Night Time in the Technopod… some thoughts on physical and mental activities.
The light from my computer monitor illuminates the stained glass window of the Technopod
Breath in, breath out… my thoughts tonight keep returning to all the little body sensations, aches, itches, twitches, stiffness, legs falling asleep – it all mixes with the sounds of my environment. The whirr of hard drives and a kind of ambient buzz outside my Technopod. The there’s the glow of the monitor – I’m aware of it behind closed eyes, I can kind of “feel” it touching my body and bouncing off the interior of the trailer…
I’ve been on a personal physical discipline mission for a while now, kind of connected to the trailer – its my little cocoon, a mini-fortess of solitude. Sleeping and working in the same place is very interesting and it lends a special focus to my physical activities. I basically sit in a yoga seat, a cushion with a small back rest and it sort of forces me to “sit up” and use my stomach muscles to maintain a comfortable posture. Every morning I get on my bike and ride 5 miles with a good elevation gain – a decent work out, it takes about 1/2 hour if I really push it. The rest of the time between meals I’m “in the pod” on the computer – I have to force myself to take breaks… My next step is to work in some other exercise time, some kind of muscle activity.. sit ups or something that can be done without apparatus and preferably outdoors. Trying to achieve some sort of balance with all the mental activity!
In essence I’m working towards a state of mindless attention – being in the moment without thinking about what comes next and just doing it. I prepare a meal, sit down to eat and immediately wash my dishes and clean up after myself – no lolly gagging around reading a magazine or anything. Same with all the day-to-day activities – after biking, take shower, dress, breakfast, dishes, back to the pod. The “pod” is for working but it ends up being the break from the physical routine and I often drift into revery in the midst of some work task. My state of attention is better with the purely physical chores outside the pod!
Lots of little things distract – I may suddenly realize that I’ve been doing a little too much “research” on the internet instead of buckling down and working on a new tutorial… writing these blog posts is good practice in staying focused on a “mental” task but sometimes it just seems like there’s only so much attention available and I have to just veg out… I’m getting better though almost in direct proportion to the amount of discipline I apply to physical concerns. My diet, exercise and personal health has been better so my mental work habits are getting better… My mantra is becoming – “Just Do It!”
One foot in front of the other…
