TMJ relief efforts

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I felt was: uggh. My neck felt stiff and the back of my head held the tell tale tension of TMJ. This disorder does not go away quickly, especially when you fall of the wagon into a mini sugar binge. The t-house's pillow probably had something to do with my overall stiffness as well. I take in all this sensation and accept it, begin formulating my plan of relief. Yeah, that's it: TMJ relief efforts. The plan comes to me before my feet touch the bare wooden floor that stands 2 feet above the naked earth.

The first part of today's strategy involves yoga. I proceed into the yoga studio and dedicate an hour to yoga in silence. Afterwards comes tai chi. MMM, what can I say escept thanks. Thanks to the millions of yogis and martial artist who have left such a potent legacy in the face of humanity's dearth march. Needless to say, I left the studio feeling limber and revitalized.

The second part of my plan involved surfing. First, I had to make a detour to feed the dogs, all six of them. The drive down was uneventful and took the typical 20 minutes or so. The parking lot smiled at me revealing cars instead of teeth like a bum missing a tooth. I parked skips cream mobile in the open slot. If Skip's truck was a tooth, It'd need to be filled with gold, because of its twisted bumpers and other cosmetic damages.

Before I even start to put on my wet suit, I see a surfer catching a head high wave, he does a 360 and switchfoots, cuts back and forth. I recognize him, it is "Caveman!" I say out loud. Another surfer watching from the parking lot looks at me and smiles, he knows Caveman too.

I paddle out pretty easily having waited for a big wave to come in, jump on it and paddle with it back out in quick little mini rip. There are about 3 or 4 waves per set. Most are in the head high, range with a few slightly overhead. Patienly, I wait for my time. Wait for the right place. Easily paddling across. Watching, observing. Paddle over to Caveman. He cracks a smile says hello. Paddlles down to the bottom of the lineup. Then I see a set coming my way. I am in a good spot, paddle a bit, push on to my feet and cut across the top of the wave, letting the lip propell me along. Fast ride, super fun, I bale into the white water and laugh with joy as I get some major pummeling - surfer's massage. I paddle back outside for more, letting out a "Whoooo!" nothing like the first wave. "That was a strong wave," I thought to myself.

Catch several more waves before I start to feel a little chilled. Then I am driving home with the heat blowing on my bare feet and the music coming out of the beat up old car stereo thru one speaker.

The third part of my plan happens soon after I arrive at my friend, the cat Angus' den. This involves taking a bath. Ahh, it was luxurious. The hot water restored my body temperature and helped to ease the tired muscles. Hmm, I think I may have to do this all again tomorrow.