As most of you know, I have several illnesses that I will always have to live with- Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, recently diagnosed chronic migraines and mitral valve and tricuspid valve prolapse- but these illnesses do not mean that I will always have to be sick. I know that this sounds like an oxymoron or like it just doesn't make sense, but in to me it does. For me to live well means that I accept my illnesses, I work daily on my spiritual being with God, I work on my mental well being and that I take care of my physical body through diet and exercise. That is why I decided to name my coaching business Wellness From the Inside Out- I believe that all three- body, mind and soul - must work together in harmony to have complete well being while living with a chronic illness.
I believe that the soul and relationship with God is most important. I know that there are others that like to believe in other beings and other religions, but I do not put stock in those and as a Christian coach and acceptor of Jesus as my personal savior I definitely cannot and will not give them credibility in my blog or in my life and will not apologize for that. I believe that daily we have to pray and we need to study God's word. We need to seek Him out to draw closer to Him and seek His will in our lives. It is amazing how much He will help us and how much strength He will give us when we are seeking God daily.
Next I believe our mental wellness plays a major role in how our physical wellness is. If we think that we aren't feeling well, believe me we aren't going to be feeling well. The saying mind over matter really is true. If we dwell on negative thoughts and bad things that happen to us it is going to reflect in our physical bodies. Stress is one of the major reason for physical pain, triggers for migraines and other types of headaches and is even believed to be one of the factors for causing pain syndromes such as Fibromyalgia and Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome.
Physical wellness... this one is actually one of the easiest for us to change and take charge of by changing what we put into our bodies and by how we treat our bodies. Remember to leave the junk out and to put the good stuff in. I know this is easier said than done- I suffer from a disease that makes my body crave sugar. Hasimoto's has been proven to cause carb cravings. I have always wondered why it is when I eat one cookie I feel like my body wants another and then another and then another and now I know. I also know that I have to stay away from the first cookie or piece of birthday cake or my body will crave it for hours and days after until I give in. The only thing I can do at that point is ask God to take that from me and to give me the willpower to walk away.
Another thing to do for your body is to exercise. Get up and get to moving. Take some dance classes or go for a mile- 3 mile walk every day or every other day, join a gym and use the membership. It doesn't matter what you do, just get up and do it. Remember though a good combo of cardio and weightlifting does more for you than just one. Weight lifting has many benefits that cardio doesn't and vice versa.
Don't ever think that because a doctor says that you have an illness that it has to define who you are- it is still your life, it is just a part of your life. There will be days that it will interrupt and slow you down. There will be days when the pain is all you can think about, but you can still live a happy life and do the things that you enjoy!
