influence

I never think that I have a lot of influence on people; not because of any insecurity but because I know from many years experience that most people go their own way and think their own opinions are best, which is totally cool to me!

A friend at work  had taken Tai Chi(we were in the same class but didn’t know each other) about 20 years ago, and knew that I had gone back to it, and could see(I presume) how much it was helping me; both physically and mentally. I had urged her, about a year or so ago to take it again, as she was experiencing terrible pain and strife, both personally and in the work place. I knew it would be SO beneficial but obviously one cannot force someone..

Then I simply left the idea.

So imagine my surprise today when she suddenly said, “do you  think that you have any Tai Chi schedules that I could have, I am thinking of going back to it..”

My jaw dropped..

Tomorrow, there is a workshop for “beginners and beyond” which I am attending, and she says that she will go too!

Hooray!

what’s up?

I am remiss ..I know I know…bla bla bla…

BUT I do have an excuse for not blogging.

We went to Vegas for a week;  just to catch some much needed SUNSHINE. Vegas came through with over 90 degree temps for the whole time and exceeding itself with over 100 degree temps for the last two days.

Phew!

We spent every morning at the pool (Bally’s). It was gorgeous; we would get there around 845am and stay until around 1100am or so, when people were starting to surface.

The pool would be empty yet the unheated water would already be warm enough for comfortable swimming.

I swam a lot on Thursday morning; really did quite a few laps and was feeling pleased with myself.

BUT I overdid it. Even though I made sure to stretch after my swim, I felt a bit stiff in the afternoon. That evening was worse, and by the morning,  I could hardly move..

(Women tend to have more problems with their back than men, unfairly enough)

I had really strained the muscles and when I went to get up from sitting, could hardly stand straight. I did all the stretches I could think of, including lots of Tai Chi but the muscles had gone into spasms and nothing but time would release their hold.

We luckily were leaving on Saturday morning but still had to endure the shuttle, the airport sitting(or in my case standing, as sitting was too unbearable) and the flights home.(Again lucky that both flights were short; 2 hours and 45 minutes repectively but it was embarassing trying to toddle out upright down the aisle and into the airport at home)

Once home, I made appointments for the chiropractor and then my accupuncturist.

I have been back to the chiropractor since then and he has given me a note to be off until Monday(and “if you need more time, I can write another one”) and will go for massage tomorrow.

I want to get this thing healed as quickly as possible….

Help for swimmer’s hair

I love to swim; don’t do it much in the spring or summer(unless I am near a lake) because we love to walk when the weather is good instead.

Once the mornings start getting darker, we begin our treks to the pool; it is a wonderful way to start the day and such good exercise as well.

BUT it is always a problem because I refuse to wear a swim cap (luckily the rec centre doesn’t require this)and the water(disinfection) chemicals play havoc with my hair. From having relatively healthy hair, it suddenly turns to straw, regardless of the moisturizing shampoos and conditioners I use.

My hair tends to be very porous (it is just the way it is, as I don’t colour it or straighten it , both of which do promote porosity) When I swim it seems to GRAB onto the chemicals in the water and is quite heartbreaking to deal with.

THEN I read that if the swimmer WETS the hair BEFORE entering the pool the effect of the chemicals is redused. Even better,  add some conditioner and let it percolate then go swimming..

HOORAY, it works.

After my swim, I shampooed and conditioned as usual, and the end result was great. My hair was in wonderful conditon, almost better than before.

Dashing

Not as in a, “dashing young fellow”, but dashing as in rushing.

I am just about rush/ dash off to my Tai Chi class. This one is led by a very good instructor(who incidentally is a Acupuncturist/Traditional Chinese Medicine physician)

He seems very laid back but this is just a thin veneer as he is very intense about Tai Chi and is revered by the community.  The class is big because he is a favourite instructor which is easy to understand when you experience his kindness, compassion and great sense of humour.

He has mentioned that he might have to change the night he teaches, and we all hope that he can stay teaching on Mondays as most of us have organized our lives around this class!

It’s good to have a structured activity because, like it or not, most of us(and I mean ALL people) are pretty lazy about exercise and need that,”push”, to keep us going.

At the library

My  post completely disappeared; I had just written a shortish piece, then went  to check it, only to find it had disappeared.

Grr.

Anyhow the computer I am using is horrible which is why I am not lingering.

Went to a new(to me) TaiChi class where we only did sets(it was just an hour long); very nice little group of older people. Most have been doing TaiChi for over 10 years.

Impressive!