Onwards and, well, onwards!

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Thank you @Deadoks :chuckle:
I fell asleep at 21:00. And then slept with a few intermissions for 11 hours.
And of course I was still tired, but by the afternoon I was feeling a bit more myself.

February 4
First Thing Water, Daily Hug day 7
Zen day 5, 6, and 7
Kneeling Push-Ups day 5. I figured since I am so poor at these, I should probably just take longer breaks.
I managed the first two sets of 6 unbroken, but the final rep of set three was atrocious xD Still, progress!
60 Days of HIIT, Foundation day 4 and 5
Zero Hero day 5, 6, and 7.

I am all caught up! Let's see at what hour I keel over tonight xD
It's weird, I've not even been awake for ten hours but I feel like I managed quite a lot of things today.
It's just been absolute chaos of going from thing to thing, but it adds up!
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 5
First Thing Water, Daily Hug, Zen day 8
Kneeling Push-Ups, 60 Days of HIIT, Foundation day 6
Zero Hero day 8, 9, and 10
And the stream gave us 46 bonus squats

So I actually didn't go to bed until 3am because I was working on a project and figured I might as well push through to the end instead of hoping I'd feel fresh in the morning.
Because I feel fresh in the morning maybe twice a year xD
So a bit tired today, but it was worth it for the satisfaction ^^
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 7
First Thing Water, Daily Hug day 10
Walking day 18

February 8
First Thing Water, Daily Hug day 11
Just some gentle stretches and arm mobilisations.

I was very tired yesterday after the walking, and thought I'd just catch up today.
But after washing my hair I've basically been too tired to function all day. So that's less than fun :')
Ah well. I got some knitting done. And ate some chocolate.
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 10
My partner has come down with a case of the man-flu (his words), and we're expecting me to get it as well. I figured I might as well take it easy, as stressing my body always leaves me more vulnerable to any passing microbes.
So I did Recovery day 1 and 2 (because I couldn't sleep and box breathing seemed like a good way to relax)
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
I've not been very good at logging my days xD

February 11
I've been keeping up with my First Thing Water and Daily Hug, I just forgot to write it down. So I am on day 14 for those.
Recovery day 3
Foundation day 8

My partner still feels awful, but I am so far just tired. Which is pretty much the norm xD
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 12
Daily Hug day 15 :completed:
First Thing Water day 15
Foundation day 9, 10. whoooh yeah these workouts are suddenly a massive challenge, I definitely caught the same bug but my lungs are less affected (so far at least).
Knee Push-Ups day 8, 9. Wow, the push-ups went poorly! even the first set of 7 needed a breather after 4.

I wanted to not get too far behind on everything, but it's back to just the recovery workouts tomorrow, methinks xD
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Thank you lovely people :lovely: @Mamatigerj @Laura Rainbow Dragon @MadamMeow @Deadoks @PetiteSheWolf @Fremen @Anek

I am luckily doing okay if I stay low-key, my partner hit the unlucky jackpot and got a migraine on top of the flu yesterday.
Coughing with a searing headache is awful!
When I mentioned it was nearly Valentine's he responded with "oh, I gave you a cold!" :chuckle:

January 13
First Thing Water day 16
Recovery day 4
and some foam rolling

I'm doing a little better today, so attempting the 'light' exercises throughout the day.
January 14
First Thing Water day 17
Recovery day 5
Foundation day 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15! I am back on track with this one =D
Walking day 20. went for a late-night walk, it was drizzly but nice and the streetlights looked pretty.
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 15
First Thing Water day 18
Recovery day 6 & 7
Foundation day 16
Walking day 21, went to the farm for milk and potatoes, wasn't expecting to be out in a t-shirt but it was nice.
Zen day 9 & 10 (that's too many minutes sitting still xD I prefer my meditation to be through mindless bits of knitting, it's calming but also gives me nice progress feelings)
60 Days of Cardio day 8, 9 & 10. Exhausting, but actually achievable unlike the past week.
Knee Push-Ups day 11 but I think I need to change tack. I can barely do 7s even with 5 minutes or more of break in between, because I'm just not that good at push-ups yet xD

In any case, it was a good day of catching up. I will think about what to do with the push-ups, whether I restart the challenge and hope I can make it further, or do something else.
I did expect to struggle with it this month though, so I am not disappointed in myself.
I could do the challenge on the third step of the stairs...:q:
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 16
First Thing Water day 19
Recovery day 8
Foundation day 17
Zen day 11 & 12
60 Days of Cardio
day 11, 12, 13 & 14 (phew!)
Knee Push-Ups day 12, 13, 14. I have decided to continue on the stairs, as I was able to do the first two sets of 8 with only a 30s gap. This will let me build up strength and try the knee-push-ups again next month =) I do wonder if the angle of the knee push-ups isn't currently working for me. I may be lacking stability at that angle, and should build up more strength in the main muscle groups so the rest can learn later. I also notice that I am pretty much incapable of doing push-ups holds. My body just immediately wants to find a position to lock my joints, rather than keeping the muscles active. So I will be doing those on a higher step and might do them in sets with pulsing rather than trying for static.

Another good day of catching up ^^
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 18
First Thing Water day 21
Recovery day 10
Foundation day 18 & 19
Zen day 13 & 14
60 Days of Cardio day 15 & 16
Knee Push-Ups day 15, 16, 17 & 18

Very tired now!
A little miffed that I also have to catch up from yesterday, but of well. I do like giving myself a challenge :p
(I am entirely aware that I don't have to catch up if I don't chose to do it like that, but this is what my brain wants and my body seems okay enough with it)

Read a very weird book this morning, and it took ages for my brain to get back into regular life mode. Glad it got there in the end though.
I made pancakes :eatall:
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
February 20
First Thing Water day 23
Recovery day 12
Foundation, Knee Push-Ups day 21
Zen day 17, 18, 19, 20
60 Days of Cardio day 19, 20, 21
2 x 15 raised bridges. Decided I should see how my lower back is doing. I can still feel this exercise after 20 minutes so obviously I need to do them more xD
I am up to date on 60 days of Cardio :vibes:
Good catching up on Zen (I ought to be on day 23). Gotta admit, i don't enjoy the meditation sections.
I think it's because I already slow down so much due to my disability, I kinda resent having to interrupt my functional hours for 20 minutes :chuckle:

I felt rather meh for the first part of my day and was worried I wouldn't get much done.
But actually I managed to make progress on both the priority projects I had stalled on!
Ending the day feeling quite proud of myself. And with the new season of :fireworks: Queer Eye :fireworks:
 

Laura Rainbow Dragon

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"Striving to be the change."
i don't enjoy the meditation sections.
I think it's because I already slow down so much due to my disability, I kinda resent having to interrupt my functional hours for 20 minutes
Then don't.

I know the illustrations in the Zen program show the meditations done in lotus pose. But it's not necessary to sit like that--or to sit at all--to meditate.
You can meditate lying down.
You can meditate while walking. (Just walk someplace safe. Not in traffic!)

Some people find they experience greater benefits from longer meditation sessions. Others do not. If meditating for 20 minutes at a stretch makes you feel resentful of the theft of your time, that's not a good meditation session for you! I would encourage you to break it up into shorter sessions. Maybe 2 x 10 minutes. Or even 4 x 5 minutes. Also: consider when is the best time for you to do your meditation. Doing it during your "workout time" may well be an entirely unhelpful time for you.

For myself, I like to combine meditation and physical relaxation. So I meditate in shavasana at the end of a workout. For me, 10 minutes is the ideal time to meditate like this, but I will do it for shorter periods when pressed for time. (I usually try for at least 5 minutes.)

I also do seated meditations--but usually in my desk chair, not on the floor. Having the backrest means I don't have to work to hold the position, so I am more fully focused on the meditation itself. For me, this is an excellent method of releasing mental stress and clearing my mind of distractions. I often do it at the beginning of my day (usually when I've just sat down at my desk) as a means of setting my intentions for the day. I will do it at other times too to calm down when I am angry. (Haven't had to do that for a while. But I did find it helpful during periods of my life when I was regularly being used and abused by family members.) Five minutes is usually a good length of time for me here.

I like to meditate in nature too: either walking in the woods, or sitting/standing at a lakeshore. For this I focus on some aspect of the natural world around me: the sound of waves in the water, the smell of the forest, or the green--sometimes in a forest I like to focus on the green of the leaves, and let my mind rest with an awareness of all that life surrounding me, embracing me, and me being a part of it.

I do other types of moving meditations too, usually with a yoga asana sequence that I know very well (so I'm not thinking about what move comes next, I'm physically on autopilot, like we generally are when walking). I don't typically use yoga poses that are challenging for me for this type of meditation, but rather I use movements and poses that physically embody the mental state I'm trying to achieve with the meditation. I have some yoga sequences I use in this manner which I have choreographed to pieces of music that also support the meditation.

I also meditate in bed, in shavasana, when I turn my lights out at the end of the day. For this meditation (and often for others as well) I just focus on following my breath. I don't time these meditations. They end when I fall asleep!

I personally don't find that contorting my body into lotus pose has any benefits. So I don't do it. I do sometimes meditate in half lotus, or in easy pose (simple cross-legged pose) or thunderbolt (kneeling with my buttocks on my heels--I don't kneel with my butt between my heels, i.e.: hero pose, because there's just no benefit to doing that over thunderbolt and some pretty important reasons not to do it). But I only do this as part of a yoga asana practice and then only for a couple of minutes. Any longer than that in any of these poses and I start focusing on how uncomfortable it is to sit/kneel like that for an extended period of time. And that's not meditating!

A 20-minute sit in lotus pose--if you're able to do it!--will help to strengthen your back muscles. But there are lots of exercises one can do to strengthen one's back. I personally find meditation is more effective if I'm NOT trying to do muscular strength training work at the same time.

I hope you too can find a way to make meditation work for you.
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Thank you for all the good advice @Laura Rainbow Dragon :lovely:
I definitely prefer walking to sit-down meditation, and conveniently today required some walking!
I also find nature very calming (according to the book Losing Eden by Lucy Jones, that's actually part of human biology), but the weather has been so bad lately I haven't been able to go out much :( I want my nice forest and field walks, not this nigh-perpetual rain.
And I have been doing parts of the meditation while trying to fall asleep, I just wasn't sure if that counted. Happy to hear that it does in your opinion =D

And hey, hopefully you can also do ZEN now @Syrius ^^

February 21
First Thing Water day 24
Recovery day 13
Foundation, Knee Push-Ups, 60 Days of Cardio day 22
Zen day 21 & 22
Walking day 23

Very tired, in part due to unexpected socialising. Someone from the neighbourhood was actually looking for someone else, but we ended up chatting for over an hour ^^
Made a nice leek and potato soup and croutons on the side =D
 

Maegaranthelas

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"I sing and I know things"
Thank you lovelies for the support :lovely:

February 24
First Thing Water, Zen day 27
Foundation, Knee Push-Ups, 60 Days of Cardio day 25
Walking day 26
Zero Hero day 11


I have one more book on my reading goals for this month, so I opted for a good long soak in the bath with my ereader.
Made it halfway through the book already =D
Which is kinda fitting for Half Earth Socialism :p
I think that's the last book of season 2 of No Books on a Dead Planet, so I will have to think of my own reading list for next month.
Maybe I'll finally make a dent in the many many many unread non-fiction books I own :muahaha:

I'm on track to be able to finish my knitting goals, it's the sewing goals that I really fell behind on when I got ill.
But I will just see what I can achieve in the remaining days of the month ^^
 
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