Is there such a thing as the wrong type of self healing?

I know it has been a while since my last post but if I do not have much to say or if my progress has slowed, I become embarrassed. It's something I need to get over because I think we find answers to our questions by addressing them to someone else or to the public like this.

The main issue lately has been a plateau and a bit of sliding backward.
Since the last time I posted was February, it was the remainder of that month along with March and April that I found out there are some internal martial arts that require you to be in your very best form to do well. Oh you can do the moves but the areas of the body that are strengthened are also growing as well. This led to pants that I was fitting in well getting tighter. Oh I hate that.

What had happened was that all three internal martial arts that I practice are just too much. Qigong, Bagua, and Yoga cannot be mastered all at once. It would require three separate hours per day to try. I will have this kind of time in the future as I believe my health is just as important as my personal and work/business life and perhaps more so since I have to live with my health wherever I go.

Too much of a good thing for me is too much. Although my body craves the exercises it is doing, I began to notice that my body had some permanent aches, restless sleep, as well as a heart rate that was higher from 10 to 15 points where it should be. So I began going through my workout history from when I was a power-lifter and found that I was over-trained; a condition where the body is not recovering as fast or as thorough as possible.

I didn't want to believe it at first since I wasn't using weights anymore. "How can this be happening?"
I kept looking in the mirror and said that is not the body of someone who is over-trained but I read up a bit and found that I needed to slow down and take 3-4 days off. During this time I was doing breath-of-fire exercises and breathing meditation so I could feel I was doing something. The aches dropped off and the heart rate fell back in line.

These are really important moments in your training. Now I know the conditions in which I need to slow down and let my body rest.

When I resumed my training, I joined the Workout Club and Wellness Center in Manchester, NH so I could begin to integrate cardio in short and long bursts anytime I wanted to.

So I have moved to stretching and minimal amounts of yoga in the morning. I hold the few poses I do for as long as possible. This can be done anytime. I also do breathing exercises whenever I think of them during the day to stay relaxed.

Then I perform two kinds of cardio, heart rate measured and then all out bursts of energy. These I do for no more than 30-40 minutes. Then I cool down a little and go into the training room or aerobics room and do 15 minutes of qigong or bagua to center myself and work my internal organs.

When I feel those feelings in my body, I back off and get more rest.

As for my diet I have integrated fish and cheese, mostly the raw kind, into one to two meals per week. The rest of the time I am happy being as vegan as possible. I guess for the purists I would have to call myself a Flex-itarian but we will see.

We all want to be healthy but the media has told us we have to be thin and beautiful and only their products can help us. It's all bullshit but most of you fall for it.

You just need to approach your health as you would your career or any other habit that you find fulfilling. It shouldn't be obsessed over. But it should be consistent.

Thanks for reading.
Please ask me any questions and make any comments.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Hi Bill,

I would like to thank you for pointing out to me sometime ago that I should slow down on my exercises. I was going for wushu on Wed, Kickboxing on Fri, TaiChi on Sat, Chinese San Da (boxing) on Sat or Sun, Stretchfit on Sun if I don't do my San Da class.

I am now scheduling my time for Ba gua and Yoga on the weekends, maybe one wushu class on a weekday. The rest of the time would be breathing exercises and light yoga on weekdays. It works better. I sleep better and I feel calmer. :) Cheers, Kim