When you live with a chronic, debilitating disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, it can be downright difficult to step into life – joints ache and deform, muscles tighten, ligaments and tendons loosen, and, on occasion, organs can be involved. That’s just on the physical side. There’s often a huge emotional and mental price tag, too.
I’ve lived with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), for thirty-five years. Thirty-five years which have included a variety of different drugs, numerous flare-ups, a great deal of pain and inflammation, deformed joints, eight surgeries, loss of recreational activities and a career change.
Over that time, I’ve tried a virtual A to Z of things to help me ease and over-come this disease, but none have been as effective and empowering as my number one tip – it’s the one that led me into a new chapter of my life – the one that allows me to experience fewer flare-ups, enjoy better lab tests, sleep more soundly and feel calmer and more confident.
Transform your stress
Stress is your perception of external events that causes internal distortion and strain. The way you think and feel is extremely important. Soaking in negative thoughts and emotions can cause a very different physiological response – one that triggers the stress response. Fourteen-hundred chemicals, including adrenaline and cortisol, flood the body, preparing it for flight or fight.
Until I began practicing the techniques I now teach, I wasn’t aware how much time I was spending worrying, which would then lead to frustration and anger. I thought how I was thinking and feeling was normal. Normal isn’t natural, though. Natural is the way in which we are meant to be, before you began cycling through the stress response at an increasingly faster rate.
If you were to repeat that cycle often enough you run the risk of resetting your nervous system, setting up the scene for illness, puncturing holes in your problem-solving skills, mutating your memory, crucifying your curiosity or many other unwanted and unpleasant scenarios.
It is empowering to know that by using the power of the heart, you can disengage from stress-producing thoughts and emotions. By regularly practicing these techniques, you begin to restore balance to the two branches of your autonomic nervous system.
Acceptance
Acceptance gives you peace of mind. When you have peace of mind, the stress response is not triggered. This allows you to feel better emotionally, mentally and physically. You are then in a better position to be pro-active, doing what you need to do in order to look after yourself, including making adaptations to the way in which you live your life.
Learn to be flexible
When I was first diagnosed, a lot of the products that are now on the market weren’t available. You either had to do without, live with it or get something made by someone else, usually an occupational therapist. Fortunately, that is improving, but there are still times when out-of-the-box thinking is required.
Out of necessity, you learn to be resourceful. Physically, you may have lost some flexibility, but you may have gained more mental flexibility; you look at how you have done things and how they can be adapted so that you can continue to do the things you want to do, for as long as possible.
Fortunately, if you get stuck, your support system can help provide you with the traction to get you going again. You also develop good planning skills – thinking ahead to what you might need on your travels, whether it’s to work, to school or from room to room.
On A Rheumful of Tips, I provide a daily tip on how I move through life with rheumatoid arthritis, accepting, adapting, adjusting, learning, practicing and sharing.
Develop your support system
This can take many forms and can change as your needs change. Your support system can consist of your friends and family, your medical team, colleagues, a spouse.
Your support system is like a good pair of shoes; flexible, cushioning and supportive. They allow you to go further for longer.
Check out A Rheumful of Tips for a daily, bite-sized tip on moving through life with rheumatoid arthritis.
Be empowered
Knowledge is wonderful. However, it is important to know how to put that knowledge to work for you. Learn. Read. Talk. Share. Blog. Practice. Spend time researching to find what works for you.
Listen to your body
Your body speaks to you, but are you listening? Do you need to rest? Better nutrition? More exercise? A night out or a night off? Perhaps you’re being distracted by the things that are stressing you, so you’re not listening to that quiet whispering of what your body needs.
For a greater sense of well-being, it makes sense to look after as many of these factors as possible. You put your best foot forward by becoming aware of how you do things, gain knowledge and then put it all together in practice, with lots of practice!
Life may not always be a walk in the park, but with someone walking alongside, encouraging and supporting you, you may just step a little lighter and livelier.
There is a natural, easy way to show up in life, no matter what crosses your path. My mission is to unlock those skills to your life’s advantage.
Stress transformation coach and educator, Marianna Paulson, is fiercely committed to showing stressed-out people how to swim through life with ease and grace.
Whether you are an exhausted, overworked multitasking professional, an anxiety-ridden baby-boomer struggling with living life well with a chronic illness or the frustrated parent of a child who can’t manage their school and home life without chaos, drama and tears, Marianna can help.
Her time-tested and proven life-altering tools and strategies teach you how to address the cause of stress in positive and effective, easy-to-implement ways to save lives – maybe just in time!
Her path to travel this journey started as a teen-aged swimming instructor and lifeguard. She took her role seriously, ensuring that people were equipped with skills to save themselves from the clutches of roaring riptides, swirling whirlpools and deep waters to live to tell the tale.
Known amongst her clients and fans as Auntie Stress, Marianna loves word play and is often described as that favourite aunt. Marianna has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for thirty-five years and is partly bionic, which gives airport authorities pause. Jen Cordoba says, “Marianna is full of wisdom and has a wonderful, bright perspective on life and living.”
She has bundled her “trenches and textbook” training into a welcome collection of services that deliver the antidote to a life heavily-dressed with stress. You learn to be efficient, so that every move counts for a lot. This is a universal pain that Auntie Stress can ease.
She is anti-stress and Auntie Stress. Aren’t you breathing easier already?
Bike to work week is less than a month (May 28 to June 3, 2012) away and many of you may be considering dusting off your 2 wheeler for a week of healthy commuting. Although the end of May, beginning of June doesn’t usually see much rain in Vancouver I recommend investing in the following gear, as it will guarantee a more pleasurable cycling experience:
