moiram@tektronix.UUCP (12/20/84)
This has been a year of beginnings and endings for me; I managed the stress of those changes fairly well until September, when I finally had time to get off the ride and really let the feelings flow. I spent much of that month hibernating, assimilating, integrating and generally not enjoying a lot of what I was feeling. One of things that changed it for me was exercise (aack! not THAT!). I am not now, nor have I ever been, anything remotely close to even a reasonable facsimile of a jock (jockette?). And I do enjoy a hike or a game of racquetball now and then. But one of the things that was kinda getting me down was the 50 extra pounds that seem to have come with the changes, and I was fairly clear that I wasn't willing to diet, but I did choose to commit to a regular aerobic exercise program. What I have found is that by exercising a minimum of 25 minutes a day, 5-6 times per week, I feel much more stable, much more able to roll with the punches, and I am not as much at the effect of my hormones at any time during the cycle. (and exercise is great for cramps). This was particularly emphasized yesterday when I found out that something I had assumed was taken care of, was not. There was no one to get angry with except USNail, so I just took it with me to the health club, and transformed all the emotion, all the anxiety, to a real positive energy. I was so jazzed by the time I left, I felt like I could have danced all night. I marveled at the transformation. I recall reading somewhere (Somewhere: the world's biggest book :-) that endorphins are released when a person 1) exercises, 2) eats, or 3)has an orgasm. That these endorphins produce 'natural highs'. (That's probably why food works so well as a tranquilizer...but I digress). It does seem to explain the stabilizing influence of exercise in my life. Moira Mallison tektronix!moiram