Further progress (with digression)

While I really love the way I feel after running (note that I have never said that I enjoy the experience of running!), I did a lot of reading on plantar fasciitis and came to terms with the fact that running may not happen for months, and it may not happen ever.

One of my other fitness goals was to start a yoga practice. I can do that without hurting myself, in fact, I suspected that I could actually help my feet. I googled "Yoga for plantar faciitis," and came up with four poses that would help: Janu Sirsana, Vajrasana, Seiza (toes tucked under variation), and Adho Mukha Svanasana. So I decided that I could do these and meet two goals at once. Score!

Now comes the interesting part - I started thinking about this. Years ago, a yoga teacher told me that every session should move the spine all possible ways - forward, backward, left, right, twist clockwise, twist counterclockwise. This set of four poses really only bends forward. So, I started reading online, poking around various yoga websites, trying to find a beginning yoga set that included these, or to which I could add some of these, or maybe just other types of bends that I could add to these, and then wondering if I should do the Ashtanga Yoga sequence, leading to pages pro and con on the entire Ashtanga theory, and then it was a couple of days later and I had done nothing.

It was at this point that I read an article about the abysmally low savings rate that Americans have, and a financial expert was quoted as saying that the biggest mistake financial planners make is to tell people that they need to save some large amount per year or per paycheck in order to retire. Most people look at that big number, can't do that amount, and decide to do nothing. Far better, he said, to get people into the habit of saving something, and then add to it. It's much easier to increase an existing habit than to create a habit.

I connected this to my yoga practice. I don't need to find the perfect balanced practice, I just need to start working. I can add more poses as I go. So this morning, I got up a few minutes early and did just those four poses. And it helped! I was hobbling a bit as I went from bed to the mat, but afterwards, I was walking without pain. Positive reinforcement, and a sign that I'm on the right path for my body.