When you have this illness one thing to avoid if you want to be happy is comparing yourself with other people or other times in your life. It might be a natural impulse but it really doesn’t help! If we can look out for those moments when we are making comparisons we can choose to … Read more
Listening to your body is really important when you have ME/CFS but not just to assess how much energy you have. I also find that when I listen very carefully my body will tell me what sort of thing it feels able to do right now. When I pay attention I find I can get … Read more
This is another meditation practise that provides nourishment for the soul (see also loving kindness meditation). I find it particularly useful as a reminder to invite these positive qualities into my life, especially when I am taking life too seriously and devoting too much energy to work and writing. I also find that the active … Read more
I’ve been very lucky that since I visited a homeopath a couple of years ago I’ve suffered very little with muscle symptoms. I am very careful not to overexert, but even on the odd occasion when I do overstretch at a yoga class I usually only suffer the normal stiffness you would expect from a … Read more
The idea of resting before you get tired may seem odd to a non-ME/CFS sufferer but it is a really important concept in energy management. In general we have to get our heads around the fact that rest isn’t just about recovery for what we’ve just done, it’s as much about saving energy for what … Read more
Before I got ill and in my 7 years remission the majority of my pleasure came from physical pursuits. Whether it was a long mountain hike, bombing down the mountain on ski’s or a snowboard, or dancing all night at a festival, these were the times when I experienced the most pleasure. Second to that … Read more
Every morning when I wake up I feel sluggish and poisoned. Sometimes it can be like a terrible hangover, even though I don’t touch alcohol at the moment. After I’ve done my T’ai chi and drank a couple of mugs of hot water I usually feel much better. It makes sense to me that the … Read more
For me a key principle in managing this illness is that we actively need to invest some of our precious energy in health promoting activities. It’s not enough to just live what little life we can and then rest when we’ve had enough. Rest alone will not get us better or even prevent us from … Read more
With May the 12th looming I wanted to do something to help promote ME/CFS awareness. Because of work commitments and the fact that I don’t live nearby I’m unable to attend the all fall down for ME demonstration. Instead, I decided to write to my local paper and yesterday they printed my letter. Could you write to your … Read more
For those of us who are lucky enough to be well enough to take a holiday, air travel can bring its own challenges. For some of us flying may be the only way to getaway to the sun during winter for some much needed vitamin D therapy. However I have found that I regularly pick … Read more
