Cheers from Chicago!
I am currently occupying myself by a) blogging, b) yoga-ing at my laptop station, and alternately, c) taking laps through the United terminal as I wait for my flight, walking not running, albeit briskly. I am trying not to cause a scene or cause folks to worry about my reoccuring presence as I pass by for the 5th time. Just out for a stroll, people. Care to join me?
As I arrived this morning at O’Hare, my first of 3 flights showed over an hour delay…which meant that my connecting flights would be high in the sky before I arrived. The sun shines bright, but the aircraft won’t be in flight when I need it to be…it simply says “aircraft delayed”. I have an entirely new itinerary, taking me through LAX and Sydney (I will at least be able to say my feet hit Aussie soil) instead of San Fran and Auckland. This new flight schedule also affords me about 6 hours of extra time. Oh, well. Things change and you go with the flow and I continue to breathe and move with it. Can’t change it so you may as well have a ball and blog, right?
I had researched my baggage requirements last week, heading to the Air NZ website, and stumbled across suggestions for In Flight Exercise. It lists things such as wiggling your toes, stretching your shoulders, and recommends standing and moving about every hour or two at least for 5 minutes. It makes me think of the knee replacement PT exercises I know from a customer’s experience. Ankle pumps (pointing and flexing the foot several times in a row) help contract the calf muscles, stimulating circulation from the feet and lower leg back up to the heart, possibly preventing clots. I remember using ankle pumps as a way to stay awake and yes, keep the blood moving, as I took my road trip last summer out to Wyoming and Colorado. Movement definitely makes Nebraska a bit more tolerable). I am thankful for my health. I wonder if they have an In Flight treadmill they can hook me up with; maybe I could even power the movie screens on the backs of people’s chairs.
I have adapted my lifestyle, my business, my home to accomodate and encourage the use of energy I have to burn, moving the majority of the day and sitting for the amount they recommend for In Flight Exercise. I left Eau Claire over 30 hours ago, and will continue traveling for another 30, roughly before arriving in Christchurch, due to the delay. I feel like I have already arrived in a foreign country, and experience culture shock from sedentary environments and lack of access to fresh food unless I am willing to pay triple. (Good thing I have a banana and almonds in my backpack.)
I bet you can think back to before you made a lifestyle change. Your home environment, workplace, even your mindset look very different now. You have traveled so far to reach your fitness goals, that you hardly recognize the life you lived before spinach and squat jumps, walking and water guzzling. You think about how to get more movement in, where you can get fresh healthy foods on the go, or what you can do at your desk to keep the body awake and the productivity going strong. I think there may be enough room in the aisles for lunges, and I can work through shoulder openers in my seat. I need to mentally prepare myself, or wear myself out so I can sleep the majority of the way across the pacific. Time to take another few laps around the terminal. Care to join me?
Traveling well,
Cheri
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