Hey there [firstname]!
I’ve been involved in athletics just about my entire life. Played basketball and softball through high school, basketball and a season of track and field in college….
Martial arts as a kid and again as an adult – including teaching, full contact kickboxing, and teaching breathing and energy principles along with good old fashioned martial techniques….
More recently I’ve enjoyed teaching my son Miguel how to play soccer, throw and catch a ball, and throw some mean punches and kicks.
All those years of activity (some at a pretty high level) and I never had to have surgery on my knees…until now.
This past Friday I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee. It seems that years and years of wear and tear, and a few specific injuries from my martial arts days, had taken their toll. So I concured with my orthopedist that it was the time to take care of this.
I’ve had other injuries and other surgeries over the years, and comparatively this one was not that bad. The tricky part is that I have to be on crutches for 6 weeks.
Six weeks!
So, I have two challenges facing me:
(1) Have the patience to slowly and surely rehab the knee without getting ahead of myself, dinging it and being sent back into surgery and more recovery; and
(2) Ensuring that I figure out the optimal combination of breathing, dynamic exercise, and more traditional fitness exercises to maintain my vital capacity, muscle tone and overall good health.
I think this information could be quite helpful to you as well, whether you are facing some health challenge, or simply looking to take your fitness to the next level. So, with your permission, I’ll be devoting some of my forthcoming tips to my progress and approach as I rehab my knee AND experiment with some different exercise and breathing regimens.
A couple of “good news” items are inherent in my experience:
Good News Item #1: I have already begun to use this time as an opportunity to get in better touch with my body. I’m taking more time each morning to stretch and breathe than I normally do – and I love it!
If you’ve read my stuff for any length of time, you know that I’m always encouraging my dear readers to take a little time for themselves, first thing in the morning if at all possible, to breathe and stretch and visualize. It’s the perfect time to relax yet energize as well as plan for a great day.
And I practice what I preach. Whether I’m at home or traveling, one of the very first things I do each morning is my breathing and energy exercises. Now, I’m leveraging this “event” in my life as justification to take even more time each morning. It’s been wonderful!
Good News Item #2: My orthopedic surgeon told me that, despite the old injuries and newer trauma to my knee, both knees are remarkably free from arthritis, and are actually way more functional than they “ought to be”, given some of the wear and tear they have experienced.
I credit this to the functional, effective flexibility and strengthening exercises I have done over the years. I learned long ago that it’s not just about static stretching, how far you can stretch, how long you hold a stretch, etc. — which is the standard stretching fare typically offered in most martial arts and fitness studios.
The important thing is the way you stretch, ensuring that your movement and breathing and method are all integrated into an approach that supports limberness in your soft tissues, such as muscles, with flexibility and strength in your joints and supporting structures.
(If you’d like to learn more about this approach, go to http://www.bestbreathingexercises.com/dynamic_flex.html.)
So at least I know that, with proper healing, I have many more years of funnin and gunnin with my two knees.
You Can Do It!
Karen
“Best Breathing Exercises: Transform Body Mind and Spirit with Dynamic Energy Exercise!” http://www.BestBreathingExercises.com
Copyright, Karen Van Ness, 2012