Friday, June 3, 2011

potions from a far off land

I've known for years that I probably have circulation issues in my legs.  I first put it together at a CPR class that was a little more thorough than most; the teacher talked about the way the heart works and problems it sometimes has, and I recognized symptoms of bad circulation as she described them.  That was maybe 5 or more years ago.


One would THINK with a family history of heart problems, I'd have taken action on that.  But I didn't.  I just stored the scary information in the back of my mind and kept on going.  This is the definition of NOT loving one's body.


I'm hoping that one of the wonderful side-benefits of loving my body will be a return to the kind of fitness that might greatly improve or even solve the circulation issue.  


Last weekend I was in Chinatown with a friend, wandering in and out of various little shops.  In one of these, a tiny but energetic little lady chose me as her sales target.  Looking me all up and down, visibly weighing me with her eyes, she grabbed a box off the shelf and started saying things about how it would help the pain in my feet and legs, it was good for circulation, and I thought she said it was good for "the breath" three times really fast.  I bought the tea mostly because of the "breath" thing...anytime someone pushes something to help breath on you 3 times fast, you probably oughta listen, you know?  I spent the rest of the day trying not to breathe on anyone, but also wondering what breath has to do with circulation.


I've concluded since then that she was saying "blood" in her adorable accent.  I googled the tea I bought (salvia root and some kind of ginseng...the box is at my office so I'm working from memory here) and it definitely purports to help with circulation, but there is no mention of improving "breath" anywhere.  


So I've been having a big cup of this tea every morning when I get to work.  It doesn't taste the best and has lots of floaties in it.  I add sugar to get it down, and I drink it fast, cuz the cooler it gets, the grosser it gets.  But you know...I think it's helping! The leg pains that have bothered me more nights than not seem to be getting slowly better.  Last night I worked standing/walking on my feet for 4 hours straight.  This should have robbed me of almost all my sleep...generally it would have created so much leg and foot pain that even taking Aleve before bed wouldn't have bought me the kind of relief that would allow for restful sleep.

Last night I got in late and forgot to take Aleve before bed.  I was so tired I didn't take time to massage my feet and legs before bed, which has been almost mandatory to get enough relief to get to sleep in the first place even when I haven't been standing for hours.  I didn't wake up in the night needing to massage them, which has become a pretty regular need.  I slept straight through and it didn't hurt to step down out of bed this morning.  ALL of this is unusual for me. Hopefully at least some of the effect is from the walking/running, but I think I'm becoming a fan of this disgusting tea!     


I also bought "women's tea" in that same shop.  Hopefully it'll be as effective as this stuff.

1 comment:

  1. Please tell me more of the magic teas! I LOVE magic teas lol.

    ReplyDelete