I’ve managed to get myself in a bit of a health pickle recently. My original goal of gaining 10 lbs of muscle sort of failed due to my slow weights routine not really ever making much of a difference. I did get stronger, but I didn’t gain weight. And, considering my fluctuating diet (ie. Health Month), a few stressful months that led to not eating/sleeping enough, and a break when I got married and honeymooned, I’m now weighing more than I did at the beginning but suspect it’s fat rather than muscle.

In the meantime, I’ve found myself spoiled by slow weights and unable to go to the gym (it seems so futile to mess with those weights without a personal trainer), uninterested in running, and weighed down by honeymoon and holiday eating.

So, I’m gonna try to start a yoga habit. I’ve been reading meditation books and getting into the mindfulness stuff again, and trying to be more aware of the constant buzz in my head and body and how it influences my behavior, thoughts, posture, and mood.

It helps that there’s a yoga studio (and a good one) literally right under where I work. The only problem is that I rarely feel motivated to go in the morning, and have plans after work. But now that life is calming down, I think I’m going to try to start going to the 6pm classes. And maybe one on the weekend. They also have meditation classes, which I’m very interested in as well.

Just to be clear, I’m not much into the Eastern religion aspect of it all, and I’m not going to become a vegetarian or stop killing bugs that annoy me. But I have begun to think of health as something that is as connected to mental state as it is to physical state. And given my extra-stress levels recently, a little calming meditation and mindfulness is about the only thing that seems to work for me. Acupuncture helps too. And so does cutting back on the drinking. It all works together.

I guess that’s what health is, in the end: everything working together. Or something deep like that.