hi hello, rather ironic title, considering i spent the last day and a half on my feet continuously (i’m a chronic chair sitter, as of the last year or so) and so my physical body is kinda fucking through the wringer right now. Plus i’m feeling kinda shitty right now for one reason or another. And also i’ve got an operation tomorrow, which will rock my world for a bit, i’ll be fine though. No worries about me.

also some context here, anytime i say “body” i’m referring to the whole physiological construction of yourself, body and mind included, though not explicitly mutual. There are instances where it wouldn’t be.

Anyway, i wanted to talk about something i don’t really see anybody talking about, or at least i feel like people should consider more frequently. This would be utilizing a better understanding of your body and how it works, as a method to improve your life (hence coping in the title)

As someone who probably has ADHD and/or autism, as well as some other unimportant distinctions here, i would like to complain about the incessant pushing of “habits” and “big pharma” solutions, not to knock on anybody, i just don’t know if it’s the correct solution. (rest assured, no pharma talk yet, it’s too much to get into for this post)

Particularly with habits in this case, i find that people often tend to use them as a stop gap measure to prevent certain problems from arising (forgetfulness for example) and while it’s often useful to do such things, i think it’s also important to consider what causes these problems in the first place. I feel, at least for me, and i imagine some others as well that often times you don’t need a habit to exist, you just need a cooperative environment. (let’s call them environmental habits for now)

Let’s take a simple example here a cluttered desk. A lot of people would probably start at “well you should regularly clean it” which isn’t bad, as well as “you should be careful to not clutter it” however this is where i differ. I think to the best of your ability, you should configure it in such a manner that it minimizes the potential for clutter. This doesn’t just force you to build habits, but will also subconsciously reinforce them.

in my case, i have a rather large desk, it’s very messy. It always is. Were i to rebuild it i would build it smaller, and designate certain spots for certain things that need to be on it. Which will help to fundamentally minimize the clutter on it. Another example would be an organization system for something like KNEX (if anybody remembers those) The simplest most fundamental solution here is what i want, bins with pieces sorted by type. Trivially accessible, ideally through some sort of shelf that enables them to be individually slid out. Anything more and i won’t build, and less and i won’t be building productively.

Any who, enough of this boring chitchat, let’s apply it more broadly, that’s more exciting! I’ll call it auto-physiological research for now. I think there is considerable benefit to be had from applying this train of thought in a more broad fashion. One thing i like to do every couple of years or so is to change a significant aspect of my life, just to see how my body handles it, how i handle it, and how it impacts my life. If i drink coffee, i might stop drinking coffee, if i have a regularly scheduled sleep cycle, i might try a natural schedule to let my body deal with it instead. If i socialize a lot one year, i might spend another isolating more.

Research is often times about trying to forcefully separate the conjoined variables and constants of any given concept. You can apply this to your body in a similar manner, in order to “reverse engineer” how you work as a functional person.

Here’s a rather trivial one to mess with, most people have pretty regular and strict food consumption schedules. We generally consume the same foods everyday at the same general times. Literally just change it. See what happens. The body is a remarkably adaptable organism. (just don’t hurt yourself, that’s no good)

Tidbit of the day:

Find something in your life that bothers you, or that you don’t understand, and try different things, see how you handle them, see how your body responds, and most importantly learn something and try to use it to your advantage.

It’s important to constantly learn new things and keep your brain busy, it helps your mental health and prevents cognitive decline. Thusly it should apply doubly so when it’s your body that you’re learning about.

ok, goodbye now, i will return later once my lucidity returns :)