Victory, Just the Beginning

I am victorious!

In Tai Chi class this week I threw kicks for the first time in many months.

This took lots of rehab and down-regulating my nervous system.

After years of injuries and illness, my nervous system became dysregulated. This has caused my lower back to tighten up painfully whenever I try to work out.

Then, a few months ago my blood pressure spiked dangerously high.

My doctor put me on a beta blocker which allowed everything I’ve been doing to finally work:

☯️ Qigong/Myofascial Qigong

☯️ Stretching/Mobility

☯️ Foot Strengthening/Balance Training

☯️ Recumbent/Elliptical

☯️ Somatic Shaking/Ecstatic Dancing

☯️ Meditation

☯️ Soundscapes

☯️ Aromatherapy

I stopped doing kata/forms outside of class because I feared my unconscious mind would make the association of “martial arts = pain”. I haven’t even been doing kata in my head when I’ve been in pain.

Monday in Tai Chi class, I was concentrating on the contact of my feet on the floor, stabilizing my knees, and opening and closing my hips. Everything felt fine.

When we came to the moment in the form for the first kick, I felt good so I went ahead and threw it.

BTW, throwing kicks slowly as in Tai Chi is much more difficult than throwing kicks fast.

And the kick felt good! My lower back didn’t tighten up to compensate! So I kept going and threw all the kicks!

I am victorious!

It’s been such a struggle.

I’ve said before, “Giving up would be boring. At least struggling is engaging.”

And now a victory!

Although, I gotta say as a martial artist, there's not much difference between victory and simply continuing.

My black belt in Okinawan Kenpo was the beginning of my journey, not the end.

As you age, your abilities change and your interests refine.

And at age 58 with a body that broke earlier than I wished it had, that's where I am.

I am victorious!

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This is the Holistic Integration Layer of my coaching: Where body, mind, and values unite for an Enhanced Life.