Hello and hope you had a good month.
My October was heavily focused on my health as has been the past few months.
Speaking to some of my girlfriends, many had some sort of health issue in the latter part of this year. As they say, when your health is shaky, only then do you realise how good life was without having to think about it.
Some health issues are severe than others. Big or small, it is important to take care of your body. Unlike the movie ‘soul’ (where you know how to jump from one body to another), we all have only one body in this life time and it is up to us to take care of it.
Jokes apart, as your body ages, however best you might take care of it, there is wear and tear. There are many reasons ranging from physical training, repetitive actions, carrying stress in various parts of your body (for me, it is always my shoulders) and unknown reasons too. And, for women, with changing hormones, our bodies go through a lot.
Personally, this year, in January I decided that I am going to train regularly and also go for massages regularly. But with the lockdowns it has been tough to get massages. I am pleased that I have trained consistently even through lockdowns, doing online sessions with my trainer. So, by the sixth lockdown, my body felt the brunt of it – without having had a massage for a while.
Quite often we don’t realise that stress also manifests as pain in the body. A tension headache, stiff neck or shoulder pain can all be associated with stress. It is very important to address these as they happen. So, through October, I have taken time to actually feel the pains and aches and see what I could do about it. At one point, my shoulder was really sore. With massage not an option, I chose the next best thing – my physio. As lockdowns ease, I look forward to regular massages.
Another focus for me in October was to be ok to sit and just ‘be’. My personality is such that I tend to keep moving. Sitting idly = laziness. So, even if I am super tired, I relentlessly keep moving until the end of the day. I don’t think my body appreciates that. If I can sneak in an afternoon nap on those days that I really need it, I try to do it. But it is rare during the week day. I try to compensate by sleeping for longer hours during night – ideally my body likes a 9-10 hour sleep.
Moving on to other things, I finished reading William Whitecloud’s ‘The Magician’s Way’. It was really magical to read and realise that life is 90% what happens in your mind. There are many books about this, but this book was an exciting read because it was more like a story where you discover simple yet powerful secrets. There were 7 secrets, but let me share the first three:
Secret #1: Your thoughts and feelings aren’t real i.e. they are an expression of your underlying assumptions in any moment
Secret #2: Your focus creates your reality; so focus on the end result
Secret #3: Everyone has a heart meaning everyone has a dream.
If you want to know the other secrets you either have to touch base with me 😉 or buy the book!
Fitness-wise, I’ve been training my body through yoga for the past 2 months and I can see the benefits of it. My body is more flexible now and I actually have the confidence that one day, I too will be able to do a hand stand.
My biggest lesson for this month – I only have one body in this life time. Even to experience life, I need this body and it is up to me to take good care of it.
Until next month, take care.
