Squad Day 30: Core and Balance
Today I spent some extra time in bed, I had a hard time sleeping last night and I tossed and turned a lot, so I didn’t wake up at dawn to work out. It was going to be around 34F outside, and I didn’t want to do that again. Today’s workout will require me to have bare feet to grip the mat, and I could not think of a worse torture for my nerve damaged toes. So in my cozy bed I stayed until about 8am, drifting in and out of sleep while listening to the birds sing their songs of winter preparation outside. Also because of my extended stay in bed, I got up and was famished, so I raided my fridge for breakfast and made myself some tea.
Day 2 of Novice is Balance work, and I added an extra set of Core Focus into the mix for Novice 2.0. My hips and core are mildly sore from yesterday’s core workout and hip mobility, but not anything I can’t manage a workout with. It’s amazing to me how much more strength I’ve found in a month, now that I really know how to lock in and engage my core properly.
I gave myself the first two days of Novice 2.0 to be kind of gentle but still longer workout times, more focus on the areas I need to work on. But after today it will get a little different, because I’ve scheduled Boxing Drills into my Wednesday. I love boxing, I used to watch Boxing and MMA with my late Grandpa John, getting worked up over a sneaky jab, or a hard hitting, jaw breaking punch that ended a match. I took a really brief kick boxing class in middle school and for a few weeks it was great, but I didn’t have the drive that I have now. I remember the love of it, but not much else.
I settled into my mat with Core Reset to start, which is a lot of moves that help to focus the lower core. Since my low core is my weakest point, I love that spending time working on it ends up leading to me engaging my core and correcting my hip posture all day long. I stand taller, my movements are smoother, and I feel way more confident in myself, all because of a series of moves that reminds my body how it should be put together, and how I should stand.
Even though it’s still relatively chilly outside, I spent most of the Balance workout looking around at the trees and the soft orange-yellow glow they’ve started to take on. The Maples are beginning to turn red at their edges, almost like a halo that sits just at the outer leaves. I love autumn and all the colors and coziness it brings. Obviously I was also focusing on not losing my balance and on working my body, but I loved the view.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
I am so much stronger than I was the first time I did this workout! I can feel the muscles moving and engaging deeper with each workout. I love feeling the progress I’ve made, I love seeing and feeling the changes going on under my skin. My clothes are fitting me differently and overall I feel like I have a better handle on myself, on my life. I know this is just the beginning, and that just makes it even more for me.
Valkyrie Squad has slowly taken over my life it seems and is rooting deep into every facet of my existence, all in ways that improve or benefit me. I make time for myself now as a priority where before I neglected myself into deep depression. I’ve been reading on how to cut sugar from my life so I can heal my gut and my skin, I’ve been picking up various personal development books and journals and trying to find a direction to go there. Fine tuning my habits to make me the healthiest version of myself yet. Health doesn’t just mean physical wellness to me, true wellness also cares for the mind and the habits, the thoughts. Mindstilling helping me along the way, keeping me focused and level headed on this journey. I can more readily see all the places where I let self sabotage ruin my dreams. I only allow myself a second to be sad about all the time it’s taken me to get here, but like the surf crashing in, it also flows out and leaves.
Somehow when I saw Sam talking about Valkyrie Squad on Tiktok, I just knew. I knew that it would be the turning point for me, and I wasn’t wrong. I’m so glad I signed up, so glad that even in our financial strain I told myself I could afford to spend $12 a month on myself, that I was worth at least that much. That I could afford to spend the time on me.
Our stories are worth telling, including mine.
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