S.D. Stevens

At first, it's a bit of a novelty to sit on your arse as much as you can, pj's on and duvet pulled up around your neck. Due to a wrist injury, I'd already spent a week on the sick from work. Before I was due back I became ill. The 111 NHS website advised our household to self-isolate.

The feeling of heaviness in my chest was worrying. I struggled to get upstairs and even talk for more than a few mins without getting breathless. On speaking with my children, they now tell me I sounded bloody awful and they were extra worried that I would get worse. Well, lucky for me I didn't and I'm now feeling ok. 

Which brings me on to the subject of finding ways to exercise. I still can't go out of the house and garden for another five days so what can I do. One of my hobbies is Burlesque Chair Dance, fitness classes. Twice a week I go to class and learn a routine, which is repeated over and over again during an hours session. This year, I joined in the Swim22 Challenge to raise awareness and money for Diabetes UK. I got to 2.9 miles before I had to stop due to the COVID-19 situation.

The owner of the burlesque school has begun to do online classes. Using Zoom, our class gets to do a live feed with our instructor for 45 mins. We did this Wednesday and Thursday. It was great fun. It felt good to be moving around and dancing! To find out more about online Burlesque Classes check out https://www.burlesquechairdance.co.uk/ Every morning and evening I go through the class warm-up and cool-down exercise. I've been doing that for the past four years and find it helps to prepare me for the day, especially when I'm working. 

Today I found out 10 laps of our garden is just over half a kilometre, I did this in 7 mins. The dogs thought I was a bit nutty. Our big white GSD kept dropping his busted, scragged football at my feet. It was a bit of an obstacle course. I tried to go as close to the edges as possible. First was the contents of my husbands shed (he's sorting his little man pod out complaining about it not being the tardis), round the stack of spare car wheels, (don't ask). Then, up to the top of the garden where there are tree branches and bush debris, down the other side over disagreed dog toys. The last obstacle was where the stack of old garden furniture and junk are being stored ready to take to the recycling centres(that are now shut). I even jogged around for one lap. However, the NHS is stretched enough without having to patch me up after I've had a silly accident. So no more jogging for me!! 

So today has been productive as far as exercise goes. I intend to keep this up even when I'm back at work. I have a fitness watch, which helps to track activities. This will be a huge help as I give myself goals to achieve. I've even challenged my son. He's going to time himself doing 10 laps of the garden. I bet he does it in about 3 mins!!! Let's see.

As always, stay safe!!! Cya soon.