Tranquilo

A positive day with a deadline largely done and dusted and a morning dissemination meeting by another organisation working on wildlife issues in similar locations to me. I was pleased to understand much of what was being presented in Portuguese, and for language learning it’s handy that invited dignitaries usually drone on monotonously and for a long time, but with a slow, clear drawl.

In the evening a very unique experience with my friend Luis, who is a therapist. I’d expressed my wish to find some de-stressing activities so we spent two hours on tantric meditation/massage. As with normal meditation, which I don’t know how to do properly, random interesting memories flooded the mind. Tantric massage builds up so cleverly and forcefully that it creates a strong physical reaction. In my case this manifested in an emptying of the mind and prolonged deep breathing that led to extreme relaxation, i.e. passing out in a trance. Luis had to nudge me awake. Apparently this is very normal and I certainly felt very chilled and keen for more sessions.

I would have felt as relaxed as humanly possible except I hadn’t eaten much, which added to the shakes, and then dealt with a Netflix hacking episode that occupied an hour to resolve.