I never even thought about stretching my toes until I needed to! A part of me wonders if I had started stretching them earlier, if that would have prevented my trigger toe (I have no idea if that would have been the case). Regardless, I love stretches, so here are some that were given to me by physiotherapists and chiropractors. Let’s keep making the most of it!
Always seek medical advice from appropriate healthcare professionals and never start a new routine without consulting with your doctor.
The other day I was walking into work and there was an older gentleman, probably in his late 70s, looking for the hearing clinic. Honestly, I don’t pay attention to the dozens of businesses in the building, so when he asked I said I wasn’t sure where it was. He ended up not following me into the building. When I went in, I quickly looked at the directory, and then ran back outside and down the street to get him. I went with him to the hearing clinic, before going down to my office. He was very grateful, and I felt good. I also had been in a lot of pain that day (my hip) and I noticed (awhile later) that the pain had drastically reduced. Why did this happen? Because my body released endorphins when I performed an act of kindness.
Endorphins are literally our bodies natural pain killers. We produced around 20 or so different types of endorphins, and they are all released by two parts of our brain – the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland – when we are stressed or in pain. Endorphins bind to our body’s opioid receptors which then gives us some pain relief. Opioid medications basically imitate endorphins when they enter our bodies, also clinging to the opioid receptors. And actually, when we take opioid medications, our body produces few endorphins because it doesn’t think it has to produce as many anymore (part of the reason it is easy to become addicted to opioid medications). Now, you might be saying, if these endorphins are so good, why am I in so much pain? Why would I need pain medications, including opioids, if these endorphins actually worked?
Here’s the thing, endorphins do work pretty well. There is a reason our bodies evolved to have them. Chronic pain is weird though and can affect many areas of our lives, which can increase pain (biopsychosocial approach) that make it more difficult for endorphins to work. Also, when we have chronic pain, we end up doing a lot of things that are the opposite of what would be helpful. We lie in bed all day, we withdraw from others, we become depressed making it hard to laugh for example, we stay inside, etc. Doing a lot of the opposite actually helps to produce more endorphins. Here are some examples of activities and practices that cause our bodies to produce more endorphins naturally:
exercise – particularly moderate exercise. I find I always feel good when I work out. There is an uphill walk called the Coquitlam Crunch when I live and I swear it is an endorphin boosting activity (probably why a lot of locals do it). However, if you struggle to exercise, any activity to start will likely get some endorphins going.
acupuncture – I get acupuncture at least once a month because it reduces my stress, so it makes sense that it produces endorphins (a lot of people find it helps to reduce pain as well)
meditation – I’m a big meditator, if you follow this blog you know that. This is another activity that I always feel good after.
Sex – I mean it’s physical activity and an enjoyable activity so it totally makes sense this would produce endorphins.
Music – singing, dancing or playing an instrument gets the endorphins going. So, if you’re in the kitchen, blast some tunes and take a few moments to dance! (I love kitchen dancing). Every time I play the piano I feel really good.
Laughter – as I mentioned, if you have a low mood this can be difficult, but perhaps turning on a funny movie or calling a friend who always makes you laugh might be helpful. As a therapist, I try to utilize laughter in client sessions as much as possible (and appropriate).
Sunshine – yep, getting outside, even if it’s just to sit on your deck or balcony, or sit in a park for awhile. In the winter, investing in a UV light. All of this can boost our natural pain killers.
Aromatherapy – particularly scents of lavender and vanilla. I often use lavender in my diffuser, which I always have on when I do telehealth counselling sessions at home. It’s a scent that is meant to help you feel more relaxed, and understanding how this work (endorphins!) is helpful for me at least.
Altruism – so my opening story is one about doing a kind act for a stranger. Likewise volunteering (I used to volunteer at a children’s hospital, and then at a crisis lines for kids and teens) also produces endorphins. Honestly, while I love volunteering, I find that even holding the door open for someone feels good. And this is why!
Chocolate -it actually contains a type of endorphin within it, which is why it helps to produce more. While I’m not saying you should eat a chocolate bar every day, the occasional chocolatey treat might be a good idea!
Okay, so I’m not saying that doing all of these things will mean you don’t have to take any pain medications anymore. What I am saying is that it can (a) reduce your need for some meds (I went off one from honestly exercising and meditating), or (b) can make you feel even better, while you still take medication. And look, none of this is a guarantee, everyone is different, and there are a lot of factors that affect our pain levels, but I’m always looking for what can help. That way we can all keep making the most of it!
Videos by: Pressmaster, Roman Odintsov, The Element, and Taryn Elliott at Pexels.
The idea here is that we can develop this “noticing self” or the part of us that can truly just observe our experiences without them taking control of us. I think that I’ve gotten pretty good at this over the years, to the point where not only do I not get swept away, but I am also just curious about my thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc. If you want to try the meditation I mention in the video, check it out here.
First off, the media’s portrayal of what is self-care is VERY different from what mental health care professionals think of as self-care. Self-care in the media is bubble baths and spa days and bottomless brunches. I am not against any of this! In fact it all sounds quite fabulous. Counsellors and therapists such as myself think of self-care more in terms of activities of daily living (ADLs) like getting showered and dress and eating meals, etc. And then there is this weird grey area of overlap. For example, I see meditation as a form of self-care. It’s not an ADL, and the media would categorize it as self-care, and yet it can be extremely beneficial for mental and physical health. So I see things like that really as acts of health care.
Relaxation and meditation.
Here are some activities that I see as health care (that are sometimes categorized as self-care):
meditation and mindfulness – contacting the present moment to be here-and-now
self-compassion – taking a moment to be kind to yourself through touch or words
massage therapy – having a registered massage therapist do deeper work (than just purely going to the “spa”)
acupuncture – it has been around around for thousands of years and sessions are usually between 20-45 minutes
swimming and other forms of exercise – water therapy, strength, cardio
baths – more water therapy!
For all of these, research actually supports that they are important for health and mental health. Mindfulness and self-compassion can release tension in the body, make us feel calm and centred and present. Massages and acupuncture can reduce physical sensations of pain and also create relaxation in the body. Exercise reduces pain and increases strength. Baths, swimming and in general water therapy is supported for pain because of its strength, flexibility, heat and relaxation effects (depending on what you’re doing).
Thinking in terms of how these things will benefit my health, as opposed to just being things to enjoy (I mean, these are all things I do also enjoy) makes me more motivated to do them. It’s funny, because the idea for this topic came to me as I’m having a massage later today (I write these about a week before they’re posted). Getting a massage purely for pleasure hasn’t occurred to me in the longest time. Instead I always consider my massage therapist part of my healthcare team. I’m just like, hey, it’s time to take care of those muscles, especially because I have fibromyalgia and I’ve been neglecting them recently! And honestly, this type of health care is also self-care. I think we can get pulled into all these labels, rather than just going with what we need, regardless of whether it’s real self-care or media self-care or health care or anything else. What will make your mind, body and spirit feel better today? Do that, and keep making the most of it!
This type of practice can be deep and quite healing when you have chronic pain and illness. I do highly recommend you only do this if you have strong grounding skills and preferably if you’ve done this type of practice before and/or are able to debrief this with a licensed mental health professional in your area. For other mindfulness practices, check out my YouTube channel.
It’s been 84 years and I can still smell the fresh paint… No, just kidding. But it has been at least 2.5 years (possibly longer) since I had the common cold. Clearly the social distancing and masks and everything not only helped protect me from Covid (which I have managed to avoid thus far) but also the cold, flu and everything else. Then, on May 2, I caught a cold. Sore throat and all. And it was pretty bad. For me, it’s worse because of one of my chronic illnesses.
Life with chronic illness.
Getting any kind of additional illness usually sucks when you have a chronic condition. Example, if you have an autoimmune disease and you’re on immunosuppressants, that can also make you much more vulnerable to more severe illness and symptoms. It’s one of the reasons most people I know with chronic conditions have been so careful during the pandemic. Lucky for me, I’m not on immunosuppressants (I take antimalarials) so I don’t have to worry as much about that part, but still. What I do have that makes catching a cold particularly rough for me is glaucoma. Glaucoma is a degenerative eye disease that can eventually lead to blindness (luckily there are amazing treatments so the chances of going blind if caught early and treated are fairly small). My paternal grandmother had glaucoma and was virtually blind by the time she died. Both of my parents have glaucoma. And when I was 29 I was diagnosed with glaucoma, which is incredibly young (most people are 50+ when they develop it). The leading feature of glaucoma is high eye pressure.
So on May 2, before I started having cold symptoms, I actually happened to have an appointment with my new ophthalmologist. My eye pressure was pretty good and there was no degeneration. He actually made two comments that I found quite funny. First, “You are extremely near-sighted.” Yes, I know (that’s literally how I responded too). He actually informed me about possibilities of retinal tears, and what to look out for. His second funny comment, “Well, I guess we’ll be seeing you from now until indefinitely.” Yep, pretty much true. So, why is catching a cold worse when you have glaucoma. Well, over-the-counter cold medications actually increase your eye pressure. Therefore, I can’t take cold meds (other than cough drops).
Okay, so what happens to me when I can’t take cold meds and have a bad cold is that I get extremely wimpy. Basically life sucks for a few days. Unless I catch myself in these thought patterns, which is what I did recently. I know that “this sucks” and “everything is terrible” thoughts leads to more negative mental and physical health outcomes. It increases body aches and pains, it can keep me sick longer, and it can make me feel depressed (and there’s lots of research out there to back all of this – just type a few key words into Google Scholar and you’ll find it). To be effective I had to “manage my mind” (which is a phrase a life coach who’s podcast I listen to uses). I notice the thoughts, place them on a leaf and let them go. Or I notice and name the thoughts or name the story my thoughts are trying to tell me to create some distance. And then I take comfort in pleasurable activities that I can do. For example, I love movies and being sick is an excuse to watch them. But I don’t just pick any movie. I have some favourites that I used to watch all the time as a kid when I was sick… and then continued to watch into my adulthood when I’m sick. My favourite is Jurassic Park. So that’s what I did. I created distance between myself and my thoughts, acknowledged any emotions I was experiencing, made some tea and watched JP.
The other thing I did recently that was helpful, was talk to my ND about natural cold remedies. Now, I’m lucky in that I work at the same office as my ND (we actually share a room, just work on different days), so for me it’s a quick text and I realize that’s not the case for everyone. But if you see a naturopath, it’s worth asking about. Here are some suggestions she gave me for the common cold (sinus and cough):
Vitamin C: amount can depend on your bowel tolerance – I bought the chewables and used about 3g per day.
NAC supplement – I think you have to go to a natural health store to find these. I didn’t try them this time, but I’m keeping it in mind for the future.
Peppermint tea – which I love anyway, and interestingly it’s the only type of tea she recommended
Eucalyptus inhale: basically boiling water with some essential oils and inhaling with a towel over your head – I found this extremely helpful
wet stock treatment – I did not try this because my feet hate the cold, but apparently it is very effective.
Alas, I survived my first cold in 2.5 years and realized that the best things for me to do is use some natural remedies paired with some psychological coping skills. If you’re like me and unable to take cold medication, I hope this helps you to keep making the most of it!
What are values-based activities? They are actions, activities, hobbies, practices, etc. that align with our values (how we want to treat ourselves, others, and the world/what is important to us). Colouring may seem like a silly one, but here me out! You can also check out this podcast episode I did on values-based living.
Try out a values-based activity for yourself so that you can keep making the most of it!
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. -William Berry
I think this is an absolutely beautiful poem for many reasons. Two main thoughts came to mind when I first heard it as I was attending a Compassion in Therapy summit in April (yes, I know I do a lot of these types of summits, they’re terrific). The first, is that it does remind me of self-compassion practices, and second, that nature has ultimate healing powers. While I’ve blogged about these topics before, I want to write about them in the context of this poem, as a way for me (and you) to remember why they are so important, especially if you have a chronic illness.
Costa Rica, 2019
Self-Compassion
Self-compassion is comprised of 3 elements: mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness. In the poem, Berry describes mindfulness of his thoughts in the first part, and then just being present with full experiencing in the second part. “I come into the presence of still water” and “I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” These are very mindful phrases and experiences. Then there is the phrase, “I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.” I see this as relating to common humanity as it suggests that all human “tax their lives” with these thoughts and feelings – in contrast to wild things, which (as far as we know) don’t have the cognitive abilities to have these thoughts that can consume us. Thinking is part of being human. What I think represents self-kindness in this poem is that (a) Berry doesn’t judge himself for having these thoughts, and (b) he makes the decision to take care of himself in the moment and give himself what he needs – a reprieve into nature. Now, I’m personally left to wonder, what can I do today that is self-compassionate? Maybe lay a kind hand on my chest, maybe imagining breathing in compassion for myself and out compassion for others, or maybe it is literally going outside into nature. What do you need?
Nature
Ecotherapy and forest bathing are totally a thing. I actually talked to a client of mine about this recently because they mentioned that they feel good in the forest, literally touching the trees. Me too. So much research supports being in nature. I recently listened to a podcast that suggested even just eating outside is good for us (which I immediately told my parents about because we ate el fresco all summer long when I was growing up). Near my apartment, there is an inlet with beautiful hiking trails along it and tons of big, beautiful trees that are ever-so-present in British Columbia. The air is so refreshing, especially if it’s recently rained. Everything about this trail (and really a lot of trails in this province) makes me feel good. Both physically and mentally. I had the same experience in Costa Rica. My friend and I would touch the trees and vines, really connecting with the beauty and nature, and all of the healing properties of it. When’s the last time you spent time outside? Is there a park near you that you can go to? Can you eat outside on your patio or deck?
Sometimes we can find inspiration to improve the quality of our lives (with these easy and gentle practices) in the most interesting places, like The Peace of the Wild Things. I hope this inspires you to keep making the most of it!
This is a metaphor I found at this website. I love what the writer of it did here. It’s an alternative to spoon theory, where the biggest different is that spoon theory only focuses on energy, and this metaphor – a knight in battle worn armour – looks at all aspects of having chronic pain/illness. At the end of the day, you can prefer whichever metaphor you do, but I like to bring some psychoeducation and alternative methods of thinking to you, because I like when they are brought to me! Stay strong and keep making the most of it!
Chronically Living 