If anyone can share, please name 1 ting you do to help you relax and to de-stress, with instructions or a link explaining it. On a scale of 1 to 10, my stress is at 41. I know some things to do, and trying, but not much results. want to learn new tricks. Thanks in advance, heading to bed if pain will allow me to. hugs to all. see you tomorrow.
Nice link
Ann, wonderful help, thank you so much! Unable to do my stretching or "old lady" slow yoga because of my back sprain. No bending over, twisting, lifting, etc allowed for 1 week then re-evaluate. By then all my poor arthritic joints will be locked up solid. And as you know being stressed out just makes pain escalate, and health issues rear their ugly heads. I very much appreciate you helping me with damage control. big hugs!
Ann A. said:
Watch "Guided Meditation and Progressive Muscle Relaxation.wmv" on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDZI-4udE_o&feature=youtube_gda...
Dear Ohso
Guided imagery and progressive relaxation are tools that I have turned to over and over again.
I hope this one helps you.
I save days to replay - days at the beach days in the woods
What was the best day of your life?
Can you recreate it in your mind as though you were getting ready to film a movie
Location - season weather time of day
Set decoration down to the tinest detail
Who are the actors .....
Can this be a day in the future?
If you enjoy reading, a good book is a great stress reliever. When I get too caught up in all the craziness and especially when I start feeling sorry for myself, I find that getting absorbed in a book takes me away from myself and my problems long enough to ease them a little. It's kind of like a little vacation away from myself and I need that sometimes as I am usually my own worst enemy. I hope this helps.
oh the bad days!
I find that if I lie on my bed and actually think about my breathing. In and out, in and out, In and out, slow deep breaths. It is a known fact that increase oxygen levels equal healing, mind and body. I just concentrate on the slow deep breaths, allow my self to only think of breathing, no other thoughts, if they pop in my mind , I start over again, in and out, in and out , slow deep breaths. I actually say this to myself and it really helps me to distress.
as for your poor back, ouch. maybe just slowly walking outdoors, also it helps to loosen the muscles and distress too.
I hope things get better soon.
Thanks Julie, in fact love to read and have a stack of books on standby. Until I get my pain level down, concentrating is a bit of a challenge. Hoepfully better son. I agree, a mind vacation is a very good thing!
julielutz74 said:
If you enjoy reading, a good book is a great stress reliever. When I get too caught up in all the craziness and especially when I start feeling sorry for myself, I find that getting absorbed in a book takes me away from myself and my problems long enough to ease them a little. It's kind of like a little vacation away from myself and I need that sometimes as I am usually my own worst enemy. I hope this helps.
thanks flower. this WILL get better, as I'm determined. Having to walk with a cane, but think it makes me hurt worse. I do the breathing, but sitting down rather than laying, will try it that way and see if it is better. hugs!
flower said:
oh the bad days!
I find that if I lie on my bed and actually think about my breathing. In and out, in and out, In and out, slow deep breaths. It is a known fact that increase oxygen levels equal healing, mind and body. I just concentrate on the slow deep breaths, allow my self to only think of breathing, no other thoughts, if they pop in my mind , I start over again, in and out, in and out , slow deep breaths. I actually say this to myself and it really helps me to distress.
as for your poor back, ouch. maybe just slowly walking outdoors, also it helps to loosen the muscles and distress too.
I hope things get better soon.
Ann A, so sad you have had to struggle so much with your back. I know how difficult it is. My usual short prayer is "God please help me." Thankfully my husband really understands, has had a herniated disc when younger. He is off all weekend and asked me what I needed done, to make a list. He's tackling it now. The cost to him? A quite dinner out where we know there is comfy seating, no cooking o r cleanup for either of us. It is 7 p.m. here, and I finally managed to get dressed. Everything happens for a reason. (repeated over and over). Counting blessings, could be worse, nothing fractured from the fall. Thanks for sharing your own struggles. Helps me keep hope. hugs!
Ann A. said:
Dear Ohso
I have experienced back pain so severe that I could not walk more than a few steps. I have experienced being knocked to my knees in Target. I have experienced driving into the garage, crawling up the three steps into the house, and then collapsing on the family room floor and staying there until I was forced to crawl on my hands and knees to the bathroom.
In trying to cope with the pain I have spent so many hours on the first steps of a guided imagery that the opening words became my mantras. The words and the breath, the words and the breath. No room in my brain for anything but the words and the breath.
Sometimes the words are nothing more than a day that I have saved.
"It is 86 degrees at Xanadu Beach on Grand Bahama Island. The sky so blue."
I have sound effects: the surf, birds, thunderstorms, rain drops hitting a tin roof
Sometimes I was only able to manage the simplest prayer
"LORD HEAR MY PRAYER."
I know what it means to take not a day but rather each minute or each second at a time.
I hear your pain
I pray, read, and use guided imagery and progressive relaxation. My aunt pointed me in the direction of Bellaruth Naparstek who has relaxation tapes for all sorts of problems--stress, help falling asleep, guided imagery, panic attacks, relaxation, positive affirmations, etc. Just her voice relaxes me.
Pace yourself. Don't be around negative people when you can avoid them. Surround yourself with loving people and furry four legged critters if they calm you. When you are fatigued----rest, rest, REST! Try massage, acupuncture or other alternative approaches to relaxation. Lower your expectations for yourself and train others to do the same. Do NOT be afraid to, if necessary, say that you are unreliable not by choice and therefore you cannot make commitments that cannot be rescheduled. If others don't understand, let them fall by the wayside--unless it is immediate family and you must try to educate them about your illness. Subscribe to Lupus Today magazine. Everyone should read that magazine put out by The Lupus Foundation. Leave it laying around the house for you and your family or friends to pick up and read. More famous people have Lupus (e.g. Nick Cannon) and this is helping our cause tremendously. Breathe deep, push out your breath hard. Stretch. Treat yourself in some way---new sheets, lotion, book.....If you don't have much money play Trivia or other board games. You can also play many games electronically. Anything that makes you unaware of time is making you relax. Anytime you can sleep and have dreams you have achieved REM which provides deep relaxation. XXOO LupanCatwoman
another trick I've developed, is to watch short videos on inspirational people. Some of my favorites are:
Abby and Brittany Hensel (both the girls and their parents are remarkable to me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g0mMKBOmdo
Adalia Rose, the little girl with Progeria singing Ice Ice Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUrfHvsP3tY
Thanks everyone for the continued suggestions. Keeping a positive outlook, relaxing - really relaxing - and reminding myself this too shall get better in time, are great helps. I have actually weeded out a few negative type people from my life recently, and have found it feels like letting out a huge sigh of relief. Now Once I am bit more capable of being out and about, I need to do things I enjoy, and meet new, positive, creative and accepting people, and begin to broaden my circle again. Being a hermit isn't healthy! I have a graphics class, plus some business start up related ones I hope to be able to take. New friends won't just come knock on the front door. You have to do what you love, and begin building from common ground.
I have honestly kept my diagnosis quiet. I have enough of them already that have cost me relationships. I'd rather concentrate on who I am, rather than what I have. Hope that makes sense? If someone new asks about the cane, I will simply reply that it helps me walk. We don't have to tell everyone every detail. If they are close and ask questions wanting to learn, then I will field them. I'm not lupus, or diabetes, or the movement disorder, or the other things, I HAVE them.
Going for now, all typed out. Thanks again for all the positive input. Folks here so rock!
hugs, perplexed
I talk to myself, reason with myself, and I am not merciful. I tell myself the truth I do not want to see or hear. Once that is done, I've heard the worst from myself, I am ready to relax. I don't mind hearing it from others because I already processed it. To get it off my mind and move on, I play computer games. They keep my mind focussed, busy, and in no way related to anything involving people. It even relaxes me to pray and praise the Lord in my worst hour.
Latina, I'm so glad you have found very healthy ways to cope, and to relax. I absolutely agree our faith can carry us through when there even seems to be not much of a spark of hope. I have often wondered if my health is used to make me et lessons I don't seem to grasp any other way. Kind of a reality check for the soul. I try to start each day counting blessings, for things could be far worse, and it helps to dispel negative thinking, at least for me.