My Journey With Health And Fitness – Remembering To Relax

Ok, I finally admitted defeat. Looking at everything I have to do tomorrow I realized there is no way, even getting up at 4am, that I am going to get everything done. So, I reached out to my fellow dog walkers and asked is someone could do my volunteer dog walking tomorrow. Now this may not seem like much but the total time I need to do this including getting there and back is an hour. Fortunately someone stepped up right away and agreed to do it for me. I was so relieved as it took just a little bit of pressure off me. Happily next week will be at least a little better.

I am still spending a fair amount of time working out on my treadmill. You would think that given it allows me to not have to deal with bad weather and the fact that I have a big screen tv that I can watch to distract myself that I could walk with ease. These past few days it has become really apparent to me that I am far too tense. By time I hit my last walk my neck and shoulders are so tense they are starting to hurt. I realized it is time to regroup and try to relax.

I learned when I first started running that it is imperative to relax and just focus and getting the workout done. Having said that, relaxing isn’t always just something that comes natural. I know that in order to do it successfully I do need to concentrate on what I am doing. That led me to today when I went back to what I was doing 2 years ago to try and take all of that tension of my upper back muscles.

Here is what I do, I take a deep breath and focus on letting my neck muscles go. The next deep breath I not only relax my shoulders I remind myself to drop them as I am exhaling. Then, it is the center of my back where I exhale and just imaging those muscles turning to mush. Finally I do my lower back which I admit sometimes is the hardest but I focus on those muscles being loose. Once I have been through all of that process it is one more deep breath and while exhaling I imagine all of the tension just leaving me.

I am not going to lie, this is not a one time process, I have to keep doing this several times during an hour long workout. Sometimes I have to do it every few minutes to keep myself in the best state of relaxation as possible. I no longer worry about my form as that is back to happening just naturally. Instead I stop listening to those voices in my head trying to distract me and instead try and find my zen place.

Is it working, well let’s just say it is a work in progress. I’m hoping once I get through this insane week that next week will be better for me. If not, I know where I will be focusing.