Elegante Mother and I go to exercise three mornings a week. One of the things we work on at class is balance. This morning when we entered the room, there were two long strips of blue duct tape on the floor. The last 15 minutes of class, we lined up to walk the line!
The first time through, we walked relatively normally, one foot in front of the other. There were a lot of jokes about Breathalyzers and cops. The next time through, we brought our foot around in a circle before setting it down, and the last trip through we put a foot forward, touching down toe first, and then heel.
I discovered that most of it was simple to do if I was able to move through it fast enough. If the person in front of me was moving slower than I was, my balance went to pot.
I have one other balance test that was suggested to me. A person in their sixties should be able to hold this pose at least 10 seconds. Stand up, straight. Suck everything in and focus on keeping your core tight. Cross your arms, laying your hands on the opposite shoulders, close your eyes, and lift one leg to a 45 degree angle.
The first time, I keeled over almost immediately. I hadn’t prepared by setting my posture and firming my core muscles. The second time I tried it, I got to about six seconds before I listed. One of my classmates was talking to me and distracted me. I think if I practice this in the kitchen, I should be able to master it.
Try it. How long can you hold this posture?

I seem to have reached a crisis point. I’ve been writing entries in my head for the past year or so, and they aren’t getting onto the computer. Part of the problem is that I need to make a date to write. It doesn’t need to be daily, but I need to set a time when I can go to the computer and put down my thoughts. I also need to keep a note pad handy to write down the ideas or sentences which come to me when I’m not at the computer.
AND, I need to take some memory building classes. I was just standing at the kitchen sink, rinsing knives, and in just two minutes, had an entry fleshed out. By the time I got to my computer….no more than five minutes later…..I couldn’t remember the subject of the entry. This is really ticking me off.
Do you suppose more walking would improve my memory? Please tell me I’m just going through a phase, and that things will improve!