Finding My Resilience
Lessons, tips, and reflections to inspire others with POTS & Chronic Fatigue on their journey to thrive
Navigating Brain Fog with POTS: Tips and Insights
Living with POTS and chronic fatigue can present a myriad of challenges, one of the most common ones I’ve experienced in my journey and through working with clients is brain fog. I’ve found some great approaches to help along the way.
My Journey from Anger to Self-Acceptance with Chronic Illness
Living with chronic illness isn't just a physical challenge; it's an emotional and mental journey as well. In this post, I want to share my personal journey of embracing healing, shifting my mindset, and finding self-acceptance while navigating the ups and downs of POTS, chronic fatigue, and hypermobile EDS. If you're struggling to let go of anger and fear, and searching for ways to regain control of your life, know that you're not alone.
From Couch to Kitchen
A friend recently asked me how I got from lying on my couch to having energy to cook in my kitchen. The couch-to-kitchen process has not been far from linear. I faced many setbacks I had to navigate through. What got me into the kitchen again was finding my passion to thrive - the “why” behind my motivation.
Navigating Setbacks
Setbacks are frustrating and challenging to navigate. I have encountered many of them along my journey to finding wellness. I learned how to navigate setbacks through changing my mindset, listening to my body, and having a plan.
Tools for Forward Movement: Part 2 Self-care to Recharge
I like to think about self-care as recharging myself. To use the analogy of an electric car, if I keep driving along and never stop to recharge, my battery runs out and I get stranded. Recharging my battery daily has been an essential step to move forward in my wellness journey especially managing two chronic illnesses.
Befriending My Illness
For years, I saw my chronic illness as my enemy. I used up energy battling and suppressing it. What I didn’t know was how much this ongoing battle was draining my mental, physical, and emotional well-being. The battle cannot be won because my illness is not my enemy, but a part of my being. I learned to accept the presence of my illness. I no longer saw it as my foe but as my friend and teacher.
Cornucopia of Wellness: Part 2 Movement
Movement has been an essential part of my wellness plan. It has become a theme in my journey to just keep moving forward in some way. Finding physical movement has been restorative. Having Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and POTS has added unique challenges.
Self-Advocacy for Resilience
Learning to advocate for myself has been one of the steps in my journey to find resilience for wellness. Self-advocacy did not come easily for me. It has been a learning process to advocate for myself on a day to day basis whether it be interacting with a doctor, friends, family members, colleagues, or even strangers.
Water (and Salt)Your P.O.T.S.
I am not referring to watering your garden, which of course you should do for the plants to grow. I am talking about Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), one of the diagnoses I have been learning to live with over the years. Normally an individual’s heart rate remains steady varying 10-20 beats per minute (bpm) when standing up. With POTS an individual’s heart rate increases by 30 bpm or more within the first 10 minutes of standing[1].
