Strength + Focus + Calm = Yoga

Eight years ago, I was really into yoga. I would actually reward myself for accomplishing my fitness routine (stair climbing, circuit training, or elliptical work) not with chocolate, but by attending a 90 minute yoga class.  I loved it.  I actually started doing yoga twice most days, once upon rising (in the privacy of my home) and once in the evening at the gym.  I felt great even when my life was far from perfect.

My favorite type of yoga has always been kundalini, but my local gym offered classes in the more popular hatha yoga, so that’s mainly what I practiced. I loved the calm and strength that I gained from my practice. However, life has an odd way of interfering and somehow I have gotten away from my yoga.

I rarely practice anymore, with the exception of occasional classes during our annual family vacation, and I constantly miss it. I need a place in my life for focus, for strength, for calm. I need to incorporate my yoga practice back into my life.

How? When? Where? With toddlers? These questions must be addressed. However, as I contemplate them, I realize that carving time for my yoga is not a selfish act, it will benefit my entire family. As I increase my strength, focus, and sense of calm, I will only increase in my ability to care for them. I’m sure it will help with the fibromyalgia symptoms, too.  Maybe it will aid me in losing weight…  That would be a definite side benefit!

Discovering Treatment Tips

People deal with illness in different ways. Most of the time I try not to take medication to treat my symptoms, which may contribute to my being tired and cranky at times. I just personally don’t want to have any long-term medicine needs.  I am very aware that this does not and can not work for everyone.  It’s just an individual choice I have made.

Because of that, I’m always interested in alternative treatments, natural approaches, and lifestyle adaptations to treat disease. There are many websites that sell various products and methodologies for treating fibromyalgia. Some are simply sales sites, while others seem to offer information along with various products.  Many just give information, no strings attached.

Here’s one website that I thought was interesting. It shares nine “potentially effective ideas” for managing fibromyalgia. What I’ll do now is examine the nine steps and look for research studies that support these ideas and their effectiveness. Through doing this I not only learn more about what’s “out there”, but I gain knowledge and, as Sir Francis Bacon is often quoted, “knowledge is power”.  There I go again, seeking after power.

Sharing The Symptoms

On Memorial Day my husband and step-daughter participated in a sprint triathlon, along with a bunch of our neighbors and church friends. In several conversations since, I’ve heard people mention pain and exhaustion presumably caused by lactic acid build-up and extreme exertion.

A few months ago while having a massage, I was asked if I was an athlete. I laughed out loud and immediately answered that I was not, but wanted to know what prompted the question.  I was then told that I had a lot of lactic acid built up in my muscles, which is generally found in athletes.  I always knew I had it in me to be an athlete. 

So, onto another topic for a minute. Have you heard of the Fibromyalgia Challenge? The National Fibromyalgia Association has found a way for caregivers and supporters to experience a small degree of chronic pain by placing a clothespin on a finger for thirty minutes.  Here’s more information.

I have a different idea. How about using a sprint triathlon to share the experience?  Money could even be raised to forward fibromyalgia awareness or research.  It seems like a more realistic simulation experience to me as lactic acid would temporarily build up in the tissues of participants, resulting in temporary symptoms of fibromyalgia.  Here’s a link that explains this, as well as giving some treatment tips.  It would be an exercise in true empathy.  What do you think?  Are you on board?

Using The Magic Words

I bet you thought I was going to be talking about the words “please” and “thank you” in this post. Wrong. There’s a 3rd magic word. It’s the word “no”.

It’s not a word I have used much in the past. I usually am quite verbose at explaining my way out of things so that I don’t have to use the word “no”. Today, however, I used it. I used the word “no” without guilt, remorse, or even a sigh.

In saying “no”, I acknowledged the fact that it is okay to take some time for myself, that it is okay to stay home and focus on housekeeping responsibilities, and that it is okay to allow my husband the opportunity of caring for seven of our eight children at the park without me nearby, even on a holiday. I did keep the baby. 

I think I will use that word more often. I have lots of friends who do. I know lots of volunteers at my children’s schools who do. My husband even does. And we all know that the kids love that word.  I’m shocked that I am just now rediscovering it’s power. I know I used it a lot when I was a teen.

Fibromyalgia has given me a good reason to say “no”, without excuse or description, because it limits me. It makes me realize that I cannot do everything. I must have need for that in my life right now. So, today, I am thankful for the ability and the need to say “no”.

A Day of Rest

Today, Sunday, is our Sabbath, a day of rest.

However in our family, the term “rest” is used loosely.  My husband and often remark that Sunday is our busiest day!  Preparing three meals for ten people (and friends, if invited), teaching principles, praying, and singing with the kids, organizing our web-based family calendar, discussing matters that affect the whole family, and running children to and from activities, including church, take up much of the day.  Add to that extras like visiting people, meetings, or personal study, and you could see why it would be our busiest day.  I know, I know, you’re exhausted just reading this - me, too!

Despite the hustle and bustle, Sunday generally maintains a different, quieter atmosphere than other days so it can serve to refresh despite all the work. Anyway, today I experienced a miracle.

I actually was able to take an hour long nap!

So even though today was busy, I feel as though I took a step towards wellness. Hmmm… Does that mean I was sleep-walking?  Okay, silliness aside, check out this article from the National Sleep Foundation on the link between sleep and fibromyalgia.  At the end of the article it suggests starting a sleep journal.  Interesting idea…  I know that I’m much more careful about what I eat if I have to write it down.  Maybe I’ll make sleep a higher priority if I’m journaling it?  I’ll let you know in a few weeks.  Right now, though, I’m off to get some Zzzzzs.

Working Around The Fog

Living near the beach brings interesting weather. We often experience coastal fog in the mornings and late at night. Most of the time its just something we work around, by driving more slowly and cautiously or using fog lights. Occasionally, though, the fog can get quite thick to the point where it seems pointless or unsafe to attempt to navigate through it.

In many ways this coastal fog is reminiscent of “brain fog” or “fibro fog.” While it’s possible to work around fibro fog, it does require special effort. Some people use note cards, others lists or timers. I’m sure there are hundreds of individual methods for coping with this short-term fuzziness. And most of the time these “helps” work great.

Other times simple equations, memories or knowledge is inaccessible, trapped in a foggy blankness that we call fibro fog. I used to be excellent at remembering locations of my children’s cast off items, my friend’s phone numbers, and multiplication facts. Lately when asked questions concerning these things, however, my responses have changed, because my brain cannot always compute the answer quickly enough. Sometimes I cannot even understand what the words mean for brief moments and feel momentarily blank. So, I’ve come up with some standard answers for when I‘m too tired to push through the fog.  They may seem sarcastic, but at least they don’t make my family wonder about me.

Mom, what’s 2×6? The amount of laundry loads I’ve done this week.

Mom, where’s my Hurley sweatshirt? Wherever you last left it.  Try the car.

Honey, where’s the number for…? Check the Caller ID.

By the way, Caller ID is a fabulous invention for coping with fibro fog. But, if you can relate to this post, you probably already know that. For more information on fibro fog or brain fog, check out this link collection. If you know enough about it and just want some great coping tips, check out this link.

P.S.  For all the moms out there, “fibro fog” is very similar to pregnancy amnesia, except it doesn’t go away once the baby is born!