you say, each life has its place

[jazzfish]

In my experience, the usual pattern for the beginning of summer in Vancouver is for the long weekend to be sunny and Pleasant and feel like summer is here! and then for the temps to drop and the clouds to return and "Juneuary" to take hold. Then summer proper gets into gear just before Canada Day.

In the event, it was Too Warm a few weekends ago; last weekend was the long weekend and my understanding is that it was rainy and chilly. (I was up north, where it was also a bit rainy and chilly.) It's been clear and warming up the last day or so, though. Yesterday I was vaguely irritable and lethargic all day, which has an obvious source that I didn't even consider. I was, of course, Too Warm. I didn't realise this until I woke up at 12:30 in an absolutely stifling room. Set up and turned on the fan, and that was enough to get me back to sleep until 4:30, and after a bit more tossing and turning until 6:30ish. So, that's like eight hours of sleep, which should have been plenty but due to interruptions left me feeling grumpy and, well, tired. But not the "falling back asleep" kind of tired.

So I grumbled and got up and did an hour of yoga for the second time this week, and ... that seems to have helped. Most exercise doesn't. Sunlight reliably helps my mood, but exercise as such does nothing for me. Except, for whatever reason, for yoga, when I can manage it.

I am also reminded that my body likes to do physical things, and likes to get better at them. On Wednesday I biked from Joyce Station to the optometrist, about half an hour, and then from the optometrist all the way back home. No trouble at all. (I also got to stop and read my book under a tree for half an hour or so, which was entirely lovely.) Tuesday morning I did a round of yoga; Tuesday night my muscles and joints ached from being stretched weirdly, but it was the kind of ache that I knew would go away if I just did that a few more times. My breathing's improving, at least when there's not a ton of smoke in the air.

I used to land somewhere between hating my body unerservedly and thinking about it as little as possible. Since Erin and yoga, I've been able to come to more of a detente, off and on. It's complicated. But it's nice that it's complicated, instead of straight-up loathing.

Anyway, the cold robot is active today, which is good because it's been up around 27 our there, and things are mostly alright. It's nice.

Comments

[reedrover]

I’m glad you figured out the problem. Hopefully you will sleep better now.

Yeah. Exercise doesn’t make me happy, but my body moving correctly does, and I know enough to put those two things together.

[sartorias]

I really wish we had bike paths here, sigh. Glad you get to do it!

[jazzfish]

Fingers crossed. I did at least sleep straight through last night.

It's... I enjoy "my body moving correctly" and "my body being capable" and those do have an effect on my overall ... mood climate, I guess. But there's a widespread school of thought that says that exercise has an effect on one's mood weather. With rare exceptions that is absolutely not the case for me, and it's exhausting to argue about it.

[jazzfish]

I mean, I did get nearly run down when the mapped route took me onto a Major Road for 5km, which was not ideal. But in general, I appreciate the bike paths, and the deliberate bike routes through quieter streets. And most of the time they don't even go directly onto avoidable bad hills.

[greenstorm]

Yay your body :>

[jazzfish]

:)