<![CDATA[On December 7th, 2015 - I began a 10-week journey of self-love and optimization. If you'd like to learn about my rationale, goals, and plans for success - check out the original post Day 1: Choosing to Love Myself and Own My Life Day 2 is in the books! Not exactly as I planned (and I spent a lot of time planning)… but does anything ever really go as planned? My day started like this:

• Woke up at 6:00am, took some proteolytic enzymes (good for shoulder & general health – need to be on an empty stomach), fed the cat, and wrote in my Five Minute Journal.
• Grabbed my phone and opened up my Headspace App. I love it for guided meditations and overall meditation instruction. Then the daily battle ensued to see which distraction would be the winner today. It was the cat. My wife sleeps in a little longer, so I keep the door closed (we have a small place) to keep the light out. Our cat (LuLu) will meow outside the door if it’s closed, disrupting my meditation, and my wife’s sleep. If I let her in the room and close the door, she’ll meow on the inside. If I leave the door open enough for her to go in and out, a lot of light gets in the room – bad for my wife’s sleep.That back-and-forth (in my mind – and physically shoeing Lu away from the door, which involves getting up) occupied about half of my meditation time. The other half was fantastic. For those with Headspace, I just started the “Balance” sequence, about finding balance in life, and in yourself. It was good.
• Got out my Qigong ruler (it’s a tool/prop for practicing Qigong) and then realized I don’t remember how to use it. Looked for the instructions for 5 minutes (length of time I was supposed to use it) and then moved on.
• Forgot to do the theater of the mind visualization exercise I planned on doing after the Qigong, because I was frustrated about the Qigong situation. (Will explain this exercise later – or for Primal90 Members, you’ll find it in Module 2)
• Tried to do some of the mobility/rehab exercises for my shoulder – and they hurt, more than normal. Probably ended up doing about 1/4 of them, as I’m not supposed to do things which cause pain. I also forgot to take out my mat and swiss ball the night before, both needed for much of the exercises. Bombed it. (Failed to prepare)
• Next up, morning dog walk and sun exposure. I like to listen to audio books during these walks – a great way to get my mind moving with my body. Today… my phone died instead. No audio book. (Failed to prepare) Oh well… more attention to pay towards the beautiful nature here. It’s chilly in the mornings (51 degrees today) so I wear a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and my slippers (warm). Each week, I’m going to be reducing layers/clothing until I’m only wearing board shorts and flip-flops. (By then it will likely be cooler)  Cold and sun are good. My neighbors are gonna’ think I’m nuts – but that’s okay. I just might be

Instead of getting frustrated at everything that didn’t go right, I just made notes to 1) find the Qigong instructions, 2) consider a different time/place to meditate, 3) make sure my phone is charged for my walk, and 4) make sure I get out my mat and swiss ball for my rehab exercises. I like (need) lists. Without them, my life would collapse. My morning was quite productive, actually ahead of schedule – and then I got sucked into Facebook. Thanks, Donald Trump. Thank you for providing me with an opportunity to practice mindfulness in the face of unbelievable hate and ignorance. Now please move somewhere else, like Mars. We hosted an awesome webinar with Rochelle Serna today, as part of our Healthy Babies series – that was a lot of fun, and super educational! Rochelle is amazing. You can check that out HERE for another day or two before it becomes part of the Primal90 Member Library! After the webinar – it was lunch (breakfast? not sure what to call it when I eat my first meal at 11:30?) time! Mira made some homemade organic corn tortillas to house some leftover taco/fajita mixture we’d cooked a couple days ago. I had that with some guacamole (looks funny because I put persimmons in it – which are orange – and blended it), a beet/carrot slaw that I like to call “Detox Slaw”, and a mixed greens salad. (See photo – no recipes today, sorry!) After eating, we took Marley (dog) for a walk and played with him a bit in the park. He’s getting up in age, so exercise is essential for him (and for us!). The sun was out, it was warm (sorry to my friends in the north), and felt great. 1:30pm – Time for my treatment with Lucas, my local Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture wizard. I have a horrible phobia of needles, but it seems to only apply to syringes, blood draws, etc… Tattoos, no problem at all. Acupuncture, only minor sweaty reaction. Lucas is incredible. If you can find a knowledgeable, skilled Chinese Medicine practitioner – I highly recommend it. Not just Acupuncture, I recommend you find someone trained in the whole gambit of Chinese Medicine. Lucas just got back from China after studying under a guy who’s been practicing for six decades. That’s some serious skill. After a very interesting, and educational, acupuncture (with moxa (sp?) – which is kinda’ like incense on the end of the needles) and a little massage, I felt amazing. (Still do) My shoulder pain is reduced by around 50-70%. Lucas brought up Qigong, and taught me a Qigong movement/exercise to do… and showed me how to use my ruler! (I just wasn’t supposed to know how yet this morning!) For Primal90 Members, you’ll find a guided Qigong video with Lucas in Module 3. I recommend giving it a whirl. After I got back (2 hours later), I was pretty spaced out and relaxed. I forgot to turn my ringer on, and missed a business call. Whoops! I called her back and had an awesome hour-long conversation. I’m not gonna’ spill the beans, but you’ll be seeing a fantastic new contributor and guest on interviews popping up soon 🙂  She specializes in brain health, depression, methylation, and many other very relevant topics – and she’s a great person. (Most important) (I love my job) After the call, which ran long – I tried to get a little work done, which I was able to do. Yoga was up at 7:00pm. Generally, I eat dinner around 7:30 or 8:00pm. This wasn’t going to work tonight, because I would be in yoga. Wasn’t quite hungry yet (I’d had a Synchro Genesis shake around 4:00pm with some mashed butternut squash) – so I decided to wait until after. Primal90 Members, you have a discount code (I think 15%) for all Synchro products. (It’s listed as Synchro Gold, their Turmeric product) During yoga (which was great – a restorative/yin class) – my shoulder hurt far less than it did the last time… and I became the hungriest person in all of Southern California. (Whoops, poor meal timing decisions) Now I’m about to eat at 9:30 at night, go to bed around 10:15. Not ideal, at all – so I’ll make a note to time things a little better the next time around! (And not beat myself up over it) Dinner is leftover papaya pork roast (made in the Instant Pot last night, the greatest kitchen gadget ever created) – more on the Instant Pot, and recipes to come soon – no time tonight! I’ve been writing this whole thing with my orange tinted Uvex glasses (look on Amazon) – since it’s too late to be in front of a screen. I also have the f.lux program installed on my screen – which turns the tint a less offensive red/orange for night, reducing harmful (for sleep) blue light. Not ideal (no screen at this time would be ideal), but it’s the best I can do tonight. Self-Care / Movement Today

• Meditation (even though it was disrupted, I stuck with it, and felt better after)
• Journal
• A little rehab (not much)
• Sun/walk in the AM, and again after lunch – the Sun exposure is HUGE. (Probably 30-40 total minutes)
• Oil pulling and rebounding (more on rebounding in future post) in the AM (forgot to mention)
• Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture Treatment
• Restorative Yoga
• Patience with myself when things weren’t going well, mostly due to my inadequate preparation

Today’s Lessons I was tested early, with some frustration and what could be perceived as failures. I didn’t allow these to deter me from staying on track the rest of the day, and I made sure to write some notes to myself regarding improvement going forward. I forgave myself for my scheduling/preparation issues, and moved on. In those instances, it’s best to be forgiving, compassionate, and loving towards ourselves. Beating myself up would have derailed my emotional health for the entire day. Regarding the rehab, I probably wasn’t ready for the exercises I wasn’t able to do. (Until my treatment in the afternoon, perhaps) Regarding the Qigong, I was supposed to learn from Lucas and hadn’t been there yet. I’m also going to be up later than I’d wanted, and I’m on the computer later than I’d wanted, and I’m eating later than I’d like to. That’s okay. I’ll be asleep by 10:15 or so, waking at 6:30. Solid 8 hours. Perfect? Maybe not. Good? Yes. Things aren’t always gonna’ go as we want them to, or plan for them to. Actually – things very rarely ever stick to plan. That’s okay. Adapt. Accept. Move on.    ]]>