Recuperation

Well, I think I've finally decompressed enough from the spring semester to reenter polite society. Funny how you can teach yoga for years, practice for decades and still be laid low by the double-whammy of mental stress and over-scheduling. Am I just not listening to myself, or is this kind of thing inevitable when expectations are high and you want to do well?

As April, with its requisite tests and final projects and papers, rolled around, most perspective was lost. Sleep was interrupted by whirring thoughts, exercise fell to the wayside, and I started eating more carbs. Everything that I know I'm not supposed to do, but there it was. I could see the effects in my mood and ability to think clearly (and skin--acne, ack!). It wasn't until two of the three classes were complete that the knots started to loosen.

Lesson for next semester? Maybe the secret is in the scheduling I do control...perhaps it's time to do the rooster thing and rise every morning at 5 to do my work, when I'm still fresh and ready to crow. Only one cup of coffee a day. At least one Down Dog a day. Bedtime at 9:30.

Don't get me wrong, it's been exhilarating as well as exhausting. Learning all new things is really energizing and I suppose that's where the drive to do well comes from--I'd like verification that I am learning and comprehending, even when that verification is as superficial as a grade. But it's fun to think and it's fun to think about something different and that--more any caffeinated beverage--has kept me going through the blur of not-enough sleep and advanced math.

So now, it is time to embrace the summer, when my primary responsibility is applying sunscreen and keeping fresh iced tea in the fridge. (*sound effect of clinking ice cubes and sloshing liquid pouring into a tall glass*)

Aaaahhhh.