A Few Handpicked Letters #7
On Calm after Migraines, Discovering Magical Musical Instruments, Summer and Poetry
Dear Reader,
Do you remember what April 1st meant during school days? It meant that we didn’t have to go to school for the next 60 days. Exams got over yesterday. No more studying or waking up early, no parent teacher meetings, we could play or read whenever we wanted, all for the next 60 days. I wrote a little something on it and called it 61 Days of Summer. Do read and let me know your thoughts on it. Now, April first is salary day and it doesn’t even come close to April 1st from those years. To think that we were in a hurry to grow up!
I slept with a mild headache yesterday night and woke up with a storm of a migraine at about 4 am. Along with this pounding, my mind was ranting mindlessly about all the things wrong with my life. It felt like I had an old granny sitting in my head, wailing and lamenting loudly, non stop. Amidst asking my mind to shut up and being terrified of my own thoughts, I grabbed a banana, filled my bottle with some water, and took a painkiller. After waking up a sleeping friend and finding some solace in their voice (Thank God for Friends!), I plugged in a guided pain relief meditation, and tried catching some sleep. The migraine kept piquing on and off, until the medicine kicked in and I finally slept.
This is a practice I have been following for over 3 years now. I use the Insight Timer App, find a guided meditation for pain relief, and listen to it lying down. Initially I find it difficult to focus, but gradually it calms my mind and I drift off to sleep. If you get frequent migraines, you could try this App. It is a free App that can be used for different kinds of meditation.
I woke up today feeling like a storm had ravaged me. My mind was messed up with remnants of the thoughts from the previous night, but also, I felt calm as I appreciated the lack of pain immensely. It is the day after the migraine that I appreciate my body the most. I feel deeply connected to my body as I notice the lack of pain and feel grateful for it. As I sat with my coffee, I recalled the previous night’s events and felt this urge to tidy up my messy room. So I decided to play some music and clean up!
I came across this instrument called Handpan for the first time yesterday at a travelers’ gathering in Kochi. It was a beautiful, cozy gathering organized by Cirkeetu and Golden Palace Tours consisting of travel lovers who shared their experiences of traveling over the years. At the end of it, a humble artist named Ananthan played Handpan and they instantly had my heart. If you haven’t listened to it before, I urge you to. It reminded me of happy drums that we see in many tourist spots in India. I made a mental note to find playlists of handpan so that I could listen to it while writing, reading or when I needed to find some calm.
Today as the handpan’s lilting melodies calmed me, I made my bed, categorized everything that was on it, returned them to their respective places, proceeded to my table, and cleared it up. I even made a cozy reading spot on my bed with my quilt. I don’t know if you relate to it. The process of decluttering and organizing calms me and it felt like a befitting start to a summery month.
How did March treat you? And what are you looking forward to in April?
NaPoWriMo will keep me busy during April. April is the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) where poets all around the globe write poems on every day of April. You can use prompts from various pages such as the Alipore Post, Poems India or the NaPoWriMo official site. Today I wrote on the prompt ‘I started something I couldn’t finish’. I found the prompt extremely relatable and interesting. You can read my poems on my Instagram handle. If you were to write on the prompt, how would you have approached it? Feel free to hit reply and let me know.
With that I take your leave. I hope you will try out Insight Timer. I vouch for this app for anyone with anxiety, headaches, or anyone who wants to start a habit of meditation and need guidance. Also, will you let me know if you liked Handpan? I will check to see if it can be used as reading music and compile a reading playlist if you would like that.
Until next time,
Your wildflower
Ranjini S
Great getting to know you! Decluttering and organizing are first steps before I start writing for the day, so I completely understand how that feels.