Reverb12 Day Nineteen: Nourishment

tyunglebower ♦ December 19, 2012 ♦ Leave a comment

How did you nourish your beautiful body in 2012?

What self-care practices will you take with you into 2013?

I could always do better at this, though I think I take decent care of my body by and large. Far  better than I did, say, five years ago.

I eat far fewer processed foods than I used to. I am normally a walker as well. two to four miles most days. But this year I had fallen back on that, and it wasn’t just pure laziness. In fact, part of it has to do with taking care of myself in another way.

In the last year or so I have embarked not only on a renewed effort to secure more freelance writing clients, but to committing myself to writing more fiction for eventual publication. That means that my waking hours now are taken up not just with writing, but the ever present effort to look for places to write, researching, and sometimes just reading and keeping up with relevant news or trends. Then there is the time I take to read the fiction of other people. As an aspiring fiction writer myself, this is no mere recreation. A writer must read to keep the ideas flowing and experience the craft through others.

The times of day where I would in time gone by be walking a mile or two are often taken up with other things. In the winter time, by the time I am caught up on whatever my daily to do list is, it is often getting dark, and I can’t go walking.

The solution to that would seem clear; set aside time for a walk during the day. And I sometimes do that. But my walking routes are long and can take up quite a bit of time. My chances are better when there is more daylight, as I said. But even then it can be a pinch.

I thought I would try, therefore to start my day an hour or two earlier this year. I have only partially succeeded. It’s an on going process. But due to my night owl status it means I need to make the conscious decision to go to bed earlier than I would fall asleep naturally any given night, and commit to that schedule regardless.

Again, partial success in 2012.

Regular, consistent sleep is integral to the body. My entire life I have had a lukewarm relationship with proper sleep. I like everyone else enjoy sleep when the time comes, but the time does not always come on a regular basis for me. Like I mentioned, it comes when it comes. And even when I sleep, that business of “waking up feeling refreshed” never happens. (I mean who are these people that go to bed at night and literally wake up in the morning, stretch and feel refreshed??)

I’ve thought about seeing a doctor about the sleeping thing a few times, but have never gone through with it. I have tried to heal myself with the sleeping thing by taking the steps I have taken. And I have met with some success this year. (Except for that whole waking refreshed thing…)

I’d like to take my calculated approach to sleep with me into 2013, so I can have more time during the day. But time that is useful, not time during which I simply drag around for a few hours because I am up earlier than normal. Time where I feel, if not refreshed, than at least ready to conquer a few more things like taking a daily walk, so I can continue my committed to be better to my physical body.