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Valkyrie Squad Day 74: Yoga & MOTUS

Mia Garlock
Nov 21, 20223 min read

Sometimes, especially like the day before or day of my cycle starting, I wake up overstimulated.

I wake up, after restless sleep, so I’m overtired, and everything is touching me wrong. Everything. My skin is too dry and scratchy, I feel like I’m itchy all over, my clothes aren’t sitting on my body right and I’m constantly adjusting them, my hair keeps whispering across the sides of my face or around my ears and I feel like I’m a half second away from grabbing the buzzers and shaving it off. Every noise is too much, conversation is annoying, and interactions with other people is a nightmare. I fully endorse the need for a Hut of Solitude when I’m like this, all I want is to desperately be left alone.

I gave myself the chance to try and catch some more Z’s this morning and stayed in bed until 7:45a, when I got up with my youngest to start the day. Made myself some tea, and added some Mugwort herb to my brew to help with my attitude. Mugwort herb is great for assisting with these volatile mood swings that accompany my cycle. I warmed up with my tea and listened to Morning Mindstilling to try and center myself, to focus on something other than all my irritations.

I had to do it twice.

So annoyed was I, that the first time I tried Mindstilling, all I did was struggle against it. I kept muttering under my breath about how annoying everything around me was, and how I couldn’t breathe that deeply for 6 counts. Before I knew it, the audio was over and I was just as irritated, so I started it again and tried in earnest to chill out. I kept telling myself that I was immovable, that the things annoying me were nothing and didn’t matter and did not affect me.

I am the rock against which the surf crashes, Nothing can Break Me.

I often do wonder if Sarah J Maas was aware of how that phrase would be used over and over again by hundreds of us just to get through the day, let alone a battle of any kind.

I went right from deep breathing into yoga. Valkyrie Yoga 2 is still my favorite one, and I have it mostly memorized by now. It is my favorite of the Yoga series from Valkyrie Squad, both restorative and challenging when holding poses, but I always feel energized and strong after, capable. Which is why I choose it always when I have a rough start to my day, or wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

Part of my irritation already this morning is that it’s thanksgiving week, a Holiday I’m not particularly fond of already, and then being surrounded by people I have to change my speech, my attitude, my thoughts, to be around for several hours. It’s torture. I am on edge all day long, cooking tirelessly and having everything about me picked apart by relatives who I only see twice a year, my kids questioned and harassed all day long because they’re homeschooled so obviously that means they have to be quizzed constantly to check and see what we’re doing. The kitchen mess that is a result of the feast, that I am the only dishwasher for. I literally would rather just cook a frozen pizza, but this isn’t my house, so we don’t.

My salvation, is Planksgiving and Mindstilling. All week, every day, I will be religiously Mindstilling at every opportunity. And on T-Day, I will get together with my best friend and we will do Planksgiving together with Sam and the rest of our Valkyrie Sisters and find some solace in the sweat. The way I’m looking forward to it is so strange and positively unheard of for me. I’m looking forward to sweating it out on thanksgiving and releasing some of this aggravation in a healthy way.

The sky is a beautiful clear blue this morning, and it’s supposed to warm up a bit later this afternoon into the 40s. This means that all the snow on the road will be slush and ice, so I’m going to get out there with Yrsa and maybe minimize the amount of time I’ll spend falling on my butt. I haven’t tested out my levels of grace since completing Blade, but my lack of coordination doesn’t grant me much confidence there. I guess I’ll find out on my walk.

 
 

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