#350 Simplify

Life is much simpler in Flow Chart format... illustration from the brilliant XKCD

When life is very complicated I tend to become quite stressed. When I become stressed, my pain usually gets worse. A good way for me to prevent this from spiraling, is to sit down and start pruning away non-necessities.


These days I've been pretty strung out, with the book launch, new blog project and big move all at the same time, healthier people than I would have trouble. I'm hanging in there, sort of... but the problem is, I'm spending energy I need in order to make it through the winter. So I need to cut back and prioritize quite harshly in order to take care of myself.

When I'm really tired, even the simplest tasks seem completely impossible and my mind is muddled with endless lists... If I catch myself falling into that "I have to do EVERYTHING and I have to do it NOW!" frenzy, I sit down and make a mind map with all the things worrying me. When I get them down on paper, they're usually not as many or as urgent as I think. So I check which of them I really need to do something about, and which of them I really need to do something about today. At that point I'm usually left with only one or two things, and it's all quite manageable...

#340 Decorate a healing corner

It shouldn't really come as a surprise that the outer environment has a direct effect on healing, but hooray, somebody has conducted a study that proves it.

So how do you apply that knowledge to your private self-healing routine?

I mean, it would be wonderful if we all had access to beautiful gardens like this one, had a gardener who could do all the work tending it when we were too sick, and could spend several hours there daily just soaking up the sunlight and getting gentle exercise...

...but most of us don't really have that option.

So I propose decorating a healing corner in your home. Choose a spot where you can see something beautiful, and place your day bed, hospital bed or relaxing comfy chair there. If you can't spare a good window position,  put a beautiful nature picture on the wall by your bed/chair. Decorate the corner with a few small things that cheer you up and keep it peacefully clutter free. Place your flare kit nearby, and any other props that help your pain. Then you can designate the whole area as a healing zone, when you are there you do your best to focus on self care, relaxation and calm.

PS: If this topic interests you, you can check out this book: Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, where neuroendocrine immunologist Esther Sternberg aparently "gives scientific evidence to support the notion that where you heal has an impact on how well and how fast you heal." :)

#177 Go raw!

A problem often faced by chronic pain patients is fatigue. When I've had strong pain for a while, it has a way of devouring most of my energy, which leaves me feeling constantly drained and makes it increasingly difficult to do anything to improve my situation. It's a negative spiral that I can still fall into sometimes. Chronic pain patients over time often develop problems with concentration/memory loss and experience general symptoms of burn out - along with everything else they're dealing with. I've definitely had to deal with that too.

So I've realized that anything that may give me an energy boost is highly welcome.

Many people say that eating Raw - so called "Living Foods" provides them with greatly increased energy, so this week I've decided to try it out myself.

Raw Foodists believe that heating food above 118 degrees F. destroys valuable enzymes in food that can assist in digestion and health, and that vital nutrients in vegetables are destroyed when heated. Based on this belief, a whole new way of preparing food has been developed, where the main goal is to increase the nutritional value and help the body stay healthy and heal itself through what we eat.

I've tried a lot of different "healthy diets" before to treat my arthritis, some of them have worked a little, some of them not at all, and one actually caused my RA to go into remission for 15 yrs (wow!!) Armed with a collection of Raw Food cookbooks & recipes, and Austin's amazing Whole Foods Market right around the corner, my sister Lynnea and I are going 100% raw for a three day trial period, starting today.

Our first day featured marinated portobello mushroom fajitas and an awesome spinach-lemon-apple smoothie. But raw food doesn't necessarily mean "health nut" food. For example we had the most amazing chocolate cheesecake I've ever tried the other day at Beets raw food cafe, yum...

My first impression is that eating all raw / live foods give me a buzz, and fill me up without weighing me down. But then... I'll see how I feel tomorrow;)

#85 Go for a walk

Spring is coming, and most of the snow has melted here in Gothenburg. Only a month ago we had the biggest snowstorm in ages, all the streetcars were stranded, my car was stuck in a drift of 4 feet of snow and there were 6 feet long icicles hanging from the rooftops in our neighbourhood. Brrrr!!!

And now it's just gone...

Here in Northern Scandinavia the first true sign of spring is dry asphalt.

For me and so many other pain patients, it's a relief when the ice and snow on the pavements has melted, and you can actually walk on dry asphalt, without risking a slip, stumble and fall. Not only does the cold make you tense your muscles more, always increasing pain levels, but the added stress of walking on ice makes it even harder to walk, usually leading to less activity which again increases pain.
 
Today when I left my manuscript to go for a walk in nature, I walked on bare asphalt and could really let my muscles move freely for the first time in months. I also heard bird-song and came across the very first spring flower, a tiny but beautiful crocus:

Sigh... walking in nature may be one of the very best pain remedies I know. Fresh air, sunlight (adding Vitamin D) gentle movement, added circulation... all free and readily available. Even if you can't walk far, or you're in a wheelchair, most of these benefits are still available, so go on, take a walk in the woods!