Before I can work on my riding skills, then I need to get my body more in shape and flexible. BUT… how do you obtain the fitness, balance and mental state to work on the skills necessary to achieve the proper principles of good riding?
I often hear how every movement and stiffness in my body will translate directly to my horse. This presents a daunting problem for my aging body with health issues. I need to find ways to optimize what I am capable of doing and not worry about matching a level others with more vigor can strive towards. Folks ride with worse problems than mine, so where there is a will then there is a way. I need to foster lowered expectations and to not fret over my inability to do what others can do. I must start from where I am. Perhaps I can do more than I imagine.
What about my horses? They are not youngsters either. Horses are prone to become sore carrying unbalanced weight on their backs. With such fears of hurting my horse in my mind by putting my stiff body on their back, then no wonder I keep fretting. I’m stalled out and life is passing us all by.
Starting from where we are and taking a next small step each day is the key to moving forward.
Meg what is your first step? Inspired by your blog, I have decided that starting tomorrow I will start riding my stationary bicycle 10 minutes a day and then build up. It is a small start.
Good for you Pam! Yes, it is too easy to have goals without doing. Vague goals are not enough. Building incremental progress consistently is the best way. I do plan to make myself accountable in this blog. I’m very glad to have your support.
My first steps have already begun. A big step was to return to the doctors trying to find an answer to my health issues. I had an MRI last Monday, which was quite interesting (and LOUD). I’m not sure if I want to find something from the MRI or not, but glad have had one.
I got myself to bed early last night to get enough rest.This morning I did stretching in bed before I got up. Part of the process is becoming more aware of my body with practicing mindfulness during the stretch. I am noting where I hold tension in my body.
I’m making some breakfast of oatmeal with lots of healthy carbs and fiber. BUT… I am faced with a large pile of elaborately decorated sugary delicious special holiday cookies delivered from my SIL, which definitely are speaking to me. I have succumbed to their call and no doubt the plate of cookies will not be long for this world.
Today will be cleaning as a form of “exercise”. Will create a space in the den to begin again with yoga – just easy warm up / cool down. Yesterday re-found my Namaste Yoga DVDs. I’ve dragged out various books.
I am also putting together my horses’s USIHC registration packet ready to mail on Monday. This is an exercise in ending some procrastination on paperwork, as already paid the transfer / processing fees a month ago.
Wow!! I am impressed with your planning and action. I confess that I did not start riding my bicycle. The left over Christmas cookies got in the way. But I must do something and it seems like you have really got it together.
Definitely don’t be impressed with me. Definitely not! Over here it was definitely holiday cookies 10 and Meg 0, if keeping score. I put myself into sugar overload. I didn’t fight the urge and just went with the flow. Cookie… gets eaten. Be interesting to find out if my body could possibly process all the sugary cookies (and pralines) into more fat when dumped in so fast and in such quantities. Will weigh myself in a few days… maybe.
Computers threw in some tantrums causing lots of wasted time futzing over last 2 days trying to get them just back to where they started. Why can’t things head spontaneously towards more order vs more entropy? I try to take these as lessons in patience… and fail miserably for the most part.
Don’t worry about not starting your bicycle. Why not instead of 10 minutes, then just plan on 5 minutes? If you do 10, then that extra 5 is a bonus! I had a friend who got herself going to the gym for awhile by having a goal of merely stepping foot in the door, then letting herself have the option to turn right around and head home for a nap. Usually once there she would stay. Perhaps merely having the goal of sitting on the stationery bicycle is a good place to start? That may seem silly, but lowering the pressure on ourselves and not judging when we appear to fail to live up to our standards may just help.
My ambitions are nothing as grand as even 10 minutes of a stationery bicycle. I’m still sore in places showing I did some work from some simple stretching and shaking out of joints. I post about that coming up in a few days. Amazing can write something up and have ready to go, so I can get some other things done in real life.