Why does recovery after illness, injury or operations, matter?
As I said in my previous post, I have been recovering from a big operation. A major re-do of a previous major one.
Four weeks of recovery. It did indeed take time. (It actually was longer!!) I'm very lucky that I didn't have to cut down on recovery time, in order to go back to work.
These days I just teach a yoga class, mentor a few people regarding deep spirituality, and work in a Maori healing clinic in Titirangi (my second home, to be honest) on Monday nights. I postponed the yoga and the healing for five weeks, but am back into them both this week. To be honest I didn't have the energy to do them just before and after the operation, as I was so tired. Actually I got really worried about it taking so long to get my mental and physical energy back up, let alone that indefinable spiritual life-force/prana/Mauri that I use in my work.
But come back it did. A few days ago. Phew!!!
Why does recovery time even matter?
Because it really does. I know these days that a lot of work places are really tough on people taking time off to get better. And this also applies to women giving birth (grrr!!! this makes me so angry that still some women are expected to give birth, have a short time off, then go back to work)
I recall, when I was young, taking a day off work to go to a family funeral. I was a sobbing mess that day. But, the next day at work, I was publicly blasted and threatened with losing my job if I ever did this again. Wh-a-a-t?
Recovery matters so that we can get better and resume our life. No matter what the reason is for needing to recover.
It really is as simple as that.
My recovery, and non-rocket science tips
I stayed at one of my daughters, a farm (which has miniature ponies). Seriously there is nothing like one of your adult daughters or son taking care of you. It really is the best. Lucky me. For three weeks.
Then home. Yep, this wasn't quite so easy to be honest. However, I do believe in doing things for oneself. But, when you're really low in energy it can be quite hard to get essential things done.
I worked out the absolute main chores that I needed to do each day for myself, and spread them over the day. Doing a bit at a time. It wasn't much that I actually did:
* shower and get presentable. Always makes me feel better to make myself look nice.
* keep up to date with dishes. Wash them and leave to drain to save my own energy. I don't have a dishwasher.
* keep up to date with laundry. Luckily I do have a drier and clothes horse, so that was easy.
* make bed. I just tidied it most days, to be honest, as I wasn't able to stretch etc. One of my daughters had to sort out remaking the bed, duvet cover, etc, after the first weekly wash, for which I really was grateful.
* do little bits of tidying up
* sort out The Food Thing. I used my bread-maker for making healthy bread, and I have a one-person crockpot so I just have been throwing stuff into it to make soup. Morning porridge or toast only take a few minutes to sort out. Not the best cuisine, but it was fine. I also made up a medley of cooked vegies to have with protein, for main meals.
The other non-negotiable is early to bed each night. Because our body repairs itself during sleep.
I truly believe that we do need to work out things that are appropriate to oneself, to recover.
I couldn't lift anything heavy, stretch nor do anything to stress my organs. And I needed a daytime rest for at least two months. It was a big operation that I'd had, and seriously - they do take time to come right after.
Heart health matters
There is a wee thing that I did a lot of, after the first operation and also this one, as I didn't have enough energy to go tromping up and down the local hills. However, we need to keep our heart healthy, especially as we get older, and walking is just the best for this.
Mysteriously, our calf muscle is known as the Little Heart. If we can't do heaps of walking, we can still positively affect our heart by sitting, feet flat on the ground, lift up your heels, so that the calves contract, then lower your heels. You can do both feet or alternate them. Actually you can also do a thump down with the heels to imitate a sort of a mini jump. And this helps with bone health.
Do these whenever you think of it. Even if you can only do a few here and there, to start. You'll find that you get to be able to more in a short while. And doing them here and there throughout the day, because, well - this all adds up.
And let's get our energy/life-force up, too
Another wee tip, to get the life-force up, is to do a wee quick nose sneeze (exhaling) as you lower the heel/s. Pull in the lower tummy (below the navel) as you do this. Relax your tummy as you do a passive inhale. Only the exhale is any effort. You can also pump the arms as you do this. If you choose to do this breathing technique with the calf exercise, don't do it in the evenings. Unless, of course, you want to stay awake all night. Just do a few here and there to start with. It's a very strong breathing exercise, so please only do ten to twenty here and there. It will make you feel great and help clear the brain fog of medication and tiredness.
Stretch after
You can also stretch the calves after, seated, by just lifting up one leg, stiffen it and pull your toes back towards your body. Hold for a wee while, then do the other leg.
Bonus is that you will get lovely lower legs.
More recovery hints
Link here for easy, very effective restorative exercises to get your body working again, after recovery. If you're a much older person, I recommend doing them every day, whether you've been unwell or not..
If you can only do one of these poses here, do the cat pose. Everyday. Builds up our nervous systems and lungs.
A lovely, easy flowing sequence here, using cat poses, when you're up to more movement
It takes time to fully recover from any illness or surgery, doesn't it? I'm glad you were able to stay with one of your daughters for the first three weeks post-op.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the easy calf exercises and stretching tips, too. I am going to start doing them as walking is a bit painful for me.
Sad to hear that, Bless. Those exercises and the calf one....they really do work. xxxxxx
DeleteI hope your recovery is going well, Ratnamurti. Take your time and don't try to rush things.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bless xxxxx
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