Even a Warrior Princess needs a break

A month ago, when I returned from my first Kung Fu tournament with two gold medals, one of my Tai Chi Sword classmates greeted me with "Ah, here comes our W.P.!!"

I gave him an innocent, puzzled look: "What is W.P.?"

"Warrior Princess", he said.

Ah, he is soooo sweet. I was very flattered.

However, I don't feel like a Warrior Princess these days. The past two weeks I haven't been able to sleep well at all due to (what my doctor speculated to be) allergy-induced asthma. During the day I feel OK, but when the night comes I would gradually become unable to breathe. I also have a cold, which makes everything worse. As a result, I could barely sleep.

Back in April, I had a similar episode for more than a week, and that's why my doctor gave me an inhaler for emergencies. For the past 6 months, I've only had to use the inhaler for 3-4 times. But last week, I was using it 1-3 times every night! I often had to sit up on the bed, and ended up waking up sore all over. My chiropractor did some special treatment for me, and it seemed to help. I was able to go without the inhaler for several days (yay!) but the last two nights I had to use it again.

The lack of sleep is really getting to me. I feel like I'm in a fog. I haven't gone to Kung Fu or sword class, or done any exercise (except yoga) for two weeks now. Just too exhausted.

Last night I was supposed to go to a friend's party, but I totally forgot. When she called to see if I was coming, I felt a moment of guilt, but decided to tell her "sorry, I can't make it". She seemed very disappointed. I'm sure she'd understand. She is a good friend.

I decided to go to bed early instead. It was really early for me (10pm), but I decided that I really needed to rest. As a coach, I always stress the importance of Intensive Self-Care, and this is my turn to take care of myself. I've got to walk the talk, right? Besides, it's weekend, and nobody needs to get up early tomorow morning for school or for work anyway.

Even a Warrior Princess needs a break now and then.

Guess how long I slept last night? 12 hours!!! I woke up a few times, but fell back to sleep. I guess my body really needed the rest. In any case, I'm very glad I took care of myself. :-)