Mar. 22, 2007 - Walking
I try every morning to do twenty minutes or so of yoga. I really enjoy it, even though it has become a necessity for me. I have scoliosis. About ten years ago I began having back pain from it so I started with a yoga routine to strengthen my back muscles. It works. I certainly notice, when for some reason I get out of the routine of doing the yoga, that the pain begins to return. Many days, my younger kids enjoy joining me in doing yoga. For them it is just fun exercise.
Before the yoga, my main exercise was walking. I had babies and small children and it was easy exercise for me to get out with one in the buggy and one in a carrier and head on down the road ten blocks to the park. We walked fast because the kids wanted to get there quickly and have fun playing. Great! With the addition of yoga, I was getting a cardio workout and muscle toning!
Then somewhere along the line the walking stopped. Two of my kids were getting a bit older and were not as interested in going to the park with mom so much. They weren't old enough yet to stay home alone while I took the little ones, but if they went with they walked VERY slow and grubmled that they would have rather stayed home to get school done faster so they could get out and play with friends in the afternooon.
I have missed the walking. I feel I need the exercise too. I mentioned it to my oldest daughter sometime in December and, to my surprise, she said that she would go walking with me if I wanted to start up again. She wants more exercise too. At almost fifteen, she and her friends don't play ball or jump rope or play hopscotch anymore when they hangout after school. We decided that we would start when the weather began to warm up.
Last week we had two very warm days. We got in the car and headed to a park nearby that has a walking trail around a playground area. My youngest, age six, walked the trail with us once and then went to play at the playground. My two boys, ages nine and twelve, went around with us twice then went to toss a football. My oldest daughter and I walked the trail two more times ourselves. In the car on the way home each day, we all talked of coming everyday.Then the third day our temps went back to below freezing. None of us wanted to go, and especially the youngest ones, since the park is not really fun if there is ice on the slides and on the grass.
So today it is warm enough agian to head on out. But I awoke this morning at five to the sounds of thunder and rain. As I sit here typing I am hoping that, at least by mid-morning, the storms will have cleared. My former grumbler is even saying that she is willing to go walk still if it is drizzling. I'm game! Now if the two of us can just convince the younger ones that it could be an adventure to go walk in the rain, then we'll be set. I'm thinking that bringing the fishing poles so they can go fish in the pond while we walk just might be all the encouragement they'll need!
Comments
Mar. 22, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by socalval
Valerie
Mar. 23, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by sunydazy
Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment on my blog. I stop by here quite a bit but don't always comment. I enjoy reading your blog. Have a great day!
PS...my 4 yo Little Guy has scoliosis...The doc thinks it's a hemi-vertebra. We take him to therapy with a Osteopath who specializes in gentle spinal/joint manipulation... I would love to talk to you more about your experiences....
