Saturday, March 22, 2014

Back to ballet - my rehabilitation experience

Today, I had my 3rd ballet lesson after a 10 week hiatus following my horrible ankle sprain this New Year. I'd forgotten how gratifying it was to end the week by working those muscles and stretching those limbs, and am so glad to be back at the barre.

There's some catching up to be done. My turns, which were never good, have gotten even worse on both sides; the ankle is still a bit iffy too and I don't quite dare to turn on it yet. My balancing is also slightly off and I think my core has gotten even weaker.

Apart from those, however, I have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised by my current form. My back is actually more supple and stronger than it's ever been - my back bends are deeper and I'm holding my best ever attitude balance on demi-pointe. I think my developpes from fondue are as high as, if not slightly higher, than they used to be - which is also fantastic given that I've been away from the barre for so long.

I think I owe my form entirely to the yoga and exercises I did during my rehabilitation period. After the initial few weeks, I started doing some yoga and stretching exercises for at least 30min twice or three times a week, as well as simple barre work to maintain the muscle memory. I mainly practised the RAD Grade 8 barre work - purely because it wasn't difficult and I was familiar with it, which made it easier to focus on working the injured ankle while keeping the good ankle fit.

For yoga itself, I mainly did the two sun salutations - I think they were key to strengthening my back. I also did some half-moon poses, as well as full locust, and bow poses. The balancing stick pose was especially fun (and challenging) to do  as well. I fully admit that my yoga practice was very haphazard - I would probably benefit more from a class in terms of preventing injury and having a more holistic yoga experience, but I liked being able to do poses that targeted key areas as a dancer.

Once I was warm, I went on to stretching exercises - including side splits while lying on my back and penches with palms on the floor for support. I'm quite keen to keep up this yoga-stretching combination in between classes as they seem to have worked great so far, and hopefully motivate myself to throw in some thera-band exercises to push me further too!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Remiscing Japan

I needed to choose a photo for a workplace newsletter the other day, so I promptly went onto Facebook and started scrolling through my picturer and further down I went, until I realised that I'd hardly any pictures of Osaka, Kobe, or several other places in Japan that I'd been to and loved.

Facebook in the past couple of years has become, for me, a great platform to remember and reminisce about the past. Looking back on where I've been and what I've done helps to bring to mind happy times, beautiful places and wonderful friends. When I'm down, it reminds me that I've had some great experiences and that there will be more to come; when the weather is - quite literally - putting a damper on my mood, I am reminded that even Ireland can have lovely weather and that I'll be ready to enjoy it when it comes.

I therefore decided to dig up photos of my time in Japan and post a selection on Facebook, so that they'll be just a few convenient clicks away when the mood hits. I was struck by nostalgia browsing through the photos of my neighbourhood in Osaka - it's the simple things and once-familiar places that threatened to bring tears. The sight of my apartment brought to mind smells of the tatami and the feel of the cool kitchen floor; the shot of clear skies over the Yodogawa evoked clearly the sense of freedom and peace that I felt when out on my bike, cycling around the neighbourhood on restless evenings and quiet weekends.

Yet, I was surprised and disappointed that there were so few photos of the city I love so dearly and once called home. There were none of the touristy shots of frequent haunts like Shinsaibashi, Namba and Umeda. Nothing more than my memory of the Glico Man, the Dotonburi crab, the plastic food figurines in Sennichimae, the HEP 5 ferris wheel, JR Osaka station, Yodobashi camera, LoFT, Crystal Nagahori, Namba Parks... nothing from the cycling route from Sagisu into Umeda (like the mural at a junction and the long slope that was so scary yet thrilling to go down; the wind in my hair and adrenaline in my veins); nor the Ebie junction; nor the Fukushima-dori; nor even Nodahanshin itself or Jusco.

It scares me to realise that I have nothing tangible of Osaka - even if the memories I have are so real and so clear. I don't know why I didn't take many pictures then, when I spend so much time photographing bits and pieces of my life here - the food, the city, the everyday. Maybe it would've been different if Instagram had existed back then. But now that I know I will one day be looking back on photos of my life, I'll bear in mind to continue snapping away as I go through the days.

 
design by suckmylolly.com