I spent all Day, today, in a laid-back frame of mind.
I read.
I lightly stretched.
I made Supper.
I read some more.
This Fargo saga started when treasure hunting Sam and Remi Fargo - husband & wife adventurer team, discover a perfectly preserved Viking ship in the icy glacial crust of Baffin Island; when they were hired to work a scientific expedition. To their astonishment, they also discovered crated Toltec artifacts in the ship's hold. Running down the mystery, the duo were chased through various global jungles … today's chapter picking up where they located an academic friend in Laos - persuading him to help them continue their adventure back in Mexico City, where they hope to unravel the mysterious Viking-Toltec link.
Sitting and reading - or sitting and watching TV can put a kink in your leg muscles, and an ache in your back; here are a couple easy stretches to help make your kick-back weekend, comfortable: most you do intermediately while seated … and a few you can do between standing & sitting.
The exercises I did today can be done while reading, and walking from room to room (using chair, table, counter = whatever gave me space to stretch). Like I sad earlier, I didn't put myself through too much, today.
Just the bare basics.
The PLUS is that you can do these movements several times throughout the Day, to gently de-stiffen and re-train the areas that tend to complain when the spine is underloaded, overused, or stuck in the same posture for too long.
These workouts feed blood flow into the tissues around the spine while building endurance in the deep stabilizers that manage segment-by-segment control, then layer in glutes, hamstrings, and upper-back involvement so the lower back isn’t asked to do everyone else’s job.
Aim to hold each stretch for at least 10 seconds (a count of 10) and preferably 30 seconds. The pain-relieving benefits will increase the longer you hold.
Don't rush through the moves - relaxing is the name of the game on weekends; go through each motion in a slow flow.
Don’t forget to breathe! This reminder may sound like a no-brainer, but holding a stretch does not mean holding your breath: breathe through your nostrils & exhale through your lips, as you hold.
Supper was a simple affair: pre-cooked KFC - baked with sweet potatoes, flaky biscuits made ahead of time & reheated in microwave, & cooked peas; brought to a medium heat, then simmered on the back burner while the chicken & potatoes baked.
Everything came together nicely.
Then, the kitchen was tidied, dishes were done … and as the Day faded into Evening, I was once again nose deep in the jungle - this time, in Teotihuacan, Mexico; where the Fargos & their professor friend hope to piece the Viking-Toltec puzzle together:
My gently stretched Day ended as low-key & laid-back as a Shabbat should be - peaceful, unhurried, grateful, thankful, & trusting in Elohim's Plan.
