July 13, 2005 - Resetting Routine

Musings an Online Journal of Sorts By Alyce Wilson
July 13, 2005 - Resetting Routine
	After a couple nights of late night work, it's nice to be back to a more normal schedule, and one that's more normal in another way as well: namely, exercise. Before we moved, my daily schedule included a morning dog walk (40 minutes), kickboxing tape (25 minutes), cross-training tape (25 minutes), yoga/pilates tape (25 minutes), abs tape (8 minutes), afternoon dog walk (40 minutes). But I got so preoccupied with the move I cut out everything but the dog walks, figuring I was getting plenty of exercise from moving. Even after we were in the new place, I did the same thing, since I was still moving around boxes and such.
There's less of that sort of work (although there are some boxes left unpacked), and I've been using my free time in other ways. But it occurred to me last week I need to exercise again, for two main reasons. One, I was starting to feel depressed. At first I attributed it to being stressed or things that were happening in the news, but I soon realized that a lack of exercise could be a factor. Two, my knees have started to act up. Both of them have been injured in the past (one from jogging without a proper warmup; one from moving a refrigerator), and as long as I stay physically active they don't bother me much. The muscles that surround the knee give me enough support to keep it from hurting. If those muscles get weaker, they start to hurt. Another reason I knew I had to get back to exercising was that I suddenly realized how long it had been. While unpacking my videotapes last week, I realized I'd never unpacked my exercise tapes. When I told The Gryphon I was going to start my exercises again, he cautioned against starting them all at once. So Monday I started with just the kickboxing tape. It felt good to be doing it again. As time goes on, I'll work the others back in as well. It will be a little easier to do them once The Gryphon puts down the rug we bought this weekend. Our living room has flooring but no carpet, so we bought a throw rug which would match the colors. Since I do my tapes barefoot, the padding would be nice. Particularly for the yoga tape, since I don't have a yoga mat. It's funny how something that was once second nature can all of a sudden become something you don't do. I suppose changes like that are inevitable when you go through a big change like moving. But it's good to get back to the routine.
Moral: Exercise is good for both physical and emotional pains. Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson Musings Index
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