For the past month or so I have tried to stretch each day. I was doing so well for about three weeks in August, but since then I have been a bit inconsistent. I started this process with an app called Daily Insist that I downloaded on my iPhone as a free app. This app allows you to set up a habit you would like to create and provides you with time-frames to continue your habit for– 7, 14, or 21 days. You can also set reminders for you to complete your tasks and it keeps track of your progress:
I thought this was a great idea, and I set up a reward for myself so that after the specified time I would receive said reward, but I ran into some problems with this system– namely that if you complete your stretches after midnight that it counts that as a lost day and you fail:
I had run into this issue before this current fail, and so I had planned for it: such as one night we were playing a gig and I knew I wouldn’t be home until around 2am, so I pressed the “Done Today” button before midnight, knowing that I would come home and stretch, and not wanting to lose my stretch of completed days. The above stretch of completions was lost because my girlfriend and I were engrossed in a game that lasted past midnight– at roughly 12:15am I realized what had happened, and I was frustrated that I had missed pressing the completion button. I have not used this app since.
It has been so amazing to do my daily stretches. I have started a fairly comprehensive stretching plan that focuses on my back, but also covers other major muscle groups. My girlfriend is going to aid me in taking pictures so that I can show you what I have worked on, and hopefully encourage others to maintain a daily stretching schedule.
I have been less consistent lately, but I’m in desperate need to get back into my schedule. It’s near the end of the month, so my body is getting sore as the biologics begin to wear off, but I am also not sleeping as well. Stretching was part of my bedtime routine, which really helped prepare my body for sleep, and it also loosened me up and I found that I had less morning stiffness.
My PT has also given me strengthening to do so that I can progress with my exercises, and although I had not started on these before I had my latest treatment, she was very happy that I had done regular stretches– I’m really aiming to take my health into my own hands so that I don’t have to rely on my practitioners as much.
Stay Loose!
Journey With AS 
I’m hoping to start a yoga class mid-sept with a certified yoga instructor. She does therapeutic yoga. It would be a good place for me to start. I have so many tendons that are tight and inflamed. I see the RA doctor this week and I’m sure she will encourage me to do it. I should try that app. There are a couple of new habits I need to encourage.