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Exercising small

1/24/2015

5 Comments

 
 271.

Principles

Health

Exercising small  

I had a neighbor who walked quite a lot.  She wasn't young but able to do so.  I joined in for a number of years and would walk about 3 miles a day.  On other days I would bike or swim.    Exercise is good but too much of anything is not.  Unfortunately many of us don't know our limits.  Maybe ego is involved.  Yet we try and do the right thing.  I had some warnings as my knees started to hurt.  I avoided distance walking and began 20 minutes of walking sprints.  Seemed to work for a time.

Then my hip started bothering me, to the point where it hurt to tie my shoelace. The owner of the vitamin store I go to had hip replacement from too much football as a youth.  He told me what I had was the beginning.  Too much biking, wear and tear.   Later he eased his stand on that.  Funny how so many of us who tried to do the right thing found the right thing turned and bit us.  Anyhow, the cause could be overuse as mentioned, or could be from an inflammation, the latest phrase describing bacteria gathering at a weak link in the body.  They get into your bones so to speak.  Maybe it even related to bacteria from infections in root canals although hard to prove.  In any event I've adjusted to being conscious of doing exercise in a smaller way.

My first observation is that we spend a lot of time on the computers.  As such, it's good to get up often, say every fifteen minutes and do something else.  Paperwork, picking up a piece of paper, washing dishes, organizing stacks, household maintenance, all require varied movements of the body.  They don't ground and pound with one repeated motion the way walking or biking does.  Each household chore is unique, slightly varies and uses slightly different muscles.  So my new way of looking at  getting things done around the house, even cerebral things, can be a form of exercise.    Projects mean going back and forth, picking something up at point A and bringing them to point B.  All of the motions use muscles and ligaments and reflexes.  In other words, keeping your life going is the workout, and the home can be the gym.  One is not always conscious in this way, but it does creep in.

I still go out and walk or bike, but its not a 'have to.'  In addition, exercise can tire you out and your energies aren't going into getting your stuff done.  So this is just another angle, another perspective on using your body in a smaller way but a good way.  Nothing is the answer in and of itself, but little tips and observations do help out.


5 Comments
Maggie
1/25/2015 12:00:56 am

This piece stirred up a very Proustian moment for me (À la recherché du temps perdu). It's almost 40 years now since (we) would go to Ananda Ashram as often as we could. Talk about a dichotomous experience! I worked on Wall Street during the week and then be at the glorious haven of upstate NY.
Daily working life was very structured for me: racing to the train from what seemed like one end of a county to the end of another. Getting to a very structured, uptight office and then either sitting at a desk piled with work, or racing about to handle the whims if an often absent boss, covering up for him, having extraordinary responsibilities with very little payoff. Then heading to grad school for several more hours of sitting, often being horribly bored and then taking the train home. Monotonous, mind-numbing travel trying to squeeze in reading necessary texts and then working on the book. No exercise here, no way to clear one's head. (See next post.)

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Maggie
1/25/2015 12:10:43 am

But a visit to Ananda seemed to erase the stress of all that because, even though it was structured, the time there had an organic flow. Rising very early, in the cold and dark, to go to meditation; listening to Roop play the sitar; maybe drift back to sleep in a quilt gathered around for warmth.
And then breakfast: simple, fresh, vegetarian nicely prepared by anyone who volunteered. And then clean-up - Karma Yoga- where sweeping a floor became an exercise both physical and emotional.
The days flowed that way quietly punctuated by meditation and Roop's music; long hikes through beautiful grounds; yoga practice; chatting, relaxing with a wide variety of people, some quite crazy, others deep and reflective.
I think this kind of "exercise" was for survival. This was "Exercising Small" and if more people did it now, we'd have less ruined hips, knees and heads.

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steve
1/25/2015 09:22:56 pm

The French idiom alluded me a bit but after looking up some of the words I get the drift.
Poignant piece of writing. You bring back a time in life and like a stone it had a rough side and a smooth side, but it was still a stone, rock hard. That was a hard routine repeated over and over with some relief but definitedly locked in. My eyes moistened a bit as I went back 40 years.

Roop, I remember him. Such details. One asks why. Such sacrifice. I always thought sacrifice would have a payback, an equal reward of sorts. It would bring practical benefits, or at least insights that would be appreciated. It is hard to see such a correlation in life. It was what is was, a moment in
existence needing no excuse but leaving many questions.

Anyhow, Ananda was gentle and one could wash oneself down from the big waves of New York Practically, a good reminder to keep it small and medium soft. Great writing.

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Mpo
1/30/2015 08:36:32 pm





Daily moderate exercise is important. If yo are experiencing some pain, consider good sneakers. If need be go to a good running store and have them fit you for a pair. I think they have a machine to check the angles of your walk and choose the appropriate shoe. I was have some issues and bought some good Asics and Adidas sneakers with good padding and support.

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steve
1/30/2015 08:36:55 pm

all to be considered

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    Steven B. Nussdorf records his lifelong search to find meaning outside of the normal channels.  He  uses writing, poetry, and drawing to document this effort.

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

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