On Monday night, I went to a Restorative yoga class with Keren Gurrieri at Body Yoga in Berwick. Honestly, I was still feeling wrecked and washed out from the UNIFY weekend and very much in “recovery mode”. Hence why this class was exactly what I needed tonight to recharge my energy levels. The poses were all supportive variations with lots of props including serpentine twist, wide legged stretch on the wall, scorpion twist, extended child’s pose and bound ankle pose.
The meditation involved Keren guiding us on a long journey up to a sacred mountain top. It was about letting go of baggage from the past and being able to embrace struggle, frustration and hardships in moving forward towards our goals. Somehow I didn’t doze off even though I could have easily done considering how sleep deprived I was. Hopefully I can make my attendance at yoga classes much more regular this year!
On Tuesday afternoon, Mum and I went for a day trip down to Yarragon which is about an hour’s drive from where I live. It has a very laid-back, old country town vibe about it with many of the weatherboard and red brick buildings remaining in tact. There’s plenty of cafes, gift shops, variety stores, antique shops and local businesses in the main drag of Yarragon. We ended up having lunch together at the Gippsland Food and Wine tearoom and cafe where they make a beautiful Lorraine quiche with chips and salad.
On Tuesday night, I went to my Body Combat class with Cinamon Guerin at YMCA Casey ARC in Narre Warren. I honestly wasn’t in the greatest mood after a Facebook status on Australia Day blew up in my face. Clearly I couldn’t handle how heated the comments were getting and it really got me down because I’m highly sensitive and can’t handle criticism from others. So I deleted it and switched off my phone for an hour or so. Sometimes a break from social media isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Thankfully the class did take my mind off it so I could put my worries on the back burner. I felt myself struggle a bit during a few tracks but that was reasonable as I haven’t been to a Combat class in a few weeks. Thankfully, Cinamon mixed in a few tracks from older releases that I was familiar with and made it easier to get the combos down. But as always, I walked out feeling sweaty and better for doing it. https://www.lesmills.com/workouts/f…
On Thursday morning, I had my first appointment for 2018 with my support worker Ally at Colourfield Cafe Casey Central. We talked about my current goals for the year and how I’ve been coping with work and life in general. At the moment, I’ll be sticking to my group fitness classes at Casey Arc and Casey Race as well as doing yoga classes at Body Yoga and Just Be Yoga and Meditation. Right now, I’m putting personal training sessions on the back burner as I simply can’t afford to do them with paying off my new car being the bigger priority.
I’m doing better when it comes to coping with emotional and stressful situations. Of course, it’s toughest for me during the episode in that my anxiety spikes up and I feel threatened. I’m learning to acknowledge how I’m feeling and trying to accept what happens without judging myself too harshly. But my mind does have a tendency to replay the events over and over again which makes it difficult to let go of but I just have to keep focused on the positives and don’t get caught up in the negatives. Easier said than done but I’ll get there.
On Friday morning, I went down to YMCA Casey RACE for a swim, spa and sauna session. I decided to get there early to avoid the rush and the huge surge in temperature that’s expected to reach a top of 42 degrees today. I don’t really go into the pool that regularly but each time it does get a little easier for me confidence wise. I know that I’m a long way off being a lap swimmer but doesn’t stop me from practicing in the shallow end of the pool. It’s better than doing nothing at all.
So I’ve made some progress in terms of my case with VCAT. It’s now been passed down to the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria (DSCV) to hopefully speed the process along and resolve the issue in mediation. I’m nervous as hell and yet I’m the one in the right here. I think it’s because it’s all new to me and I really don’t know what to expect. But yeah hopefully I end up getting my money back at some point and justice will be served. Never thought I’d be taking someone to a small claims court over essentially fraud and stealing money.
“Finding cracks in our intent. We can’t stop the water from rushing in. We can’t stop the walls collapsing in. The rocks give to rain and to ruin again.” Hands Like Houses – Stillwater (2016)
“Faceless, underwater. We can disappear for a while. No one will notice. Shifting, out of focus. The silence calls on us for a moment. Sinking down. Thought I lost myself, but I didn’t. Looking up on us. Shadows dance above. Blurry vision.” Tonight Alive feat. Lynn Gunn – Disappear (2018)
Windows Live space 