More on Exercise & Meditation

Starting into my second week of exercise and meditation.  I am happy to report that I never missed a day of exercising or meditation although my meditation was cut short by about ten minutes yesterday evening when my nurse arrived early.  Not a problem as I'd already told myself that 10'/day meditating was my minimum goal.  Did the full 20' today though.

I told my PT yesterday that I'd been doing well so we agreed that I should add some more exercises.  I don't believe I mentioned that the first set were all done form a sitting position.  Consequently, the new set from yesterday are all standing.  I tried them out today and found that three repetitions was a bit much so started doing two.  Will stick with that untilI I feel ready to do three.  Oh, and I was doing a couple of neck stretches but felt that they were irritating my neck so my PT suggested I simply stop doing them.  Done.

It is a fact that exercising actually decreases pain and, with the exception of my neck, I am finding that general body/joint pain, has in fact decreased over the last several days.  I'm well on my way to becoming the new me, and it's only been a week! Life is good.

Exercise & Meditation

Now  that I am getting my diet under control (it's still a work in progress but coming along nicely) it's time to turn my attention to exercise. After all, it's no secret that diet on its own can only do so much and the same can be said for exercise.

So, before Christmas, I asked my physiotherapist for a new set of stretching exercises and suggested that, being the music lover that I am, perhaps it would help me get motivated  if we set the exercises to music of a suitable tempo.  I had already done some experimenting with this idea and decided that a waltz beat would work best, something with a tempo of around forty beats/minute or thereabouts.  Since I had recently purchased Diana Krall's latest release, 'Glad Rag Doll', I looked there first and found a couple of waltzes, 'Prairie Lullaby' and 'Wide River to Cross'  that seemed to work.  Also found a couple of Holly Cole tunes later on and added them to the list.

This past Thursday, my PT gave me the list of exercises and I started doing them along with the music on Friday.  Have done them every day and am finding the experience quite enjoyable and satisfying. Will be looking for some more waltz tempo songs for the future in case I get tired of these ones.

I simply do a stretch for two three counts which means holding it for between 2 and 3 seconds, rest for the same amount of time, and repeat two more times before moving on to either the other side or a new stretch.

Following the exercises, I thought it would be a good idea to meditate which I have done on all four days.  Even though I have been meditating off and on for close to 20 years, I decided to use an app on my iphone to get me going.  The first part is loving kindness or 'meta' meditation followed by mindfulness of breath meditation, the entire session lasting 20 minutes.  Once I get into a routine I will probably switch to a less structured technique but for now this s working well. It really feels good to be meditating on a regular basis again.

I must confess that, even though I am aware of the benefits of exercise, I have been negligent in doing any since I was diagnosed 9 years ago.  The reason, laziness is the best I can do.  But when it has taken my neck three months to heal from a simple sprain I realized just how poor my muscle tone was and it was this realization as much as anything which prompted me to ask my PT for a new set of exercises.

New diet for daily exercise for the body and meditation for the soul, things can only get better, right?  Wish me luck.

The Benefits of Physiotherapy

Today, Thursday, is physio day.  For the past three years I have been going to St. Joseph's hospital here in London for a half hour physio session.  This is supplemented by having my support worker repeat the stretches in my home, also once a week.  

There is evidence that regular physio sessions may be able to maintain the range of motion scleroderma patients have in their joints and, in my case at least, it seems to be working.  Twice a year, usually in the spring and fall, my physiotherapist measures the range of motion in my major joints and overall results indicate no significant change.  Keep in mind that these measurements are not terribly accurate so there is some allowance for measurement error which is why I use the phrase 'no significant change' as there are minor variances from time to time.

Of course, regular exercise is important as well in helping maintain mobility.  But don't forget to check with your doctor and physiotherapist if you have one before beginning a program. 

Time to go catch my ride so will close for now.  Have a great day.