Precerpt from Grandma's Ninja Training Diary: Breathless but Unbroken
Cardio class, day one. Ninety minutes of movement, three times a week. I showed up with two left feet and a right leg that might still be hiding under the sofa I lifted last spring. Rugged, not graceful. But I try. We were told to grab our weights. I hadn’t brought any. So I dashed out to the bins and grabbed the nearest pair. Two ladies behind me gasped: “Those are way too heavy!” I looked. 7½ pounds. Not heavy—for me. Everyone else had 1–2 pound pastel pebbles. I had gaudy yellow bruisers. And then we danced. We lunged. We shadowboxed. We jumped. We swung those weights like we were fighting off invisible pirates. It was good I hadn’t grabbed the 25-pounders. But the 7.5s? Just fine. After class, the verdict from my more experienced classmates: “Not very graceful—but definitely strong.” I’ll take it. 🧠Ninja Wisdom: Strength Is Breath’s Companion I was breathless. Not just from the movement, but from the effort of being new . Breath is the bridge between effort and end...