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Good morning (or afternoon)
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This last week there were a lot more signs of spring around the property. It’s like the plants all got the idea that it’s getting warm enough to bud. So most everything has woken up this last week. We have buds on so many things now! The crocus did come up, but still no flowers on the daffodils or tulips. (Fingers crossed that I get at least some flowers!)
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The one tree that is doing really well is the Japanese plum. It’s one of those trees that has grafts of five different types of plum. The Shiro branch is already blooming, while the others are still merely budding. Not only is that one big branch filled with flowers, growing out of the side of the branch there are three additional little spikes.
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Ten years ago, in June, my body went through a major hormonal shift and I suddenly started having a bunch of migraines. I think I had nine that first month. Then the next month, I had more. This went on for two years.
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Prior to that time, whenever I was stressed, I stopped eating. I would frequently lose weight because I was so uninterested in food.
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Sometime during those two years of constant migraines, that changed, and I realized that when I was feeling stressed, I wanted to eat. Not only that, I would crave sugar and fat.
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I was recently listening to a Huberman podcast where he talked about this, and how the normal response to stress is to stop eating. I wasn’t weird for doing that. That’s actually how the body is wired.
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However, when you have chronic stress, your body rewires itself and you start wanting to eat when you’re stressed, in particular, sugar and fat.
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It had never occurred to me that having two years of constant migraines was the equivalent of chronic stress. And that I’ve never fully recovered from that.
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Soooo…what do I do about that?
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Meditation has never really worked for me. It generally causes me more stress and I can watch my heart rate rise when I try it. I already don’t do caffeine regularly. I know that I’m easily triggered so I always watch my stimulation. I don’t think that talking to a shrink will help with any of this because the chronic stress has (somewhat) passed. (Though I suspect I have some level of PTSD due to dealing with my niece, and having to continue to deal with my shit of a brother.)
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Huberman suggested subjecting yourself to small bouts of physical stress while keeping the mind at peace. This will habituate you to stress as well bring you back down to a regular state quickly.
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One of the things he mentioned was the Wim Hof breathing method. There is some good science that explains why this works. So I’m trying it for 30 days, just to see if that will help with some of the rewiring that needs doing. (Though the experiments that have been done showed better results at 45-60 days, so I may continue after that.)
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In addition, I’m adding a practice of doing physical check-ins, seeing where I’m carrying stress in the body, breathing and relaxing for a few moments, then doing something physical, like a gentle walk. I’m timing this with my Fitbit reminders to move. Since I have to get up once an hour and get my steps in, the first thing I do is a check-in.
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The check-ins have been pretty shocking, quite frankly. I don’t think of myself as a stressed person. Yet, I’m carrying so much stress in my body all the damned time. I don’t ever relax, not really. No wonder my body thinks I’m under chronic stress.
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So that’s my practice for the next month. Do a lot of breath work. Check-in and try to release some of the stress I’m carrying. And maybe if I can get myself less stressed, some of the other issues I’m dealing with will resolve.
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What are you working on these days?
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This month's sale ends today!
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To celebrate the release of Witch Mirror?, the first of the water witch mysteries is on sale for this month!
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Now generally available!
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AJ's latest vision starts with a dozen people being yanked out of sight by a noose around their neck. It ends with just a single body, hanging from a beam in an open loft.
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What the heck? Did she just witness the work of a serial killer? Or a cult?
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The victim turns out to be more nefarious: a Catfisher, that is, someone who impersonates other people on the internet for attention and possibly money.
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The reality TV show that exposes catfish turns their attention to AJ. As a successful psychic, she must be a fraud. Right?
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Between being pushed for information by one of the show’s host, the machinations of her mother on the Milltown chamber of commerce, and trying to keep her relationship with Roland moving along, AJ has her hands full.
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Particularly when a second, only somewhat reformed catfish comes to her for help after being threatened...
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Witch Mirror?— a cozy paranormal woman’s mystery—continues the adventures of AJ, the quirky characters of the charming Pacific Northwest burg of Milltown, and leaves AJ with questions about magical powers and her path forward, with her family, friends, and lover.
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Let the water—and the magic—flow.
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