This week I have received several prompts about the importance of breathing for stress relief. My yoga teacher takes time at the beginning of class to allow us to lie down, settle and breathe. The goal is to lengthen the out-breath, which calms the body (a scientific fact). What I like about her approach is […]
Are you sensory sensitive?
September 30, 2014 by
Are you sensitive to light, noise, touch and medications in addition to having chronic pain such as fibromyalgia, or wide spread pain, moving pain (have you had pain in a number of different parts of your body over several years)? Dr. Dan Clauw, the Director of the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Center at the University of […]
Stop for Beauty
September 17, 2014 by
What stops you during your day to take a few breaths, and really look, or hear or smell something? For me it’s been yellow roses lately, beckoning to me right before I walk down the stairs. How often do you allow yourself to just stop when you notice something beautiful, or delicious, or touching? My […]
Meeting daily life
June 17, 2014 by
I like to listen to talks by Tara Brach, meditation teacher and psychotherapist. When the weather allows I do the weeding in my flower garden. This last talk touched on so many experiences and skills that I highly recommend listening to it. If you are working with meditation, or mindfulness, or meeting daily life with […]
A break from your pain
April 14, 2014 by
Not all chronic pain is unrelenting 24/7, even if it often feels that way. For many of us who qualify for a CP diagnosis, there are periods of having little or no pain. If you feel that does not apply to you, please hold an open mind that it may in fact be a possibility. […]
Yes you can– dance with pain
March 16, 2014 by
Here are four ways to move and dance even with pain and limited ability: I promised I would not give you the standard 4 ways to… but you will find these are not standard. This kind of movement invites you to tune into your body and experiment. That takes some getting used to for most […]
Yoga for Pain Relief– Book review
March 4, 2014 by
This excellent book was written by Kelly McGonical, a professor at Stanford University, who has chronic pain herself. If you think yoga cannot be for you, then this is a good book to start with. It introduces you to the mind-body benefits and practices of yoga–what yoga really is about–not just physical poses, but there […]
Kids love these…
February 28, 2014 by
Finding the time and energy for meditation, yoga, imagery and some of the other ideas I suggest, may sound completely overwhelming if you are a parent. But what if you did these self-care techniques with your children? What if you could lower your stress level and your pain by sharing some of these activities with […]
The Mindfulness Solution to Pain- Book review
February 21, 2014 by
This book is new to my bookshelf and I am enjoying reading it. It came at a time when my body is pretty cranky and I needed a kind reminder why mindfulness and meditation can be so helpful. I love that the authors encourage daily meditation, even if you start with only 5 minutes. Both […]
How you think about your life…
January 28, 2014 by
or how to feel better by feeding the “ant eater” with automatic negative thoughts or ANTS. I want to introduce you to this way of looking at our lives, written by Dr. Amen, a brain researcher and psychiatrist. He makes some of the successful cognitive behavioral concepts accessible and easier to remember. Dr. Amen calls […]