One of the first posts on this blog, Get Ye a Morning Ritual, shared a great morning workout by Master Shi Heng Yi.
I’ve been doing this for over a year now and have recently upped my reps to 36. Master Yi uses the Ayurvedic numbers, so I’ve followed this pattern.
Really feeling it in my arms/shoulders and tops of my thighs. But yeah, it’s all good and I’m happy and thankful that I can do it and of course I feel better after I do.
Here’s the original workout:
The only problem with the 36 reps is that it takes a while, and I often lose count. My husband asks me a question, or the dog sees me standing still and gives me his signals for backyard, walkie time, or breakfast time… and so I pause, forget where I’m at in my count ….
So today, I did an 18-rep workout, and then I did it again for a total of 36 reps. I think this is gonna stick.
Whatever your health situation, this is a great way to get moving in the morning, and move that lymphatic system!
The weekend priorities are to see as many people as possible, spend as much time outdoors as possible, and get lots and lots of exercise. And of course grocery shop for the week and get healthy foods.
Check out the steps I got yesterday! Farmer’s market in the morning, then a 5K CLL walk with my support group, then visiting with family all evening. Plus a couple of walks with Max. ðâðĶš
I went to Catholic school from 1st through 10th grade, and at the high school level, we did get into some really interesting stuff in theology class.
The history of the Bible is, in many ways, the history of human civilization, behavior, and even health.
One memorable lesson was involved leprosy… according to our teacher, it was caused when a person’s body became convinced that it was actually dead and flipped a switch internally… basically telling the microbial counterpart that it was okay to begin decomposing.
The disease could arise from poor sanitation and lack of physical movement (or from touching the sores of someone with leprosy).
We discussed how a bedridden person, or a prisoner held in chains in a dark, moldy dungeon, would be forced to stay sedentary, with who knows what sort of bacterial growth around them.
I was flashing back to that discussion while thinking about how physical inactivity is linked to many chronic diseases and declines in health.
I’ve heard it from many different sources: our comfortable lifestyle is the root of many diseases.
Personally, I’ve had some time off for the holidays and am now adapting to being back at my desk. Long story short: not loving it. I miss being more active.
Weather is another factor. A “feels like” temp of 4° is not helpful in terms of physical activity. Even my dog has stopped wanting to go for walks, choosing just a quick backyard potty time.
And of course, the lack of daylight hours is just plain old depressing. Your body wants to hibernate!
Oh, January… you’re killing me!
Proactive Steps
In light of the toll a cold January can take, I have:
Increased reps on the morning activation routine.
Added some handweights to a few morning activation exercises.
Am striving to get at least 2500 steps prior to the beginning of the work day. These are mostly on my rebounder.
And I’ve started taking “stair breaks” a few times per day. I just run up and down the main staircase at my home to get my heart pumping. I try to do at least 3 ups/3 downs per break.
Booked a flight to Florida! âïļ
What do you do? Send me your suggestions in the comments!
CLL is considered both a leukemia and a lymphoma. (Yeah… I got a BOGO on cancer ðĩâðŦ?!?)
Having watched my mother and my sister-in-law battle breast cancer, I knew that the lymph system is often the pathway for a disease to spread / become metastatic.
However, with blood cancer, it’s everywhere already. There is no locus or tumor. The cancer circulates all the time.
There really is no pump or circulation process for lymphatic fluid, other than our own movement. Being a desk worker, I know I’ve been living in a dangerously sedentary way.
Things have been way too stagnant in my entire lymph system.
So I needed to find ways to move and stimulate my lymph system to circulate fluid… ways that would work during the long cold winters here in upstate NY… It’s a challenge!
So now I’m bringing in more movement and sweat to my days. I do the morning activation routine, a daily lymphatic massage (usually in the shower), and use the rebounder here and there throughout the day.
Here’s why:
It’s great with music or when watching a TV show with my husband (though I think it gets on his nerves a bit… ðĪŠ)
I’ve been using a watch lately to track my steps and check things such as heart rate, blood pressure, and O2 level. Don’t go thinking I’m all posh with an apple watch… this is sort of a dumb watch, and I like that. I like that nobody’s looking at my data.
So, I’ve been using it for just a few weeks.
â Most days, I’m getting close to 4,500 steps in. This is with a desk job and no commute.
â On the weekend, I’m getting close to 10,000 steps in! Errands, chores, raking leaves… I feel great and have more energy on these days.
â Today was a total dud, and I fear this is indicative of my first few winters in this northern climate… at 6 pm, my step count was 300 steps! Went out to walk the dog (it was already cold and dusky), did some kitchen chores, and now I’m at 1225 steps. Still very low.
My sister sent me an awesome rebounder, which I’m going to use to add to the count. Sending out a big “thank you” to her. âĪïļ
What about you? Have you counted your steps? Do you have a desk job? How do you get that activity and exercise to balance out the sedentary time?
The Cancer Canary 