Adriene, That Pain, and Yoga

Self care for some nurses is wanting.  I am a case in point.  If you come to me and describe certain symptoms I am likely to tell you that you should see your doctor.  When I experience a problem  I have a consistent plan of action.

1.  Ignore as long as possible and wait to see if the problem goes away. (This step may take weeks)
2. Consider carefully all steps not requiring medical care and implement accordingly.
3. When it dawns that no this problem will not go away without some kind of intervention, then activate the result of step two.
4. When it is obvious that your friends are sick and tired of your whining and sniveling, go to a doctor and shut up. ** The shutting up will occur, the doctors visit rarely.

Several weeks, dare I say months?  No, several weeks ago I developed headaches, something very unusual for me and on occasion dizziness.  I noticed it when I moved my head, and on waking the pain would be at the resting point in my head.

It must be my brain I thought.  But then not to long ago I took notice that the pain was not just IN my head but in my neck and shoulders.  I was unable to turn my head right or left to any degree.

So one morning after someone had mentioned Yoga in another conversation it came to me that perhaps I should try some exercises and I googled my symptoms and the word exercises.

Naturally a plethora of remedies popped up, most of them on YouTube.  I watched a few and realized there were no Downward Facing Dogs in my immediate future but then I found Adriene.  Fibromyalgia precludes some types of exercise but this particular exercise seemed made to measure.

You can sit on a mat or in a chair, and there are days I do one or the other. The first time I thought, ‘Oh Oh, I can’t do any of these.’  It seemed nothing stretched the way it should.  But Adriene says, ‘Listen to your body.’  So I did.  If nothing was going to stretch at least I could strive to get into the starting position.

Well guess what?  That very first day, I got up, got on with  my day, and found myself in awe that I could move so well and so comfortably.

I have done it every morning on rising without fail (no I did miss one day and was quite miserable with pain for the day), but otherwise for a week, I have felt wonderful.  I make note of my discomfort on waking, where in my head or neck it is, just in case I ultimately do see a doc but my quality of life is wonderful.

So please meet Adriene!

My Friend Joss

My friend Joss is an author.  She lives in eastern Canada and today I got to have lunch with her and her friend Christine.  Joss is visiting southern Ontario and happened to be spending part of that time here in Hamilton, hence the opportunity for us to meet.  I have followed Joss’ wordpress site here almost since I started blogging.  Initially it was her poetry and witty, common sense approach to life and events that drew my interest.

Then we discovered we had more than mutual adoration in common; we shared the challenge of coping with and conquering fibromyalgia.  Well conquering is perhaps a little misleading as one never does conquer; one learns to live with and adapt and Joss has done this amazingly well.  It never goes away but it can be tempered and Joss has been flare-up free for almost ten years.  Me?  I have done well since 1986 but I cannot list any particular number of years as being flare-up free however I am continuing to learn and much of that learning has been via Joss.  She talks about it being a journey and that it is and oh my, like any journey it is better because of the folk you meet along the way who provide encouragement and support.

Thank you for your wonderful book Joss and for your personal support!

Her new book ‘What I Know About Fibro’ provides information and inspiration and I encourage anyone who has dealt with pain in any form to read it!

Now please note that below the table has no food on it but I swear we had a delightful lunch!

Laid Low By Fibro Major Flare Up #1 2012

Apologies all.  I had some rather witty things to say today regarding cheek bones but have encountered major flare up from old friend who I conquered years ago but drops in to let me know I am still vulnerable now and then. There are measures but like any super hero – must retreat to Bat Cave, Ice Palace etc etc to recharge.  Energy very low pain high ..off to rest 100%.  My doc reminds me that for as bad as a flare up can be for me I do recover while somewith Fibro live like this always.

Please drop in and see my friend Joss Burnel at crowingcrone.wordpress.com. and link upto her. B.E.W.E.L.L. site.  Joss is our resident expert on Fibro and just published a great book on the subject.

Like the Phoenix I shall rise again…..confirmed size effect..drama!

Joss Burnell That Crowing Crone Has Done It

My friend has created a wonderful book.  How do I know it is wonderful? Why because I assisted in my own little way so I have had a preview of what is to come.  Joss doesn’t have a ‘press this’ button so I have endevoured to copy and paste it her announcement of the coming work.  Some of us talk about doing….Joss does it!

Find her at crowingcrone.wordpress.com

Now for the attempted copy..

 

..I can hardly stand it!  The final editing of my book is done. The cover is ready and I’m just bursting with pride and excitement.  All that’s left is the hours of work to upload it to the self publishing software.  They make it sound so easy but it is time consuming for sure. But that’s okay.

 

A huge thank you to Chris King over at Bridges Burning for her wondrous editing work.  Chris was oh so patient, oh so gracious, and oh so paid attention to detail.  I am thrilled with the end product.

Also must thank my friend, photographer John T. Fowler for allowing me to use his image on the cover.  Isn’t it just beautiful?

And last, but definitely not least, thank you to my BFF Christine for reading the manuscript all in one go – she who hates to read at the computer!  Christine, your support and love, as you know, mean the world to me.

So, there it is folks.  I can’t wait to hold the first real copy in my hands.

Secret..Manifesting…and me…

Secrets and Manifesting and ….

About fourteen months ago, just before Christmas I was feeling a little lost, or down, or blah or whatever the choice word descriptions are these days.  My job of the previous few years had been challenging, but one I enjoyed until a bright – or maybe not so bright new manager convinced our company owner that he would drive us to inspiration in Recruitment by convincing her to slash all our salaries by thirty percent.  Now that had a not so surprising reaction from all affected who decided instead that we would do thirty percent less work.  Well almost all of us as one little bunny took it to heart and worked relentlessly to succeed.

Anyway having lived to the extent of my income this hit me where it hurts..namely the wallet.  And that definitely is NOT fun.  I was checking out some sales for Christmas presents, and being one woman who seems to have been born without a true shopping gene I usually drifted to a book store and latte.

The signs of my malaise were…well malaise, hopelessness about the future in general and a general internal pout that I hoped was not evident to others. For the first time in years I was also experiencing huge flare ups, or exacerbations of my old companion Fibromyalgia. So pain had settled in for a long stay.Oh and to meet my lifestyle I began to live more on credit cards and line of credit.  Perhaps a little more recklessly than necessary, but certainly in keeping with my personality.

One day in a bookstore of course I came upon The 
Secret by Byrne.  Having heard some hype and general discussion on the subject I decided to purchase mostly out of curiosity. 

So I settled down one Saturday morning curled up on the sofa to read. What can I say.  I was immediately glued to every word, every page. I read through all of that day and far into the night – not unusual for me when something catches my attention.  When exhaustion forced surrender to the land of nod I closed my eyes for a few short hours. 
The moment my eyes opened in the morning I was immersed immediately back in the book.

After thirty six hour of this I came out a different person,  My attitude changed and I greeted each day with confident, joy and anticipation.  Outlook changed, days were brighter,  I was filled with passion.  Wow and my life changed!

That was the start and it has been a journey of awareness. And that is what this series of blogs will be about.Cause there is a whole lot more to follow.