Squad Day 56, Blade Day 9: Boxing Drills in the Bog of Oorid
This whole, losing daylight thing is doing a number on me. Or maybe it’s that I’m still not getting into bed early enough, I’m not entirely sure. All I know, is that as the days grow shorter, I am less and less enthusiastic about getting up early in the morning.
I have a lot on my plate these days, and I’m fine with it. I’m an ambitious person, and I like to have several projects going on at once, that’s unlikely to change. I do however need to do something about the level of exhaustion I’ve been feeling lately. I don’t want to even mention burnout, but I feel so tired 90% of the time these days that I require a nap at around 3:00pm. Maybe it’s Blade absolutely kicking my butt, maybe it’s the limited six hours of broken, interrupted sleep I get each night, maybe it’s because I have 800 tasks every day; I really couldn’t pick just one factor that is playing a stronger part in my tiredness. All I know, is it’s going to catch up with me soon, and I need to do something about it.
Even being tired, I’m still excited about today, because we’re doing Boxing Drills again. Yesterday we combined some of those drills with a full body workout, and I wasn’t ready for such intensity on a Monday. Today’s drills are short and sweet, the video only 15 minutes long, and I’m grateful that I’m not in for 30 minutes of brutality from Sam. Like I said, I’m tired, I’ve absolutely guzzled my tea this morning and I’m just waiting for the small amount of caffeine to kick in and give me a boost.
I should probably preface that I haven’t watched that video yet, so I might be eating my words later. Sam very well may tell us to repeat the video a second time to get the full workout in. She’s done that before, the Villain.
Photo by Franco Monsalvo on Pexels.com
While I’m waiting for the caffeine to do it’s job, I need to tell you what happened to me yesterday at 12:30pm, because it still has me smiling.
Let me paint the picture for you: The Bog of Oorid has cleared a bit, it’s no longer misting, raining, or anything other than the perfectly spooky Halloween Day. It’s after noon, so I know the Mail Lady has come and gone, and since the 3 Feral Pirates and Undead were peacefully eating lunch, I took it upon myself to go check the mail, since I hadn’t done so since last Friday, and there were probably some bills in there worth glancing at.
So there I am, moseying on down the street to the mailboxes, key in hand, minding my business. One of the men who live up the street had just pulled up in his truck to check his own mail. I don’t know this guys name, I just know that I walk past his house with his giant truck in the driveway, every day. I say Hi, to be polite as I walked past him to my box and pull out my key, and he stops me.
“Hey,” he says, “Do you live in that house on the corner, that first place there?” Yes, that’s me. I’m instantly hesitant because I generally don’t tell people where I live, the world is a creepy place and strangers are danger. He lights up at my response, getting animated, “You are a woman on a mission aren’t you? I see you out there in the dark, every morning, you’re up and you’re working out, even when it’s cold! Sometimes I see you walking your dog too, you go around and around, what like 5, 6 times?” I slowly start to smile and nod my head, like yeah, that would be me. “Whatever it is you’re doing, don’t stop. You’re slimming down big time, like a lot. You look great! Makes me wanna get my old ass back in the gym! You got some dedication, and it’s working.”
Umm, what?! Cue me blushing like an idiot and grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day. I don’t know why it is, but I still struggle with body dysmorphia. Even with the pounds lost, and my clothes fitting differently, dropping pants sizes and seeing a jawline come through, most days I feel like I’m still the same, like nothing has changed. Despite my best friend telling me once a week how different I look, or my husband admiring my progress, it hits different when it’s a stranger telling you. I don’t understand it, but hearing that this random person on my block has seen me working hard, and has noticed enough changes in my just walking by his house every day… it’s different from when a loved one tells you the same things. And that bit about it making him want to get back in the gym, because of me?! I inspired a total stranger?! A man?! What is this brave new world?
And can I further point out, that at no point in this brief convo I had with my nice neighbor, did his compliments feel like I was being hit on. He was 100% respectful and kind and just trying to tell me to keep up the good work. The one comment he made on my body, was that I was slimming down big time, all his other statements were about seeing me working hard, my dedication to my workouts and my warrior walks. It was so refreshing, to get a compliment from a man, that did not involve specific body parts, shape, or wandering eyes. I felt like a person, not an object being ogled, and the number of times that’s occurred in my life is a terrifyingly low number. It feels so nice to be recognized for my hard work, not some ideal shape I’m supposed to have as a woman.
But first, Mindstilling.
I’ve developed a bad habit of skipping Mindstilling and just diving right into my workouts in the morning. I feel like I’m always so pressed for time, and I end up skipping my breathing exercises and meditation to have more wiggle room in my morning routine. But I can already tell that I’m suffering for this bad habit, so before I went outside, I sat still for a few and started the Morning Mindstilling audio.
Even though I’ve been skipping my Mindstilling Practice lately, I have to say that the application of Valkyrie Mindset has changed some big things with me. I was talking to my bestie yesterday, and admitted that I’ve been facing a drop in my motivation lately. That I’m struggling a little in the mornings to get up and get at it, partly because I’m tired, partly because I want faster results, partly because Blade is so challenging most days. She immediately activated Hype Girl Mode and started asking me why I haven’t said anything, and reminded me that I can real with her, I’m not any less inspiring or amazing if I’m struggling. And while I appreciate her so much, I told her that I no longer want to entertain that voice that likes to tell me to quit, and that’s why I don’t say anything about it.
I am the Rock upon which the Surf crashes…
And I’ve been working hard to become that rock. Those self deprecating thoughts don’t affect me, because I don’t feed them. I don’t listen. That voice that tells me to just go back to bed, the one that tells me I’m not enough, or that I won’t ever be enough, and that I’m wasting my time; that voice holds no power over me. Like Mindstilling teaches us, those thoughts come and go like the surf, they may crash over me, but they will not move me. And so, I haven’t mentioned any struggle with it, because while it’s challenging me, it’s not beating me, and I don’t want to give it the energy to do so by speaking about it, or lamenting loudly over it.
… Nothing Can Break Me. Nothing can break us.
We are Valkyrie. We cannot be broken.
Back to those Boxing Drills
It’s looking like the Bog of Oorid again outside, but it’s astonishingly warm for November 1st. I did some shoulder circles and articulation to warm up and loosen up my shoulders, some side stretches and twists to warm up my spine. And then I got into it.
We got into some combinations that we’ve been practicing since last week, Jab, Cross, Jab. Jab, Cross, Hook, Jab; and then switching sides so we are balanced fighters. Sam has said in every boxing video, and in nearly every Total Body Strength video, that we need to be balanced on both sides, even though most people have one side that is stronger than the other, usually the dominant side- we still need to do our best to even them out. In battle, if one arm becomes injured, you have to be able to use the other side to defend yourself, either to the end, or until you can get away. So we fight on both sides.
Then we added a shuffle and pivot to our combinations, which ultimately lead to also adding a knee drive to the Jab-Cross-Jab-Hook, which honestly was so hard to coordinate. It took me a few tries, in fact I even pressed pause and kept trying to smooth it out for about 10 minutes, and then switched sides, which also required some extra attempts to smooth out the sequence. Boxing is a lot like dancing, and now I completely understand how Nesta used her dancing skills to pick up fighting so easily, Fae body or not. I am not a dancer, those ballet classes long gone from my muscle memory, so this is going to take a lot of work to get it right. I don’t mind though, I feel so powerful and badass after doing Boxing Drills, I’ll practice them forever.
It’s still very much the Bog outside, and I don’t think it’s going to clear off any time soon. Time to get Yrsa off for her walk and stretch our legs a bit.
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