Teaching manners to your body

I got to do shoden in the practise this weekend - good. Doing shoden after such a long break, in the cold and rainy weather we had on saturday (+13C and pouring) - bad. My beloved right knee tries (once again) to complain about the fact that I'm demanding things from it, and has (once again) an admirable timing. Well, I'm not listening, you hear me, and for all I care you can rot inside the knee support as long as you want - it's not coming off until you stop.

We have a strong love-hate-relationship, my knee and I, and this is not the first time we've had this conversation. It's like arguing with a spoiled kid.

I'm starting to have one with my right hip joint too, as it always complains to me about and during zazen - and the more I try to warm it up before sitting, the more it complains (but I want to be able to sit in lotus posture sooner or later, so I need to stretch it a bit daily). Or more accurately, I think it knows when the 40 min is ending, and tries to make me desperate enough to move my legs before the time is up - just to notice the ending chime being rung half a minute later. Today I managed to sit still the whole time, no matter how much my right leg tried to conspire against me, but I still really need to teach those two, both the knee and the hip, some manners...

Sometimes, just sometimes, I feel like a 80y.o. granny.

Usually my body obeys me quite well, going on and on until I give it a break. I'm often just one of those persons who have no time to get sick. When I do, though, there will be a total meltdown for a few days, a horrible cold or a migraine, and I'll have to spend a few days in bed drinking overly vitaminated drinks (is 1000mg of vitamin C REALLY needed in one bottle, as that easily raises your daily dose to 3000mg?) and listening to quiet music as anything else is beyond my concentration skills. There's also nice over-the-counter meds that warn you not to drive while under their influence, and that can work like miracles (or I might just be prone to the placebo effects - either way, as long as it works I don't mind). A few days like that, and then I'm ready to face the world again.

Anyways, I'm physically fine at the moment, so meds are not needed. And the other stress can be dealt with zazen and iai plus some coffee-time with friends, so no worries. Anyways, after I get the poetry essay out of my hands things should get smoother again.

In the meantime, I'll be damned if I let my right leg beat me.