do something to improve my health every day

all the time….this is my routine:

doing tai chi, prostrations, and meditation everyday
stretch
take my vitamins
take my herbs
doing a moxa treatment everyday
seeing a therapist every week
going to service every week
go to choir every other week
go on retreats at least twice a year
journal
and aggressively looking for supportive MDs to help me avoid surgery
rest more, nap every day

And remarkably, it was relatively painless to integrate many of these into my daily routine:
1. Taking vitamins daily
2. Doing qi gong twice a day
3. Eliminate soda, even when ordering pizza for dinner.
4. Working our 6 days a week.
5. Meet with sangha community, go to dharma talks regularly.

Others gotten forgotten or postponed along the way:
5. Morning pages.
6. continue process in multicultural organization I recently joined.
7. Not eat after 8pm
8. Get to bed earlier

One goal I cannot ignore anymore is regulating my sleep. It affects my eating habits, increasing late night cravings…it increases my fatigue (duh) and inflammation, and therefore pain, and it’s an awful time for me, when I’m most likely to sulk and ruminate over lost dreams, hopes, etc.

9. Find a therapist.
Was seeing one that was o.k. but just not great, I’ve had better before. Have a new referral from a friend, and she specializes in PTSD which is perfect, and should allow me to work on long standing issues.

10. Send deposit in for next retreat.
I’ve been on several retreats this year, and I think this has had a profound effect on my physical and emotional well being. I think considering all that’s been going on , I’m handling things relatively well. Well, there’s room for improvement, why I want to strengthen the support around my healing.

11. Start “Artist’s way” support group.
Started this, but after 4-5 weeks it fizzled out. I’d like to re-commit to finishing the proram/book by myself. Although I’ll miss my friends’ insights and support.

12. Schedule spa treatment (still haven’t done this! it was a mother’s day present…. two freakin mother’s days ago!)

13. Join a class, pick one and register.
I feel more like myself when I’m learning something. Need to register and quick.

14. And I’d like to add another relevant goal: finding a new GP.

SO EVERYDAY I WILL BE:
1. Taking vitamins daily
2. Doing qi gong twice a day, maybe adding a longer more complicated form to my routine
3. Eliminate soda, even when ordering pizza for dinner.
4. Working our 6 days a week.
5. Meet with sangha community, go to dharma talks regularly.
5. Morning pages.
6. continue process in multicultural organization I recently joined.
7. Not eat after 8pm
8. Get to bed earlier

And need to set up these appointments in September:
9. new therapist
10. new GP
11. another retreat
12. spa treatment
13. register for a class that inspires me

of being able to move. And since the retreat, even without medication, I just found out I lost 20 pounds this last month! Just from doing qi gong.

I found out when I joined a gym, and weighed in. I’ve started going everyday, and it feels so good, and it’s nice and a low-impact program. I’m just a little worried about fitting in qi gong, meditation, morning pages and a workout every day, but it’s working out o.k.

The girls are a little older and so can entertain themselves while I do qi gong and morning pages, not all the time, but most of the time.

And I discovered a great Asian market by the gym, and bought some herbs I can add to soups and teas. And some exotic vegetables.

So, I need to continue:

1. Taking vitamins daily
2. Doing qi gong twice a day, maybe adding a longer more complicated form to my routine
3. Eliminate soda, even when ordering pizza for dinner.
4. Working our 6 days a week.
5. Morning pages.
6. continue process in multicultural organization I recently joined.
7. Not eat after 8pm

Still need to
8. Get to bed earlier (oops).
9. Find a therapist.
10. Meet with sangha community, go to dharma talks regularly.
11. Send deposit in for next retreat.
12. Start “Artist’s way” support group.
13. Schedule spa treatment (still haven’t done this! it was a mother’s day present…)
14. Join a class, pick one and register.

this morning. It was glorious, and I’m duely blissed out. And I went through a lot of healing, but am also very sore.

More importantly, I made a huge, concerted effort, which also included asking for help to be able to do this. It’s made a profound difference for me, and I’ll just keep it at that.

1. continuing qi gong
2. continuing vitamins
3. eating better
4. adding: better eating habits: no snacking after 8pm; no juice or soda (for a year); and slowly going back to a vegetarian diet; adding herbs.
5. going to retreat in a couple of weeks
6. calling friends
7. exploring other interests, re-igniting my passion in my life: painting, writing, multiculturalism
8. adding some mild exercise evry day that won’t aggravate my back pain
9. call GP again, get referral to pain clinic

I strive for this everyday.

and am going for a run. I am getting rid of this goal. I am already doing it everyday. I am probably one of the more healthy people on this planet.

Maybe becasue I’m in a healing profession, and a mom, I forget to do this.

I’ve been fairly good about maintenance:
doing daily qi gong
taking daily vitamins
eating well
talking to friends every day, going out with them more often
seeing therapist

There have been many times when it would have been easy to let these things slide, to take care of something or someone else.

But I have scheduled remote healing sessions with my teacher, and finally taken up my friend’s offer of bodywork (I had given her a treatment a little while ago), and watching the kids… I shudder to think what state I’d be in right now if I hadn’t been stretching myself in this way. But I still worry about it, about being a burden or nuisance… Even after I just convinced a friend to do the same, after she had come out of the hospital, I told her, “let your friends help you, it will bring them joy to know they can help you, let us do that” Why is it so hard to listen to my own advice?

so stopped jogging, but need to start walking again, and want to join a gym for the cold season (I have cold-induced asthma). So will start walking everyday again (1.5 mi)

continue to take vitamins everyday

continue to practice qi gong everyday

continue to read something positive everyday

continue therapy and poetry group

still need to work on improving sleep
and on ordering herbs for myself
and am ready to start flylady routine again, but will take baby steps

got me off my routine a bit, but I tried to make it to the exercise room in the hotel most days…

will need to start jogging everydaytaking vitamins and herbsqi gong everyday, twice a day, one time longer noweating better now that I’m home againreading something positive everyday

sleeping is still a problem… only getting a few hours every night

need to start weeding again

and would like to start doing more flylady routines again

would still like to join a gym, maybe an all-female one?
and still need to order herbs to stock my medicinary…