I look like Sasquatch because I got up from my chair

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Just the other day, I looked down at my legs while taking a shower - bristly hairs stared back up at me.  I didn't have time right then to shave, so I made a mental note to do so soon.  Because although the Sous Chef apparently has no conditions when it comes to loving me, I feel a little guilty when I allow myself to start looking like Sasquatch.

And then I went to work, and I sat down, and at some point I got up again.  And my back froze.

It's hard to describe the pain to an outsider - it's like a smoldering fire clenching down on itself.  A ball of fire churning and turning inward, making you feel raw and vulnerable.

Even if you adjust your posture to alleviate the burning, it still feels as if your upper body is a stack of plates precariously placed on top of a toothpick - a setup that could collapse at any moment, the entire stack crashing down in a wall of splintered glass.  A giant marble resting on the head of a pin.

In short, you're f****d.

There's nothing to do at this point but rest; I've been resting for three days straight now.  Icing, resting, walking around a bit, then doing it all over again.

I know a lot of this is stress.  I know this because I did an experiment in the shower yesterday - I stood there and imagined that I was taking a shower in a hotel room in sunny Mexico - the ocean waves crashing right outside my room, a room with a stunning view of the ocean.  And my pain subsided.  It was still there, but it dulled to almost nothing.  As soon as I "returned" home, the pain was back.

So what do you do when your mind and body have partnered up in order to Force You To Stop?

I guess you just stop.  And you hold off on shaving your legs for a couple more days.