Monday, April 26, 2010

How It's Working - The Kaizen Way



Remember The Kaizen Way?

Here's how it's working for me right now:

First, I've started lifting weights to get rid of some of the flab on my arms. My sister suggested this, and though I can't see improvement right now, she assures me that I will. A few nights, before going downstairs to do this, I've thought about adding something. Yoga, lunges, something simple. Immediately I didn't want to do anything so for now I'm sticking with the fifteen reps of four different lifts.

Secondly, I've been meditating twenty minutes a day. I started at ten minutes, moved to eleven, then to twenty. Again, several nights I haven't been ready to stop when the timer went off, but every time I think of adding ten minutes, I balk at going downstairs. So twenty minutes it is.

Lastly, I want to explore where my two interests, writing and photography, intersect. I thought about going back to school. But I found all kinds of excuses why this wouldn't work: no time, no money, finding a parking space at the university, going out at night, blah blah blah. But three days felt manageable, so I'm going to take a weekend workshop on facilitating workshops. Now that sounds strange, I guess, but the facilitator has assured me that we will explore my desire to combine my two interests into something that would make a good workshop, and that by the end of the weekend I will know how to conduct it effectively.

Going to this workshop pushes me. I do not know the woman, I don't know anyone who has taken her classes. But something about her has seemed intriguing to me since I first ran across her name. I was doing a search using the words "photography+writing+workshop" and she came up. And her book, God Is At Eye Level, is an example of the type of thing I'd like to do.

I'm staying at the level where "fight or flight" doesn't set in, and it's working.

1 comment:

Greta said...

Mamie, somehow I missed the Kaizen Method. I must have been in labor! Anyway, I'm just starting on a get healthy kick: starting probiotics and joining a fitness center. Both Mike and I are doing it. Thanks for the inspiration. Please report on your workshop. I was outside today taking photos of an unusually pretty rhododendron and realized that the last time I spent a concentrated week alone to write, that I took breaks to walk the trails and take digital photos. I think you're onto something very intriguing.