I will admit that I have the most difficult time with the exercise portion of my SWAMI. Over the past 10 years I have fooled myself into believing that as an A I don't really need that much exercise. I figure since Dr. D'Adamo put that part in the back of the SWAMI, how important could it be? ( I am not listening..)
So it has taken me quite some time to come to grips with the fact that I need to exercise, that the exercise needs to be on a regular basis, and that walking the dog is just not enough. In addition, I turned 48 this year and that's close enough to 50 for me to know that I needed to have a serious discussion with myself about physical fitness.

Over the summer a yoga studio 2 minutes from my house ran a special, $40 unlimited classes for one month. It was hard to resist the introductory price, so I signed up. My goal was to get to the early morning, 6:30 am class at least 3 days a week. From yoga I would go home, eat breakfast and be at work by 10:30 am. It worked out pretty well. However, once the month was over I didn't sign up again, partially due to the expense but also because of, well... laziness. So, rather than sign up for more classes, I spent the last 4 months having a conversation with myself about exercise and how to balance that into my already busy life.
My usual routine in the morning is to walk my dog for about 20 minutes. I have a Yorkie she doesn't require much exercise (some people don't even walk them). I feel however, that for her overall health it is best I take her on some short jaunts around the neighborhood. I decided if I walked her 4 times a week, that would leave 3 days for me to get to a yoga class in the morning. But alas, this is easier said than done and I can always think of a few reasons why staying in bed is the better choice (especially when you're married to a nice warm Pillsbury Gatherer and it's cold outside.)

To better understand my reluctancy to exercise I guess you need to know a bit more about my inadequacies. For as long as I can remember I have been stiff. As a child I remember how other kids could touch their toes, do back bends, even do simple things like grab their hands behind their back, but I never could. I can't remember ever being flexible, I think I came out of the womb in a tight ball and have spent the last 48 years trying to unwind. Only recently I have found that I transfer all my tension/emotions into my muscles and probably have been doing this since childhood. One manifestation of this is grinding my teeth during sleep which resulted in my needing a root canal a few years ago. So the exercise element of this way of living is not only to keep me healthy physically, but emotionally as well.

One morning during my short month of classes, I had the opportunity to be the only student to arrive. The teacher, rather then cancel the class, gave me a one-on-one session. In the middle of the session I began to cry. I don't recall feeling any emotion in particular, but I did wonder about the connection between my overall lack of flexibility and my emotions. Being the wonderful teacher she is, she gently encouraged me to continue. After the class I did some research on yoga and the release of emotions. I found out that some forms of yoga are designed to release emotions, Qi Gong is one of them. Dr. D'Adamo recommended this type of yoga to two of my A friends when they visited him at University of Bridgeport. He even printed out the exercises separate from the SWAMI report for them, which means he really thought it was an important element to their health.

Blood Type A's tend to hold emotions inside. I have often wondered what that meant, but now I understand where I have been storing mine.

So for this new year I have signed up for yoga as a birthday present to myself, 6 months unlimited classes. My hope is that I can move forward both physically and emotionally.

I am continually thankful for this work that Dr. D'Adamo has done.
My wish for you all is that you would dig deep into this way of eating, living and thinking.

In the next few months I hope to be happily touching my toes ( of course without bending my knees).
Peace and joy to you all.