Perspective

I haven't been feeling very inspirational lately. I've been dealing with myofascial pain and it's keeping me from doing a lot of the stuff I want to do. But I'm pushing myself to learn more, clean up my diet, and do my very best to live as healthily as I can. In the meantime, I'm so focused on getting better that I'm missing the things I'm getting right. Here's some highlight reel from the last three months. This is mostly to cheer myself on and remember that I'm still making progress even if pain is dominating my day-to-day thoughts.

I completed and passed the Apex Movement teaching certification course. We were all swapping our self-care tactics for bodies that are frequently overtrained. I got my first voodoo floss band from Kyle of Movefree Acadamy. He introduced me to Mobility WOD (workout of the day), and I learned that two softballs taped together is a magical back massager. Of all the coaches in training I was the newest to Parkour and I was the only female in the group of goofballs above.

I started my teaching apprenticeship at Apex Movement NorCal. I'm now helping another instructor show beginners how to not break themselves while doing Parkour. Most days we succeed.

I deadlifted 250 pounds which is the same as the weight of an average panda bear! I picked up a PANDA BEAR! Because of this, pandas are now one of my favorite animals.

I've read eight books (and will soon read the ninth one) to help myself better understand myofascial pain, trigger points, inflammation, intestinal permeability, stress, how to correct vitamin deficiencies, the benefits of pasture raised foods, interval training, hormone balance, carbohydrate and fat metabolism, muscle building and recovery, and ketogenic diets. I've been eating a diet free of grains, legumes, processed food, plus most dairy and sugar for over two months.

And today my friend Ryan decided that it was bring your kitten to work day, which was awesome. This isn't an achievement but it made me ridiculously happy. No one can be sad when snuggling a kitten. Especially one with a name as dashing as Walter.

And all of this while I've been feeling incredibly overwhelmed with all the time and effort I'm spending to improve my pain, my diet, my vitamin D deficiency, my detoxing, my sleep, and my stress (now there's a catch-22). I think the moral of the story is that when you have good habits in place like regular exercise and eating well, they can carry you through tough times even when you're not feeling up to it.

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. . . . In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness."

Henry D. Thoreau