Please don't hold me to any of this

If you have been anywhere in my vicinity the last couple of months then I have told you that the left side of my neck, my left arm, and behind my left ear were hurting. Since mid August it has been hurting to varying degrees. I remember the pain started in my clavicle and then has mostly been in my neck. I remember it hurt really bad the day we left Kauai for Maui, when we were stuck at the airport all day and schlepping around our luggage. 

A couple of weeks ago I posted on Facebook that it hurt and I thought it was a pinched nerve. I got some good advice and a good laugh when Vickie "liked" the status. I texted her and told her that I thought it was funny that she "liked" that I was in pain. She said she didn't know what she was supposed to say to my "status". And I told her that I felt like it was time to bring my whining to a broader audience. Most of the advice was to go to a doctor. And I went the next day. 

I had a nice talk with my doctor and she gave me some advice on how to handle stress. Then I told her about my neck and shoulder. It took her about two seconds of touching my shoulder to solve my two months of pain. She said she felt that my muscle was tight and I had pulled it. We talked about some solutions. She said she could give me pain pills and send me to physical therapy but that would only help as long as I went and that she didn't think being on pain killers was a good long term solution. She said that yoga was the solution. I told her that I did a yoga DVD at home occasionally. She said to continue with that and showed me some poses to do that would help my arm and neck. 

You know what? It worked. I haven't done too many full on yoga workouts but I have been doing the stretching and poses throughout the day and my pain is almost gone. My arm doesn't hurt anymore. My neck and should hurt occasionally but nothing compared to the way it was before. It had gotten so bad that sometimes when I was at work I couldn't even concentrate on anything but how my neck hurt. And all it took was stretching! And all it took was her touching my should for two seconds to figure it out!

Also during my doctor's visit I asked my doctor how many times I should be working out during the week. She said about three times a week. Which is about three more times a week than I do now (even though I am a cyclist, right Vickie?). I need to work out more and need to be doing yoga. It will be good for my health and it releases stress. 

Here's the problem though, I am what some people might describe as lazy. I don't describe myself as lazy because I have a full-time job. I feel like I give 90% to 110% everyday at work so when I get home I just want to do nothing. Mainly what I get done at home is cook dinner a few times a week and keep the kitchen clean (i.e. load/unload the dishwasher) and I vacuum. Other than that I don't have a lot of motivation to take the world by storm.

I really need to motivate myself. Not just to work out but also to just be productive. This week I made chocolate chip cookies, which I was proud of and we started packing for the move. And I did some yoga.

I want to get myself on a schedule though. You know, work out these days, clean these days, etc. And since I can't  motivate myself I will just have to fake it till I make it. I am going to do a yoga class this week and set-up a cleaning schedule, and cook dinner. 

I think this is a good thing to start because with moving to a house there will be more chores that need to be done and I will live further from work so I will have to use my time more wisely.

Productive. That's the name of my new game.