4/27
Wow, it’s my mom’s birthday today! Holy smokes, I miss her. She’s seriously the sweetest person ever, it’s pretty amazing. When you stop and think about the influential people in your life, it’s pretty easy to see how she has made such a monumental impact on me. Not just me, but all 6 of her kids, and truthfully almost anyone she knows. When people think of Jeanne Reiter, they see her through her actions, love, care, hard work, and such thoughtful considerateness. She’s someone who does through her actions, by showing you, and leading by example. There’s so many examples and images I can think of right now, and I slow down and realize how she really does all of this out of love.
She thinks so considerably about how fortunate she (and we) all really are. The stories she has told me about how her grandparents had to live, are enough to make your hair stand on edge! They didn’t even have electricity and running water for goodness sakes! She never has an issue getting down, dirty, or to lend a hand. Shoot, she was over at my brother’s house countless times this past year helping him and my dad during the remodel. She’s always working for herself and others!
It’s really interesting, as well, to have had to experience what I did, during my accident and have her by my side the entire time. It brings tears to my eyes, thinking about this right now. Without her, I don’t know where I would be! I still remember to this day, the thoughts and feeling of “coming to my senses” in the rehab hospital, looking over to the right, and seeing my mother. She has been with me through so much. I would always get excited when she would come in, first thing in the morning, to the hospital room. To not have to be alone. To always be greeted with her smile! That was always a special time for me. She was there with me during all the activities throughout the day, and her and I talked so much!
Then, came evening, I would always be super tired, and sad to see her leave for the night! Which, in hindsight, is crazy to me!? She was literally there with me all day, sometimes wouldn’t even have much to eat, and then when she was getting ready to leave at the end of the night, to maybe be able to grab some dinner, you would get bummed!? Goodness! She really was there a lot for you Joe. She still is!
I really love her, and everything I can do to let her know is something I try to do, week by week, and day by day. It’s always hard to make sure we let our loved ones know, and I want to get better at that, slowly but surely!
So, I’ve been watching videos for inspiration on how to move my body more effectively and efficiently, and I’ve stumbled on some Parkour videos! It’s amazing what these guys are able to do with their bodies!! It’s insane! So, if I had to think about this, Parkour training for me right now would look a little like =
Grounded stability + Pressure control + Small dynamic shifts + Flow building.
Seated forward reaches, these are going to be big. I can feel it. I’m seated in an active stance, feet on floor in bathroom. I’m leaning and trying to flip the light switches on and off. They are just out of reach so I really need to stretch and lean forward! My legs are engaged so much! I feel this so much! There are so many opportunities for me to do forward leans without a second hand! I just did them again grabbing something to blow my nose! So I tried a couple more, and when I leaned forward, the chair scooched forward, but I didn’t fall!!!! That’s more and more weight through my legs!!
“Keeping my body and mind useful” I think that’s it. I think that’s what I need to make sure I am constantly doing for myself. I get sad at the moments that I feel myself not allowing my body to be useful. Even if it’s just moving a little bit, rocking in the chair, anything. I just need this body to be useful.
You ever lean forward out of a chair to tie your shoes, and fall over, slipped down, and end up on your knees? Well, that just happened to me. That was cool. Lots of fun there. You know I think I’m doing a good thing by trying to just lean forward, and tie my shoes that way, but nope. It ended up just being a mess. Goodness. I swear. This has got to be some of the most humiliating sets of events that I have to encounter, I swear.
I don’t like putting myself in a place that I cannot do something. I don’t like that. I don’t think it’s good. So for me to never try to lean forward and tie my shoes the normal way is really only limiting me. If I never try, I never know, right?
I’m really trying to keep these feet on the ground when I’m at the gym. I need them to continue working on their grounded stability during movements! So I’m going lighter on the dumbbells so I can focus on keeping my feet grounded. More and more, little by little.
You know, more and more each time I go to the gym, I realize how significant our legs are being worked. Like, even with our upper body, our legs are being loaded, the entire time!!
4/28
Calisthenics for beginners…. I think that’s where I need to start!?! If you are or want to be a fighter, train like one!
Push, pull, squat hinge, core. How can I add daily movement and activity in my regular day? I can feel how the sedentariness of this chair is trying to have me fall in, how can I change this?? Walk, stretch, stay moving?? It’s not just about workouts, it’s about how I live! I really am going to continue adding more and more movements into my daily life. More pushing, pulling, hinging. I think yesterday showed me how powerful it can be, and how I can really do some work even if I’m just in this chair.
The one thing I’ve kinda already been thinking about is a chair with folding feet, to get out of my way to be able to use my feet more. I think I need to get that. Instead of new wheels for this chair. These wheels work just fine!
Today was overall pretty successful, productive, and busy kind of day. Turns out I’m really tired. And it’s barely after 9. I woke up quite a bit last night to have to go pee, and I didn’t end up getting a very restful nights sleep. Idk it’s hard to do sometimes. That’s okay I can try again tonite.
I didn’t get in the standing frame before PT, and I could feel it. I was just overall just a little bit tighter than I wanted to be. But turns out, my legs are feeling the ground more and more! Just a little bit more with each day, they are really pushing into the floor! Every chance I get to try to use em, I do!
I was happy to have tried the chair today with the folding pedals! Turns out, my feet did just fine in that thing! The PTs didn’t think I was ready just yet for the other chair, but I honestly think I’m getting really close! Stay tuned! I wanna see how this goes!
I’m always just thinking about more and more ways to use my body. I can feel my legs responding to all these extra movements! In the chair, how can I hinge and squat more and more? I mean, I need to think about where to start from? Where should that be?
4/29
Wait, could I actually try to get into position on a wall, and do a wall sit??? Maybe?? Hmm, I just read an interesting quote, “Identity follows action, not the other way around”
I was realizing at work today, when looking in my reflection, my back is moving more in flexion and extension than I had ever thought it was! This was really exciting to see! I know it wasn’t moving much, but it was still more than I had thought!
4/30
Days like today are long days. My body is really moving slow. Met some great people today, and boy let me tell ya, it puts some things in perspective. The other folks in therapy are going through just as hard, if not harder experiences than I am. It’s pretty interesting to keep all this in perspective. I don’t think too many people realize how many folks are out there just trying to survive. It’s really eye opening, to reflect on my progress and what I’m doing, and also to think about how good I have it. Some folks don’t. It’s hard to see, but it’s really amazing to see the fight that we all have. It’s what brings us together in moments like these.
5/1
Wow. Wow. Wow! Pilates today was unreal! My legs had gotten straighter than they had ever been! I also went without Callie, which was bittersweet. I got to navigate a new section of the world on my own, but that also meant that I didn’t have my best friend come with me! Goodness she’s great! So that bummed me out a bit! Shoot, even Therese was thinking of her today, and got her a cookie from her favorite spot!!
So right now, my legs are responding really well to all these workouts! They were getting straighter than ever, which is a great sign! I was really excited about this progress! As Therese and I were discussing, I really need to work on my 100’s every day! I was feeling how significant my lower core and abdomen was kicking in! I know these 100’s have really been helping with that as well!
On my drive home today, I had noticed how significant I was feeling my legs! I could legit feel my muscles “jiggle” when we would hit a bump! It was amazing!
5/2
My legs are wanting to get up and moving! Sometimes I wish I could lay in bed longer, but my body is really obstinate sometimes. Welp, here we go!
I really need my body to relax when I want to, and contract when I need to. These muscles need to listen to me. They’re getting so close!
I don’t know why. My body. Is. So. Mean. To me. It doesn’t feel very good sometimes, to have to just get by. I feel like I haven’t written much lately, and I seem to feel it. My body, is so temperamental. I try to take a nap, and when you wake up, usually you feel refreshed right? Well, it’s not very fun to have to wake up every time because I just have to go pee. Honestly, this is so hard. Just one set of chores to the next, is what my existence feels like sometimes.
I wonder, if baby colic is actually the infant feeling their digestion process? Seems weird and crazy, but honestly, I feel like that’s what I’m going through. I don’t get any relief until I go and take care of business. It’s really kinda lame that I have to go through that, but here we are.
I really wish my chest, torso, back could expand. I mean, I’m inhaling through my ribs, and keeping my core tight. It’s hard, I’m getting some movement, but it definitely is something I need to practice if I ever expect to get better at it. That’s really the only way to see and try?!
So what’s interesting, is the idea of talking and writing. By being able to either speak out, or write out your words, you give yourself a chance to think them through. It was interesting seeing this show, that had mentioned someone saying, “you know how when you say something, but you don’t really mean it?” This made me think about how when we write or say something, it affects the outcomes of what we say and do. I’ve noticed it, for myself. It really helps keep me centered. I’m glad I found this tool.
It’s really interesting feeling my abdomen engage, and engage in a way that isn’t quite voluntarily. What I’m feeling in my abdomen is a lot change. I can feel how I can control my diaphragm, my abdominal muscles, obliques, and my abs are just contracting more and more these days! It almost feels like what they call, “spasms” are really just active muscles that haven’t gotten a chance to be worked. As I keep moving my body in different positions, in all the seas of exercise, my muscles really do feel to be coming back! It’s so interesting!
5/3
How can I also use calisthenics work for my body to also help improve my walking goals?! I have been investigating these workout routines, and it’s about moving better, and that’s what I want to do! How can I expand upon this?!
So, tying all these concepts together that I am learning about for body mechanics, and taking time to consolidate this information hasn’t been something I’ve been able to do for a little bit! Turns out a hectic life is a surefire way to let priorities get mixed up. I really need to make sure I am focusing on the important structure that I need to maintain my progress! My discipline and structure is better than motivation every day of the week, and I know that it’s easy to get overwhelmed when things get really busy!
So one key idea is how these calisthenic movements all incorporate ways to move our body more efficiently and effectively. These are ideas I want to make sure I am focusing on, because at the end of the day, working on my legs is just that, using my body more effectively, and not leaving any part of my body out. This, tied in with myofascial lines, is another aspect I want to make sure I am incorporating. And then, consistency. Trying to keep my diet in check, sleep regulated, and hydrate. I think Callie and I do pretty okay on the last two, but I know I cannot forget about them.
These ideas, really are a big part of what I’ve been doing on the floor! Moving my body, and making it more useful, I think is definitely what I’m trying to do more and more on the floor!
I’m wondering though why I have such an intense ball of sensations in my abdomen, my low abdomen, into my glutes, pelvis, upper thighs, low obliques. It’s really interesting because I don’t know where to put all this energy. I want it to be used for walking and locomoting myself around. Why is it so hard. Goodness.
Glad I got some rest today! This was much needed, I have a busy week ahead of me! Let’s keep up the steady work and see what next week brings!
The Astronaut on Earth 
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