Bravery. Humility. Living in reality.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Elements 3 Floating Tabletop and Tabletop Pull to Squat 30 minutes: Done

TOE PULLS ARE SO HARD UGGGGGGHHHH.

/whining

*ahem*

I'll be glad when my wrists get conditioned to the balancing work again. Not saying they were stellar before, but at least they were used to consistent practice.

Left shoulder noticeably less strong than right. Most obviously in 3-point bridge.

During Monkey Prep play, I focused on leaning forward more over my hands (working those wrists and getting a sense of balancing over them) and setting my shoulder blades. <-- That's not a tutorial cue that I know of but it felt more solid and comfortable to not hunch my shoulders. To clarify, this is a "rolling shoulders down and back" motion before I place hands to the side on the floor. The movement is more rolling forward over ankles instead of reaching the ground by lengthening arms/shoulders. Then shifting more weight over hands to get brain used to almost-inversion.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Monday Mobility, shoulders & hips focus: Done

Tuesday 1.6 mile Pack Walk: Done, 30 minutes

Felt I needed to give my wrists/shoulders a day off, so opted for this. Glad I did. The hills were somewhat challenging, excellent.

Elements 4 Crab F&B & Toe pulls 30 minutes: Done

Could focus on down-and-back shoulders more specifically this time around. Again, I seem to be more relaxed about exploring the movements versus learning them. 

Building project: Done!!!!! minus 2 tiny tidying tasks. We're already using it and I love it.

Other: pleased with how house maintenance schedule picked right back up. I haven't done everything on the list, but I've done several things, and I'm really pleased with the system.

Self-education: There are 2 main areas of interest right now.

• Permaculture: Currently focused on soil-building and water harvesting (slowing & sinking) specifically. Permies.com is my main source right now. I've gathered enough underpants info to begin planning what I'll do once we have land of our own.
• C-PTSD: Revisiting this based on how hard I've been struggling against (almost crippling) shame and how stuck I've been in the Inner & Outer Critic pattern for several months now. My faith & Bible knowledge, Pete Walker's book Complex PTSD: from Surviving to Thriving, and various podcast episodes are  my current resources. I'm building on what I've already learned back when I first encountered the term and recognized myself in the symptoms (wow, that was a breakthrough!). In the interest of destigmatizing this stuff, I'm happy to answer questions about this topic, though I'm only an expert on my experience and no one else's. Already, I've learned a skill to head off the Caustic Critic thought pattern, and have practiced it a bit today.

Food log; I'm giving this up for now. Logging everything I eat trips the "feel bad about self" switch really easily right now, so I'm going to back off. My fuel choices are probably around 50/50 clean/manufactured "quick" food - not in line with my values, but I'm managing to hang in there by getting a green protein shake in most days. I may do a modified, much more informal log here. Need to examine what the purpose of logging is for me.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Daily Movement (out of possible days since last update): ?✖️?????

Elements 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: Complete (30 m, 15m, 30m, 15m, 30m, 30m)

Mobility as needed, between Elements long sessions: once

1 pack walk: 1.5 miles, with extra hills

 

It is working well to alternate Elements session durations.

Wrist stamina is catching up quickly.

LOTS of shoulder work today (Bear, Monkey, Bear-Monkey and Monkey-Bear transitions).

Walk was downhill out and uphill back, about 20 min both ways.

 

[Emissary2Ornj]

Mindset: Struggling. Functioning but struggling.

Workouts: 10 Elements sessions since November 16. Basically took  a week off at one point. Took a pack walk or two. Experimented with working out in evening; didn't like, I rushed the sessions. Settling into 3 sessions a week, preferably 30 minute sessions each.

Body fuel: getting better. Making and drinking more protein kale smoothies. Eating a few more veggies and less bread.

The house is getting more consistent attention. The maintenance system seems to be working. Now I want to give more consistent attention to having at least one prepared meal ready for us more often. Current method is one of us batch cooking whenever we get low on cooked food. We just heat up whatever we want out of the fridge. Not a terrible system, but there's little routine, and we rarely sit down and eat a meal together. This is an area I can step up in and want to step up in. I want there to be more intention and planning from me here. It comes with a side quest: navigating  cPTSD-rooted toxic shame and anxiety about spousal roles and how "adequately" I fulfill mine, among other things.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Mindset: Well, that was a quick turnaround. Amazing what a little empathy can do - my husband shared that he didn't know I was going through the same thing until he heard/recognized something I said yesterday while trying to express my bewildered misery. Nothing has changed about our situation, but I feel more connected again where I was feeling very, very lonely and apart. Whew!

Mobility twice this week. Modified pigeon stretch feels great on hips. Felt loose and strong after this morning's mobility session. Might have worked the shoulders a bit too much (increasing how much I load them when doing quadruped single shoulder rolls), but I want to build strength there. Stretching them after felt good.
Project: Sewing up a tunic-length shirt. The thrifted sheet I wanted to use for fabric had holes and bleach spots on it ? so I had to use another color for the back panels. Oh, well - unique, right? I think I'll use that same contrasting color for collar (ha) and cuffs. or at least cuff button plackets... . Today was dart day. It is incredible how long it took to do 6 darts, measuring, marking, pressing, sewing, more pressing. Thanks to Evelyn Wood for her dart-sewing tips on YouTube. As usual, I'm winging it as I go - this pattern is based off a favorite deconstructed blouse that was not tunic-length to begin with. So I had to figure out what to do with the original darts. I ended up lengthening the front ones to the new hem, and mirroring the back ones so they taper at both ends to keep the full fabric width across the back hem. Another mod: I more or less doubled the height of the mandarin collar. Hope that works okay. Tomorrow I should be sewing shoulder, side, and sleeve seams.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Movement: Steady with Elements. Skipped one day of movement this week - no mobility, no walk, no Elements. This felt good (like "Ahhhh, this is niiiice") for my body and brain, and also felt panicky (for that part of me that thinks I must not break a streak, ever.

Elements hack: I like to choose the 15 minute version then stop the on-screen timer to work more on the Practice & Play movements. I keep my phone's stopwatch running to gauge how much longer I'm working. It usually ends up being 2-3 minutes per movement total. If I have time and am up for it, I add a second Push circuit. This hack gets me closer to an actual 30 minute workout than actually choosing the 1/2-hour option (which takes closer to 45 minutes), and I feel like I've actually spent quality time on the moves. Win! (I doubt I'm the first person to do this; but I haven't read about it yet so I'll put it out there.)

Mindset: Better, whew. I mean, there are ups and downs, and triggers here and there, but better. There was definitely a period of disconnect/disengagement, and maaaaybe that's easing now?

Today I got to go to town by myself and it felt amazing. Background: we're a one-vehicle family, and our one vehicle is a big noisy truck. I'm usually content to tag along with my husband if I need/want to go somewhere. But today I took his mom's car to pick up a few things at 3 different places, and it felt so normal. I might have to invoke wifey truck privileges more often.

Project: Tunic is constructed! All that's left is installing fasteners for the front and each cuff. Buttons would be most normal, but I really don't want to deal with re-familiarizing myself with my machine's buttonholing feature. I choose snaps! And I think I'm going with pearl snaps.

I really enjoyed this project, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I ended up adding a 3rd bold color into the mix and am much happier with the palette now. Hopefully it will be sturdy. I'd like to have about 5 more of these made.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Movement:  Elements consistent 3x/week until last week; we dodged the freeze to go south. Maintained consistent movement by walking trails and the beach. Back into Elements this week. Workout space has shrunk (furniture moved into the room) so I redid a recent session instead of the transition-heavy one originally scheduled.

Assessment: I'm hitting limits for some of the new moves.

Thoughts: I really like Long Legged Straight Leg Monkey and want to spend more time with it. High Monkey is very challenging. Spiderman = nope.

Plan (tentative): Cycle through some recent sessions (i.e., hanging out at a challenging but doable level) for a while to build strength and confidence before moving on. Maybe pick 5 or 6 consecutive sessions to cycle through 2-3 times, then reassess.  Edit from future me: officially named the reCycle Phase

Rationale: I want to increase Bent-Arm strength (elbows!) before I add the complication of staggered hands and lower hips. Need more control in Basic Monkey before progressing with High. Long Legged Monkey is intriguing and very challenging, and I want to spend more time exploring it. This plan fits well with the workout space changing, too, since I won't be adding new transitions.

Caveats: All this assumes we're staying put for another month or so... I expect it won't be terribly long before it'll be job hunt time....

[Emissary2Ornj]

Consistency since Nov 16 (last graphic) (Graphics are satisfying.)

Each line = 1 week

➰ = Elements session done

〰️ = missed session

LI = Low Intensity session

➰(trying to do Elements sessions every day x Sabbath)

➰ 〰️➰LI〰️➰

➰〰️➰〰️➰〰️ (

〰️〰️〰️?➰〰️ (took several days off to reset/reevaluate)

➰➰➰(began 3/week)

➰〰️➰

➰➰➰

➰➰➰

➰➰〰️

➰〰️?〰️?? (vacation)

LI➰?(resetting after vacation)

➰??➰?➰(reCycle phase initiated & committed to walking)

➰??➰?➰

 

reCycle Phase check-in:

Going to spend 2 more weeks here. I want more time to explore Straight Leg Monkey, and build strength with Bent Arm movements. Besides choosing sessions with Bent-Arm movements built in, I can increase Bent-Arm work during Bear free-flow Play or modifying Push circuit Bear.

Part 2a of the new phase I didn't mention last post is that my wrists/elbows and hips/hamstrings needed focused mobility attention. I lined up a head-to-toe off-day stretch routine (based on GMB stretches) and am making gains. A-frame-to-squat & modified pigeon stretch feel great on the hips.

2b is committing to a 30-minute walk habit. I have a 1.6mile go-to loop when we're here, and I really want daily or near-daily walking to be a habit. Enjoying this habit so far. Sleep is not uninterrupted or purely restful these days, and consistent physical activity seems to keep my physical energy topped up.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Mindset note

(Movement update follows.)

It is utterly surreal to watch the culture I grew up in experience crisis, even be investigated. I am okay. Many, many people are not.

 

Thank God I'm free, and got out as early as I did.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Movement Recap

reCycle Phases I & II (4 weeks)

• Problem: I lacked strength & coordination to perform Spiderman Prep and Basic Spiderman; elbows often felt sore, hamstrings and hips were continually tight, squat was restricted. I was spending a lot of time sitting at the sewing machine.
• I focused on Straight Leg Monkey and Bent-Arm locomotions; increased walks to 3/week, added a whole body mobility routine 3x/week, making sure to include elbow, hip, & foot/ankle work
• Spiderman reassessment: I am now able to perform a version of this. I love love love all the walking. Elbows and hips are less sore, hamstrings feel longer.

Phase III (started 28 Feb)

• Picked a past session (Bear Leg Thread & Monkey Toe Pull) to re-start the prescribed Elements progression from.
  • Increase Circuits to all 4 locomotions where necessary
  • Use Bent-Arm variations where possible
• Continuing the same walking schedule, with thoughts toward how I might further increase them to 6/week.
• Continuing off-day mobility sessions, keeping wrist/elbow, hips, & hamstrings work for maintenance. Other movements/areas that need reassessed/switched up:
  • Change out current neck stretch for a different one
  • Reassess squat to see where restriction is; adjust foot/ankle work accordingly
  • Consider adding a shoulder stretch.

I started far enough back that it may take 5-6 weeks to reach the Spiderman workouts again. If I'm able to maintain this Phase for that long, I'll see how far I can go into the new sessions. I'll either continue or adapt.

I'd like to walk every available day but I'm unsure how it would fit around Elements and into daily life. I will ponder the possibilities.

Soon we'll be moving and I'll be focusing on a new routine and new settings. Phase III may get disrupted before completion. I am aware, and will adapt or abandon.

 

It's amazing how the increased activity has affected my energy levels. I'm not hyper, but I'm able to do more during the day before I "nope!" Real-world benefit: it's resulted in my husband and I eating more home-cooked evening meals together, which is something I highly value. I still get tired, and I still get sore, but the stamina/endurance difference has been noticeable.

[Emissary2Ornj]

First campsite workout this AM (of this trip).
Conditions: gravel & dirt, slight slope, 34degF, sunrise
Ponder: Thankful for light winter gloves' thin padding. Hands, fingers, and wrists had different stimuli than level carpet flooring. I can tell, hours after.  

Pleased I was able to work out despite missing a session yesterday.

Awareness of working out in public always adds another dynamic. Haven't done it enough to ignore it yet. Also working out in extra layers changes feedback a little. Different stimuli, and different ability to focus on the movements. 

[Chesire]

It has been way too long since I last stopped in over here to check in on you.  Though not for lack of thinking about you.

 

It sounds like you've been doing a lot of internal awareness, mental, and emotional work.   Very impressive

[Emissary2Ornj]

On 4/14/2024 at 1:24 PM, Chesire said:

It has been way too long since I last stopped in over here to check in on you.  Though not for lack of thinking about you.

You have had plenty to occupy you.

If thought-highways existed, ours probably would've waved at each other as they passed, just saying.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Hokay, multi-post update on its way.

Part 1: Road trip 17 March - 15 April, a 4-week stretch

I got in at least 1 Elements session every week. I was really pleased with that, and not worried about the decreased practice. I wasn't worried about rigidly sticking to any of my activity or nutrition habits, because I well know how being on the road adds layers of complexity to everything.* It still kind of surprises me how much of a difference it makes. I was proud of myself both for my attitude toward activity and the consistency I did maintain.

Where I really had a blast was all the walking! Two of the campgrounds we stayed at had amazing trails with great elevation changes. Every walk was (by estimation, based on my usual pace) at least 1.5 miles. One day we walked over 4 miles, and one trail was around 2 miles. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

After one really long walking day in week 1, I noticed some tightness behind my left knee. It hung around most of the month. Stretching didn't improve it (maybe made it worse?) so I worked around/through it - staying aware of it and being gentle during workouts, but focusing on moving the joint as usual without imbalances.

I noticed strength gains in Bent-Arm movements.

 

*I wanted to use spoon theory to describe this - but after once again reading the origin story for that concept I don't feel like throwing that term around so flippantly today. I do have mental and emotional limitations which affect my energy levels and window of tolerance (described in this article)          and that is where the "spoons" concept makes so much sense for me. But I don't think the experience is exactly the same as a chronic illness.

[Emissary2Ornj]

 Part 2: Return to Base Camp 16 April - 9 May, about 4 weeks

This was all about rebuilding the activity routine, and figuring out our next step. I cover the first here; the second will come in a separate log.

I think a visual of the activity would please me here.

?️=travel, ➰=Elements workout, ?=walk, ?=mobility session, ✖️=no activity

W1 ?️, ?️, ➰?, ??, ➰

W2 ➰,✖️,??,➰,?,✖️ (unexpected yard sale)

W3 ➰,??,?,??,➰,✖️ (job search)

W4 ➰,??,??,➰,✖️ (end-of-week fatigue)

Satisfying!

Elements sessions have mostly been done in order, and unmodified. I'm not quite back to 3/week. Still hoping/planning to do that.

Gains:

I can now do a version of Spiderman with confidence (Week 1).

Bear to Crab transition feels more and more smooth, due to outer hip strength gains. Left hip/leg is noticeable stronger here, able to control movement instead of flopping (Week 2)

Thoughts:

I'm close to the "end" of Elements. That's exciting! Just want to reiterate that progress doesn't always (often?) look linear. Self-awareness

Last session, they introduced an Isometric Prep version of a high-skill movement, then (in the same session!) introduced a complicated Transition that included the full version. My brain (admittedly bathed in hormones) went angry! It didn't help that the tutorial for the Transition was a voice-over, with the model blithely performing the movement on-screen while the instructor gave a very vague audio-only overview. I laugh about my reaction now, but the sudden ramp-up felt jarring. I don't know if it's because GMB is typically so gentle when they increase difficulty, and consistent with providing ways to scale things. But zip alternatives given with this one. I felt left behind.

Really pleased with how the last few weeks have gone, though.

[Emissary2Ornj]

Part 3: What's next? The Future

I have 3 more Elements workouts before the Final Assessment. Woot! Never was able to get this close before, so I'm really excited about that. Even though there are more new moves and transitions coming that I almost certainly can't perform (love that the program lets you look ahead now), I think I want to work through them and get to that Assessment.

Then I'm thinking I'll once again pick a sequence of workouts - maybe a month's worth or so? - to cycle back through. Their Play has been focused on developing flows - but I think I'll modify this to dial in on the very basic versions of the 4 animal movements: Bear, Frogger, Monkey, and Crab. I'd really love to build control and beautiful form at the most basic level. I want that foundation for the more complicated stuff. But the rest of the workouts (as prescribed) will give me the mental challenge needed to stay interested and feel like I'm still exploring physical limits.
I'm excited about this plan!

[Emissary2Ornj]

Our next step Relief, Wonder, Resignation, Relief Relief Relief

Normally we'd be out west by now, waiting out the snow melt and figuring out our camping situation, basking in mountain living.

But this year we decided to job-hunt near Base Camp (SE USA, where we usually spend the winter).

This is a Big Deal.

There are no mountains here. The humidity is high. It will be hot; it has already been hot. We don't want to settle in this region, but we're committed to buckling down and digging in and staying put so we can put some consistent moolah toward our finances over a period of time.

My husband has a narrow Window of Tolerance as well, and RV Park/town living can be really, really stimulating for the hypervigilant brain. Here, the stimulants are at least known. There are neighbors all around with varying noise levels, and a moderately busy country-ish road, but there's a decent-sized lawn, our two sheds, laundry and power and septic and water all right here, and no prospects of fellow campers parking anywhere on the property let alone right beside us.

 

It took almost 3 weeks (don't laugh; they seemed agonizingly long, of course), but I HAVE A [tentative] JOB.

• Just to show you how things can change: I dropped my resume off 3 weeks ago, they weren't hiring and didn't expect to be, mentally crossed them off my list, spent the next weeks filling out apps, dropping off resumes, talking to hiring managers, getting the tiniest of nibbles, and waiting waiting waiting - then a call out of the blue saying they had a sudden need and was I still interested in a full-time position? OF COURSE!

I say [tentative] because though I've accepted the offer I still haven't gotten a schedule yet, and Brain is still adjusting to the thought. We bought seeds and plants and dirt and built garden frames... looks like we're settling in just fine, to me.

Maybe this is a turning point for us? Maybe this is an open door to many open doors? Maybe it's not, maybe it's just the next thing and it doesn't mean anything.

But it's different, a deviation from the Pattern.

And that gives me hope.

[Chesire]

On 5/11/2024 at 12:04 PM, Emissary2Ornj said:

Last session, they introduced an Isometric Prep version of a high-skill movement, then (in the same session!) introduced a complicated Transition that included the full version.

I'm on my several-th (maybe 3rd?) work through of Elements and have no idea what skill or transition you are referring to.  Probably because I also saw them, laughed harshly and did whatever I needed to do for survival.  Do you recall which they were?

 

Mostly I've done the accelerated Elements after the first go round and otherwise been alternating, or allowing my heart to decide, with their Integral Strength.  I've been thinking that I really want to focus on control and beauty of Frogger and Monkey, especially when slowed down a bit.

 

On 5/11/2024 at 1:09 PM, Emissary2Ornj said:

a call out of the blue saying they had a sudden need and was I still interested in a full-time position? OF COURSE!

?  Woot!

 

It is fascinating reading your logs.  As an outsider who has watched you do these transitions for quite a few cycles now, I find myself assuming that the changes and complexities of them would be easy for you.  After all, you've done it once, why wouldn't it all be familiar to you?  And then I listen to my thought for a moment.  That forces me to actually think.  Of course they aren't easy and of course I do not judge you for feeling those complexities.  I celebrate with you the grace you give them.  All changes have challenges, all transitions are unique, even those with a familiar feeling.  But that means that even I am allowed to feel the challenge of what from the outside looks like a return to the familiar.  I am reminded to give myself the grace.  So, thank you for sharing your thoughts here.

[Emissary2Ornj]

On 5/13/2024 at 7:31 AM, Chesire said:

,...I also saw them, laughed harshly and did whatever I needed to do for survival.

Glad you shared that - I was determined to at least try every move, but I really don't need to do that if I'm not ready. And I am so not ready. Achiever Brain will calm down now it knows someone else nope!d and it's okay to nope!. <-- (double punctuation necessary here)

 

On 5/13/2024 at 7:31 AM, Chesire said:

Do you recall which they were?

Yes - the session where they Practice High Frogger Isometric Prep, then Play with High Frogger Thread to Crab combination. It's the 4th-to-last session before the final (re)assessment. When I did this session, I didn't realize how close to the end I was. Once I started looking ahead, I realized that those 4 are all similarly challenging (to each other). But they seem to be much more challenging than what preceded them - I wasn't mentally ready for the . I still think they whiffed on the tutorial, though.

I want to preview the rest of the new-move tutorials to see if they're a similar format.

[Emissary2Ornj]

On 5/13/2024 at 7:31 AM, Chesire said:

All changes have challenges, all transitions are unique, even those with a familiar feeling.

All transitions are unique - Yes! Interestingly, very little feels familiar about this for me

I like reading your thoughts, because it pushed me to explore the differences, and why I think they're differences. The biggest thing is that almost every year we've returned west, I had a job waiting on me. No uncertainty there. The angst was for anticipation of the long trip and its challenges (route changes, weather, wind, general exhaustion), camping off-grid and those challenges (no hookups, needing to move frequently, always needing a backup plan if we had to move unexpectedly), or not knowing where we'd be overwintering or what we'd be doing. All that is very familiar.

This time there was the anxiety of giving up a "sure" thing. I didn't know what company I'd end up with. Would it be full-time, would I need to get a second job, would I even be able to get a job here or would we have to give up and make that cross-country trip again? All the while watching the bills come in and our funds not being replenished.

Another way this is unfamiliar is that all I've known for years is travel and transplantation. I am so ready to take a more settled path. This feels like possibly a step in that direction, but I can't quite discern how this is going to get us there. I don't think it's a total detour. So there's a sense of tentative-ness and going by faith more than logical reasoning. That is somewhat familiar...

It feels exciting, and that's definitely new.

[Chesire]

On 5/14/2024 at 8:31 PM, Emissary2Ornj said:

Yes - the session where they Practice High Frogger Isometric Prep, then Play with High Frogger Thread to Crab combination. It's the 4th-to-last session before the final (re)assessment.

Would you believe me if I told you that is the exact session I had that morning after asking you that question??  I saw them and thought "This must be the one."  And did my best while trying to not fall on my face. 

[Emissary2Ornj]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:32 AM, Chesire said:

Would you believe me if I told you that is the exact session I had that morning after asking you that question??  I saw them and thought "This must be the one."  And did my best while trying to not fall on my face. 

Haha, I believe you!

I think - given how some GMB moves have worked for me in the past - that there's probably some version I can do, and/or some component I can focus on until it "clicks" for me. But the leg switch in Frogger to get my foot down for Crab was pretty sudden (and of course my "high" Frogger isn't very high or controlled/slow). My landing leg didn't feel secure in the knee, which freaked me out.

 

I suppose it's time to start thinking about the next phase and which movements I want to work on, and how. Probably I would enjoy some movement sorting and listing so I can forge a game plan.

 

In other news - the garden is growing, wow. Whenever I really think about it, I'm always in awe at seeds becoming plants. Life is so cool.

Also - Bear to Crab transition and back again is becoming one of my favorite on-the-spot stretches.

[Emissary2Ornj]

post-Elements evaluation

I must have data, data, data

There are 39 standalone locomotions and 15 transition movements available to me* from GMB's Elements. Total = 54.

*I didn't include every isometric prep movement or transition prep.

  6/54 are inaccessible to me (can't do them; need foundation movement work first).

10/54 are doable but need a LOT of practice.

22/54 I can do with high confidence but they need smoothing out.

16/54 I can do smoothly and easily (they just need polishing).

There are abundant bodyweight movement and band resistance exercise options available to me through online resources for free.

I must know what I want

I want to increase functional strength and body control for my real-world, everyday self.

I want to perform my very physically demanding job with confidence in my body and minimal (zero) aches and pains when I get home.

I want to have energy for all aspects of my life

I want to eat a variety of plants, enough protein, and plenty of vitamins & minerals most of the time.

The dream plan

Workouts are formatted like Elements sessions.

Cycle through 2-3 custom workout sessions over 2 weeks then reassess.

Each session is rounded out, if possible (not all squats, not all Bear-based, etc.).

Choose 2 Orange Level moves and 4 Green Level moves (or 2 locomotion "families") to build sessions with.

Practice includes 1 Orange Level move and 1 Green Level move.

Play is focused on Green or Blue Level moves.

Push includes circuits of Blue-Level moves AND old band exercise favorites targeting weakness or imbalances as needed.

Use Elements Prep and cool-down sequences.

Ponderation & Challenges

Work is hard. I'm a little concerned, actually. Not about whether I can do it, but about the toll it's possibly taking on me. I tend to overwork while on the job. I find it hard to pace myself.

I think what makes this job different than previous hard jobs is that everything (not just a few things) comes in large cases, and I am often lifting those cases on and off of shelves and carts, or propping them up while I stock sale shelves. And I feel the pressure to get the freight on the shelves, so there is an element of speed required.

I'm hoping I will adjust, and will gain strength quickly.

I think some deadlift-type band exercises are in order.

All that up there (data, values, plan) looks/sounds wonderful, but I have to have the energy to implement it.
I really miss my walks, but when I get off work it's the hottest part of the day in steamy southeast US, and I'm in bed before it cools off. (It's a 5-2 or 4-1 shift for now, yowza.) If I walk to the lunchroom and back 3 times (which I do for 2 breaks and lunch), it's about a 1/2 mile.

I haven't dialed in my shoe situation yet. My feet have really been hurting. Thinking about eBaying some Altras - big toe box and zero drop but still some cushion.

Final plan

I'm still learning and adjusting. I won't put pressure on myself to do the workouts until things have settled out a bit.

Even if I just do the easy chill-out Elements session every day or 3 times a week for a couple weeks, I'll maintain movement. (I'm literally coming to this conclusion as I type.)

That will provide more time to settle into sleep and nutrition habits, and maybe I can focus on some mobility, too.

Other dreams: Acquire my own car to drive so I can have reset space in between "work time" and "home time". Have time and energy for domestic pursuits (hobbies and home maintenance).

Whew, lots going on.

[Chesire]

It's been some months since you shared your exploration into well-formed darts, but things live on in my brain.  Your dart post was useful when I made a dress that had gathers on the bodice per the pattern, but gathers and I do not get along.  I took courage from your explorations and changed the gathers to darts, neckline and waistline.  Success!  So thanks for sharing all kinds of things

[Emissary2Ornj]

  

On 7/1/2024 at 9:39 AM, Chesire said:

Success!

Oh, that's so cool.

I recently had another expansion of understanding re: darts from taking in a pair of new-to-me pants at the waist. They had pre-existing back waist darts, so I split the fabric reduction amount around those points, as an experiment. It makes me want to try it with actual jeans sometime.

 

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After

 

Adjusting the pocket flaps was a lot easier (two-dart method) than dealing with the center belt loop (center dart method). I don't mind the new wrinkles; they're less of an issue when the pants are on me.

After the project, someone shared this YouTube video with me which helped me understand darts even more. It's long, but I learned more in the first 9 minutes than I'd learned anywhere else so far.