Not Spinning in Everyday Ramblings

Finally after a whole week of hazardous air warnings we are getting some wind and yesterday although it did not rain, it was quite humid and the leaden skies brought some relief late. They have been saying don’t bother to wear a basic mask or bandana but we have some N95 masks and I wore one to get to class and back Wednesday.

I saw the sports doctor on Tuesday and he said don’t think of exercising outside even with a mask until it clears.

He also told me not to run or do any type of exercise that would bring my heart rate above 120 until I have additional testing. I almost burst into tears.

The cardiologist said I could do intervals but not to sustain any peak effort at all the day before. He says my heart and lungs sound healthy but they all agree that a low dose blood pressure medicine as well as the baby aspirin a day is a good idea.

The next test is a CT scan of my heart in a couple of weeks. Sigh. It is way better than having an angiogram but I am not looking forward to it.

There are markers for some damage that might significantly enhance my risk for a heart attack or stroke later and they are trying to get a handle on that.

But we still haven’t addressed the original question. I may need to figure it out on my own. And there is some idea that they may do the whole sports performance extravaganza again. If my insurance covers it.

Work has been intense and I end up making up all the time I am taking off for these appointments which then seems to extend the work week into my civilian life.

And I cut the cord with my church as far as my yoga classes go. I got great feedback from my students, all very supportive. The response from the church was in a tone that reassured me that I had made the right decision.

It means more marketing. I knew that was coming but at least now I am confident enough in my teaching to make that just a little bit easier.

I heard about this study that said that reading was as effective or more effective in evoking the relaxation response as guided meditation. I recently downloaded the complete works of Thomas Hardy for a completely other reason having to do with his poetry and I made a joke a few weeks ago to my Monday students that I could read out loud to them from a Hardy novel instead of doing the guided body relaxation exercise I do before Savasana. One of my students lit up and said “I love Hardy!”

So this week I did just that. I wandered around the studio while they were all relaxing comfortably and read to them for five minutes.

Literary Yoga!

We will see if they want me to continue or not on Monday but another student said that when I gently say Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go as we move into the rest period of class that she immediately starts to think of all she feels she has to do.

We humans are contrary like that.

I talked at length today to my student that had a very worrisome concussion earlier this year from a car accident, (some random driver just hit him unexpectedly) about his recovery and he said by far the hardest part (besides not pushing himself too much) was that they had him just lie there in the dark for most of a week with no phone or computer or television.

We are so good at doing, but not doing….there lies the challenge.

I will say that the news has not been calming this week either.

The cardiologist told me I need to eat a Mediterranean Diet and I splurged and ordered a couple of beautiful cookbooks that I was looking at before bed last night. I could not find anything for black beans in them.

Do they not eat black beans in the Mediterranean?

I love lentils and that is the spice profile I enjoy most so I am not complaining but I just thought it was interesting.

It is a nice safe grounded thing to focus on as the crazy news cycle goes off spinning out of control.

Last updated August 24, 2018