February Progress: Milestones and Challenges

Progress Report

Let’s start with fitness. Having finally shaken off the worst of the cold, I started using my 1kg Dumbbells on February 1. To be honest I felt a bit silly using such light weights, but I thought I’d see if they made any measurable difference. After the first couple of sessions I realised that my balance was awful when I tried one exercise that required standing on one leg! To try to combat this, I introduced yoga sessions with just seven exercises to try to reset a body that had stiffened up and lost its flexibility as well as its balance over seven or eight years of relative neglect. I have ended up doing 14 sessions of dumbbells, 12 sessions of yoga and taking two rest days in the 28 days of February.

The results have been quite amazing. The tone of my arms and the strengthening of my neck muscles have shown that even 1kg of resistance can work wonders. At 60 I expected it to take ages to show any results, but it’s a month and I can actually see the effect in all areas. For me, the most pleasing of all is the improvement of my stomach muscles which have started to tone up very nicely. I do not have a six pack yet (!) but I do have a 90s rapper!! I have only recently realised that the exercise instructions were to do two reps of the 9 exercises and I have been doing ten! Perhaps that is why the improvement has been so rapid, but as I have got used to it I have just continued with my 9 exercises & 10 reps.

The yoga has also passed expectations in terms of its effects on my body. I have increased my balance to the extent that I can now balance easily on one leg for a count of 5. Over the last couple of mornings I have been very pleased to see that I can once again touch my toes whilst keeping my legs straight and I can now move towards being able to put my hands and wrists flat on the floor in front of me. I have incorporated good breathing practices into both yoga and weights as well. In all areas my February fitness regime has been a resounding success. The walking still needs to be more regular, but I have a plan for that. More details in my March progress report.

My discretionary spending on myself hit the heights of £13.50 this month as I went to the theatre and bought a programme and an ice cream and then went to Arsenal Women v Man City Women and also bought a programme! I know, profligate in the extreme, but they were my first trips out of Medway this year so I allowed it to go to my head 🤣 In all seriousness, I think it’s still pretty good.

The project work took a back seat to my volunteering preparation. I am nearly through the initial process of becoming a volunteer for Coram Beanstalk, a UK based charity who send volunteers into schools to help children with their reading. It’s in the form of regular one to one sessions and I hope to get started either late March or, perhaps more likely, at the start of the Summer Term. I have also got to the same stage for Write the World, a US based website that helps teenagers to enter competitions, receive feedback and continually improve their writing. I will be initially working with them as a shortlister, reading up to 75 entries and sending maybe half a dozen through to the next stage. When I have been there a few months I am looking to branch out into giving writers feedback on what they are doing well and what they can improve. It is going to be interesting to see how all my teaching experience transfers across to these tasks. In terms of paid work, it looks like RCA will be summer only, as I expected, and fingers crossed I will get one of the 10 week classes to maximise my earning.

Social media use is definitely dipping and I really feel that, at the moment, I have it well under control. I am aware how easy it is for that to change, so I have tightened up my Screen Zen app, asking it to stop me from accessing all websites between 10.30 pm and 7.30 am and blocking social media and browsers completely between 12 and 6 every afternoon/evening. My most time consuming phone apps are Jetpack for blogging and Happy Color for relaxation. Alongside these I also use Duolingo to study German and Calm every evening. It’s made me far less reliant on the phone overall, and long may that continue.

By taking away my opportunity to scroll rather than read I have continued my daily habit of reading in the morning after I get up. So, this month I have read the following books

Listening to the Music the Machines Make

Cassandra in Reverse

All Wrapped Up

The Doll Factory

Ring the Hill

Help the Witch

The Library of Traumatic Memory by Neil Jordan

Think Like a Monk

I will be reviewing some of my books each month and, in a new blogging category, I will be introducing you to some of my favourite authors and explaining why I like them so much. My blogging continues to be daily and occasionally twice a day.

Finally, my creativity. I wrote two poems this month, both reflecting the situation I am facing. Are they any good? Well, that’s up to you to decide I suppose. Even if they aren’t, my creative muscles, along with my physical muscles will only get stronger through regular use, so I aim to write at least another two poems in March.

So, I am fitter, more relaxed and I have more patience. I am still a work in progress but that progress is definitely in the right direction. Have a great March!