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Thinking more about the feeling of the raw food diet — specifically, about the lack of inflammation in my body. It’s interesting, because it feels very naked — there is a kind of psychological “padding” in inflammation — a kind of softening. This is particularly apparent in the GI tract — the internal “pillowyness” softens every experience. Interestingly, it can co-exist with rock hard abs. Which is kind of weird.

Without the inflammation, without the puffiness, everything feels exposed: muscles, bones, and perhaps most especially (and potentially disorientingly) nerves.

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Candice the massage therapist could kill a man with her heavy, pointy thumbs. If she can figure out how to deploy them, she could win MMA titles.

This is what I was thinking at noontime, as she discovered and methodically dismantled the scar tissue in my left shoulder — souvenir of an unexpected fall while climbing (and no, I didn’t hit the ground or anything — I just caught my whole falling body weight with an outstretched left hand).

As she was bidding me goodbye, she patted my left shoulder gently. “You’ve got something going on there…” Uh, yeah, I know. I was there, trying to breathe through the pain of your relentless thumbs!

This afternoon, as The Cop and I drove over to a local nursery to check out some mesquite trees for the yard, I told him about my massage. The blinding pain of Candice’s ministrations.

“I’d punch her in the head,” he said.
I looked over, disapprovingly.
“It’d be involuntary.”

Note to self: Do not get massage gift certificates for The Cop.

The gym experiment (go to the gym at noon in order to GET AWAY from work thoughts/emotions) was interrupted on Wednesday and Thursday, because I attended an offsite strategy planning meeting. Will get back to the gym tomorrow.

The only catch, really, is that the gym is loud and busy. Not crowded-busy, but energy-busy and visually-busy. No doubt that was part of the design of the space, and the energy that people bring to the space also contributes.

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Raw food diet goes along nicely. I have always been a slacker cook, so trust me, I’m not making all kinds of fancy raw meals. Salads, fruit, smoothies — those’ll do just fine. I did roll some avocado, carrots and cucumber in sheets of nori for “sushi.” That seemed kind of purposeful and civilized.

Current project involves sprouting quinoa. It’s a delicate job, since the grains are so small, and I live in the desert (where everything dries up at a frightening rate).

And here’s a question: I’ve been tracking my intake using the CRON-o-meter. A very handy tool. What I’m seeing, though, is that if I eat a big serving of kale, I am off the charts on vitamin A. Seriously off the charts. Is this something to even be concerned about?

As far as effects of the diet: I was surprised to have detox effects, because my diet wasn’t bad to begin with, but there you have it. A really bad headache a couple of days in, and then a few days of intermittent headaches. They’re gone now, though.

On the up side, it is amazing how different my body feels. I don’t quite know how to describe it, except to say that there is a dramatic reduction of inflammation in my system. How this “feels” goes like this: when I wake in the morning, there are no… well, no stiff or “lost” areas. Hmmmm. This is hard to explain. Usually there are spots that feel “fuzzy” or “puffy” — kind of like they’re giving off a physical static — I’m thinking of my knees, my finger joints, and often my shoulders. I actually don’t know that I would have noticed that the fuzziness/inflammation was there, truth be told. I only know now because I’ve noticed it missing. The other spot is the abdominal cavity. You know how some days the abdominal cavity feels clear and responsive and raring to go during practice? And other days it’s kind of puffy and sluggish? Yeah, it’s straight to clear and responsive each day. Likewise my mind.

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Books: The Granularity of Growth and Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man.

Diametrically opposed? I think not.

But maybe that’s the raw food and yoga practice talking.