Self-Care Challenge - Week of 5/28

[freezorburn]

A lot of people posted about sleep last week! So I thought I would put out a challenge this week and see if we can't all make improvements in this area. If you want to do something else, that's fine too.

Choose one, maybe two, achievable thing(s) that you can do this week to improved the duration or quality of your sleep. Could be something like

- an earlier bedtime
- a new ritual, such as a hot beverage, relaxing music or a bit of aromatherapy or some other small self-care thing you can do
- a sleep aid, if that is something that works for you
- nutritional supplements (e.g., taking Cal/Mg before bed)
- doing something to eliminate distractions/noises from your sleep area or changing the lighting (natural or artificial) situation at the end of the day or early morning
- trying a different pillow
- or some other thing

Post what you plan to do. Then, see if you can try to make that thing happen this week. Post again at the end of the week and tell us how it went!


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[freezorburn]

I definitely need an earlier bedtime. I found a "Bedtime" feature in the clock app on my iPad (it's also on my phone), where I can input how much sleep I want to get, my wake time, and then it gives me alerts when I should start getting ready for bed and then when I should be falling asleep. Right now I mostly ignore the alerts, so I need to start paying attention.

The other thing I really want to do is de-clutter my room. It's a mess right now. There's too much stuff on top of my night stand and dresser, and I think if I clear them off and make space for just a few necessities and maybe some pretty cut flowers that are the first thing I see in the morning, that will help my state of mind a lot at the beginning and end of the day.

[cam]

I very much need to work on getting more sleep lately. The main problem with my sleep is trouble falling asleep then waking a lot too. It is primarily my own fault, so something I need to work on. I have been pushing myself too hard during the day then the pain makes it hard to sleep. Plus I keep doing it (overworking my body) day after day without a recovery day in there anywhere, so it just adds up more and more and more. I am finally taking the time to do a technique from my PT to help release some of the tension in one really bad spot (did it a bit last night and am again now), so hopefully that helps a bit soon.

[freezorburn]

May 28, 2017 21:32:40 GMT -5 cam said:

I very much need to work on getting more sleep lately. The main problem with my sleep is trouble falling asleep then waking a lot too. It is primarily my own fault, so something I need to work on. I have been pushing myself too hard during the day then the pain makes it hard to sleep. Plus I keep doing it (overworking my body) day after day without a recovery day in there anywhere, so it just adds up more and more and more. I am finally taking the time to do a technique from my PT to help release some of the tension in one really bad spot (did it a bit last night and am again now), so hopefully that helps a bit soon.

What sort of pain is keeping go up? Joint? muscle? Other? I've had my share of injuries and setbacks, maybe could brainstorm some ideas for you ...

Hope the PT technique helps! My experience with PT tends to be that it is boring, sometimes hard to make time for, but effective if I can remember to do it.

[cam]

May 29, 2017 1:08:52 GMT -5 freezorburn said:

May 28, 2017 21:32:40 GMT -5 cam said:

I very much need to work on getting more sleep lately. The main problem with my sleep is trouble falling asleep then waking a lot too. It is primarily my own fault, so something I need to work on. I have been pushing myself too hard during the day then the pain makes it hard to sleep. Plus I keep doing it (overworking my body) day after day without a recovery day in there anywhere, so it just adds up more and more and more. I am finally taking the time to do a technique from my PT to help release some of the tension in one really bad spot (did it a bit last night and am again now), so hopefully that helps a bit soon.

What sort of pain is keeping go up? Joint? muscle? Other? I've had my share of injuries and setbacks, maybe could brainstorm some ideas for you ...

Hope the PT technique helps! My experience with PT tends to be that it is boring, sometimes hard to make time for, but effective if I can remember to do it.

Both joint and muscle (caused by the joints), especially my hips and a lot of the muscles tied to the hips. The PT technique did help some with the one muscle that was really tensed up. You are right about PT being so time consuming (and rather boring). I have some stretches and other techniques to address problem areas as needed, but then I have a ton of exercises to do daily too. I have not had time to do the daily exercises in weeks.  :^)

[freezorburn]

May 31, 2017 0:22:58 GMT -5 cam said:

May 29, 2017 1:08:52 GMT -5 freezorburn said:

What sort of pain is keeping go up? Joint? muscle? Other? I've had my share of injuries and setbacks, maybe could brainstorm some ideas for you ...

Hope the PT technique helps! My experience with PT tends to be that it is boring, sometimes hard to make time for, but effective if I can remember to do it.

Both joint and muscle (caused by the joints), especially my hips and a lot of the muscles tied to the hips. The PT technique did help some with the one muscle that was really tensed up. You are right about PT being so time consuming (and rather boring). I have some stretches and other techniques to address problem areas as needed, but then I have a ton of exercises to do daily too. I have not had time to do the daily exercises in weeks.  :^)

I have some ideas for you, none of which solve the time problem, but FWIW --

• Would an epsom salt bath help? Does heat help or make it worse? (I know time for something like a bath can be hard to come by, but oh boy do they feel good)
• 
  
• So, I fractured my sacrum about 10 years ago and had ongoing joint/muscle pain for years after. Still do, sometimes. And it's hard to massage the area myself. But I've figured out over time that things like a Theracane and Yamuna rolling balls are helpful.
• 
  
• Finally -- how do you feel about muscle relaxants? For me, they are a "when all else fails" part of my muscle pain management toolkit. Years ago I had a TMJ problem and ended up taking a muscle relaxant for related tension headaches. It took a couple of tries to find one that didn't leave me groggy the next day. And by coincidence, it also helps a lot when one of my hip or glute muscles decides to go into a permanent state of spasm. Red wine also helps, in a pinch.

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[macchiatto]

I definitely need to work on earlier bedtimes!!

[cam]

<div class="quote" author="freezorburn" timestamp="1496215287" source="/post/12666892/thread"><div class="quote_body"><div class="quote_avatar_container"><div class="avatar-wrapper avatar_size_quote avatar-8287" title="freezorburn"><img src="//storage.proboards.com/3435524/avatar/uuMIoodyVyutlzdaSIIH.jpg" alt="freezorburn Avatar"></div></div><div class="quote_header"><a href="/post/12666892/thread"><abbr title="May 31, 2017 2:21:27 GMT -5" data-timestamp="1496215287000" class="o-timestamp time">May 31, 2017 2:21:27 GMT -5</abbr></a> <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a href="/user/8287" class="user-link js-user-link user-8287 group-3" itemprop="url" title="freezorburn"><span itemprop="name">freezorburn</span></a></span> said:</div><div class="quote" author="cam" timestamp="1496208178" source="/post/12666866/thread"><div class="quote_body"><div class="quote_avatar_container"><div class="avatar-wrapper avatar_size_quote avatar-3132" title="cam"><img src="//storage.proboards.com/3435524/avatar/YpRVBxRpVCsJOnwVITWn.JPG" alt="cam Avatar"></div></div> <div class="quote_clear"></div></div></div>I have some ideas for you, none of which solve the time problem, but FWIW --<br><br><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li>Would an epsom salt bath help? Does heat help or make it worse? (I know time for something like a bath can be hard to come by, but oh boy do they feel good)</li><li><br></li><li>So, <span style="background-color:transparent;">I fractured my sacrum about 10 years ago and had ongoing joint/muscle pain for years after. Still do, sometimes. And it's hard to massage the area myself. But I've figured out over time that things like a Theracane and Yamuna rolling balls are helpful.</span></li><li><br></li><li>Finally -- how do you feel about muscle relaxants? For me, they are a "when all else fails" part of my muscle pain management toolkit. Years ago I had a TMJ problem and ended up taking a muscle relaxant for related tension headaches. It took a couple of tries to find one that didn't leave me groggy the next day. And by coincidence, it also helps a lot when one of my hip or glute muscles decides to go into a permanent state of spasm. Red wine also helps, in a pinch.</li></ul><br><span style="border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0px 4px 0px 0px;text-align:center;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:rgb(255, 255, 255);background-image:url(data:image/svg+xml;background-color:rgb(189, 8, 28);opacity:1;border:none;background-position:3px 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat;">Save</span><span style="border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0px 4px 0px 0px;text-align:center;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:rgb(255, 255, 255);background-image:url(data:image/svg+xml;background-color:rgb(189, 8, 28);opacity:1;border:none;background-position:3px 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat;">Save</span><div class="quote_clear"></div></div></div>Thanks for helping me brainstorm. Sorry you have experience from which to speak.<br><br>New house has a jet tub, so I am very much looking forward to that as soon as I can find the time. <br><br>I use some tennis balls when/where I can.<br><br>I use muscle relaxers now and then as a last resort, but I usually only notice a very minor difference, and even then it is mostly only noticeable if I take one before bed when I can actually give my muscles some rest.