Balance Lessons with Woody *grin*

Today I had Physical Therapy with Woody. I was a little surprised when I arrived and I was working with Woody because my schedule had me down to work with Z. However, I was happy I was with Woody because I always learn new things with him. Today, that was true. *grin*

When I arrived, he had me put the bands on and I walked one lap. That's it. One lap. I really like that, because he's teaching me so many other things now, not just walking with the bands. I'm getting better IN ALL AREAS with the mini-lessons he's doing with me now.

After my lap, I did the side-step, forward-step, and back-step with him. He's teaching me how to use my knees and legs to walk instead of my hips. I find it amazing that I never realized how much my hips helped me walk instead of my legs. I'm learning how the legs are to work when I walk. Although it's not easy, or natural yet, it's getting there. I like that. *grin*

Following that we did some balance work. This is proving to be the most challenging thing I'm learning right now. It's also the most interesting. I always thought that I couldn't LEARN balance, I just had to do the best with what I had. I'm glad I was wrong. *grin*

We did something new to practice balance. He had a ball for me to put one foot on, and I had to put all my weight on the other leg. My goal was to balance on one leg without touching anything. It was difficult, & that's putting it mildly. It is strange to know in my head what I need to do, but have a body that can't perform the task. I'm not mad, it's just strange. I was able to do ten seconds on one leg. When we switched legs, it was harder. It was a good exercise for me, and one I need to practice here at home. At Wal-Mart they have those balls for a cheap price, I need to buy one in the next couple days.

After that, he had me walk a little in the gym. He is continuing to talk me through the process of using the knees, legs, feet in the walking process. We both agree that I've come a LONG way from when I first started there. I realize I have quite a bit to go, but it was neat to talk about what I can do now that I couldn't do before.

After the chat about walking, he put me on one of the machines. I haven't done the machines yet, but I REALLY liked it. The first one had me push down with my legs to lift the weights. It was difficult, but really good. I need that because I don't have strength in some of the muscles that I need to be able to walk. After doing two sets of ten on that machine, I moved over to another one that had me push up with my legs to move the weights up. I did two sets of ten on that too. While it was also difficult, it was cool because I know I'm building up the muscles I need to talk straight. *grin*

Finally, we did some stretching exercises that made an IMMEDIATE difference in my walking. They are exercises that I can't do here because they take two people to do, but it was amazing. I told Woody that I didn't realize that I had some of the muscles he was helping me stretch. *grin* He told me we would work on those stretches on Wednesday too. *grin*

Between the Balance, Stretching, and Muscle Building, I was REALLY excited today. Woody is taking me somewhere that I wasn't sure my body would allow me to go. The cool thing is, we're not done yet. *grin*

I have given a lot of thought today to hard work and the role it's playing in all of this. Right before I left, I thanked Woody, and he said something like, "You're welcome, but you're the one doing all the hard work." While true, I was somewhat surprised by the comment, as I'm just being myself. When I set my mind to something, I tend to reach the goal even if it takes me longer than the average person to get there. That being said, I like that I'm working hard in this, as I'm learning SO MUCH in all of it. And, I appreciate things more if I have to work at it to get it. I don't know, there's more to it than that, but for now, that's all I want to share.

Balance can be learned. Wow. That is awesome in my book. *grin*

LIFE.
IS.
AMAZING!