Death is Nature's Way of Telling You to Slow Down

Here I am, wondering whether to call the kidney doctor and let him know about this breakout of cold sores, which Mayo Clinic says can be serious in immune-suppressed people.  But I've had this before since the transplant.  Maybe see how the day goes.  It is uncomfortable and my nostril is affected on that side, and it isn't responding to l-Lysine the way it usually does.  Boy, I would hate to have the shingles flare back up.

Stress.  It elevates cortisol in your body, which then gets sort of exhausted and isn't available to fight infections. Ayurvedic medicine understands this as excess Pitta, which is, roughly, heat or fire unbalanced in your constitution.  I am a Pitta-Vata, an air person whose fire gets aggravated by lots of change.  I also "have" fibromyalgia, which you can feel respond to the kind of big weather change we've been getting, from way too hot to freeze warnings.  And too bright. Here's an old picture of me in the blue sunglasses I like to wear when it's like this.  I have a better haircut now, except that I need a haircut and my beloved hairdresser is on vacation.  Stress

Right away I found this online -

Reduce Pitta-aggravating foods such as sour tasting foods, pungent spices and nuts.
Eat lots of sweet juicy fruits--they are both cooling and cleansing.
Soak a handful of raisins in water overnight. Drain and eat them the next morning. 

I don't mind that. I remember now that I have a recipe for balancing tea, must do that, too.  In fact, I have two Ayurveda cookbooks.  What I have already done was the six healing breaths I got years ago from yoga teacher Kit Spahr - the link is both to the description of how to do this sound-breath exercise, which is derived from Taoist practice and to her blog.  I wish I could do yoga with her now, but I am just barely able to get up off the floor these days, and have a bad knee, ankle, sciatic thing - enjoy yoga while you can.  I still do stretches though, and I learned to relax. Usually.

Nothing for relaxing like sitting meditation, resting in the breath.  Did that, too.  Otherwise, I get it, I need to slow down and stay cool.

You don't want to know all about the stress, do you?  It has to do with aging parents suddenly in crisis in more than one way.  Even poor Tashi is feeling it, so I really must calm down. They say it's the natural way, first the parents get old and die, then the children get old and die.  It's still hard, and a real challenge to practice.