(Ten) tips for Living with a chronic condition
Chronic health conditions often are symptoms of imbalance and come from losing touch with nature and our personal connection with its cycles. These illnesses – whether they’re physical, emotional, or spiritual in nature – seem to be on the rise in the US, indicating that we are living imbalanced lives as individuals and as a society.
With any chronic illness, people can choose to try to find health or choose to let their illness throw them further off course. Often, if people can take steps to achieve a state of better balance, their health will improve. These tips are offered to help achieve that balance:
1. Adjust your idea of “treatment:” People with a chronic condition often need to establish the integrity of their own healing. A big part of making this shift is accepting that what you need might not be a direct treatment in the traditional sense. Don’t be overly dependent on supplements, medicines, and other people, whether doctors, holistic practitioners, or friends and family in your support system. Think about what you can do on your own that will have therapeutic effects for your illness.
2. Prioritize: Look at your chronic condition and prioritize all of the positive actions that can be taken as a response to it in terms of dealing with stress, physical activity, connecting with others who have the same issue. Prioritizing the next steps will prevent spinning your wheels. For example, if someone has an inflammatory condition such as a heart condition or chronic pain, acupuncture is one way of addressing it, but it can be expensive, painful, and take a long time to show any results. A better first step is to focus on exposing yourself to anti-inflammatory elements in what you eat, think, and pay attention to.
3. Get into a rhythm: Chronic conditions usually disrupt a person’s ability to do the things that once were an important part of health, such as exercising, social activities, even resting. As a result, rhythms are disturbed. It’s helpful to be mindful of integrating healthy activities into your life, even if it just means taking more time to be still, in order to regain a sense of balance.
4. Don’t dwell on the negative: View your life as a set of opportunities. Getting sick is an opportunity to identify and stop an unhealthy behavior.
5. Connect with a Community: A sense of belonging to a group or a community is an important part of finding overall health, especially when you are coping with physical health problems. You may choose to use this time to reconnect with extended family, a spiritual group, or a support group for people dealing with similar issues.
6. Eat dinner at lunchtime: Your eating habits may be altered by your condition, and the stress related to a health issue can interfere with the digestive process. Keep your digestive system working properly by listening to your body and not being afraid to change your mealtimes and eating habits. Consume more during the middle of the day, and less at night.
7. Effectively process guilt and shame, anger, and fear: It’s important to work with the “non-physical” aspects of your life and integrate them into the process of managing your physical condition. You will see that they are often closely connected. The emotional stress that comes from these negative mindsets induces the release of certain hormones, which have significant effects on body functions. Effectively dealing with these unhealthy attitudes will help you grow toward wellness.
8. Avoid added toxins: With your mind and body experiencing intense stress, try to avoid additional toxins, such as unsettling noises and disturbing conversations. Be careful about who you listen to and what you watch. Avoid polluted environments such as smoggy air and smoke-filled rooms, and take a walk to the local park or a ride out of the city to clear the air and your head.
9. Downsize and simplify: We’re so accustomed to our modern day lifestyle – accumulating things, buying more than we really need, and even living beyond our means. Take this opportunity to recalibrate your lifestyle and learn to live with less. This is also a good time to clean your physical space if you can, removing clutter from your home and your mind. Empty your closets and drawers of the things you don’t need, and take stock of what’s going on in your head and heart, making the changes you can to simplify your life and focus on what matters.
10. Live Meaningfully: Look at the areas of your life that matter most to you. Many of us know intuitively, or at least have some sense of where we resonate. Do more every day to appreciate and enjoy the people and things that are meaningful and bring you the greatest joy. Then ask yourself: When was the last time I told those to whom I’m closest how much they matter to me? When did I last hug my parent, child, spouse, or companion? When did I last simply spend time with someone I love?
Do not assume that you have forever to do this. Carve time every day to relax and enjoy life whether it comes in the form of reading a book, listening to music, snuggling with your child, taking your dog for a walk, or standing outside and taking in the beauty of a summer sunset.
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"(Ten) tips for Living with a chronic condition"
authored by:
MICHAEL FINKELSTEIN, M.D., is the former Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief of the Departments of Medicine and Integrative Medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. After 20 years in the allopathic medical c...
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