Recovery: Days 32-35 - 5 Weeks, Frustration, & Floor Barre

Today marks 5 weeks since the surgery!

It's been a long 5 weeks, too. Especially this past week or so I've been getting extremely antsy and more frustrated by the second at not being able to do anything. I watch Fall for Dance or Nutcracker rehearsal or Rodeo rehearsal for a November show and it *kills* me not to be able to move. It's complicated...

Part of it is that I'm tired of sitting still. Part of it is that dance is my form of expression - of love, frustration, joy, and concentration - and I have no other effective outlet for that right now. Part of it is seeing so many friends moving on happily and improving while I've lost so much strength. Part of it is desperately missing the daily-ness of class and I'm missing out on all that happens there.

The last one is about the only problem I can solve at this point. Even though my physical therapist said I should just start gentle yoga when I get out of the boot, I couldn't take it any more. I started yoga last week (nothing standing up though) and after that I was like a bat out of the cage. I've taken two classes a day for the past 3 days - yoga, pilates, and floor barre.

Now that I've found some options I feel like I'm finally making progress. It feels SO good to work my muscles again after so long off. Ah, that soreness is wonderful, haha. Saturday I took back to back pilates classes at DNA's Free Class Day and afterwards my abs were burning, but I felt so strong. Yesterday I also did double pilates. I'm not sure why I ever stopped taking pilates (no time?) but I really ought to keep up with it even when I'm healthy because it's such a good alternative workout with really focused muscle work.

Sunday in addition to yoga I tried floor barre. It was an interesting class...I've never taken it but it was nice and low impact. You're laying on your back basically the whole time and it targets the rotation and turnout muscles. I enjoyed it, but I think if I'm gonna have to start paying big bucks for classes (why oh why are classes so expensive in this city?!) I want something more physical that wears me out, haha.

Anyway...I go back to PT tomorrow after a week off from him and I'm really hoping this is the end of the giant boot. Then next Monday I see my doctor again and that's when we should start strengthening. The foot hasn't been too bad, though it does sort of hurt in the usual place if I flex and plie...hmm. In my head I'm hoping that means another week or so before I can try basic barre. It'll probably be longer but...fingers crossed.

Recovery: Day 30-31 - Back to Yoga

Restless. That's about the only word that can describe how I've been feeling the past week or so. Though I'm still in the boot, I'm walking almost normal without it around home and mentally I'm desperately missing dancing. But last night I took my first yoga class (actually first anything phsyical class) since surgery and it was fantastic!

(Warning: this is sort of a mindless stream of conciousness about getting back in shape...not sure where I'm going...)

Technically I guess I should wait til I'm officially out of the boot to start getting back in shape, but technically the doctor said I *could* be out of the boot this week. I'm just waiting for my physical therapist to return to give me the okay. So I went ahead and did half of yoga - just the sitting half - and I'm so glad I did.

After a month of doing literally nothing physical I felt like I was reintroduced to a brand new body. It was very strange...it's like that sense of wearing someone else's shoes: they fit, but something's not right. My muscles felt oddly tight and loose at the same time. I know that doesn't make sense but it's true. Stretches that I never used to feel anything on suddenly twinged with constraint, but other positions that used to feel stuck now felt more free. I think when I'm in shape and turning out all the time my muscles almost block the openness of my joints. I'm not sure that's an anatomically correct statement, but that's what it sort of seems like. I mostly noticed this in the front of my hips...normally if I try to sit up and hold my knees parallel close to my chest I can't even get them to touch together, nevermind curl my chest over towards them. Last night it was so easy all of a sudden!

It made me think of how carefully I need to retrain my muscles as I start getting myself together again soon. I've always had a habbit of "gripping" my muscles while dancing because I'm sort of built to do so, but that's not good for you. It will be super hard for me, but I want to try to force myself to retrain slowly and more correctly so that I strengthen my muscles while keeping the length and ease that has come of relaxation (it's like my body has been refreshed, and although I certainly don't feel all energized and renewed, apparently my muscles are and they're just not telling me). It won't be easy.

Now that I've proven I'm able to do at least basic gentle yoga, I'm going to ease into a schedule of more and more yoga/pilates until I'm allowed to take barre. Once I'm offiically out of the boot I'll start standing poses and will be able to do more. But I think tomorrow I'm going to try hot yoga for the first time at Yoga to the People (anyone done that?) and then next week I'll take some pilates classes.

I'm so ready to be back in shape. I felt amazing after my half yoga class last night and this morning I'm actually not nearly as sore as I was expecting to be. And the best part is that my foot is completely pain-free still :)

Free Yoga in Philly

If any of you are in the Philadelphia area, check out this free Yoga in the Park class tomorrow. It's in Rittenhouse Square from 5-6pm offered by Philadelphia Ballet School. Looks like it's Power Ashtanga Yoga, which is what I usually take twice a week. It is NOT east...but so good for your strength.

An old teacher of mine from when I was at Rock in Philly recently started this new studio, Philadelphia Ballet School, and it seems to be doing well. If you're in the area, stop in and try a class! I would if I were there...and, you know, had two functioning feet...

Exercise at Work?

In addition to dancing, I've been working a desk job in PR since February to make ends meet - and though I'm in a second field I'm actually semi-interested in, I can't tell you how hard it is to just sit at a desk all day when you'd rather be in the studio!

Obviously I'm in for a whole lot more of that than dancing these next few months while I'm in recovery...but sometimes between answering phones a thousand times a day I daydream about how I could be productive physically while sitting at the reception desk. I find myself twisting in the spinning chair to crack my back and stretch my obliques. I do arch curls with my feet flat under the desk. I cross my leg over my other knee to stretch my turnout muscles.

Don't laugh at me :)

Ha anyways, just came across this seminar that seems fitting:

Yoga at Your Desk

Sunday 9/26 5:30-7:30pm

"Bring your yoga practice into your everyday life at your desk! Sitting at a desk with a computer all day often leads to us sitting hunched over and feeling exhausted. At this event, we'll have a full yoga class at Yogaworks with renowned instructor Anya Porter with an added focus on how to do yoga at your desk (without taking conference calls in downward-facing dog). We'll also have nutritionist Elissa Silver speaking after the class about keeping your energy up throughout the day without loading up on caffeine!"

I'm curious to see their desk strategies...I do ashtanga yoga all the time but I'm not sure I could get away with that if my boss walked by and saw me in chattaronga...

(Amusing image from here.)