Fitness Check In Day 104: Quieting the Mind

Monday nights I usually watch wrestling on Netflix which is a nice way to end the first day of work week. I’ve watched wrestling since I was a kid. Then as an adult I would watch it off and on depending on my work schedule. When my dad passed away in 2022, I began watching it again as a distraction. It was something to take my mind off the sadness and in a way be closer to him since he was the one who got me started watching wrestling back in grade school. Usually I’m totally absorbed in the drama and excitement, however yesterday it didn’t dull my worry. The pain in my stomach, the restlessness that comes with the pain and discomfort was just hard to silence. I couldn’t stop thinking about the worse case scenarios of whatever it is I have so I didn’t enjoy the matches and the stomach pain made for a sleepless night.

Today I woke with trouble catching my breath again. That didn’t matter though, I had to get up and do my DDPYoga session (DAY14) because skipping it is NOT an option for me. I cried a lot during the 1st half out of pure frustration, pain and uncertainty. Uncertainty and pain are the hardest for me to deal with. At least breakfast went down okay, but the worry was drowning me. I was doing everything I could to hit the breaks on the anxiety. Even the breathwork I learned wasn’t helping, (although I’m sure I was doing it wrong and rushed it which explains the vertigo. I took my lunch hour and tried a new cereal called Nature Path’s EnviroKidz Organic Peanut Butter Panda Puffs I got from Trader Joe’s to see if my stomach could tolerate it. This way I’d have another option to eat for lunch or during the evening. I had it with unsweetened almond milk and to my surprise, I had no rumblings, pain or excessive gurgling in my stomach!!!! Whew! That’s one win for today.

Then I got back to work and turned on my tablet to play one of my favorite shows in the background. Hudson and Rex. It’s a Canadian show I have mentioned before and I absolutely adore it. One of its stars is a German
Shepard…I mean that alone is a reason to watch! I could feel the tension melting away by just looking at Rex tilt his head. There is a scene in one of the episodes where he arrests a dog!! That’s a stress buster right there!

After that the rest of the afternoon went a lot better. I was breathing normally again and was able to focus better and get ahead of work I had to do. I ate dinner 2 hours ago and am feeling pretty good so far. Again no excess pain, little bloating and no gas so far. I was also able to get my steps in. Today I did 3,100 steps!!! The trick was to stop looking at my phone to prevent intense vertigo I have been getting these days.

So that’s it. Not a long update but a good one. I was able to calm the nervous nelly so I could breathe normally, I got way ahead of my work so I can enjoy my week off. I logged 3,100 steps…AND the best part is today was day 14 of me doing DDPYoga consecutively. That’s 2 whole WEEKS. ME! After all this time of injuries and problems. Of muscle wasting and weakness. I know I still have a long road ahead of me, but I see the path in front of me and is it bright!

Until next time my Phoenixes. Keep going, keep fighting and please be kind to yourself. You’ve got this!!