Bridges, cobras and discovering their worth

Cleaning mission accomplished yesterday. I man sound odd, but a freshly cleaned, organized space is like getting a great big breath of fresh air and a whole new perspective . It feels so settling and renewing ! When a room is freshly cleaned, I feel like I have been handed a new start. When that room is my own bedroom, it feels even better.

We spent the whole afternoon sifting, cleaning and organizing, then enjoyed a brined roast chicken for dinner. Have you ever brined meat ? It is a simple way to turn a good thing into something amazing. You place your meat ( poultry or pork- beef does not work so well) in a solution of kosher salt and sugar for 8 hrs and then cook. The salt helps the protein molecules take on more moisture, and the result is a moist, tasty meat. If it is a whole chicken for a small family, it makes an incredible way to stretch your food dollar. Yummy roast chicken for one meal , leftover meat can make 3 meals( chicken salad for 2 says in our case ) and then the bones , combined with some carrots, onions, celery and water with a small amount of vinegar makes for a large bot of chicken bone broth to be used for soup, cooking grains  or simply to drink on its own.It's a meal worth considering in these tight times.

After dinner we watched some mindless TV and I got inspired to try to do my Qi Gong exercises and attempt to do a very light session of yoga. Certain postures make me very nervous right now due to the stress they could put on my knee ( such as The Warrior), but others like The Bridge, The Cobra and Downward Dog seemed like a good idea. Very gentle but affective stretches. I tried the Bridge first, and was amazed at how tight and stressed my thighs and calves felt !This pose really works your thighs and calves, and I never realized to what degree before.

Instantly I got the beginning of a Charley Horse in the thigh of the injured leg ! I stopped, massaged it, stretches a little and then tried again. I was able to do about 5 of these, holding for the count of ten. I did not want to push it incase I experienced a backlash in the morning. With Yoga , the idea is to work muscles in one direction, then the opposite  and so I did the reverse with something I felt I could safely do - The Cobra

This felt AMAZING on my spine and hips !It opens up your chest and seems to give your kidneys a great big hug while massaging your digestive tract. I wanted to just stay there in that pose for hours, but forced myself to repeat the same duration and repetitions as I did for The Bridge. I realized that this was not completely the reverse motion, do I attempted one of my former favorite poses , Downward Dog

This one was very shaky feeling on my knee, and at about the count of three I felt a not so productive pain in my injured knee, so I stopped. I considered doing this pose to the count of three to be my starting point, and I will try again in a day or two. You can feel this one elongating the backs of your thighs and hamstrings while stretching out the muscle in your lower back.

I feel really good about the overall progress ! I have gone from completely sedentary and stiff to beginning moving, a little less stiff and energized in a week . It's only going to get better from here.