I’m a firm believer the body is an amazing vessel.

Vessel: a hollow container.

We decide how we fill ourselves up. We decide how we work the body we’ve been given.

Adrenaline can block out pain. The mind can “delete” a traumatic event. We can breathe without thinking about the action. We teach ourselves how to walk, how to get up when we fall down. We determine if we want to keep going, keep pushing. We decide when enough is enough. We decide how to talk to ourselves. We have an intricate system that simultaneously works together to give us life and it’s often up to us to determine how. We decide our boundaries and how to push our limits, we decide how to fuel our bodies, we decide how to manage our time.

Did you know that men who can do 40 pushups in a minute are at a significantly less risk for a heart attack?

Did you know that working out regularly helps with anxiety because the increased heart rate is the same, you’re teaching your body how to handle and control and accept the stress of that fight or flee inclination that comes with panic?

Did you know that celery juice, as little as 4-6 oz. a day, can help combat autoimmune disease symptoms?

I could go on. There are options. The above aren’t law, they’re just a few things that can help promote optimization and longevity, overall health. You have a choice.

Me? I choose activity and nourishment. Despite day 3 of a migraine, I chose to move. I feel like an expert in migraines; how I could write a novel about the various degrees, triggers, and remedies. But not all remedies work. Sometimes, it’s because of my body. Sometimes, it’s just a phase and I have to make the best of it.

TMI: The shark hasn’t visited in months and next week is the scheduled dive in the ocean. It happens—my body is changing. I’ve gained weight, muscle. It’s thrown my hormones. That’s normal for some women. I am one of those women. In December, I had gluten contamination, which can also throw off the regularity of womanhood. So, this week, my body has been given a warning with migraines that can’t be dismissed but CAN (sometimes) be tamed.

Medicine hasn’t helped and food sounds disgusting. My brain refuses to shut off—that’s a hell in itself, it literally will not stop thinking; about what’s next, creating ideas and plans for work, or scripting a blog, poem, or novel. My brain doesn’t have an off switch when my body craves activity. Body and mind both crave stress, to be nurtured by movement. And to prevent this movement, I’ve got about 13 crews of construction workers jackhammering around in my head, while it feels like my head has been put in a vice. It’s compressed. Cold, fresh air feels good on my head. But it won’t shut off. I can’t take naps easily. So, I did 2 rounds of mini yoga sessions (20-30 minutes) each day during this migraine and for the subsequent hour or two, it helped. That compression eased up, the nausea held off, and 11 of the crews took a break.

Don’t dismiss endorphins. Don’t dismiss activity. Yoga worked my body but calmed my mind.

And because I know what some of you are thinking reading these symptoms, no, I’m not “with child.” The ER has already tested me twice because they refused to believe me back when I was sick all through December to February. This is just being an active woman making advancements with my body and health. I have to go through this phase to become healthier, and I can tell you, compared to other migraines in the past, this one was manageable and that’s saying something.

Nobody said it was easy living but for me, it’ll be a healthy life because my body isn’t just a vessel, it’s a temple. Fill it with gold.