“Taking a break will allow a breakthrough to happen.” – Kazuaki Tanahashi
This just in from Celebrity Fitness Philosopher Barker Ajax…
….To tell the truth, I love my recliner. Which is good, because I spend so much time in it. Too much time perhaps, not so much maybe. Not really keeping track, not important. The damn thing is just so comfortable. It’s HUGE, almost as big as my first new car, almost cost as much as that 1970 Volkswagon Bug. But my recliner has much better upholstery – full leather. Feels like rich Corinthian animal hides hugging me. And it has nearly as much power. Press a button, the foot rest comes up, the back goes down. And it goes in reverse. Sweet.
I work many hours in my recliner. I write, I read, I study, I think, all in my recliner. Not just sitting there. Because I refuse to be restricted by my choice of office space. And I do not want to be idle. I am NEVER idle, never. Oh, maybe I am sleeping, maybe I am relaxing, maybe I am watching foreign policy experts who look to be about eighteen years old explain to me how the world works… but I am doing something. Always. Shortly after I celebrated my seventieth birthday, it was beginning to dawn on me time may be running out. Actually, that is one topic I study while I am in my recliner.
Like to think I am harder to kill if I stay on the move. If it’s only my brain. Harder for Death to hit.
Lately, I have even begun to exercise in my recliner. I am already walking– as hard as I can possibly go – thirty miles weekly. And I weigh thirty pounds less than when I finished basic training fifty years ago. But I feel the need to do something more, something extra. Because there is, I have come to realize, there is a scarcity of resources in life. There’s only one you, there’s only one me. There is only this moment and I want to maximize the now. Five minutes of meditation in my recliner and I am completely refreshed.
Flexibility is a key to successful aging. (Write that down, it’s important.) So, I began doing stretching exercises while ensconced in my recliner. I have had more than one blood clot and I still remember the coach found dead in his chair because he didn’t get up while watching two consecutive football games. Guess he didn’t have two dogs. I do isometric exercises while watching mixed martial arts contests. I am contemplating moving to twenty-pound free weights but I’m not there yet; I would so hate to drop one in my lap. Or on my head.
Lately I have begun to practice tai chi in my recliner.
Can’t do all postures, but it’s big enough where I can easily execute such poses as the Constipated Crane and Arthritic Pussy Cat.