Fortune Cookies and Nostalgia

I can't believe how many muscle groups are sore from my micro workout yesterday!  It is amazing how little it takes to make me sore these days!  

I did a lot of stretching at work yesterday, about 2 hours worth, and really opened up some things that have been stiff for months, if not years.  By mid-morning I was walking with much more ease, less hip popping and even felt like I could breathe better.  I'm convinced; stretching is an absolute necessity for me.  My Lower back was so tight, when I finally got deep enough into the area, I heard a clunk so loud I though the people in the next office might hear me.  I think my lower back, combined with weakness in my core, is causing a lot of my hip tracking issues.  I was limping pretty crazy on it this morning, despite doing some light stretching.  I will get a bunch more loosening done today.  It feels so good; makes me feel younger.  

My boys are both sick with head colds, and I am desperately hoping it's not flu, which is running rampant around here.  I have been battling a sore throat/inner ear thing for about a week.  I have been pretty lucky in the last few years, despite my decline in some areas, I haven't been sick too often or too long.  At any rate, I slept-in a little instead of doing cardio or a lengthy stretch session this morning.  I still feel a little run down; light cardio has been shown to bolster the immune system, perhaps I'll get in a little treadmill time tonight.

Today I plan to get a little research done on how to strengthen my VMO muscles, the ones that support the knee and help it align properly, so that squats will eventually not feel like someone is sticking a hot knife into my knee.  I am also learning about a muscle called PSOAS that, if weak, can lead to weak/painful hips.  I'm guessing that yoga will strengthen all of these and many many more muscles. I need to learn more about these moves.  Is it just me, or is yoga everywhere right now?  My kids' babysitter goes to hot yoga two nights a week, my husband owns volumes of books on Egyptian yoga and does it every night, and two new yoga studios have recently opened up in my small city. All these people must be onto something!  

I feel really positive about being on a good path.  Last night's emotional breakthrough was necessary.  I've never gone so far beneath the surface as I have since reading Its not About Food.  These are really valuable, healing lessons; I'm learning how to take care of myself instead of seeking numbness.  My lesson last night was about nostalgia.  Sometimes if a person or memory comes back again and again, it is trying to tell you something much deeper than the image on the surface.  I was craving attention, love, acceptance and approval but didn't realize that whether or not this person or that one gave it to me, I'd still be seeking it from the only one that matters; me.  Nostalgia is a funny thing, it feels so real, and sometimes it stings, but there is a valuable lesson wrapped up in it.  It's like life's fortune cookie, just waiting for you to crack it wide enough to read the message inside.  And I've got a lot of cookies to crack!

Happy Tuesday!