I have always regarded myself as slightly dyslexic. Tai Chi has me thinking that my dyslexia might be more severe than I thought it was!
I have a Tai Chi instruction video I am trying to follow. The demonstrator is facing the camera. I am facing the demonstrator. We are mirror images, and I find myself confused as to what hand or leg should be doing what, when. It looks easy, yes it does, but coordinating all this left or right from the visual is truly distressing. I will keep at it though, it might become easier with practise.
It will be a very, very long time before Tai Chi is something that I will find relaxing!
Things are pretty quiet here at Mist Cottage. There isn’t a lot of talking going on any more, not much left to say now, the state of things is becoming clearer as time passes, and there is no immediate need for drastic changes to take place. The holding pattern is doing its thing, holding. Knowing what is happening makes life a lot easier, even if I don’t like what is happening. Sleep is getting easier to come by most nights, five hours, sometimes a bit more, is now normal. I am eating a healthy diet, getting out a few times a week, which is still high stress but necessary. The stress related to the activities should slowly subside, as the times, places, and people seem more familiar. Life is carrying on, and my singular little boat is staying afloat. I carry my broken heart close, with great tenderness.
One of the interesting things that has occurred since last November, and Attila’s big announcement, is that I now have very large, dark, bags under my eyes. This is completely new, and even though I am able to sleep more, the bags persist, and are probably permanent. Most of the changes as I have aged have been gradual, this was not gradual at all, and I am finding it a bit shocking. The solution… don’t look in the mirror!
I received news about the ultrasound, all is as expected, the cyst on my kidney is still there, unchanged, and there was no information about the gallstones, so I am assuming they are still there, and still the same size, with no change. I will be asking about the gallstones though, the next time I need to go in to the walk-in clinic, just to make sure my assumption is correct. I am interested in getting the new Shingles vaccination, something to inquire about at the walk-in clinic. My CT scan is coming up in February, which I hope will show nothing unusual, and if that is the case, it is just a matter of carrying on with my healthy lifestyle and hoping for the best as time takes its toll over the years to come.
Today it is snowing to beat the band. The snow plow came through early this morning, but there wasn’t all that much snow thrown across the end of the driveway, so shovelling shouldn’t take too long. The temperature is hovering around 0C, and the heat pump is busy heating the house, leaving the newly repaired oil furnace to rest for a day or so. The heat pump circulates room temperature air, as opposed to the heated air that the oil furnace circulates. The room temperature air feels cool, as it creates a slight wind chill, which means that I feel a little bit chilly sometimes, which means I need to wear heavier clothing than I do when the oil furnace is doing all the work.
I am concerned about myself, while writing my last three posts I’ve made no spelling errors. I calm myself, by noting that homonyms still plague me!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
0°C
Date: 1:00 PM EST Sunday 4 February 2018
Condition: Light Snow
Pressure: 100.9 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 0.1°C
Dew point: -0.9°C
Humidity: 93%
Wind: S 40 gust 53 km/h
Visibility: 2 km
Quote
“It takes too much energy to be against something unless it’s really important.”
Madeleine L’Engle
1918 – 2007
Well I would count that as good news on the medical front!
I’ve got some exercise videos where the teacher faces the camera with a small army of people behind him, following all of his movements. I’m not dyslexic, but I find these videos very hard to follow. If the teacher and his class lunge to the right, I have to translate that o.k. they’re all moving to my visual left, but they’re really lunging to their right. Exercising is hard enough without all that translation.
For the dark circles, have you changed medications or supplements recently? I read that that can cause darke circles nd puffy eye.
Sandy, the moves aren’t that complicated, but by the time I listen to the description, and translate the mirror image, I’ve lost the thread of the movement. Must keep at it! At the class, when the beginners joined the main group near the end, the experienced people urged me into the middle of the group, that way there were people in front of me and all around me to watch, it was very considerate! I tend to stay to the back or edge of groups, particularly exercise groups, because of my arm, in my mind I am minimizing surveillance of my weakness, silly me!
No new meds or supllements, no changes in diet, just loss, grief, daily tears, and a fairly large sleep deficit are doing their worst.
I too had trouble following movements by an instructor who was facing me — both when I took tai chi and karate. It sure doesn’t make the best sense as a teaching method, or so it seems to me. The suggestion to stand in the middle of the group is a good one!
When I wept for two weeks or so after receiving Mom’s terminal cancer diagnosis, my eyes swelled up so much that when they went back to normal, they never really went back to normal. The upper eyelids were suddenly droopy — something that occurs slowly, with age, but my constant crying apparently sped it up.
-Kate
Kate, the first part of my class, the experienced people were in a group facing the beginners at the other end of the gym. I think my confusion and dismay were observed by some kind people, who then advised me to move into the middle of the group in the final segment of the class. It felt wonderful to receive such consideration. It makes it easier to go back and face the challenges again.
I guess Kate, that pivotal points in life can change us outwardly, as well as internally. Funny old life.
Maggie it sounds like there are very kind people in that class. Exactly the place I would want to be when trying something new or doing anything really 🙂
I’m glad you like the class, although it’s difficult, and that you got some good medical news. I hope the gall bladder behaves, too!
Thanks Joan! Usually the challenges I choose are of a technical nature, or emotional, or philosophical. This is a physical challenge, which way outside my comfort zone. But since I am already out here, what the heck!