Wednesday 6 January 2016

Tourettes and the Road to Wellness (Ugh) and Mindfulness (Double Ugh)

I suppose everyone has seen a lot of posts on how people are going to set themselves up for a better year. Well, I'm late, I'm gruff, and I don't do resolutions.

You are only setting yourself up for a fail, most of the time.

I see a lot of people talking about "Wellness" and "Mindfulness" and how they are going to improve them in 2016, which to my occasionally cynical mind makes me think of incense burning yoga-and-oatmeal-thons in a retreat with spinning dreamcatchers in the window. The sort that cause house fires on sunny days.

Well I hate those words, horrible, middle class Sunday supplement terms, endorsed by a tranquilly smiling D-List celebrity standing in that yoga pose that makes you look like you have a bladder infection. Boo to "Wellness", boo to "Mindfulness".

Just get out there and take a bloody walk! Why spend a fortune on taking your yoga mat to a cabin in The Alps when you can merely don a pair of sturdy shoes, plug in some sounds - Radio 4 or 6 in my case when I'm not listening for birdsong - and visit a world that costs you absolutely nothing and if more us enjoyed it wouldn't be in such a mess. Most town dwellers, and even a lot of city ones, should be able to find a pleasant spot to walk in within 15 minutes. If they can't, they should be down their council's throat to provide one.

Fancy being a bit more energetic. Well, you can kit yourself out for running for less than £40 - I just ran a marathon in a pair of Decathlon running shoes that cost me £13. Cycling is equally cheap if you know where to look; £50 will get a perfectly serviceable mountain bike from a roadside bike man, if you're smart.

I have Tourette's, I need to burn energy and keep myself super occupied to keep my physical and mental ticcing from getting too extreme on bad days. Other folk may find it beneficial to sit on a sun lounger and watch butterflies or commune with the moon on a starry night. Whatever it is, JUST DO SOMETHING OUT THERE!

It does help, believe me.

Si

All text copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.01.16

16 comments:

  1. Or in there, in my case. If I do anything this year, I must try and be less OCD-hordey and de-like-mad-clutter my flat. I doubt I'm ever going to need my copy of Cicero's "De Divinatione" (Loeb edition, red) again.

    Ooops, sounds like a bit of a resolution. Such a hypocrite!

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  2. As far as I can see Mindfulness is a snippet of an exercise that I practised for sixteen years known as Transcendental Meditation. Now I learnt this for free from my mentor and today people will do an 8 week slice for £350.
    This new agey shite is all about money.

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  3. I agree. Give an ordinary thing a new name, and you can charge the gullible a whole load of money to do something they could do for free.

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  4. I agree, Simon. The "mindfulness" crap annoys me. The first time I heard the word, I liked it - but it is now so over-used that it makes me gag. Like you, I need to burn up energy; in my case it prevents migraine headaches. I find that 30 good, hard, and sweaty minutes 3 or 4 times a week is enough to keep migraines at bay. It might be a stress release thing or an adrenaline depletion thing, I don't know and don't care as long as it works! Unlike you, I have no problem throwing things out. Cheers!

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  5. I'd love to comment but I'm just going out for a walk.

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  6. Si - my admiration for your single minded approach to the problem fills me with a sense that you do all you can to overcome difficult conditions on bad days. Incidentally I love reading your blog - I am not all that mobile and so get a lot of my walking second hand from folk like you!

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  7. This was re-tweeted by lincswolds this morning:
    Made a New Year's resolution to get fit this year? Who needs the gym when you can enjoy countryside walks for FREE!

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  8. I so agree. As you and others have said- the outdoors is free, it just requires determination to get outside every day and do something active. The biggest eye opener I had was realising that you can run half a mile a day and get a benefit from it, it really doesn't need to be miles and miles, and as you say, a decent pair of running shoes is all you need.

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  9. Thanks for checking in folks, probably sounded a bit ranty! Use it or lose it though, and there's something interesting to see just about everywhere if you keep your eyes open.

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  10. Well said, Simon... Fresh air costs = nowt... get out into it and enjoy says I ...!!

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    Replies
    1. Indeed, try and tell my friends that!

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    2. but those who don't experience 'the great outdoors' miss out on so much.. just to be able to breathe, the 'feel' the air, to experience the weather, to hear the music of birdsong etc etc...... are missing out on so much

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    3. So right Tricia, and exposing kids to it early I'm sure will prevent vandalism and fly tipping later on

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  11. It's not just the fresh air apparently it's the colours too. Like the bright blue of the sea and sky or the green of trees and grass it does something to us and acts like a pick-me-up. I have never understood the gym thing, and here in the beautiful bay I just can't understand why anyone needs a gym membership. I go to a pilates class once a week as it helps me from stiffening up and a lovely keep fit class where we have good fun, all supplied at a discount rate from the Adult Community Learning Centre, but I also have daily walks with the birds singing around me for good mental health.

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  12. I totally agree, walking or running in the great outdoors is the best exercise and the best relaxation

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