Look Left

Have you ever been given advice and you realize it fits in every area of your life?  I went to my physical therapist last week for my back.  I mentioned I'm having a lot of pain on the right side of my neck.  She worked on it, gave me some exercises to do but ended the session with a question.  She asked how I hold my head when I'm riding my bike.  I had no idea how to answer the question because I didn't know.  She told me to pay attention on the next ride.  Easy enough.

It has been a week and I realized I look right all the time.  When I run, I look right.  When I bike, I look right.  When I shop, I look right.  When I teach yoga, I look right.  When I talk on the phone, I hold it under my right ear as I do other things.  I couldn't believe it when I started to pay attention.

The simple solution would be to just start looking left.  It isn't as easy as it sounds.  Not only do I have to change where I look but I have to be aware of everything that leads up to looking right...where I sit, stand, run, etc.  It is uncomfortable to look left.  I don't like it but I know it will make the pain in my neck get better.

This brings me to the idea of change.  Life is full of habits.  Each day we go through our routines without even thinking.  We pick the same spot to stand in an aerobics class.  We have the same breakfast every morning.  It can feel uncomfortable to make changes to our routines.

Why is that?  Why do we get into a groove and stick with a routine?  What if it is hurting us?  I think about my neck and how now that I'm thinking about it and am looking the other way, it is refreshing.  I've started to notice what's on the other side of the street.  I'm starting to enjoy the change though I have to stay vigilant.  The old habits are lurking in the background.

And here is the work, the homework we'll say.  Think about what you do each day and find that moment when instead of looking right you can look left.

A Summer of Learning

I went on a great ride today.  The course was hilly at points but I was able to stick with the group.  It was at one point on a particularly difficult hill that I started to reflect on my many rides with Balance Cycling Team.  I'm brought back to last year's rides.  The season started out cold and wet.  My workout routines were less than thrilling.  I would either shorten each workout or wouldn't even start if the weather was less than favorable.  Consequently, I had some hard rides in May.

It was a beautiful day towards the end of May when I ended up joining a ride that was supposed to be right for my riding ability.  Soon after starting the ride I was clearly out of my league.  The pace was fast and I wasn't in shape to keep with the group.  While I wasn't dropped, I certainly could have been had the other riders decided to stop helping me along.  Part of the 60 mile ride included some rolling hills that felt like mountains.  Our club president, Ryan, rode next to me through the hills and coached me on my form.  He offered helpful feedback (while I felt like I was going to die) and stuck with me while Dan let me draft him, hill after hill.  He told me to put my hands on the top of my handlebars, look up, open my chest and breath, tilt my hips,  ride to the next sign and then the next and then the next.

A few weeks later I was on a ride with Carlos.  He watched me working to get up a hill and he offered another piece of advice- speed up your cadence.

On another ride I found myself headed to Woodbury.  We had just climbed a fairly steep, long hill and Damon rode along side me.  He told me to tighten my core to help me climb.

My final piece of advice for the season came from John.  He told me that when he goes up a hill, he imagines working his legs in a complete circle,  360 degrees.

It might sound like all I heard last summer was advice but that isn't true.  On every ride I was handed a piece of gold.  It was with every critique that I grew as a rider.  I could stay in a group ride and enjoy the hills by the end of the season.

So I want to say thank you to everyone at Balance for the support.  I enjoy the conversations, the exercise, and working together as a team.  I'm proud to be part of a wonderful group of riders!

Hit by a Mack Truck

Have you ever been hit by a Mack truck (figuratively), survived and been in a better place afterward?  In January, I started having problems with my back.  What I should really say is I started having new problems with my back.  I have had a bad back since high school but was now experiencing pain down my leg and all the way into my toe that had become numb.  As the year went on, it only got worse.  At the end of the day of teaching sometimes I would lay on the floor because I was in such pain.  I had a pinched sciatic nerve and it was so painful at times I couldn't think.

I had an MRI at the end of February and was seeing a neurologist in April.  When I went to see Dr. Timming, he was amazing!  He listened to my whole life story of my back.  At the end he sent me to physical therapy with the future possibility of shots or back surgery.  I could  handle that part.  It was when he said "No running or swimming" that I sat up and took notice.  In my mind I thought "yeah right."  My body was saying "no, he's serious." So I stopped.  This meant the three triathlons I was signed up for were not an option.  It would be the first summer in a while that I wasn't training.

At first I went nuts.  I was CRABBY.  I needed to move but was still in so much pain.  I went to my therapist but he didn't seem to understand the problem behind my back pain.  After five sessions he told me I may want to consider shots in my back to help with the pain.

Needless to say I didn't go back.  I was fortunate enough to have a parent in my class who is a physical therapist herself.  She started giving me advice about my back and I switched over to her care.  Thanks to Betsy, I now am on the road to recovery.  It is slow but rewarding.

So what have I learned?  How am I in a better place?  I feel like I have been put on a forced vacation and have really come to like it.  I don't feel crazy if I don't get to workout.  I don't have the stress of getting ready for a race.  My body isn't tired all the time from training.

I have also learned to let what's meant to happen, happen.  I could have done a few things differently to help my back but really it was unavoidable.  Things have been happening in a larger plan and I have to learn from the events around me.  Will I race again someday?  Maybe.  Will I lose myself to a goal I'm trying to achieve?  I hope not.  For now I'll keep strengthening my core, spend time with my kids, hang out with friends, sew, run (yes, Betsy has me running again, yeah!) and ride when I can. I'll let myself have fun instead of feeling pressure every moment.

A Manifesto

I was reading Inc. magazine and they were featuring a company called Holtsee (http://shop.holstee.com/pages/about).  The article mainly focused on their manifesto and there were a few statements that grabbed me.

*Start doing things you love

*If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV (very true)

*Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them. So go out and start creating. Live your dream and share your passion.

I found this manifesto inspirational.  I hope you will, too.

My New Baby

We have a new addition to our family!  No, it's not a new baby or a cute little pet.  It's a Consew 206RB-5!  Up until about a month ago, I wouldn't have known what that was.  Well, I purchased a new-to-me industrial sewing machine.  It has been long journey from June 29th when I picked it up until now but I can't tell you how much I love my machine.  Clearly enough to be writing on a Saturday night.

Let's travel back to June 29th.  I found a machine for sale on Craigslist, contacted the seller and went to look at the machine that very night.  My husband, two children and myself went to look at the machine, probably buy it and haul it home.  When I sat down at the machine, I really didn't know what I was doing.  The owner was encouraging and assured me it would get easier with practice.  So we went to load up the machine in our FJ Cruiser.  I should quickly describe the machine.  It has a 75lb, I assume, cast iron head (the working part of the machine,) a table it is mounted on and a large clutch motor below the table.  Pretty major! Now, as we were loading the machine we had to tip the table and the head fell off.  I nearly died.  We thought it was heavy duty and were sure it weathered the collision.

I got the machine home and realized I left the oil with the previous owner.  This machine is oiled every 8 hours and there are at least 21 spots to oil!  Without oil, there was no sewing and this was the Fourth of July weekend.  On Tuesday, July 5th, I headed to T.J. Elias, my sewing machine extroidenaires.
I bought oil and headed home to my baby.  After oiling the machine, I tried it.  The needle wouldn't go up and down easily.  The wheel on the end where it dropped was sticking.  Uh-Oh!  Without going into every detail of my machine's repair, after bringing it in 2 more times, spending about $200 in repairs and thread, I have the machine working.  It is a dream.  I am creating bags out of vinyl and they are fun!  As you can see in the photos, they are not just your ordinary bag.  The adventure of buying a new machine has taught me patience.  The end result is well worth it!

Finally!

I  was getting ready to sew last night and turned off the t.v.  Usually I have it on or I listen to a book on tape or some music.  I felt like I needed some quiet to relax and clear my mind.  It was once the room was silent that I noticed it.  Spring!  

I live on a pond teaming with wildlife.  Spring brings back the Canada Goose flocks and croaking frogs from the bottom of the pond.  Mallards, Egrets, and a Blue Heron gather near the edge of the water.  The warm air blows in my windows.  I am reminded of the peace and tranquility spring can bring.  So I had to stop, close my eyes, listen, and breath. Nature's movement brings stillness.  Peace.

Forgiveness

I was watching Mob Wives over the weekend.  Why I was watching the show, I don't know but I felt as if I was watching a rerun reality show.  The characters were different along with the set but the storyline was the same.  One wife was mad at another wife over something that had happened in the past.  I started thinking about reality tv and what keeps it going.  Conflict is the main fuel.  Without it, no one would be interested.

While none of this news is shocking, I did come to one helpful conclusion.  If there were a little forgiveness, all would be ok.  I think about times I have had a conflict with someone and how the problem would have diminished if I would have forgiven and let go. 

When I teach yoga, I tell my participants to let go of judgment and competition.  The hope is that they are forgiving with themselves, their bodies and mind.  If we can practice this principle on the mat, shouldn’t we be able to take it into our daily lives?  So I have to challenge myself to be forgiving when I find myself in an argument.  I have to assume good intentions.  I have to approach the conflict as I do yoga, with an open, forgiving heart.  What reality tv shows would still be on the air if they were to practice this principle?