Archive for the ‘physiological change’ tag
Caring for the Soul, Caring for the Body
Breaking the rules of caring for the body
I am still reading Carotenuto’s book, but slowly. I am taking the weekend off from Calgary and spending it with my daughter who lives about five hours from the city, and her family. We talked yesterday evening of “change,” specifically change in terms of diet. We both have strong negative reactions to seasonal allergies and have come to the realisation that pills and nasal sprays are not the real answer. We need to take control of our bodies at the basic level in terms of what we put into our bodies. This makes sense but it isn’t such an easy thing to do in spite of making sense. For a while I thought I will see how she does with this program and then decide if it is worth the effort for me to engage in the process – I know, not too smart thinking.
Today I went for a physical evaluation with the view of trying to undo the negative effects of not working since the middle of January. I have gained weight and lost energy. I failed to properly read the instructions (I didn’t read them until an hour before my scheduled appointment – self-defeating behaviour) so I hadn’t done the necessary preparations for the evaluation. I had a glass of wine while talking with my wife last night, followed by no breakfast and drinking coffee. As a result, my blood pressure was elevated (though I did drop it through a two-minute focused breathing activity for a second test which was administered). To add insult to injury, my weight has gone back up to a level I had thought had long disappeared.
Putting the two parts together, I have been forced to admit that I need to enact change on the physical level as well as through the psychological process of analysis. Needless to say, I won’t be eating meals like that pictured in this image. Needless to say, I haven’t been listening well to my wife or my analyst who talk about balance in life. I was so focused on the spiritual and psychological, that I had abandoned care of my body. The work for this change now must begin with the same serious intention that I have given to the spiritual dimension via Buddhism and the psychological dimension via Jungian analysis. The work begins now, not tomorrow.
That all said, it is time for me to go for a good long walk.
