I recently spoke with an old friend who had heard of my diagnosis through the grapevine. He asked if I was doing all the things… all the things a person does when they get a diagnosis like this. Yes, I replied.
But what are the things? Well, there’s a lot of ’em, so I’m breaking them down by the phase of a typical day.
Here’s Part 1: Morning Routine.
I’ve wavered in consistency lately in terms of my morning routine. Months of extra-snowy and cold winter, plus traveling & staying with family are just a couple of the reasons why. There’s also “couch inertia,” aka “warm blanket in front of the fire,” inertia.
Yeah, its a thing.
Here’s the morning routine I strive for (and often achieve):
- Wake up between 6 and 7 am. I don’t use an alarm but seem to always wake up around this time.
- Put on my dumb watch, which counts my steps and tells the time, but isn’t constantly sending updates to my phone.
- Open the blinds & get a blast of natural light into the bedroom.
- Brew some organic coffee, which I drink black.
- Use filtered water, of course.
- I add about a tablespoon of chaga to my coffee. Chaga is a mushroom product that has some really great health benefits.
- A quick walk outside, usually my backyard. Put bare feet on the earth. This is called grounding, and there’s a wonderful documentary on YouTube called The Earthing Movie… check it out.
- While I’m outside, I like to break pine needles and smell them. I feel that it wakes up a different part of my brain. In the summer, we have other aromatics like rosemary, basil, and lemon balm to choose from. But in winter, it’s pine.
- Set my circadian rhythm by looking at the sun. We have mostly hazy sun here, and if you live in a very sunny place, this would be impossible. Still, our stomachs set their expectations based on this morning exposure to the sun. Read about it in the book The Oldest Cure in the World by Steve Hendricks.
- I started doing this morning activation routine with Master Shi Heng Yi, and it was a great starting point. However, over time, I’ve added reps and hand weights and a few more exercises to make it a more challenging routine.
- A shower with only yuka-approved soap, shampoo, and conditioner.
- While showering, I do a lymphatic massage. This is based on lots of reading and videos by lymphatic specialists. A great resource is the Lymph Love Club, which you can follow on social media for lots of reminders and techniques. (Note: CLL is not only considered leukemia but also a form of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, so taking care of that system is important for me, especially to balance out my sedentary work.)
- A cold blast at the end of the shower, based on the research of Wim Hof.
- Out of the shower, I get dressed, walk the dog, and do chores — or hit the rebounder — with a goal of getting 2500 steps before settling down to my desk at 8:45 am.
Ok, that’s it for the wake-up routine. Tune in next time… 📻
The Cancer Canary 