Safe Stretching Space

Ugh, my apartment is soooo cold. Really puts a damper on my winter. Not that I don’t love how beautiful it can be outside, especially after the first fluffy snow of the season when the air is so crisp and fresh and the park is filled with the laughter of children on sleds and snowboards. But I hate not having a warm place to come into. When your apartment isn’t sufficiently warm, everything just sucks. And every year, I seem to have less heat. I spent all day yesterday shopping for, then pasting up, storm window sheets, air conditioner covers, and insulating tape, all to make it a whole whopping two degrees warmer. So it’s now 66 instead of 64 in my place. Well, every little bit helps, I guess… The worst of it is, though, that I really can’t stretch when I’m not sufficiently warm, and, being from Phoenix, 66 is definitely not warm enough to keep me from shivering. Last spring, I tore my adductor muscle while stretching on the floor of my apartment when it was too cold, and, despite physical therapy, it’s still not completely healed. The leftover scar tissue still tightens up, especially when it’s cold, preventing me still from going all the way down into the splits. Which is precisely why I need to keep stretching it — I definitely need, and want, to be flexible for my Tharpy foxtrot routine with Jacob. So, I’ve taken to stretching in the only place in my dwelling where I can have some control over the temperature — my teensy tiny miniscule little bathroom, where I can steam up the place and create a veritable sauna. At least I have hot water, knock on wood…