Character in Everyday Ramblings

This is quite similar to a picture I put up about 15 posts ago, but you know, when you are confined to home territory there are somewhat limited options, and it is good practice to shoot the same thing repeatedly as one hones one’s eye and one’s skill.

Most Honorable came up yesterday with his big flash and SLR to take pictures of me for this website I am in the process of creating for my yoga business. It was lovely to see him in person as having actual breathing people nearby is so rare these days, especially at home.

Our long lockdown has been more extreme than I think in most places in the country and while we have had tragic loss of life and illness, we are towards the bottom of the list of all the states in terms of numbers.

I haven’t had my hair cut in a year. I was looking at videos last night about how to trim it myself and I might try that, as the old lady ends are getting a bit raggedy. This is something you notice, as well as age spots, sagging skin and wrinkles when you are having pictures taken. I just kept repeating the word…character…to myself as we were looking at shots through the view finder.

It is an interesting thought experiment to think of transitioning out of the realm of possibility of feeling attractive in any sort of traditional sense, and into a realm of character and authenticity. My emotional life would be so much easier and less painful if I could let go of these outside stereotypes and external cultural norms.

If we are lucky enough to get a bit older, we all experience this transition in different ways. Mrs. Sherlock had been having some scalp issues lately that turn out to be a result of thinning hair and daily sun exposure (even in our usual damp glare) as she is usually walking or biking every day and of course she walks Frieda.

She bought a wig. It looks great, quite flattering. She has decided not to dye her white hair anymore. Her wig is this rich auburn and a good length for her. Charity keeps her hair very short and it is white as well. The three of us are on a spectrum about caring about our appearance with me in the middle.

Of course, I am the only one of us that has to look at herself teaching for hours each week both live and on recordings.

I have always been a mouth breather. I have a tiny mouth and tiny sinuses and in the 21 years I have been practicing yoga I have worked at building lung capacity and healthy breathing habits. The sports medicine doctors who I worked with a few years back said my breathing was fine, there was a wall monitor they used both times to show it was fine, but I have always been a bit skeptical about this.

Just like a less than ideal posture when I am tired or distracted my breathing returns to unhelpful when I sleep. Particularly in Spring and although it is technically still Winter here, the trees are pushing out their buds and…my cardiologist doesn’t want me taking regular antihistamines anymore.

I am reading the book Breath by James Nestor. I heard him interviewed last year and Kes bought the book in hardcover and has lent it to me. Last month I ordered a package of Somnifix mouth strips designed by a dentist who noticed that so many of his patients were having various breathing problems when they sleep. I finally got it together to try one last night.

You place the strip over your closed lips just as you are going to sleep and it forces you to do the natural thing that we are designed to do, which is breathe through our amazing noses when we sleep. I kept it on all night and woke up feeling great. My Fitbit keeps a lot of metrics on my sleep and they were all good last night. I even get a “sleep score”. And mine was excellent.

Deep restful sleep is one of the best things we can do for our immune system and I am most curious to see if I can keep this trend up. I am all for anything that brings more energy into my life from a natural source and there isn’t anything more natural than breathing.

In the meantime, I need to do class prep and chores.

All four of the taste testers of the Blueberry Cornmeal Buckle gave a thumbs up. Even Kes, who is not a fan of blueberries. She does like butter and there is plenty of butter in there. The combination of the lemon zest with the blueberries brightens the whole crumble up.

Charity rated is the highest of all the baked goods so far. :)

Last updated January 25, 2021