Yesterday was…a day. Both at home and at work, things just seemed to go sideways and by late afternoon I had that craving for chocolate. I was tempted to EAT ALL THE CHOCOLATE. Or…something. I craved comfort. My daughter’s oral surgery issues were continuing, work was driving me up the wall, my husband has surgery again today, and I got bad news about my son’s progress at his residential program. I had SO many reasons/excuses to just skip my workout that evening and indulge. I’m pretty certain I am working on a sinus infection on top of it all. And let’s not even bring up Passover cleaning and preparations.
I took a deep breath and I realized that everything I was craving was exactly what I didn’t need and everything I was tempted to avoid was exactly what was going to help me through all this.
My body feels better when I take care of it even when I don’t feel like it. I need my body to be in the best health I can be if I’m going to face all this craziness in my life and kick this budding sinus infection. Filling my body with junk and not moving was only going to lead me to feel even worse and have even less energy to deal with it all and my stress level sure wouldn’t be lower.
And so, with much effort and not a small bit of grumbling, I peeled myself up off the couch and ate a healthy snack and got my workout in. I had to slow down and rest a bit more than usual, but it felt good to sweat it all out. As I did my workout, it occurred to me that often the exercises that I like the least, the ones I would certainly prefer to skip, are the ones my body needs the most. Very often those exercises target exactly where I’m weakest or have an imbalance or they’re just what I need to see results. After that, I ate a healthy dinner and packed up healthy food for my day at the hospital.
Often, what I most desire isn’t what is going to be best for me. It’s what’s easiest or will bring me comfort in the moment. Instead, I have to choose what will nourish me longer term…and that’s often not easy when so much seems to come at me at once. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and give in and treat my body like a punching bag in the process. I can’t always trust those immediate desires to be in my best interest.
I don’t always win the battle. Sometimes it does get to be too much and I give in, but the more often I take that pause and make a better choice, the easier it becomes. The more I do it and feel the benefit of my body feeling better and my stress being lower, the easier it is for me to remember why I do this.
Geek Yoga 