All posts filed under: Holistic & Health

Coming soon: From Diagnosis to Surgery

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Diagnosis to Surgery / being sick and getting treatment in America First draft / Still to be edited It’s about a year ago that our crazy journeys began. My first doctor’s appointment was in December, by January I was in ultrasound, by February in MRI, then waiting for surgery, getting mentally into the right space to build my courage and trust. April surgery, recovery slower than other people, sitting here and like you: when I see a ‘trigger object’ (which would be a peanut butter jar, a tin of beans, a big size container of vitamin C, or a large mango) I always thing my fibroid was bigger than that! My gosh. Of course it messed me up. How did I live so long with it? How wasn’t I diagnosed sooner! Wow. And than goodness for my NP, who took immediate action and my OBGYN and the ultrasound technician who spent an hour and a half picking me to get the best image and the MRI guys and the Radiologist who re-visited the MRI images …

My Yoga Student completed her 10 day Yoga Challenge!

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2 weeks ago I challenged my yoga student to a 10 day yoga challenge! She came to my house every day for 15-60 minutes to learn a simplified Sun Salutation, of which we did 2 rounds each day, adding a couple of postures as we progressed through the challenge; following the sun salutations I gave her 2 floor based postures each day, mostly postures to help her with a personal health issue. I am super impressed that she got through 10 days without a fail and she did amazing! I am really proud of my student’s discipline and determination. I think this was a great experience to guide a private student through this journey of discovering her strengths and working with weaknesses. And here is what she has to say about her experience: “When the challenge was offered to me, I was not sure if I could do it time wise, physically and mentally wise. Everyday to go out of my house at a time where i would tend to sit on the sofa and do …

Surrounded by teachers in Northern Thailand

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Suddenly I find myself surrounded by teachers. (I trust you know how hard it is to find them when you are looking for a single one… now I need almost a whole hand to count the sudden influx). It never rains but it pours, right? And each one feels like a relationship of trust. {You know the stories of how I started 3 different postgraduate degrees and ditched two because the teachers just weren’t right.. Or how I rotated through a set of driving instructors until I found THE one that fit like a glove? All the while hearing friends tell me that I am either and or fussy. Discerning guys, it’s called discerning and not paying any old ‘quack’ .. What a cool word! But I didn’t mean it as mean as quack might sound. It just was so snazzy and snappy to use.. } Also in other news: Thanks to Nephyr from the Naga Thai Massage Center I learnt that my website is full of errors. I have a lot to learn it …

Sometimes it’s the little things that make the day good..

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It’s a good day when after a seriously sleep-disrupted night I find that the market vendor left the seeds in the jackfruit. Finally! I’ve been trying to get my hands on Jackfruit seeds for way to long. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the day good.. It was a really quiet day even if the following really doesn’t sound like it: My teachers at Massage school distributed serious kindness, meant it and then revealed my bicycle that I had left here 2 years ago! Got to love them! I got to help translate/correct some stuff and felt way better about getting free classes after that. (yes, that’s right. No charge because that’s the style. And also the only way I could be here in the first place.) After a week here I finally visited my favourite cafe with garden and a fish pond with giant goldfish (I mean GIANT), it is way out of budget for this journey but that’s ok. I’m here to learn and hopefully photograph. Anyhow they remembered me and I …

Last full week before departure

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I can’t exactly believe that I am really off, with so little money in my pocket and so little self belief.. But it might be what I need to prompt my confidence to finally sprout and grow. Somehow I feel like I have been so slow at growing in general, it took so long to realise so many basics of life.. Today I will start on the admin that necessarily needs to be prepared for any long journey. I also will take a trip to the charity shop and see if they would like to take all of my things off me. I also am running behind with my studies at my Thai theory Course and need to take that more serious and not miss this opportunity to learn.

breathing / meditation

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I think this is simply and clearly presented. It is easy to follow and effective. I would know as I am currently riding on the oceans of a wild and stormy life, it appears that somebody didn’t pack a compass nor packed a guide to the stars. So while my little boat is tossed to and fro and I wonder where it will all lead me – all the while hoping that I will not capsize – this little breathing meditation is soothing and helpful.

How I try and fix my neck pain

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.. I just woke up this morning because I was in so much pain with my neck that I couldn’t sleep. I tried this yoga video, and while it didn’t fix the neckpain, it did help a bit. Remember: when you are in pain then the solution may require a few days of regular gentle practice. I think people often want there to be an immediate solution (very understandable from where I am at this morning) but immediate might be even harmful. Think of it this way: it took certain prolonged or repeat actions to cause you this injury or discomfort so therefor it makes sense that it will require some mindful changes to resolve it. What do you think? And do you have an immediate cure for my neck pain? (wink)