And...she breaks! (kind of)

We did actually sit at a real table for dinner tonight - look, Mom, real friends! - for actual food you can chew instead of the broths (tasty, but light) we've been eating for the past nine days.  Vicky's asparagus and carrots were wonderful - and toothy, nicely al dente - and it is both season for and asparagus-growing region around here, we were told, but other thrills included simply the ritual of dinner as pleasure and company (my friend Zach calls it breaking bread, which was absolutely true even if there was no sign of any baked products anywhere). It was also nice going back to (multiple - it's been all one spoon meals, yeah?) utensils, actually chewing, and yes, even a "coffee" digestif, although of course not the real beans.  (Chicory coffee, for those in the know - aka 'camp coffee' so there are some aspersions (used during war, say, when real coffee beans weren't available) but tasty to these deprived/sharpened taste buds, no question).

The 'champagne' was bubbly water and lemon, sure

More meditation, stretching and 'functional training' - sheesh, who knew bodyweight exercises could be so punitive (well, OK, I did - love that shizz - but maybe didn't expect it at fasting/introspection retreat) but the big thrill for me was another session of Emotional Balancing treatment.  EMDR is another way to go about this, but here, well, it's similar to craniosacral therapy with a big old dose of Eastern, integrative mind+body+emotions work, and suffice it to say that for my Hoffman Process buddies reading along with this, the tears that arose were exactly the same as those hot, acid tears from about...what was it, day 4 of the process?  Whew.

I approached the treatment with trepidation, because real - especially real and darker, unmet-need kind of - emotions are really difficult for me to feel, even access, but here was another piece of the unfolding happening in real time.

We also got out to swim, journal in the sun, and get our final doctor sign-offs (leaving in just two days!) on both weight loss, blood pressure, and all the major blood markers. Ending the day now with a bit more bridge (can't do touchy feely stuff - serious touchy feely stuff, my goodness - all the time, you know?) after we went to hear lecture on - no surprise! - Emotional Balancing and Trauma Work.  If you're curious, check out Peter Levine's book on Waking the Tiger about trauma healing, but of course you're already going to know that the talk (from my emotional balancing practitioner) was great: punchy, informative, and brief. Horrible stereotyping here, but German trains run on time for a reason, yeah?

Happy birth(?)day to us

Oh, and finally the ol' stats - lost almost 5 kilos from the start, and again for those concerned, that's well within normal range, and also - sniff! - something like one Kg will magically add back on once we have a full alimentary canal again - or for Dad, once that 'tube within a tube' is fully functioning rather than mostly empty all the time.

BP: 112/73
Kg: 72.3