I'm taking 7 days off from my life to heal myself

[Akasha224]

Long story short: I haven't had more than two or three days off work at a time in at least a solid three years. I tend to have a workaholic personality and have worked no less than 50 hours a week (sometimes as much as 70 hours) split between multiple jobs. Even when I'm not working, I pace around in circles trying to keep my attention on four separate things at once, because I seem to be able to lack the mental and physical ability to keep myself calm and still.

About a month ago, I was sitting in traffic on the highway minding my own business, when some jackass rear ended me going 60mph. He destroyed my car and propelled it into another car, which hit two more cars (5 car accident total). Somehow, I walked away from it with a few cuts and a sore back. So what did I do? Work ten consecutive days right after it happened while in blinding pain. Needless to say, my body is pretty trashed now; I have a very bad stomach (made this topic a few weeks ago as well: I am hellbent on discovering what's wrong with my stomach - Health and Lifestyle - Welcome to the DMT-Nexus), every muscle in my body is sore almost all of the time, and there's a lot of fatigue and mental effects, which I assume are caused from the stress of the whole situation, as much as by physical causes.

So I've decided to take 7 days off from work (and from any other obligations in my life) to heal my body and mind. I plan on getting a regular yoga/meditation routine going (I've been falling in and out of practice because of fluctuating hours at work), doing a juice fast, taking epsom salt baths, and doing all sorts of other things to basically pamper myself and be a lazy bastard for an extended period of time so that my body will have a chance to heal itself.

This board is a wonderful resource for more natural methods of healing (the topic I posted earlier can attest to this, as I got an incredible amount of helpful replies in a very short period of time), so I must ask you all: what would you do in my situation? If you had a chance to basically take a week off of life, how would you spend it, and what would you do to heal yourself? Any and all suggestions are welcome. My vacation starts in 13 days, and I want to really make it worth it and emerge from it feeling better than I ever have.

Here's to good health.

 

[dreamer042]

Your plan sounds wonderful! :thumb_up:

I'd add at least a couple nice sessions with some caapi tea, with or without admixture. 8)

 

[Akasha224]

Your plan sounds wonderful! :thumb_up:

I'd add at least a couple nice sessions with some caapi tea, with or without admixture. 8)

I was considering Ayahuasca as well, only because it takes a much longer time to brew and the experience seems like it lasts a while. Possibly one of my favorite things about freebase DMT is the amount of time it lasts - no 20+ hour trips like with LSD, and no rolling around the floor tearing your hair out and praying to some higher power that the experience will end like with a high dose of mushrooms.

Do you have any particular recipe you'd recommend? I have about 30g of caapi that I've been saving for the right time, and I'm planning a cross country move in the next couple of months, so I'd like to use it all up before that happens.

Thanks for the reply. :thumb_up:

 

[Adjhart]

How bout you throw a 3 day fast in there?

Getting a nominal reset to your immune system is a great way to systemic well-being.

I do like what you've already got planned though. My only extra advice would be to double your vacation time!

GL!

:thumb_up:

 

[dreamer042]

rolling around the floor tearing your hair out and praying to some higher power that the experience will end

I know that one all too well :lol:

30g would be a pretty light dose for caapi, but that would probably be a good dose to take before bed one night for some nifty dreamtime work. If you have some rue you could take the caapi with a gram or two of the rue and you should have a nice dose. As far as prep just give it 3 boils, combine and reduce.

 

[Akasha224]

How bout you throw a 3 day fast in there?

Getting a nominal reset to your immune system is a great way to systemic well-being.

I do like what you've already got planned though. My only extra advice would be to double your vacation time!

GL!

:thumb_up:

I was considering doing a 3-day fast just with vegetable juices. Are you suggesting doing a complete fast? I've tried this before and by the second day, I feel pretty terrible mentally and physically (no energy, really cloudy, etc), so I'm not sure about avoiding sustenance altogether. I take it you've done a fast like this before? What did you do to combat the feelings of fatigue?

Also, I wish I could double the vacation time, but unfortunately I'm not getting paid for the time off, so I have to work with what I've got.

30g would be a pretty light dose for caapi, but that would probably be a good dose to take before bed one night for some nifty dreamtime work. If you have some rue you could take the caapi with a gram or two of the rue and you should have a nice dose. As far as prep just give it 3 boils, combine and reduce.

I actually have more like 110g, not sure where I got 30g from. Should I just boil it all at once so I can have multiple doses?

 

[dreamer042]

Yes def go ahead and cook the whole 110 grams. That works out to one really solid dose or two rather light doses. If you plan to take it with a DMT admixture I'd recommend taking the whole 110 grams with the admix and having a nice healing trip. If you don't plan on adding the DMT I'd split it into 2 doses and take it before bed for doing the dream work, I'd probably shoot for taking it the first night before the cleansing/healing week and the final night of the week before getting back to the daily grind.

 

[Adjhart]

Yea that may be a better idea.

I was reluctant to suggest fasting because I do consider it a kind of tribulation, and your vacation seems to be relax-intensive.

When I fast I'm usually mentally prepared to go battle (proverbially).

So I guess yea, if you feel comfortable doing a mini-fast with bare bones nutrients - then I'd say it's definitely worth it. The feelings of achievement and refreshment at the end are a good trade off.

:thumb_up:

 

[Enoon]

spend as much time outdoors as you can - go hiking or surfing or diving or swimming or biking but all in a relaxed, no-stress kind of manner. If all else fails, just walk a few km each day, preferably somewhere that has reasonably fresh air.

Treat yourself to some kind of super tasty and delicious food, no matter if it's organic or "healthy". Sometimes relaxing and following your taste-buds' desires can be a great asset to healing.

No TV, no movies, no series and also cut down on computer and phone time. Spending time infront of a screen or constantly on call for everyone leeches energy in my experience and the less time you spend like that, the more rested you will feel. Especially watching movies etc. before going to bed usually makes me wake up less rested the next day.

If your body is sore, perhaps get a nice massage. Other great ways to relax are saunas or turkish baths if you like that kind of stuff. In my home-town they had a thermal pool with saunas in this wellness place. It was expensive but it was really nice.

Take your time and do stuff you enjoy doing. Don't make apointments, don't keep looking at the watch. If you can, spend some time with friends that you don't see so often. Have some tea with them.

This is what in general works for me, perhaps you can get some ideas from it .

 

[Akasha224]

Yea that may be a better idea.

I was reluctant to suggest fasting because I do consider it a kind of tribulation, and your vacation seems to be relax-intensive.

When I fast I'm usually mentally prepared to go battle (proverbially).

So I guess yea, if you feel comfortable doing a mini-fast with bare bones nutrients - then I'd say it's definitely worth it. The feelings of achievement and refreshment at the end are a good trade off.

:thumb_up:

This makes sense, but as relax-intensive as the vacation is going to be, I want to try to fix my stomach when I'll have an extended period of time with minimal stress, no work, deadlines, etc. I feel like 90% of my stomach problems are mental (that is, caused by stress, as well as having stomach pains because I "think" I'm going to have stomach pains every time I eat). My plan is to only do a 3 day fast, and then slowly reintroduce food after that.

spend as much time outdoors as you can - go hiking or surfing or diving or swimming or biking but all in a relaxed, no-stress kind of manner. If all else fails, just walk a few km each day, preferably somewhere that has reasonably fresh air.

Treat yourself to some kind of super tasty and delicious food, no matter if it's organic or "healthy". Sometimes relaxing and following your taste-buds' desires can be a great asset to healing.

No TV, no movies, no series and also cut down on computer and phone time. Spending time infront of a screen or constantly on call for everyone leeches energy in my experience and the less time you spend like that, the more rested you will feel. Especially watching movies etc. before going to bed usually makes me wake up less rested the next day.

If your body is sore, perhaps get a nice massage. Other great ways to relax are saunas or turkish baths if you like that kind of stuff. In my home-town they had a thermal pool with saunas in this wellness place. It was expensive but it was really nice.

Take your time and do stuff you enjoy doing. Don't make apointments, don't keep looking at the watch. If you can, spend some time with friends that you don't see so often. Have some tea with them.

This is what in general works for me, perhaps you can get some ideas from it Smile.

Thanks for your copious recommendations.

I definitely plan on spending as much time outside as possible. Hiking is one of my favorite hobbies, and biking is a newer one that I'm beginning to fall in love with, so there will be plenty of these. As I said in response to Adjhart, I plan on doing the juice fast for the first three days of the vacation, and then beginning to eat again after that.

I'm not a big TV/movie person (don't even have cable), but I can tend to be a video game junkie sometimes, especially when I literally have hours (or in this case, days) with nothing in particular planned. I do agree about cutting down on computer/phone time, and that staring at a screen tends to pull the life right out of you.

To be honest, I always thought the idea of a massage was kind of weird (stranger touching you all over, etc.), but I might see if there are any places with saunas, turkish baths, etc. I'd really like to try out an isolation tank, but last time I checked, the nearest place that had one was a few hundred miles away from here. I am 110% for hydrotherapy though - baths are pretty much a daily thing for me, and I feel that they're good physically as well as mentally - sitting there not really doing anything and focusing on your breath is incredibly relaxing, especially in low light settings. I find understimulation of the senses to be extremely soothing.

Thanks again for your suggestions. :thumb_up:

 

[Guyomech]

Outdoors, definitely.

If I were in your position I'd be asking myself: how do I break this cycle? Because no matter how great your vacation is, the healing will stop the moment you go back to your workaholic cycle. As such, a heavy aya journey may help with your perspective, since you seem to be caught in a cycle that only you can free yourself from. Some thoughts to try taking into your vacation and/or trip:

-why do I work so much?
-is my work really that personally fulfilling?
-if not, why am I chasing it to that extent?
-can I ramp back on the hours and still accomplish my goals? (Financial, career advancement etc)
-what am I really chasing? Or am I using work to run away from myself?

It could be that the accident was a great blessing that came at a good time to intervene with this cycle. Don't pressure yourself too much- it's really important that you relax, even if you don't find any long term solutions... But it would seem that this is a great time to assess that bigger picture. Remember that you can't replace the years that you give to your job, so finding a healthy balance is priceless.

 

[Akasha224]

Outdoors, definitely.

If I were in your position I'd be asking myself: how do I break this cycle? Because no matter how great your vacation is, the healing will stop the moment you go back to your workaholic cycle. As such, a heavy aya journey may help with your perspective, since you seem to be caught in a cycle that only you can free yourself from. Some thoughts to try taking into your vacation and/or trip:

-why do I work so much?
-is my work really that personally fulfilling?
-if not, why am I chasing it to that extent?
-can I ramp back on the hours and still accomplish my goals? (Financial, career advancement etc)
-what am I really chasing? Or am I using work to run away from myself?

It could be that the accident was a great blessing that came at a good time to intervene with this cycle. Don't pressure yourself too much- it's really important that you relax, even if you don't find any long term solutions... But it would seem that this is a great time to assess that bigger picture. Remember that you can't replace the years that you give to your job, so finding a healthy balance is priceless.

This is all very true, and I myself have had the same thought as you (that the car accident happened at an appropriate time). As far as my attitude towards work...it just gives me a sense of purpose I suppose. I'm not a career oriented person, and I don't have a particular glamorous or high profile job (I work in a grocery store), but I still bust my ass every day because I want to do a good job. I live very minimalistically and only make slightly more money than I need to afford the necessities on a monthly basis, then put the rest in savings. Do I find the work itself fulfilling? Not particularly. But I do find the satisfaction after a day's work fulfilling to some extend. At the moment, I only work 35-40 hours a week now and I'm of the mindset that too much work is, in fact, a bad thing.

I had the same experience when I used to go to school. As I said, I'm not career minded, and I wasn't going to school to study any particular subject, I just wanted to do well at school because...it was something to do well at. That's the only real reason I have behind it and the reason I'm not longer in school. I have this obsession with being "productive," which makes it very hard to sit down and relax, or just to go with things at a normal pace. I always push myself to be the fastest, the most productive and efficient, the best, etc., but in the grand scheme of things, being the "best" at your retail job really doesn't mean all that much.

My biggest problem is that my other interests are always on the backburner, with work and my physical ailments stealing my attention.

 

[Guyomech]

If you have other interests besides your job then I'll bet the vigorous pursuit of them would be at least as satisfying as a solid day at work... But likely a LOT more so.

I'm speaking as a very career minded individual... Granted, I've managed to make my interest in art into a career, but that doesn't change the fact that it is unhealthy and ultimately unsatisfying to sacrifice having a life for having a career. Fortunately, a child came along to set things straight... Many hours a day now are spent delighting in watching her play with dirt. A small part of me stresses about the marked lack of career momentum, but it's so blindingly obvious to me that being present in parenthood is more important than being focused on my career. I am certain I will never regret this choice.

So... You are young and have a simplish life with no kids, so you have some leeway to play around with figuring out your priorities. But it's great that this subject has come up and you've opened it for discussion... As a result you will likely spend your life more mindful of this need for balance.

Meanwhile... Outdoors. It's September; seize it.

 

[Akasha224]

If you have other interests besides your job then I'll bet the vigorous pursuit of them would be at least as satisfying as a solid day at work... But likely a LOT more so.

That's the strange part: I'm beginning to lose interest in other things as well. I used to play music, for example, but don't really have much interest in that anymore. I also used to be an avid reader, but for the past few weeks, every time I sit down to try, I end up reading the same sentence over and over again for five minutes because my mind is all over the place, get pissed off, and then stop. I try to stay outside as much as possible because I get extremely restless and anxious if I'm indoors for too long. The only real pleasure I get is from extreme physical exertions, because deep down, I truly despise myself and want to punish myself just for being alive.

Honestly though, these days, all I really do when I'm not working is smoke pot and pace around. I find it difficult to sit still and concentrate on anything, especially when I don't really have any sort of long-term, or even short-term, goals anymore. At the risk of sounding morbid, I feel as if I'm just going through the motions of life, waiting to die.

 

[zhoro]

^^^ Something to consider: from the perspective of ayurveda, it seems that you have a dosha (subtle humor) imbalance - excess air, in particular. It may be helpful to look up some information on this and make some changes to diet and lifestyle to move in the direction of more balance.