Day 14: Good Intentions

It is kind of ironic that I am doing more self-care for myself now, than I normally do when I am in full health. In my normal busy life I just do not seem to prioritize the self-care that I am focusing on now so that I can recover.
Why is that? I have always admired certain friends I have (Lizanne, Cam and Zane, for example) who diligently set time aside every day to do something for themselves. I seem to be one of those people who always has the best of intentions -- but I am poor at follow through. I would have to say that this has been a struggle for my entire adult life.
Of course, whenever I do go through periods of routine daily walking, cycling, stretching or yoga I feel so much better for it. The endorphins kick in and I realize that I "should" be doing this all the time. The best part about self care is that it relieves stress and it has the effect of filling one's cup. So logical but just not that easy for me. I honestly don't know why I talk myself out of it. It really takes no more than 45 minutes a day and it gives me energy and simply makes me feel better. Gosh this is sounding a lot like a New Year's resolution -- and it is barely December.
I just did a 30 minute Yoga routine this morning with Cam called "The Quickie" -- With a name like that how can it be anything but good! I know yoga is very trendy but the thing I like so much about it is that it encourages you to use your body in ways that most of us stop doing as we age. It literally stretches one's range of motion and encourages one to maximize the degree to which one flexes one's spine and joints. So many other kinds of exercise tend to involve limited motion for ones body (but does provide the cardio-vascular release). Yoga is the perfect complement for those types of exercises that involve repeated repetitive motion. So, for all those Yoga skeptics out there who think it is just a trend -- give it a try. You will be amazed at how much more limber you feel.