So far, so good

What is the common wisdom about forming good habits? It takes 21 days? Well, it has been over three weeks since I started tracking my goals and I am still doing yoga everyday. Yippee! My morning yoga habit has even begun to compete with my morning coffee habit for priority. The other day when I was running out of time, I chose yoga over coffee. Wow! However, I’m not taking my success for granted. I know how easily I could slip the other way, so I’m just taking a moment to celebrate and then continuing to build my success. Little step, by little step.

Oh, and btw, after months off I have started my bellydance classes again. It was painful as my body obviously needs some time to get used to it again. When you’ve been dealing with chronic pain and injury for so long, you learn to recognize the good pains vs. bad pains. Bad pains mean you need to stop what you are doing. Good pains mean you are pushing your body in ways that are healthy. It isn’t always easy to tell the difference. In class my TOS was flaring up and my arms hurt through the moves that required holding them above my head. However, I knew that my body could do it. Sometimes I put my arms down to give them a break, but I kept moving through the pain. If I hadn’t had all my years experience with my body and its ups and downs, I would have been terribly discouraged that it hurt so much to do something I love. In the end I was rewarded as I could feel the circulation increase and the pain subside. It is a dance you learn to do with your pain – when to push and when not to push. Not the kind of wisdom I ever expected to have at my age, but I’m grateful for it nonetheless.