Self-Care Challenge

I mentioned in my last post (which I just noticed was over 3 weeks ago – gulp!) that I was about to start a “no-time self-care challenge”.

I am pleased to say that I have started it. I’ve mentioned Healthy Moving a few times and I’m pretty sure today won’t be the last time either. I should say – I don’t have an affiliation with Jen or Healthy Moving, I just really love her approach.

So the week didn’t start so well for me. On Monday morning, I watched the first video which starts with a mindset practice for the week. I found that this particular one both resonated and confronted me at the same time. This probably means that it is particularly relevant to me!

Then on Monday night I had an episode of extremely intense pelvic pain. The Knight in Tarnished Armour was threatening to carry me downstairs and take me to hospital, but thankfully the pain relief kicked in and I managed to avoid another sleepless night at the ER. Now I should point out, that our nearest Emergency Hospital is about 3km from our house, so in most cases, it would not only be quicker just to drive to the hospital, it would be a waste of the very valuable time of an ambulance service to come to us.

After a visit to my GP on Wednesday and an ultrasound on Thursday I now know my pain episode was likely an endometrioma on my ovary rupturing. Yay! Another co-morbid condition to add to my list. I really wish the FibroTroll would stop inviting friends over to my body. There really isn’t room for more! I’m on the upswing now, but I was pretty flat for a few days after this.

Which leads me back to the self-care challenge. Given that most of my week has involved me being horizontal, except for appointments, I didn’t think I would get much of the challenge done. But, I am super proud of myself. I watched the first exercise video and initially thought “Ha! I can barely stand up today and you want me to put one foot on a chair?! No chance!” But then I thought about the mindset for the week. Then I had a scroll through the Health Moving Website, and found an exercise that focused on the same muscle group, but was lying down. So I did it instead. I found the next day’s exercise easy, but the day after that was a difficult one again. So I gave myself permission to just do the really simplified version of it.

I am proud to say that I have done a variation of all 5 of this week’s exercises/stretches. This has been incredibly good for my mental health. Depression is another of the FibroTroll’s friends, and it is very much a double-edged sword. It makes it super difficult to do, well, basically everything. But conversely if you do nothing, the depression gets worse. Exercise has been proven to help, but when you have depression in combination with physical pain it is even harder to actually do any.  I have my depression mostly under control, but it does rear its ugly head from time to time, particularly when I have extra pain.

These little 2-5 min exercise/stretch videos are just the right amount for me to get the ball rolling. Some of the actual exercises take hardly anytime at all and are easy to weave in to your day – provided you can remember to do them! But the result is that I move my body more than I would have, and it gives me a sense that I have achieved something.

I am about to go and tackle the 15 min class for the week. I have to be mindful of the week I have had, and be extra careful with pacing. To that end, I have given myself permission, in advance, to just do 5 mins if it is too much. Wish me luck!

Author: Sonja

One woman’s journey as she comes to terms with living with Fibromyalgia. Living with her knight in tarnished armour, with a small flock of chickens, and pair of Tawny Frogmouths and a homicidal Butcher Bird in the backyard. View all posts by Sonja