Today I walked around the living room to the Mexican radio station again. I am beginning to suspect this really WILL improve my Spanish over time. It's kind of hard to listen to another language and not keep an ear out for words you recognize, and each time I hear one, it is a reminder to keep it in my vocabulary. Occasionally I can even decipher a song lyric or commercial. A little anyway. Going by the theory of immersion, I may learn some Spanish yet. Meanwhile, I have the fringe benefit of staying in shape while I do so.



I also did my yoga today. I've been a little anxious of late. A few days ago I was doing an exercise that is supposed to open up my hips. These have always seemed like a futile gesture to me...despite years of enthusiastic interest in belly dancing and diligent practice of exercises designed to prepare my body, I am one of these people put together with rusty wire and safety pins, the kind teachers accuse of not practicing or even trying regardless of how much real effort I put into it. I am endlessly awkward, stiff, and unbendable.

Well, something weird happened a few days ago. After about six and a half weeks of daily yoga, I felt something give. It was like old glue in my hip melted to a gummy consistency and the stiff tendons in my leg and hip began to stretch and unfold. Instead of barely reaching my ankles, I managed to grab my foot and have been able to do so ever since. But my hip felt weird for the rest of that day and has been a bit achy. I've worried a little that I might have damaged it, but everything seems to be in working order...just a bit sensitive. I'm not reaching any further than my foot so as not to strain things excessively, but I'm afraid to stop stretching to this new length lest I lose this newfound flexibility. So for now I'm just holding my own and waiting to see if it will be ok. Here's hoping.

Meanwhile, I'm giving some thought to rewards. I am VERY good at keeping up my exercises. I have a graph on which they are written and check them off, noting improvements as needed, particularly in my weight bearing workouts. I will likely be getting a set of fifteen pound weights in a few weeks as my ten pound weights are becoming too easy. That's kind of a reward, in a "the reward for work is more work" sort of way. Still, exercise equipment is very appropriate for exercise done. I've gone with that sort of thing in the past--dumbbells, a pull up bar, exercise clothes, a mini trampoline. There's always the concern that I will hit saturation point though--how much workout equipment and clothing does one person need? On the other hand, I keep shrinking and as I get smaller, a pound is a lot more of my body than it used to be, so some of the workout clothes I have could stand to be replaced by smaller sizes.
Or perhaps I should look into classes or the occasional training session. There's a fencing class I just became aware of nearby, a yoga school, belly dance classes (assuming I can find one advanced enough) and maybe even martial arts or tumbling if I can get up the strength and flexibility. While I hesitate to do so for reasons already mentioned, it's still something to think about.

What kind of reward would you pick for yourself upon meeting a set of six week fitness goals?