In Tune

Bodies are weird things.

I've been thinking about how to become more in tune with my body because, for the past six weeks, I've hardly been able to sleep for more than a few hours a night.

I've had to be at school and work a lot and the stress is causing nightmares. We've been staying at a friend's house (who has heat, thankfully!) so we're sleeping on a pallet, which sometimes causes my back to hurt, and I am pretty sure I have an iodine deficiency because the salt I'm eating doesn't have it and I don't eat a lot of food with large amounts of iodine (fish and eggs).

Bodies are delicate. They are so delicate, in fact, that the slightest disruption can cause a huge problem. Like a tiny, pea-sized cyst on my ovary. I've had one - and it was the worst pain I have ever experienced - I went crazy with rage because it hurt so bad.

I need to become more in tune with my body. I need to be aware of its needs and how my body, different from anyone else's, is run.

I am lactose intolerant - cold milk makes me sound like I "am in the last stages of consumption." (Quote from a book, but forget which one)

I am asthmatic - no smoke for me.

I have a weird reaction to caffeine - it makes me sleepy almost immediately.

I have now remembered the only sleep schedule that works for me: 2 am - 8 am. That's it. That's when I sleep best. If I go to bed earlier I sleep too lightly and I'm up all night. If I get up before eight, I'm tired all day. Six hours is all I need but I need SPECIFIC hours.

Although, I think with regular exercise, I would be tired enough to go to bed at midnight and sleep eight hours instead of six. However, since I don't regularly exercise, I need only six hours to be fully rested.

I'm just thinking about how I can take care of this fragile body to the best of my ability and wondering what I can do to make sure that it is taken care of well and will last me a long time...it's weird, thinking of this as a case...I love the quote of C.S. Lewis's, "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." My soul is the real me - my body is just the case. You still need to take care of the delicate casing, for the soul to survive.

Weird. I had never thought of it that way.