I walked 30 minutes on Tuesday and did 90-minutes of housework, by the day's end.
Today, I'm planning to walk again, do more housework, and I've been doing P. T. upper back/shoulder stretches/exercises. I woke up in dreadful upper back paid, b/c of scoliosis, etc... but the stretching and P. T. exercises I learned for the shoulder/upper back, in 11.5 months of P. T. in 2010, were so great! Wow, do they ever work wonderful. Now, I'm feeling like I went to a masseuse!
Stretches are so good for us, they not only make us limber, but if we do relaxation breathing, during them, it's like taking a tranquilizer, too. It's good for the lungs, the soul and the mind.
Once, my primary care physician, demonstrated a stretch, for the entire spine/body, while sitting, especially for the particular scoliosis/spine stretch I needed with my lower and upper curves. It's so nice to do that, too. It was funny, when he demonstrated, too, because he kept forgetting which way my curves went, so he kept undoing and redoing the stretches. I caught on, fortunately, too.
My doctor is a D. O, and from what I've heard and read, they specialize in the muscles, stretching and manipulation. It's nice to have a D. O. like this, for me, IMHO, because he doesn't sit down and rapidly write out a prescription for pain pills, which I don't take. It's nice how he tries other things, for me, first, and they all work, too.
He had me buy a book, too. It's called:
"TREAT YOUR OWN BACK," , by Robin McKenzie. This man is from Australia, I believe I read, too. His method of exercises was so good, I got such a good stretch, and if I find that I've been not paying attention to my posture or if I hurt my back, if I do his exercises again, I feel better, too. His book is skinny, too, so it's an easy read, with good photos. It's only 100 pages on and I recommend this book to anyone experiencing a back injury or pain.
I might grab my mat today, since I've got the back book out, and do some of his exercises, to refresh my memory.
RamblingRose, Trying to stay out of the "wilting" stage is "challenging" on some days, but it's much better than getting into the 'dead' stage!
Your analogy was a GR8 one, too!
"FLOWER POWER"!
I used to blame the confounded neighbors, living about 1/2 - 3/4 miles away, through the woods, for their loud music at night! When I realized it was my heart and back after all these years, I felt a bit embarrassed for being so frustrated and angry at these "others" who lived on other streets! 
