SHERINGHAM DIARY No 118 - The Blame Frame

On a recent The Sacred podcast Jonathan Pageau was reflecting on what sacred meant for him. Auto generated subtitles came up with this interpretation of what he said:-

'The sacred is where the Transcendent meets the Monday'

Yeah, Mondays they are the worst.

Recently bought a small machine for checking blood pressure. This is proving a mixed blessing. Fine though it is to keep tabs on how my body is functioning post the HA! It does perpetuate an over preoccupation with my body as this malfunctioning machine. That you can somehow fine tune back into full health, via close observation of your blood pressure twice daily.

You cease feeling a relaxed and quiet contentment with how things seem to be gently improving, just feeling generally better, and go into an heightened state of alarm the moment you see your blood pressure tipping over 140. This in itself stimulates an unhealthy level of stress. Blood pressure varies and it's not always possible to identify exactly why. There's a difference between the habitual and endemic and the hyper tension of a brief moment.

Many common factors, health professionals suggest, affect blood pressure - not enough sleep, too much fat and salt, not enough exercise, too much stress, coffee or alcohol. These are just a few villains that are in the blame frame. But its also acknowledged that health specialists don't fully understand the vagaries of any one individuals issues with high blood pressure. The conditioning factors being perhaps too wide ranging and varied. There is no magic wand that settles the matter.

However, Numero Uno villain is pretty much salt. Once you start looking closely at food contents, which I have become prone to do to the point of atavistic obsession, the bloody stuff is absolutely everywhere. Ultra processed foods are the prime source. They are rightly seen as the primary target for any preventative initiative on health care. It being in the nature of manufacturing cheap baby food for grown adults that you don't need to exert much mastication over, to be high in all the triumvirate of usual suspects for high blood pressure - salt, fat and sugar

Checking your blood pressure daily also provokes these thoughts of self recrimination for that half a cheese and onion pasty you knew at the time of consumption was far too salty. (Yes, that was me ) You also see spikes in higher blood pressure, as a result of not sleeping well for one night, or a whole series of nights (Also me )  And these both take a few days to settle back down to an acceptable register. 

I find it a bit of a conundrum that I can monitor and control the food I eat, but how much sleep I get is pretty much impossible to steer or take conscious control over. You can only set the conditions for it and stand way back. I've tried different approaches over the years and little has had a permanent transformative effect on whether my sleep is long or short. And heightening the anxiety over lack of sleep by throwing statistics at me of decreased life expectancy, really does not help me one bit. It's just another stress point in a room already full of them.

So I have, I'll admit, stopped listening or giving much credence to sleep remedies or strategies. I tend to cultivate a more resigned approach to my sleep being whatever it will be. The factors that waken me have just become too numerous as I get older, that devising one single strategy that effectively deals with them all, is for the birds. It's a bit like keeping plates spinning, just accept some will fall off, that even with the best of intentions my slumber will break - and there is always a very good podcast on You Tube to recommend itself.

Measuring my blood pressure, has I think the potential to become as unhealthy an addiction as regularly checking your smart phone . Too much information perhaps being a more dangerous thing than any brief hiccup of hyper tension. After all it's just one factor in what provokes a HA!

In another podcast episode of The Sacred Elizabeth Oldfield said to her guest  

( according to the auto generated subtitles )

 

'You've had your morning coffee so I don't feel so guilty about panting on you.' 

Mmm this could be an interesting new term -  'to pant on you' - to lean over lasciviously