Blood Pressure Medicine and My State of Mind

This morning the food bag contained a veritable riot of delights: romaine, yellow bell pepper, cantaloupe, apricots, banana, baby cucumber, avocado, mango and baked zucchini! I've been to the "table" twice already, and I truly haven't had such an experience of textures and flavors. I'm sure part of his refeeding strategy is to get us as "hooked" on these foods as possible before we leave. Since he brings the amount that I should eat day, I'm getting a clear impression of how much of what to have with each meal.

I "hit the road" tomorrow morning, but not before Fuhrman brings my food for the day which includes starch for the first time: baked butternut squash! Tomorrow will be the time when Bertha is supposed to pass near this area. I want to head south and pause in DC long enough to see the Vietnam War Memorial. The pictures on TV have always fascinated me. I'm sure that visit will be in the rain from Bertha unless she changes course.

This morning the doctor said I could throw away my blood pressure machine - "You'll never need to take your pressure again." I realize there will be a bit more to it than that. The dietary and physiological factors have been taken care of but not the psychological as expressed in my chronic Type A "cold reactor" behavior. This reminds me of the "three" levels of stress in our bodies: muscular skeletal as tense muscles, nervous system as unbalanced autonomic tone, and mental as a cluttered chaotic chatter. In my view, all three are manifestations of the same underlying structure.

Traditional stress management deals with the first reasonably well, but it's like working on the problem from the outside in rather than penetrating to the core in the fragmented mind. I'm quite successful with those techniques, but they don't do the job in the long run. To get to the "bottom" of my so called blood pressure problem requires a witnessing state of mind that attends to what is rather than a judgmental ego that makes constant invidious comparisons about myself and others. The intuitive mind does not critique like a judge but rather observes like a fair witness.

To minimize the effect of the deeper core issues on my blood pressure, I must focus more on the witnessing intuitive mind way of being - pay attention to what's happening right now and notice the impact of life long mental habits such as being a deadline fanatic first on the mind and them on the nervous system and muscle tension. The physical concomitants of high BP can be taken care of and my pressure will still shoot up when I'm anxious about a real or imagined deadline. Some homework for me!