Slow and steady, easy does it
By our 108th sun salute I was tired; I was glad to be done and have lunch.
The first place I felt tired was in my left shoulder, thanks to an injury from the Insanity workout
It was the burpees. Of course I should’ve been more careful about form, but with pulsing music and the charge to do as many reps in 60 seconds as possible, I pulled something in that shoulder and five years later I still notice a catch sometimes when I move into down-dog or rotate my left arm.
I’ve never injured myself doing yoga - it’s possible, but I’ve never done it. Tai chi is a prime example - movement slower than the speed of habit is virtually injury-free. But Insanity promises quick body-sculpting results - unless you’re injured and have to quit!
Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare? If not, practice your Spanish:
Yoga might seem like a slower way to get in shape than hard-core aerobics. Yoga might seem like a slower way to relax than a glass of wine. But like the turtle, yoga gets me all the way there.
We’re living a slow life here. It takes forever to get simple things done:
- laundry
- meals (especially since I prefer to cook from scratch and use what’s growing around us, but also because we just have a grill )
- coffee
- first aid, e.g. splinter removal
- watering the animals
- washing dishes
- showers
- giving medicine to the animals
- getting places, doing errands
Read about a run-of-the-mill, unglamorous morning in El Terreno.
I prefer to do as many things at once, as quickly as possible. Unfailingly, I use the “lazy man’s carry” (as my grandma would say) by taking two loads at once when unloading the car, e.g., When I drop something I have to spend more time cleaning up than I would’ve spent on an extra load.
Living a slow life in Mexico hasn’t changed my personality. I’m often surprised at how much I’m the same person here as I was before.
New experiences (travel, new relationships, new jobs, etc) don’t change us as quickly as we might expect. But they give us the opportunity to see ourselves with new perspective, to hone in on what we’re about.
When I was in graduate school I used google calendar obsessively. I’d schedule hour by hour what I’d be doing - not just formal activities like class, work or social engagments, but also what I would study when, exercise, etc. Then (here’s the really obsessive part) I’d go back and change my calendar to reflect how I actually spent my time. Reckoning? Reality check? i doubt I kept that up for long, but it’s a glimpse of my intensity about time and planning.
Our life here laughs when I pretend I have control over my schedule. Between weather, roads, animals and language/cultural ignorance, time slips through my fingers like sand. Without the external force of a traditional job, I’m left to reckon with my time as a responsible adult. I can’t blame my job for how my time is spent or why I’m not getting around to __ (fill in the blank: reading, writing, yoga, bike rides).
Happy birthday Anna Lisa - adulthood continues to unfold!
Comments:
August 16, 2018
What great birth-day reflections!!!