Day 11: Mental Clarity and Sleep-Ception

Maybe it's just me, but if I spend too much time using electronics--phone, computer, TV, etc.--my brain feels like it's too busy and I have a hard time focusing. I figure it's either a common problem or I'm just one step closer to living in a Unabomber shed in the woods.

Or this.

Electronics can't really be avoided at this point in my life. I used to love leaving my phone at home and taking a day or two off from using my computer. Unfortunately, that isn't really the case anymore. My son had a heart transplant when he was five days old and while he's doing well, I need to be able to get in touch with his doctors at any given moment. I am also currently working as a freelance writer and all of my work and professional communications are done via the internet, necessitating constant use of my computer.

Plus I like to do yoga and talk about it on the internet.
Doesn't count unless you have an audience.

I was working on a freelance assignment and realized I couldn't focus so I did a quick search for yoga poses for mental clarity. The main poses I saw that were recommended were a few balance poses and sun salutations. I'm aware that 11pm is not the greatest time to do an energizing sun salutation but whatever--sleep is for other people.

Seriously, I dream about sleeping.

I did several sun salutations and I was pleasantly surprised to feel my mental fog start to lift. I tried tree pose since that was also recommended but the only mental clarity I felt was that I was single-mindedly focused on not falling. Which I suppose is still an improvement because I was, after all, focused on one thought. After that I did a couple of hip openers because open hips means open mind . . . right?

That sounded dirtier than I anticipated.

Overall, I felt pretty good. My back muscles have been super sore after yesterday's practice but they're not unbearable. I was mostly pleased to discover that something as simple as a sun salutation could help clear my mind . . . so then I immediately got back on my computer to blog about it, therefore reinstating some of my mental fog. But it's not totally back which seems like an improvement.

I should probably wrap this up before the mental fog fully returns. It's time for me to go to bed and fantasize about sleep, like how I used to nap all the time when I was pregnant. Now I'm left with this sleep-ception where I just sleep to dream about sleeping. There's much less Leonardo DiCaprio and if he does make an appearance in my dreams, it's to bring me an extra pillow before reading me a bedtime story and quietly tiptoe out of the room after I doze off.

I'm way too tired to give a shit about your stupid totem.