Tango, anyone?

I’m gaining stamina and flexibility daily, as well as diminishing levels of discomfort and pain. I’m almost back to my full morning walk routine—just a half-hill to go, which I’ll likely add back tomorrow.

Phil left yesterday to spend 3 days in Anacortes beginning to dismantle the cap rail on our boat, so a carpenter we’ve engaged can begin to replace some of the rotting wood that’s beneath the cap rail, on both inside and outside. So I decided last night that perhaps I’d try going to my tango class alone.

Phil and I have been taking tango classes since February, attempting to expand the few steps we managed to pick up through our lessons in Argentina. It’s been very slow work, but for me, since my diagnosis, it was one of the few spots in the week where I focused almost totally on something other than cancer. It takes so much concentration to make your feet and body do these complicated steps that my mind was fully absorbed for the better part of our 1 hour 20 minute class. Plus Phil and I screw up so often, we are frequently dissolved in laughter over our inadequacies, and that was therapeutic too. During our classes, even though most of the people in the class rotate partners, we stuck to each other, opting out of the partner exchange (along with about 4 other couples).

With Phil gone, I thought I’d join the single ladies for the night, and try both dancing with different partners, and seeing if I could stand up in low heels for an hour. The heels were no problem, but after an hour of twisting of my torso and body in different directions while we did the turns we were working on, the activity finally got to me and I called it quits. However, I’d gotten good practice and review and had a great time. I also gave my torso and innards a pretty good massage! And I decided that changing partners wasn’t such a bad deal. I focused more on my dance steps and worried less about what my partner was or wasn’t doing. Afterwards I came home and watched “Dancing with the Stars” to enjoy how pros do it!

So here’s another therapy for cancer patients—dance! Good for both mind and body.