Quest for Balance - First Update...

Just a quick update on the progress of my now 3-day journey in the quest for balance, using Coach Scott Sonnon's "Four Corner Drills". First of all, I can tell you that I now know why you must work at the basic level for 1-3 months. Coach Sonnon suggests you practice for 10-15 minutes each day. Well, I would assume he means at one time. I had to modify that right out of the gate. I am doing the exercise a few times per day and I don't hold it very long yet. I plan on improving on that - in fact, if his claim is true, I am counting on being able to hold the poses for much longer by the end of the 3rd month. I am also not able to lift my legs as high as is shown in the photos accompanying his article. But again, I'm sure that will improve as well. However, I do seem to feel a bit more stability on one leg already so I am encouraged. Anyone that has taken the challenge with me - what are your results thus far?
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The Quest for Balance...

Why is it that at home, watching tv, I can stand on one foot in the half lotus position for hours? Okay, not hours, but a good 3-5 minutes without even flinching.

But get me in the dojo with 20 other people and I get my foot 2" off the ground and I'm already teetering? I would guess it has a lot to do with focus. Last night in class, Sensei mentioned that some people find it helpful to find a small spot on the floor on which to focus. And when he said focus, he explained he didn't mean to hyperfocus, but more just kind of stare and let your vision blur on that small little focus point. I know that helps me at home and also at work when I practice, but the difference is that I'm alone when I'm balancing at home or work. So, one could probably safely say that the other people just being in the room distracts me. It does make perfect sense. After doing research on my son's ADHD, (remember I told you I'm a Research Girl) I found that I have many of the classic symptoms of mild ADD. So, that would account for why I'm so easily distracted in the presence of others.

So, like Julia Roberts was a "Safety Girl" in the movie "Pretty Woman", when it comes to ANYTHING, I am a "Research Girl", and I just had to start the google process. I typed in "Balance Training" or "Exercises to Improve Your Balance" or something like that - I don't remember. (But don't fear, I'm going to give you the link later in this post). I found some pretty interesting exercises, but one program stood out from the others…Three Dimensional Balance: No Equipment. No Fuss. No Cost!" Well you have all probably figured out by now, I am broke all the time so the "No Cost" aspect was a big selling point for me. The author, Coach Scott Sonnon was pretty darn convincing when he said in his article, "As far as balance training, this set of drills is the only exercise you'll ever need. Period." After reading the article, I was sold. After all, Coach Sonnon seems to be a pretty accomplished guy (see Wikipedia: Scott Sonnon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia because you know I had to do my research on him before I relied on results of my original search for information on balance exercises.)

Coach Sonnon gives a timetable for practicing his "Four Corner Balance Drill" and I like the orderly way you are instructed to start with the least difficult exercises, take your time and master those before moving on to the next, more challenging set. Same with the next more difficult set until you finish with the "Elite" drills for a total of about 2 years of perfecting your balance. I found that I admire that feature in a program…any program…patience and thoroughness. I also admire that attribute in a person...patience and thoroughness. I hope I possess those attributes at least somewhat in my character - despite my self-diagnosed mild ADD.

Tonight, I am going to begin the first leg of my well-balanced journey of 1-3 months with the first 3 exercises of the "Basic Level" Four Corner Balance Drills. I printed out Coach Sonnon's article, "Three Dimensional Balance: No Equipment. No Fuss. No Cost!" Scott Sonnon - Flow Coach of the Internet » Blog Archive » FREE Program Improves Your Heart Health? and am going to embark, with patience and thoroughness, on my "Quest for Balance". I will update every few months and let you know how much / if my balance is improving.

Anyone care to join me? (Don't 'ya just love a challenge??)

Martial (Escape) Artist...

Did you ever have one of those days in which just the thought of physical activity makes you want to cry?

What about a day where if you have to call one more company to complain, straighten something out, make an appointment, or even just ask a simple question, you feel like you'll lose your mind?

Have you ever had an emotionally draining day? Week? Month? Lifetime?

In other words, have you ever had one of those days when you were just EXHAUSTED - physically, mentally, or emotionally? Boy, I have.

Do those kinds of days ever have you thinking maybe you'll "play hookey" from karate class that night? Boy, I have…on more than one occasion, too. (Thinking it, that is. I rarely opt out from class because no matter which of the above exhaustion flavors I'm experiencing that particular day, I feel better during and usually after class.)

Just Thursday, I was having a bad day…mostly of the emotional/mental variety. Bad day is a major understatement. Everyone wanted something from me. Nobody had anything to give me. I was spent. Depressed. Sad. Tired. Depleted. Well, you get the point.

I have been going straight from work to karate class on Tuesday and Thursday nights now to save a little on gas money. I was on my way there - about 12 miles or so from the dojo when I had one of those emotionally draining phone conversations. Without going into details, I had had a disagreement with someone on the phone, who shall remain nameless except to say that we share a last name. (Okay that narrows it down to three!) Anyway, this was one of those calls where the other person says it is not a good time to talk and the two of you can talk later. I hate that. It's like going to the doctor and having to wait over a weekend for test or lab results. You'd rather just get everything out on the table and resolve things and then sigh a big old sigh of relief that things are going to be okay. So, we hang up.

I'm now stuck with that nagging feeling of waiting for those lab results to come back. My stomach felt "icky" and I had a headache and tightness in my chest. I immediately think to myself that I'm not going to go to karate tonight. How can I go and concentrate on karate when I'm feeling this discombobulated?

I tell myself that my hubby is going to play softball - why shouldn't I have my "me time" too? (Oops…so much for remaining nameless!) And I decide to go ahead and go to karate class. I figure maybe there will be quite a few adults gone on vacation and I might be allowed to help with the kids' class. Almost as soon as I'd made the decision to suck it up and go, I felt a smile sneaking up on me. And I knew it was the right decision - discombobulated or not.

I got to class and almost immediately the side effects of my troubles started to evaporate. I knew they'd resurface at 9:00 pm when class was over, but this was my escape time now. The next 2-1/2 hrs was "Me Time". Even in helping others, this is "Me Time".

I have always been the worrywart. I have never been the type to be able to "forget my troubles" or just smile through it all. As a rule, I usually get all mired up in my emotions and the physical side effects of my nervousness. But since starting karate, I have changed two-fold in this respect. First, I have learned some deep breathing and relaxation techniques that really seem to help me physically. And second of all, I have found such enjoyment in my classes, even the difficult parts…ESPECIALLY the difficult parts, that it proves to me that I am a capable person who is able to overcome obstacles - both physical and mental / emotional.

True to myself to a fault, I was emotionally a bit down on my way home after class. But it did amaze me that I had just been "in the moment" in class. I had not thought of anything except what I was working on right at that moment in time.

This is a really big hurdle I have overcome here. Being able to NOT get all bogged down with the things not going great in my life - finances, disagreements, career disappointments, gas prices (seriously!) and being able to enjoy martial arts to the extent that everything else falls away for a little while.

I guess that makes me a Martial (Escape) Artist!

Sew What?

That's what my husband always says when I tell him I am going into my sewing room/office to sew. "Sew what?"

A few months ago, maybe during my 3rd session with my school, the senseis were discussing the poor condition of our banana bags. They were wondering if it would cost a cool fortune to have them repaired. I overheard and asked if I could take a look since I like to sew.

The canvas bags were quite worn in spots. The soft, almost flannel material inside the pockets housing the handles was terribly frayed. Of the 6 handles, (3 bags x 2 handles = 6 handles), only 3 were intact. One of the banana bags had a huge jagged L shaped rip near the heavy duty zipper. There were coffee colored water stains. I asked if the outer coverings were removable, which they were, and promptly said I could probably repair them. Sensei said he'd pay me if I could repair them, and that it was no hurry to do so. I told him no payment required. I just wanted to be a team player (and still do.)

We used ball point pens to deflate the innertubes inside the bag covers. The senseis told me that the air in those bags had been there for many years and I had no reason to doubt them - Whew! Fresh air it wasn't! I took the bags home and immediately started trying to figure out how to make the needed repairs. The thing I thought would be the most difficult ended up being much easier than sewing the detached handles back into place.

I visited my favorite store, no names but suffice it to say, I had to really watch my step with all the falling prices, and picked up some canvas that was approximately the same weight and color. I promptly took it home and washed it, along with the bag covers themselves to avoid shrinkage, hoping some of the water stains on the existing bag covers would come out in the wash, so to speak.

My favorite store did not carry the flannel type stuff to reline the pockets, so I went to a fabric store and found just the thing. I looked and looked while my husband scoped out the sales floor to see if they sold red hot pokers in the fabric store. (He enjoys fabric stores about as much as book stores if you read my post on the book sale.) There was one small scrap roll of it in the scrap bins so my determination paid off in this case. We paid for our purchase and got the heck outta there before my husband suffered any retinal damage.

Back at home, I went to work on repairing the bags. As I said, the big, jagged, L-shaped tear was the least of my problems. I made patches from the canvas I bought, used some fusion material to reinforce the layers and then sewed the whole thing. I was quite proud of myself because, initially, it "seamed" a quite daunting task. (There I go again with the puns!) Feeling pleasantly surprised at the ease of this repair, I thought to myself, "Piece of cake."

What followed were quite a few long, cozy evenings in front of the roaring…sewing machine. Actually, the roaring was coming from me - It was enough to make a saint scream. The angle of these handles inside the pockets was virtually impossible to get to with a sewing machine. The needle kept jamming in the material. The needles kept breaking. The needles needled me to the point I thought I would have to chuck the whole project or chuck my sanity. (And some will argue my sanity had been "chucked" long before this!) But, of course, my pride and time already put in prevented me from quitting. I am not the best at hand sewing, but I knew that was going to have to be the repair method of choice if I were going to finish this project. And I was going to finish this project.

So, like so many other times in my life, I told myself that quitting was not an option and that not only could I and would I hand sew these handles back on, I'd sew them on securely and built to last. And that is just what I did.

About 2 weeks later, I returned the the bags when I came to class. The senseis liked the looks of the new and improved repaired banana bags. They exchanged the cost of the sparring gear I had just ordered for my time/materials in repairing the bags. I thought that was a generous and fair gesture, so I accepted and said thank you.
Whatever the case, the sense of accomplishment in making challenging "material repairs" was much more satisfying than the "material rewards".