I seriously wonder if I’ll ever take my own advice!  Because here I am, yet again, writing at 11:00pm…sigh☺️

I found a book called “You Are Not Your Pain. Using mindfullness to relieve pain, reduce stress and restore well-being.” It has an eight week program of twice daily guided meditations. It also includes a CD. I haven’t actually started doing the meditations yet, as there is some very interesting information about how our brains process pain and about almost reprogramming our brains to react differently when the pain first starts. (I am not very far in yet, so please don’t take my description as the literal synopsis of the book. If it interests you, the authors are, Vidyamala Burch & Danny Penman.)  I am finding it very interesting so far. I just haven’t had much time to read it yet. As always, the intention is there, but I haven’t yet had enough time to actually sit and read. So, I was going to do more reading tonight, but my face is in so much pain that I got tears in my eyes by just washing my face. It sucks 😩😩!! I decided to skip the night cream. I’m going to cover my face in the essential oils that are supposed to help with pain – even thou gh just using the roller to apply it hurts…& grab the ice-pack & lie my butt down &, if I feel a bit better, maybe try a short meditation. I’ve read that even a short amount of time, even 5 or 10 minutes helps.  And, one of my best friends, the one we just visited in Rocky Mountain House last weekend, brought me my “halfmoon om zafu meditation pillow” from her beautiful store! I’m not sure if she wants the name on here.  I’ll find out & add it if she’s okay with it.  It has all natural products, and a huge range of products from cloth diapers to women’s clothing to yoga products to my dad’s wood working (beautiful jewelry boxes, wine glasses, bowls – & yes I’m biased) etc… It’s a great store & I’m so proud of her! She had a dream & went for it! She’s my hero – what courage it takes to follow your dream & materialize it!!  She also brought the yoga pants for myself & my oldest daughter & a t-shirt for myself & my younger daughter, as well as a bra!  All of the clothing I bought the is made from natural fibres, from hemp to eucalyptus to bamboo!! This wasn’t intended as an advertisement for her, she’s just a sweetheart & she brought all of the stuff over today, on her way to get her daughter from her dad’s.  She even snuck the t-shirt for my younger daughter for free, into the stuff I bought & gave me great prices!! Cheers my friend!  Love you muchly – I’m honoured & blessed to have her in my life!!

So, anyway, it’s super frustrating… I’m in too much pain to read & try the meditations, but if I can start using the meditations, they may help the pain. It’s a poopy, aggravating cycle!! To sick to do things that can hopefully help me feel less sick… It’s just so bad right now that all I want to do is lie down & cry & hopefully fall asleep.  Sleep is blissful; until the pain is so bad that it wakes you up. Then you’re back at square one, getting more ice or a heat pack (I just find ice helps more) & trying to go back to sleep!  My hubby comments about how often I sleep, but he knows that I use sleep as a pain-killer, if I can. Probably not the most effective pain-killer, I know, but it sometimes works & that’s what matters to me.

So, I was all set to try to read a bit more with the ice on my face & some drugs in my system &/or at least try out sitting on my brand new half-moon meditation pillow, with my diffuser making my room smell of wonderful, calming, essential oils, while listening to soothing music (a mixture of Enya &  Reiki & other calming music on my “night time” play list.) I looked forward to this…but, now it is getting super late & my 4 year old little man hasn’t been able to fall asleep yet. He’s so exhausted, but can’t sleep! So, I’m going to cuddle with the little monkey on my bed, with my ever present ice-pack on my face & sing to him. He’s inpatiently waiting for me & he has playschool tomorrow, so I have to sign off for now!! Sleep well😴

Hopefully one day I’ll get it right, or at least have fun, while about it I write!