I have written posts before on why it is important to "show up." Why it is imperative that we take active rolls in our health and wellbeing. Just yesterday, at the gentle yoga class I teach, one of my support group members was sharing with someone the amazing things she has experienced since joining our local support group and beginning to practice yoga regularly with me. In her very generous way she was trying to attribute some of the benefits to me, but the fact is - she is the one doing all the work, making all the efforts to connect and heal. She is the one who keeps showing up, and her … [Read more...]
Blueprint Series: What’s Your Trigger?
How can we begin to heal if we do not understand why we are ill? Healing from chronic illness is so much more complicated than just treating the symptoms. Prescription meds may help us cope, but they do not correct the original imbalances that led to dis-ease. And with difficult-to-understand illnesses like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, it is not always possible to pinpoint just one specific cause. Often it is a series of causes like a traumatic event experienced while in the midsts of some other type of recurring life stressors. There are many different types of traumas that can … [Read more...]
My Love Has Not Faltered
A good friend and very wise soul said to me the other day - "It's awesome that you've got such a love for yoga. Although I have to admit it seems a little sad for FibroHaven that it is no longer the light of your life...I think the two (yoga and FH) will mesh together eventually." It is true that my current journey in yoga teacher training school is keeping me from the work I began with FibroHaven. I write less here, I share less on facebook, and I am scheduling fewer in person meetings. But my love of FH has not faltered. The truth is, I am just doing what I frequently urge each of you … [Read more...]
Community is Everything
It's been one of those weeks. One of those weeks when all I have wanted to do is shut myself up in my room and lose myself in books, movies, and God willing, some good sleep. It is my (and I am sure most of our) default position to "retreat" and isolate when I am feeling bad. And it is a desire I have given in to many times throughout my illness. But I have noticed something. I have noticed that by staying present and showing up for my life and my responsibilities, I am frequently rewarded with beautiful distractions from the symptoms that would otherwise consume me. This has been an … [Read more...]
The Fruit of Meditation
As much as I love my yoga - and I really love my yoga - nothing centers, soothes, and balances me better than sitting silently in meditation. If I am frustrated, anxious, fatigued, sad, or experiencing any other number of annoying or overwhelming emotions, meditation brings me out of my funk and helps me look at my life through a clearer lens. It clears my brain, lightens my mood, and prepares me to be an active participant in my life again. So you think I may be exaggerating just a little? You have tried meditation and it is just not for you. You can't quiet your mind long enough to feel … [Read more...]