Holiday Break (an actual break)

         I have been having troubles with sleep the past year, specifically staying asleep and not tossing and turning, and with clenching my jaw at night.  I made different changes to see if anything could help: blue light blocking glasses + less screen time; tweaks to my diet; supplements like magnesium, B vitamins, zinc; mindfulness; and yet the results weren't where I wanted them to be.  I came to the conclusion that the culprit was high cortisol levels.  This wasn't a result from negative mental/emotional stress, but rather from overtraining.  So, I have made it a priority to take some extra rest days, and actually rest on those days.  Not just say I'm taking a rest day, and then proceed to fill it with my "to do" list.  It's going to take some time, and some mental refocusing, but I'm already seeing a shift in the quality of my sleep.

        Rest and recovery is such an important part to our physical training, as well as our mental and emotional wellbeing.  I definitely got caught up in having to always be doing something physical to progress my training and skills.  I'm ultimately working against myself.  SO, I'm taking this holiday break to actually take a break.  I am still doing some training, but I have chosen a few days to dedicate my time to do nothing.  Not be "lazy", because I also had that issue, that if I wasn't doing something, I was being lazy, but rather, giving my body time to de-stimulate and actually get some proper rest.  Even take some naps during the day.

        How and why is this important to my Kung Fu?  By working on relaxing my mind and body outside of the Kwoon, I'm hoping to stay more relaxed inside of the Kwoon.  I tend to tense up, which leads to my center coming up, me being a bit more shouldery, and a bit more forward in my stances/not as grounded.  When I'm relaxed, I can get my center into my hips easier, and stay there, and everything else is looser, and less muscley.  Also, better recovery also leads to better performance, and being able to push myself harder when I am in class.

        On another note, my broadsword came in, so I can practice our school form with that, and not the toy Halloween sword I've been using....