More fun with osteopathy!

I was at the osteopath's again last week and came home with several new exercises to add to my stretching routine. The picture aptly shows what I look and feel like while doing it. The first two exercises require me to lie on a mat and pull each leg into exceedingly pretzel-like angles, so there are always Concerned Dogs eager to help/lick my face/make sure I'm all right/stand over me so I have a great view of dog underbelly. (Blech.) Then I have to kneel on the mat for an iliopsoas stretch, and then there's a complicated hamstring stretch that is nothing like the grab-your-leg-and-pull-it-behind-you move I usually see runners doing. Then I sit down for a spinal stretch, which I have to hold for FIVE MINUTES, and end with a quick breathing exercise that is guaranteed to Bring Concerned Dogs At A Dead Run because of the weird noises involved.

It seems like it takes a long time to do all this, so I timed myself this morning. I still read the instructions for most of the stretches because I'm not that used to doing them, but all of that stuff I listed in the last paragraph took 24 minutes to do! No wonder it feels like it takes an eternity--it does! Even more fun is the fact that I am supposed to do this routine (minus the spinal stretch, which is a one-a-day) TWICE every day! Yikes!

So even my rest day is not all that restful.