellectually stimulating job that I’m generally really happy with. But it’s working from home, and although you just can’t beat the commute, I find myself far less active than I was in my previous university administration job.
I can’t say I actually miss the 5 flights of stairs I walked up each morning going into work, but I kind of do miss the energy of rushing myself out the door and up to my office for the start of the day.
I get that I have the power within me to go for a start-of-day walk to get me going, but oh my gosh, when I’m learning a WHOLE bunch of stuff for an intense job, I really have been wanting to take advantage of that extra time in my day for sleep or just getting to my desk early.
Sigh.
Last month I wrote asking for suggestions for how to keep active while working from home and I got some great advice – thanks! It boiled down to self-discipline though in some ways.
That is an ongoing challenge for me, in terms of exercise (see: Wait, I Like Exercising?) However, I also am thinking I need to give myself a little space here. I have been at my new job 6 weeks now, and although it’s awesome it’s A LOT. I am back in a career (claims adjusting) I haven’t done in almost 20 years, and I am handling complex commercial losses that are far outside of the kind of work I did previously. Honestly, it’s cool. But it’s also intellectually demanding.
How I feel after a long day reading policies and claims
Maybe I just need to let my brain be my exercise for a month or so? I don’t think that I want a sedentary lifestyle long term, but perhaps it’s ok for a short term? I have been taking time in the day to meditate pretty often. I need it.
I will say, I also have continued to go to weekly yoga at my former workplace. I even got my own yoga mat (thanks colleagues who loaned me theirs!). Even though it’s only once a week, it’s made a HUGE difference to my comfort in my hips. Ideally I would like to be doing that twice a week, but the course teacher only teaches once a week.
At least, though, the yoga helps with my hips and my physical balance. I just walk so few steps in a day…
Of course the other thing that is stealing all the free time I might have had for aquafit and dog walking is my KIDS. It is the end of the year music season for them, and as high school kids they have had SO MANY activities to be driven to and from, and also witnessed. My husband and I share that work, but ultimately it’s really interrupted any sense of rhythm I can develop in my new life.
So that’s me this month: not super active and feeling concerned about needing more balance. Your advice last month was great! How have you worked through crunch times in your life?
What a month it has been for me! I have had some changes in my personal life, and my post this month is seeking some advice about staying active. Here’s the story.
About 6 months ago I started a new job as a university administrator. I had been teaching post-secondary courses by contract for some time and wanted more work stability. My new role was also contract, but promised to open up permanent opportunities within the institution. By February I had identified a couple of potential job options, but in the midst of this new job search, I rather unexpectedly came upon an option in insurance, a field I used to work in.
It’s not what I thought I was looking for, but as of two weeks ago, I am happily an insurance adjuster again. I’m also working from home full time, and that is totally throwing me for a loop. Gone is my morning climb up five flights of stairs at the university. Also gone is a lot of my human interaction, and the approximately 5,000 steps that were a part of my experience across campus.
For the first 2.5 years of the COVID pandemic I taught from home, but working a fulltime desk job from home is an entirely different experience. I am realizing that unless I consciously plan for activity, I may be very sedentary, not something my hips or any other part of me needs.
After a long and tiring day – a very comfortable one because I was loosened up from yoga!
Happily, I am able to keep attending the weekly yoga class at my former workplace, because I am maintaining a very part-time role with them (read about it here: This month’s newness – yoga). I have been back to yoga every week since I started my new job and OHMYGOSH after being stiff from too little movement, the yoga has been a dream! I have found that a single weekly class is making me so much more comfortable. I’m also thrilled that I made it back to the pool for deep water aquafit and even though it has been 6 months I felt great.
This is making it clear to me that I need to develop an activity schedule, something I don’t really love. As I write this I’m in Toronto watching the Toronto Maple Leafs trounce my Carolina Hurricanes. I spent the day walking the city with my teenage son, and although tired I feel great. I am already walking my dog every day, but I clearly need something more defined.
I am curious – if you work from home, or otherwise have a very inactive job, how do you deal with it? I have tried a little morning yoga, but as a newbie it’s daunting. I would love suggestions on keeping limber and healthy!
Last week, my upper back was tight and I tried a new (to me) video from Heart and Bones Yoga. While the movements were similar to many upper body yoga videos I have done in the past, this one included a small tweak that made a big difference for me.
The instructor was leading us through one set of seated twists and invited us to place our hand on the front of our waists and try the twists again.
The tweak in this twist? We were supposed to keep our hand facing forward and try to just turn from the ribs upwards. (She explains it better in the video but stick with me.)
A video from the Heart and Bones Yoga YouTube channel entitled ‘Yoga for the Thoracic Spine.’ The still image shows the instructor in exercise clothes doing a forward lunge on a blue yoga mat in a light coloured room. Their left leg is in front and their right leg is extended behind. The instructor’s left forearm is resting on their left knee while their right arm is extended forward. They are looking downward.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!
I thought that the untweaked twist felt pretty good but when I modified my movement as she suggested it totally changed the nature of the stretch. It felt purposeful, targeted, and it was absolutely terrific.
I swear that small change made my rhomboid muscles feel better than they have in ages.
I have been practicing that tweaked twist in my chair, while waiting for the kettle to boil, and while brushing my teeth and I think it has helped a lot.
Your mileage may vary, of course, but if your upper back is tight, why not give it a whirl? (Report back! Please!)
PS – If you have always done twists with that kind of alignment, I’m jealous. I have never picked up on that specific alignment cue before. But, since she included it in her video, I guess it must be a common-enough thing.
I have to say, every month as I settle in to write my blog post, I realize I am about to write about something that might seem totally unremarkable to many of our blog readers. I am, in fact, a work in progress when it comes to my relationship with activity, and with my body. I have written before about my mixed-relationship with exercise.
The truth is, I really value my monthly post here, for the opportunity to reflect. Since I was a never “good at sports,” I pretty much avoided using my body when I could. When I did use it, it was either painful physically or the experience challenged my self-confidence emotionally. So THANK YOU to Sam and Tracy for creating this space, and making it an inclusive one where people like me can share our less-than-glorious experiences with sport.
Like many middle-aged, white women, I have heard about the wonders of yoga for a long time. Years ago I went to a few classes and got entirely overwhelmed by them. I wasn’t so wise then, and set myself up for failure by going to drop in classes where I was WAY out of my depth. And I gave up.
But last week, I went to a yoga class at my workplace. My employer provides the class and my colleagues were very encouraging with gentle invitations for a few weeks. So I got brave and went. My workplace has been quite stressful for me, and I thought if nothing else I would lay on the mat and breathe.
This is me back at my desk after yoga – sweaty, relaxed and smiling!
Well, let me tell you readers, that is NOT what I did. In fact, I did all the moves. I kind of rocked it, at least in my head 😊. I definitely wobbled a whole bunch and more than once looked up and realized I was bending when I was meant to be standing or something… but still. I managed to plank a bit. I downward-dogged along with everyone. I child-posed when I needed to. I even lizard-ed. I LOVED IT.
I have talked about my hip surgeries before – I’ve had 2 repairs in 3 years. This was quite a moment of excitement for me – my hips were a little sore afterwards, but now 4 days later I can say that they are totally fine. WOW. And it was fun. The teacher was kind and encouraging of everyone to go at their own pace.
So, as soon as I got back to my desk, I signed up for next week’s class. And I intend to be back every week that it’s running. I hope I can find the teacher off-campus and maybe attend another of her classes. Me at yoga? Wow.
Here we are at the last day of 2022, the last day of December, the last day of my Making Space posts.
I hope that you have found these posts useful and that you have found your own ways to make space for yourselves in your days this month. I also hope that you have found (or are starting to find) ways to continue making space for yourselves in the days that follow.
And speaking of the days that follow – tomorrow, I start a series of ‘Go Team!’ posts that encourage you to be kind to yourself as you figure out the habits, systems, and practices you want to take on in the year ahead.
But before we get to that, I have one more thing to say about creating space for your future self and it goes like this:
New Year’s Day may be a symbolic time to start but you can add new ideas, habits and practices to your life at ANY TIME.
And, you can create your own symbolism or meaning around the time that you choose.
For example, even though I like the symbolism of starting new practices in a new year, I had a bit of sideways December so I couldn’t give a lot of thought to things I wanted to do in 2023.
Instead of putting pressure on myself to find time to focus on that, I decided to let December be what it was and that I would figure out what 2023 would look like once it arrived.
Or, to put it another way, I’m choosing to have Planuary instead of January.
By labelling next month as Planuary, I have given it a shape. I’m not going in without a plan and hoping things will just happen – that would never work for my ADHD brain. Instead, I’m planning to spend January figuring out what my plans could be.
And I’m inviting you to create space for your future self by doing something similar.
If you WANT to start something new sometime soon, you don’t have to come roaring out of the gate tomorrow. You can decide on your own terms and your own timeline when and how you want to get started.
You can plan to plan in Planuary.
You can write one thing on an index card and do that until you get bored with it.
You can make a giant list and a big chart and have a grand time with it (as long as you aren’t going to be mean to yourself if you have to change your plan – I can’t get behind that)
You can choose to just keep doing what you have been doing all along but add in the plan to be kinder to yourself in the process (THAT I can full endorse.)
Basically, I want to encourage you to give yourself the space to do things in your own way on your own schedule.
Your tomorrow-self doesn’t need to have it all figured out and doesn’t have to have the perfect plan.
Please be kind to yourself as you make space for future you to develop, expand, and think up cool and fun things to do.
NOTE:Have you ever seen DSri Seah’s Groundhog Day Resolutions monthly personal review system? It’s a cool way that they developed to check in with their resolutions and projects all year long. I love how they worked out a system that works for them without getting caught up in when things *should* be done during the year.
Here are our final videos for the Making Space series. At first I was looking for new year/end of year themed videos but there was such a variation in tone from video to video that I didn’t want to choose something that would be irksome. So, instead, I chose videos for calm and for energy/feeling good – I figured those could be most helpful.
I also chose a yoga video AND a cardio video so you could decide if you wanted to see the year out in a low-key way or in a burst of movement.
Whether you do these videos or do your own thing, I wish you ease, energy and lots of space for yourself as 2022 becomes 2023.
See you tomorrow for our first Go Team! post for 2023.
A video from the Yoga with Kassandra YouTube channel entitled ‘10 Min Morning Yoga for Calm. The still image features the instructor in light brown exercise clothing standing with her legs wide apart and her upper body folds forward toward the camera so she can touch her mat with the palms of her hands and her ponytail has flopped forward towards her mat. Text reading ‘10 Min Morning Yoga’ is overlaid on the upper left side of the image.
A PopSugar Fitness 10 Minute Feel-Good Cardio Workout with Deja Riley. The still image features the instructor standing in a white-walled studio with her arms in the air in a joyful sort of celebratory gesture (that is probably just part of an exercise movement but she looks celebratory to me.)
Another 5 Minute Mindful Meditation for Calm from the Great Meditations YouTube channel (I have really become a fan of that channel during this series!) The still age features light brown text reading ‘Calm 5 Minute guided meditation’ and a cartoon image of a person sitting in meditation with their arms, bent at the elbow, outstretched slightly to the sides in a welcoming or accepting gesture. Behind their head is either their long hair streaming upwards or a thought balloon that contains symbols of thoughts – question marks, ellipses, hearts, emojis etc. and behind their body there are symbols of tangible items like a clock, some gears, and the leaves of a plant.
About Making Space 2022
In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating. Last year, it was my turn and after an introductory Go Team post called Give Yourself Some Space, I created a series of reminders called ‘Making Space‘ that offered a suggested short exercise video and a suggested meditation in case you needed an easy way to find space for yourself in your schedule.
For 2022, I’ll be doing the same thing but I’ll also be including a link to Martha’s post from the same date in 2020 and I’ll offer a few extra ideas for relaxation, creativity, and self-kindness here and there.
These posts are not about insisting that you do more, more, more during this busy season. Instead, I want to encourage you to remember that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need in the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day.
I have to tell you that it made me VERY happy to find a short yoga video about creating space to include today. The video, of course, is about creating a feeling of space in your body and my advice tends to be about creating a feeling of space in your mind but, since we are all very wise and sage people, we know that that distinction is arbitrary, don’t we?
(If we were talking in person right now, I would be giving you an exaggerated wink so you’d know that I, too, know that while the difference is fairly arbitrary it doesn’t always FEEL that way. I do think that we are all wise and sage though, even when we feel foolish.)
ANYWAY!
For these last few days of December, I have been inviting you to consider ways to make space for your future self – even as you use self-kindness to make space for your current self.
NOTE: If you are just here for the videos, please scroll on down. I’m about to get chatty.
Today, I want you to think about how to make some mental space for future you by removing or changing a recurring hassle . That is, figuring out ONE small annoyance or frustration you can remove for your future self.
I’m thinking about things like the basket in the corner that is not *quite* big enough for the things you want to store in it so things keep falling out.
Or about the fact that your measuring cups are on a shelf that’s a bit too high for you to easily reach so you end up either making do with a regular cup or you take down all the measuring cups and then leave them on the counter.
Or the fact that everyone in the office keeps asking *you* for the same piece of information (a phone number/copier code/person’s name) over and over because they can’t seem to remember it.
Or the fact that something needs its batteries charged or that there’s a branch that makes a weird noise against the house when the wind blows a certain way or the fact that there is nowhere to lay your keys down near your front door so you end up misplacing them on the regular.
I don’t know what kind of recurring hassles take up your mental space but these kinds of low-key hassles end up occupying a lot of my mental real-estate – both in the moment and whenever they cross my mind.
But the thing is, those are the kinds of hassles that often don’t get dealt with because they seem like they shouldn’t be a big deal or that they aren’t worth the effort to fix or that they wouldn’t be a problem if we ”just” did…whatever thing that we clearly have trouble doing.
But it IS worth dealing with these things if they free up your mental space.
You have enough things that you *have* to think about without letting this stuff crowd its way in, too.
You don’t have to deal with every hassle at once though.
Today, I’m inviting you to just consider one thing, whatever pops into your mind first, and then make a plan to take care of it.
Get a bigger basket or store some of the things elsewhere. Find a new spot for your measuring cups. Write down the number or the code or the name. Charge the batteries. Cut the branch. Get a hook for your keys.
If you can’t enact your plan right away, schedule a time when you will take care of it.
Knowing that you have a plan and a schedule will immediately create some room in your brain because you will be able to stop asking yourself when you are going to take care of the thing and you will stop admonishing yourself for not having taken care of it yet.
By the way, if this is a thing you have been meaning to get to for a while but you just couldn’t do it, please be EXTRA kind to yourself if it ends up only taking a few minutes. Yes, the task was small but the obstacle was large and hard things are hard – being mean to yourself in the process doesn’t make them any easier.
If you have multiple things to take care of but none of them have a deadline and none of them seem obviously more urgent than the others, pick the one that is first alphabetically or the one that will make the most visible difference. When there is no obvious place to start, it doesn’t really matter WHERE you start, it only matters that you start somewhere.
This is about reclaiming some of your own mental space for your future self. You don’t have to pick big things, you don’t have to pick obvious things, you only have to pick things that matter to your current self and your future self.
And, as always, I wish you ease in the process.
⭐ <<<<This is for your efforts in figuring this out.
A video from the Yoginimelbourne YouTube channel entitled ‘Create Space 7min yoga flow’ and the still image features the instructor from the waist up, leaning their upper body and outstretched arms to her right while looking upwards to the left. They are indoors and the leaves of a houseplant can be seen on the lower left while the video title appears in black on the upper right.
The yoga video about creating space made me happy but so did the fact that this meditation video is specifically about breathing space. SPACE! We all deserve a bit more in the places where we want and need it.
A video from Teik Yen Ko’s YouTube channel entitled ‘Mindfulness Meditation: 3 Minute Breathing Space’ by Professor Mark Williams from the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. The still image features the light green cover of a book by Mark Williams called ‘Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World’ and the image on the cover is the silhouette of a city skyline reflected in a body of water.
About Making Space 2022
In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating. Last year, it was my turn and after an introductory Go Team post called Give Yourself Some Space, I created a series of reminders called ‘Making Space‘ that offered a suggested short exercise video and a suggested meditation in case you needed an easy way to find space for yourself in your schedule.
For 2022, I’ll be doing the same thing but I’ll also be including a link to Martha’s post from the same date in 2020 and I’ll offer a few extra ideas for relaxation, creativity, and self-kindness here and there.
These posts are not about insisting that you do more, more, more during this busy season. Instead, I want to encourage you to remember that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need in the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day.
Today seems like a great day for some restful self care.
Hmm, that’s misleading. I think EVERY day is a good day for restful self-care, and active self-care, and, well, any kind of self-care at all, really.
ANYWAY, on to my point…
We are just a few days from the end of the year, and a few days from the end of a busy month. Instead of thinking in terms of getting more done or cramming more things into our day/week/month/year, I’d like us to be thinking about how to take things slowly, how to ease forward.
And, of course, I’d like us all to be kind to ourselves while we do that. 🌟💚
Here are two videos to help us to be kind and loving towards ourselves as we take things as slowly as we can.
PS – Martha’s delightful 2020 Wellness Calendar posts ended with a round-up post on December 26, 2020. So I am flying solo from here on in.
Jessamine Stanley’s 8-Minute Yoga for Self-Love from the Health Magazine YouTube channel. Still image features the instructor sitting on her left hip and using her left arm to support while herself while the sole of her right foot is on the mat, right knee is bent, and her right elbow rests on her right knee. She is dressed in pink/flowered exercise clothes and is on a pink yoga mat.
Loving Kindness Meditation 5 Minutes with Sharon Salzberg from the FitMind YouTube channel. Still image shows Salzberg (who has shoulder length blond hair and dark-framed glasses and is wearing a purple bottom up shirt) speaking into a microphone. On the left side of the image is text reading ‘Loving Kindness Meditation.’
About Making Space 2022
About Making Space 2022
In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating. Last year, it was my turn and after an introductory Go Team post called Give Yourself Some Space, I created a series of reminders called ‘Making Space‘ that offered a suggested short exercise video and a suggested meditation in case you needed an easy way to find space for yourself in your schedule.
For 2022, I’ll be doing the same thing but I’ll also be including a link to Martha’s post from the same date in 2020 and I’ll offer a few extra ideas for relaxation, creativity, and self-kindness here and there.
These posts are not about insisting that you do more, more, more during this busy season. Instead, I want to encourage you to remember that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need in the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day.
In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 is the Winter Solstice – the 24 hour period with the least daylight in the year. After today, things start to get a little brighter day by day.
It’s kind of like when you know the most challenging part of something is almost over and there is some ease ahead. At this point, you have to keep putting one metaphorical foot in front of the other and you will get through.
One December 21, 2020, Martha was inviting us to Embrace the Light – not only to be hopeful about the fact that there will soon be more hours of sunlight but to look for other sources of light in your life to help lift your spirits.
That’s some really great advice from Martha. Not only can we take action to bring more literal light – candles, lamps, strings of coloured lights or whathaveyou – we can also look for things that lighten our spirits – friends, family, treasured memories, enjoyable pastimes- and make them part of our days.
So, if you can, try to create some space around those ideas today: What brings light into your life? How can you stay connected to those things, those people, those activities, throughout the year?
However you decide to embrace light today, I wish you ease and peace of mind.
I hope you can be kind to yourself as you move through your day.
May you have the space and the light that you need.
My sister Denise likes to greet the sun on the winter solstice. This is her photo from December 2021. Image description: A photo of the sun rising over a distant hill on a winter morning. In the foreground are the silhouettes of large evergreen trees and in the middle ground are streets lined with houses and other buildings. There is a light dusting of snow here and there throughout the photo.
Some people who practice yoga regularly like to greet changes in season (such as the solstice) by doing 108 sun salutations. If you are more casual with your yoga practice, 108 might be a bit much for you but perhaps you might enjoy welcoming the light’s return by doing a shorter version of the practice. I have found two videos you might like, a 10 minute practice from Yoga with Adriene and a chair yoga practice from Donna Freeman.
For our meditation today, I have three things for you to choose from. The first is a slow, breath-focused practice, and the other two are opportunities for reflection rather than guided meditations.
A 10 Minute Sun Salutation Practice video from Yoga with Adriene. The still image shows a blue panel on the left with white text reading ’30 Days of Yoga’, on the right, Adriene is doing a low lunge on a pink yoga mat that is resting on a brown wooden floor.
A video from the Donna Freeman YouTube channel entitled ‘Chair Yoga Sun Salutations: Two Ways.’ The still image shows the instructor facing to the left while sitting on a kitchen chair in a home studio space that features a large painting of a daisy hanging on the back wall. The instructor is at the edge of the chair with their legs extended in front of them (touching the floor), and their arms extended overhead and forwards. Their upper body is leaned forward slightly.
A Winter Solstice Guided Meditation 2022 from Jenna Goldman’s YouTube channel. The still image is divided horizontally with a black and white photo at the top that shows darkness between two outcroppings of light-coloured rock. The bottom image is of the sun in the distance rising over water.
In this video from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway from the Buffalo People Arts Institute explains what the Winter Solstice means to her. The still image, shows the speaker (with a museum exhibit behind her) speaking animatedly with her hands, palm upwards, in front of her. She has long brown hair with some grey in it and she has glasses. She is wearing a red shirt, a pink scarf, and a necklace and earrings made with traditional materials.
This video from the Canadian Mental Health Association is entitled ‘Holiday Story Time: Mouse Celebrates The Winter Solstice’ and the still image features the story title in the foreground and a background of evergreen branches, twinkle lights, and a small red star.
About Making Space 2022
About Making Space 2022
In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating. Last year, it was my turn and after an introductory Go Team post called Give Yourself Some Space, I created a series of reminders called ‘Making Space‘ that offered a suggested short exercise video and a suggested meditation in case you needed an easy way to find space for yourself in your schedule.
For 2022, I’ll be doing the same thing but I’ll also be including a link to Martha’s post from the same date in 2020 and I’ll offer a few extra ideas for relaxation, creativity, and self-kindness here and there.
These posts are not about insisting that you do more, more, more during this busy season. Instead, I want to encourage you to remember that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need in the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day.
In December 2020, Fit is a Feminist Issue blogger Martha created a tradition – a series of reminder posts to take good care of ourselves during this last month of the year when it is far too easy to get swept up in your to do list, no matter what you are celebrating or not celebrating. Last year, it was my turn and after an introductory Go Team post called Give Yourself Some Space, I created a series of reminders called ‘Making Space‘ that offered a suggested short exercise video and a suggested meditation in case you needed an easy way to find space for yourself in your schedule.
For 2022, I’ll be doing the same thing but I’ll also be including a link to Martha’s post from the same date in 2020 and I’ll offer a few extra ideas for relaxation, creativity, and self-kindness here and there.
These posts are not about insisting that you do more, more, more during this busy season. Instead, I want to encourage you to remember that there IS a *YOU* who is doing all of the things and you are worth taking good care of.
Perhaps the things I suggest aren’t what you need in the moment. That’s totally ok. Perhaps you can use something else to create some space, something that will help you feel more relaxed or more in charge of your day.
On December 1, 2020, Martha reminded us that we are always enough (a position that I whole-heartedly endorse) and that things don’t need to be perfect to be good. Please go check out that post for an excellent reminder of how it is ok (and encouraged!) for you to show up just as you are.
On that theme, I’m wondering if you know about Jennifer Louden’s Conditions of Enoughness? I find them an excellent tool for keeping my self-expectations in line with my actual capacity but, like most useful things, they take a bit of practice. If you feel like you are always scrambling or if you have a nagging feeling that you are falling short, the advice at the link above could be just the thing you need to give yourself a break.
If movement is something you need right now, perhaps this short series of stretches will help.
Ok, so most of us are already up for the day but feel free to lie down again for a few minutes and do these stretches with Joelle. Description: A video called Morning Stretch in Bed from the Yoga with Joelle YouTube channel. The still image shows a person with long dark hair lying on their back at the foot of a double bed using their clasped hands to draw their right knee towards their body while their left leg is extended.
If meditation is more your speed, give this a try.
A short meditation from the Great Meditations YouTube channel. The still image shows a cartoon drawing of person with long brown hair with a peaceful expression sitting cross-legged on a fluffy cloud against a blue background.
Whatever you try or whatever you do, I hope you can be kind to yourself in the process.
PS – If you are already feeling overwhelmed by the thought of the month ahead, you might find this old article of mine helpful. December is like a messy closet, here’s how to get it back on track. I’m not actually too concerned with you be ‘on track’ but I do want you to have peace of mind and I hope the suggestions in that piece can help you move in that direction.
I don’t know if the recent tension in my upper back is from inadequate stretching after my TKD classes, from lifting heavy things as I declutter my basement, or from not paying enough attention to my posture but I do know that I am not enjoying it.
I have done some extra stretching. I have spent a fair bit of time lying on a lacrosse ball. I have draped myself over my foam roller.
Nothing has really helped so far.
Apparently, I needed a slice of pizza to do this correctly. I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Image description: a GIF of a person lying on their back on a bumpy orange foam roller. They are holding a piece of pizza to their mouth and the point of the slice is between their teeth. They are leaning back over the roller so their head gets closer to the floor and then they are lifting their head and shoulders further away from the floor, holding the pizza in their mouth the whole time. White letters in the bottom right show a url – rollga.com and at the top of the image is a hashtag in white letters reading #pizzaroll
Then, this morning, I received a newsletter from Yoga with Joelle announcing her latest video – Yoga for Rhomboid and Upper Back and I realized two things:
1) I’ve stretched but I haven’t done any yoga specifically for my upper back.
2) I had forgotten that those muscles were called the rhomboids.
(Rhomboid is a very fun word, go on and say it a few times in a row.)
My storytelling self knows that knowing something’s true name gives you power over it.
I’m going to do this video a few days in a row and see if name magic holds true for muscles. 😉
A YouTube video from Yoga with Joelle. In the still image she is wearing a grey tank top and burgundy leggings and is doing a seated twisting pose with her right hand behind her, her right leg folded over her extended left leg, and her left elbow resting against her upraised right knee.
PS – After writing this, I remembered that I was working on a similar issue last year. I started out with a plan to give my shoulders some attention and then realized that part of the problem was my chair and my monitor. I guess I need to make upper back attention part of my regular routine.
