driveway intervals

I’m working to incorporate caring for my body into household chores.

Physical therapy gave me insight: all of the exercises are motions I perform in daily life. I recognized the exercises in various household activities, then noticed other sequences of motion that I could turn into impromptu mindful workouts.

I’ve always incorporated some stretching and some exercising into daily chores. I do arabesques while filling my water bottle and enjoy really stretching to reach top shelves. 

As part of the physical therapy to heal my broken foot, I practiced mindful walking around the house. I worked on weight shifts, pivots, leans forward and back. My body had to relearn how to move; 3 months on crutches and another couple walking with a boot left my body with some really odd habits.

I went outside to hang out with the birds today. While I was out, I decided to walk down the driveway to get the trash carts and bring them back up.

Our driveway isn’t that long, but it’s extremely steep. It felt good to push the big recycling cart all the way up the hill. My muscles were engaged with the hill, and I felt strong like a bear.

After bringing the smaller trash cart up, I was aerobic. I decided to continue up along the house to the top of the hill. I stood there for a minute, breathing heavily, listening to the juncos settle after my careen up the hill.

That, I thought, is a pretty good interval. I should do it again.

I went down the hill with care, reflecting on the fact that being able to get up and down my driveway without falling is a necessary skill to live in this place. I felt bracing tension in my joints on the way down. I willed my muscles to take the load so that my joints could relax.

I sank into the hill and let my muscles do the walking. I felt my strength, the sureness in my legs. The old power walking machinery might be disused and rusty, but it’s also eager to be pressed back into service.

I turned around and motored back up the hill. A few deep breaths, a moment to follow a hummingbird, then back down. More intervals, my heart hammering in my chest then slowing as I went back down.

At some point, my joints were getting tired. I did a few more slow mindful walks up and down just the driveway, listening to my body as it tried to figure out the best way to tackle this hill.