During the last few weeks, probably even months, I've been neglecting my back. I used to do my physio exercises daily, go to weight training at Kieser twice a week, do Pilates once a week and I even found time to do a little cycling most weeks. But then I got lazy, always found an excuse not to do it or not to go.
One of the reasons (and a positive one at that) is that my back has been much better since last summer. After two years with quite a lot of pain from my Spondylolisthesis (what a long word for a vertebra that isn't attached properly and wants to slide away from its neighbour) it seemed that all the building of strength and the monthly visitis with Philipp, my osteopath were finally paying off.
But recently I seemed to be stiffer than I used to be, my lower back sometimes hurt, my neck was often slightly blocked (from a rib it seems) and so when I went to see Philipp in the beginning of April I decided that I had to get back into a routine, preferably a daily one, because those are the ones that work best for me - no possibility for easy cheating and postponements to the next day.
Almost at the same time my friend Silvia posted a link to a Yoga Programme she'd been doing for a while, where a 30 day programme for tight hips had just started. I decided to give it a try and so far I've been good to my promise and have moved every day.
The Yoga programme is quite intense and some of the poses are too difficult for me, but I can feel that I am already closer to the ground in my chosen hip pose, which I have to practice every day. I chose the easiest one (not easy for me though), the Forward Fold.
It's not easy to find the time to do the programme every day, it takes up to an hour, but I will try to do as much as possible without stressing too much about perfection.
Today I was close to calling it a day (for the day ;-) when I started the last part anyway, a 25 minute chillout yoga video and now I am so happy that I did, because it was just perfect, gentle and relaxing.
I did a lot of yoga last year and benefited from it immensely, then I became lazy. I find when i do it my back is happy and my overall health feels good. I've been making it a priority once again, but doing so is a challenge.