Pain in the Neck!
the easily ignored center of everything
In all honesty, I take health for granted. I’ve been blessed with relatively smooth health so far in my life (well yes, there were a few ER visits for some random stuff) but all in all it’s been smooth sailing.
The other night I was moving the freezer around to check on some wiring on the wall and PANG! there was this strange feeling in the neck. It started with a little discomfort and by bedtime it was a properly locked neck with stabbing pain all the way from the shoulder to the base of my skull.
While not life threatening, it’s been f*** annoying! I am noticing that this pain in the neck is really impacting all other parts of my life.
Sleeping - forget about it, there is no comfortable position
Eating - difficult to lift the right arm and thus much less enjoyable
Working - quite distracted by the permanent subtle pain
Playing a video game - super annoying and distracted
Hanging out with Naura and the kids, reading a book, having a cup of tea, eating a cookie, mowing the lawn, walking to the store, driving to the petrol station …
It seems like the overall experienced joy of everyday life has been muted down by a good 20-30% just with a locked up neck! This made me reflect - am I taking my own health serious enough?
The answer is: No. Usually I’ve been too distracted with working or recovering from work to find the energy and time to put my own health in the center of everything.
That’s changing now. Here are some small but hopefully profound changes I am starting to design into my new lifestyle:
Movement is key: I already try to use my standing desk for at least 50% of my working day, but that’s not enough. I will try to have at least 1 walking meeting a day. (Phone call meetings can be quite refreshing after too many hours on Zoom)
Diet adjustments: The key point for me here is less caffeine and more whole foods. My aim is reduce caffeine containing foods only to the morning hours and be mindful about what snacks I consume. If it’s full of sugar, it’s not a good snack.
Start/ Finish Rituals: Now as a Solopreneur, I am noticing even more fluidity between work life and personal life. Partly thats wanted of course, after all I am working on something incredibly important to my heart and soul. However there has to be a defined Beginning/ End to the working day/ week as well.
Meditation: This one is a tricky one, I am the classic “Meditation only when feeling down”-type of person and have been for a decade, practicing it feels hard and messy. I have read enough about the deep benefits, mental clarity, profound space of balance and possibility etc. to ignore this any further. (My friend Wolfgang, gave me the final nudge) 10 min after getting up and 10 min before sleeping every day for now.
Regular Check-Ups. I don’t like going to the doctor, even when I am sick. That’s stupid. I have access to affordable and good healthcare (Yay Germany!) and need to make good use of it. I want to do a full health check once a year)
I purposely make these things relatively easily attainable. There is no point is super hard goals and missing 80% of them.
How are you prioritizing your health?
What’s working smoothly? Whats not working for you?
What will you change?