Day 28 - Endorphins and a Miracle!

I finally got to experience the rush of endorphins at the end of a workout!  At lunch today, I did a long, 5-mile DVD.  It was really intense, and I was tired.  But, I noticed that I was in an incredible mood and really happy I had done the workout.  It was a great feeling.  I was hoping it would come back after the second DVD of the day (just a 3 mile) but no such luck.  Still, it was amazing, empowering, and just really reinforced that my body is starting to like the exercise.  (Except of course for the fact that my thighs are screaming in pain!)

But, what was even better had very little to do with exercise.  Michael has seen me do the yoga DVD many times.  Usually, when I ask him if he wants to do it with me, he’ll follow along for a few minutes and then just watch me do the rest, or he’ll wander away.  Tonight, he asked me if I was going to do yoga.  I told him I was too tired from the other videos, but asked him if he wanted to do it himself.  He said yes!  So, he set up the mat all by himself, and needed help getting the DVD set up.  Then, he actually followed the complete workout!

I was so amazed!  So many times you hear that kids with autism have trouble with imitation and following directions.  He listened to every direction and followed it.  And, when he noticed that his body was different from the instructor, he modified.  The level of processing and imitation blew me away; let alone the sheer amount of coordination it took for him to do the poses.  I think family yoga is going to be a new tradition around here.  Or at least cheering him on when he wants to do it himself.  I am STILL beaming with pride.

I can’t believe that tomorrow will be my four week check-in.  I don’t know what the scale will say, but I am really looking forward to the comparison picture.  I think there is going to be a bigger difference this time.  I am really excited about the changes I am seeing, physically and emotionally.  Today I can honestly say that I am so glad to be doing this!