Exercises

Over dinner together on the coldest day of the year so far, spookyfruit and I were discussing our workout regimes. I complained about how the free weights I was using upper body work were aggravating my lower back pain. "You shouldn't be using your back at all," he chided me. "If that's causing you problems, you need to work on your core. Time to do more crunches." Since, then I've been doing my best to put that advice into practice, but it was only a couple days ago that it occurred to me that what he said applied to more than just abdominal muscles. I've had my share of psychic pain recently as well, and I've come to realise that I need to work on my core there as well.

I made a stab at this several months back when I attempted a metta meditation that monshu recommended. But since I hadn't trained, I tired of it quickly, and that made it easy to let it slide. Obviously, I need to push through and persevere until I start to feel the effects. And just as better form and increased energy is an encouragement to keep pumping that iron, the better peace of mind and increased calm will spur to keep it up. Or if that mental exercise isn't producing the benefits I'm seeking, well, it's not like there's a dearth of alternatives. As they say, the most effective diet is the one you stick to. And the most effective spiritual practice is the one you keep with even when you don't always feel up to it.

The Old Man and I had a good long conversation about this and more this morning when he found me in a state of distress and threw himself into calming me down so I could get some sleep. In the process, a lot of heartfelt things were said. I called him "one of the pillars of my existence" and I meant it. My life is organised around his presence in it in a way it's never been for anyone else. But I know full well that it's the nature of this world that pillars crumble. The unthinkable happens every day. The only way to prepare yourself is to keep yourself fit and flexible--no matter how tedious that may be.