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Hello Christmas!!

So many new things happening as of late.

Humera helped not a bit. The first month and a half felt great and it reminded me the good of being human. Five months later and my rheumatologist put me on a new medicine called Enbrel(amongst my 55 other meds I take for my many conditions).

I took my first dose on Sunday but I feel as bad as if I wasn't taking any meds whatsoever.

Years ago my EDS meant I had to learn to walk more carefully so I didn't dislocate my joints hundreds of times a day and using my tendons wrong, bruising them left and right. Now I have to relearn and the pain is simply horrific.

And my whole digestive system is a mess of course. Swallowing ten times just to get one bite down really takes any good out of food. Constant nausea and vomiting doesn't improve anything whatsoever.

And a hundred more symptoms of misery makes my huge mountain of existing even heavier.

Yeah I am blessed in many things but health or ease of existing are most definitely not on any of the lists.
Only a very cursed body that does work hard to try to do its best in aiding me, poor thing. Thankful for the small bit of good it tries to do while also wishing I could trade bodies with a healthy person for at least one day.

If only!😕🫤😔

Alas, I wait still for my new meds to start working with fingers crossed and tears streaming down.
Thank heaven that I at least have a few doctors that are trying!
Such a long 29 years of devastating suspense!!!

May the holidays bring the light and hope you deserve this season. And if not, may these Christmas lights on my family's tree lift your soul for even a small bit of time ✨️✨️✨️

#AmplifiedMusculoskeletalPainSyndrome #Arthritis #Asthma #Anxiety #AnkylosingSpondylitis #bedbound #BoneSplints #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome #CheerMeOn #Upallnight #IfYouFeelHopeless #Depression #Disability #DistractMe #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #Endometriosis #Eczema #Fibromyalgia #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #Grief #gallstones #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #Hypersomnia #HighBloodPressure #Headache #JuvenileRheumatoidArthritis #Insomnia #Lymphedema #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Psoriasis #PsoriaticArthritis #Psychosis #plantarfasciitis #PanicAttack #PanicAttacks #PTSD #MentalHealth #MightyTogether #MightyPets #Migraine #MemoryLoss #musclespasms #MultipleAutoimmuneSyndrome #RareDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #SuicidalThoughts #Scoliosis #sciatica #ShinSplints #Sleepwalking #MajorDepressiveDisorder #nightterrors

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So thankful to have This chosen family. I want each of you to know that I am Thankful for You. We all have a special connection that is very real.

If You don’t think you are special, then why would I make You this collage and on a holiday🤗

Extra appreciation for everyone that has been joining this group of mine, Yay🙌🙌🙌🙌 We’re growing!

“We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.”

“It’s the friends we meet along the way who help us appreciate the journey.”

Ok, so you all need some of my tools like right now 😊

These 3 powerful words Will
Always help you to come back to only the present moment:
“Be Here Now”

I can’t emphasize enough that The most powerful tool that you Always have for self-regulation of all of your emotions and for pulling some energy out of nowhere when you are fatigued and depleted is Conscious (Deliberate) Breathing.
And it is also about taking control of what's going on in our bodies. Being aware of our breath or our heart rate.

Let’s do some deliberate breathing together:

Think these simple & fun mindful words with me:
As you inhale “Breathe in the good”
As you exhale “Breathe out the bad”
Make it a deep and strong inhale and an even longer exhale

“Just Take Care Of Now.”
This is a short but very calming go-to sentence when you are overwhelmed and or running on empty, so out of gas.

This is my quick & empowering go-to statement as well to remind myself fast that I am not a mind reader and thoughts are not always facts…
“I choose to judge nothing that occurs.”
This in technical terms helps with -
—Nonjudgment of inner experience and
—-Nonreactivity to inner experience (Creating That Space/spaciousness of mind)

We will be talking about this and so much more in here in my group “Resilience and Mindfulness” so if you haven’t joined us yet - click that Join button and keep this group on your radar.

May this help your Thanksgiving day and everyday bring you Ease, Calm, Peace, and Balance.

#MentalHealth #WarmWishes #Mindfulness #MajorDepressiveDisorder #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #ChronicFatigue #ChronicPain #Selfcare #Selfharm #Grief #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #BipolarDepression #MoodDisorders #BipolarDisorder #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #Trauma #Agoraphobia #Cancers #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #Headache #Migraine #ADHD #Addiction #AnorexiaNervosa #EatingDisorders #Autism #RheumatoidArthritis #Disability #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #IfYouFeelHopeless #Cancer #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #dissociativedisorders #MightyTogether #DistractMe #CheckInWithMe #SocialAnxiety #Relationships

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I’m here over the holidays too to help as many of us as possible 🤗

Holidays, right?!

I would like to open this post up here in my group “Resilience and Mindfulness” to an ongoing conversation and place for you to share and be seen, heard, understood and helped if even in any small, but possibly big way.

A lot more heavy emotions and thoughts come to surface.

Even ones we have been healing from.

Then there is also the stressful energy that others around us bring to our space of balance and peace.

I want you to know that since I am really living up to my fun username my first group members gave me-
slay queen, I have been slaying these heavy old memories and complicated feelings that have been already arising for me - during this Thanksgiving time, and I have been slaying my husband’s gaslighting and negativity…, so I am in a great place to be here to give a shoulder to lean on, two ears to listen deeply if you can open up and share with me here in this group I created for all of you, or feel free to message me to my inbox and I will do all that I can to give (as soon as technical difficulties in this app or time allows) to reply back to you to give you more light, more strength, more confidence, more connection, more perspective, more resources and tools, more positivity, more tangible hope…..

I want you to know that opening up and talking through your dark is strength, and so is letting others you can trust in our safe space, others like me who are reaching out a hand to take a hand, to take many hands, and offering to care more.

Your friend in this very hard thing called life,
Dawn

#MentalHealth #MajorDepressiveDisorder #Relationships #ChronicIllness #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #Anxiety #Depression #Grief #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Loneliness #MoodDisorders #BipolarDepression #BipolarDisorder #Autism #Disability #Selfcare #Selfharm #EatingDisorders #RareDisease #Mindfulness #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #Fibromyalgia #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #Trauma #Addiction #Agoraphobia #SocialAnxiety #Cancers #ADHD #AnorexiaNervosa #Cancer #Caregiving #IfYouFeelHopeless #MightyTogether #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicDailyHeadache #Headache #Migraine #WarmWishes

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ACCEPTANCE: 2nd of 9 Foundational Attitudes of Mindfulness As Part of Resilience

“On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.”
- Tara Brach

“There is something Wonderfully Bold And Liberating
About Saying Yes To Our Entire Imperfect And Messy Life.”
- Tara Brach

The 9 Foundational Attitudes of Mindfulness also helps us to understand the significance of Full/Radical Acceptance.

First, from my own words and my own horrible things I just had to finally fully Accept: first you must grieve whatever kind of loss it is and then you must let it go (letting go/letting be - the doorway to freedom will be another post of mine here in this group) — but first, I had to grieve that surprise! I will be managing my Chronic major depressive disorder for the rest of my life, biggest surprise for my husband and I firstly was that I did not win the lottery with the type of depression that occurs once, we had no idea there was such a thing as Chronic, Recurring Major Depressive Disorder! And I had to grieve that this took my career away since my onset of this beast of an illness was at 34 years old. We had to grieve that we would struggle on 1 income because I could not work any job well enough anymore which we finally had to accept by the time I was in my early 40’s. I had to grieve that I was too sick and disabled and with our 1 income that I wouldn’t become a Mom (except to kitties). I had to grieve that this left me isolated from making new friends and I had to grieve the “friends” that deserted me when I was too sick and not myself. I had to grieve that I had never had healthy parenting from either of my parents and that I had to save myself and cut off the extremely toxic relationships with both of my parents with their narcissism and their emotional abuse to me. I had to grieve the devastating trauma that onset this horrendous illness that made me very suicidal back then and more times-even one time of that is too many times- I am sure many of us know what I mean. I also had to grieve more than once when my MDD took away my sense of self- I had to keep relearning who I am, what I like & dislike, remembering with surprise that I am actually funny and full of life and joy and positivity inherently. But, Thankfully I finally learned from my Mindfulness teachers and other experts that were better than my therapists ever were, that without learning (Radical )Acceptance and all of the integrated 9 attitudes of Mindfulness and so much more (I read psychology in my free time to learn to conquer my illness every single day) and this was my only way to attain the most beautiful inner peace, and to manifest my best life after all plus transforming into my best, most authentic self.

Acceptance- The attitude of actively recognizing that things are the way they are, even if they aren’t the way we want them to be.

Accepting Reality- mindfulness and awareness help you to *Come To Terms* with and accept things in life that are less than wonderful.

Acknowledging the present reality as it is (you don’t have to like it, it’s just how your body is feeling right now - it will not be completely just like this always/not for the rest of your life); Acceptance does not mean approval or compliance in every situation. As a mindfulness principle, acceptance means seeing the present moment as it truly is, taking it in, and living with that knowledge. You can accept a fact and decide to change it, if that seems like the appropriate choice to you. ***This principle is not about keeping things the same***, but ***it is about letting go of denial or ignorance and accepting or acknowledging what is happening in the moment.***

Accepting what is, even if that is challenging. When you know what you are dealing with, you can discover what can be mindfully changed and what has to remain as it is.

With MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) you can prepare yourself and find ways to cope with the bad in a way that allows you to move on and even to eventually see some of the bad as a surprisingly good thing.

There is also Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes et al. 1999)

The Six Core Processes of ACT”).
To put it in less clinical terms and make it a bit easier to understand, Dr. Russell Harris (2011) has defined ACT as “a mindfulness-based behavioral therapy that challenges the ground rules of most Western psychology” with the goal of helping patients create a rich and meaningful life and develop mindfulness skills, even with the existence of pain and suffering.

Six core processes of ACT to develop psychological flexibility are:
Acceptance,
Cognitive Defusion,
Being Present,
Self as context,
Values,
Committed Action

Acceptance is an alternative to the instinct to avoid negative, or potentially negative, experiences. It is the active choice to be aware of and allow these types of experiences without trying to avoid or change them.

Cognitive Defusion refers to the defusion techniques that are intended to change how an individual reacts to or interacts with their thoughts and feelings rather than the nature of these thoughts and feelings. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is not intended to limit our exposure to negative experiences, but to face them and come out the other side with a decreased fixation on these experiences.

Being Present is another familiar concept for practitioners of mindfulness-based therapy. It can be understood as the practice of being aware of the present moment while declining to attach judgment to the experience. In other words, being present involves actively experiencing what is happening without trying to predict, change, or make value judgments about the experience.

Self as Context is a simple idea that an individual is not his or her experiences, thoughts, or emotions. Instead of being one’s experiences, the “self as context” process rests on the idea that there is a self outside of the current experience.
In other words, we are not what happens to us. We are the ones experiencing what happens to us.

Values in this context are defined as the qualities that we choose to work towards in any given moment.
We all hold values, consciously or unconsciously, that direct our steps.
In ACT, we apply processes and techniques that help us live our lives according to the values that we hold dear.

#MentalHealth #Mindfulness #MajorDepressiveDisorder #ChronicIllness #Disability #ChronicFatigue #ChronicPain #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #Anxiety #Depression #BipolarDepression #MoodDisorders #PTSD #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #AnorexiaNervosa #EatingDisorders #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Addiction #ADHD #Grief #Loneliness #Fibromyalgia #Headache #Migraine #BipolarDisorder #RareDisease #Cancers #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Selfcare #Selfharm #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Trauma #CheckInWithMe #IfYouFeelHopeless #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #Caregiving #SocialAnxiety #Agoraphobia #MightyTogether

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I apologize, but this season S*C*S!!!

I'm not talking about the upcoming holidays; although for me are depressing. I'm talking about that nasty sky dandruff! The temperature is only a high of 31 degrees F.
Honest I'm not sure which is in a flare! Fibromyalgia, Musculoskeletal Pain, Arthritis, hEDS or any combination. But I am absolutely miserable! Two days ago is when I pulled myself out of a multi-day deep depression. I had the energy so I tackled my living quarters which I had neglected 4/5 days. Also Scrolling YouTube and enjoying life. Before I knew it, it was like 3 am. Whoops!! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night. Last night between coughing (swollen tonsil), having to use the bathroom and sporadic pain of different types and in multiple places, I don't think I got more than 2 hours of sleep. So I am downright tired! I had to walk the 3 minutes to the grocery store (using my rollator walker) to get fruit, a few other items and much needed BC Powder. 3/4 of the way into shopping my back went into full spasm. It was all I could do to finish. I just needed to get my BC Powder and then pay. When I got to where my medicine was I was thinking; CRAP. Cause it was on the bottom shelf. A woman just happened to walk past and I asked her if she would get it for me and explained I can't bend over. She was polite and did so. This store has 6 self checkouts and typically only 1 (2 on busy days) regular registers where an employee rings you up and bags your groceries. I can't use that one because my body won't allow me to wait in the long lines where people have full carts. So I'm bending as little as possible to pick up an item off my walker seat, scan it and then bag it. By the time I'm done with that process I had 3 bags and could barely move. I hung one on each handle and the heaviest in the pocket under the seat. I fixed a quick lunch by tossing (I can't think of what their called) 6 of them into the air fryer. Put away my items and went to take them out. Ate those and some melon,and am laying down and my arms are wanting to resist holding my phone!
However; I know I am blessed. I know I've had worse pain days than this. AND ... I know this pain will eventually subside, I just gotta ride the wave of ... (no words to truly describe how I feel, Natural childbirth hurt less)! Thanx for listening. Oh, my BC Powder stopped my headache, but even the combination of my morning meditation of 6 are Tylenol Arthritis (I take 2) and Ibuprofen 800, the BC and I had taken my Gabapentin 300 MG; nothing stops this pain until it rides its course! Stay strong ya all! After all, that's what we do!! 😉

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Placing the power in your hands to practice how to improve your wellbeing

Since this is a Practice, and in a practice, we must build upon our knowledge—here, I am going to expand upon my 1st post about the Beginner’s Mind, the first post of this new group - click to join and not miss the interconnected 9 attitudes of the wellbeing mindset of Mindfulness.

There is an emphasis on the importance of cultivating this mindset in all aspects of life.

Has anyone practiced this Beginner’s Mind or think that you will give it a try?
Any thoughts about this particular part of the whole?

Let’s break it down again:

Holding onto a particular belief limits the mind.
We accumulate a lot of conditioning along the way.
We tend to create a world where our opinions and beliefs are fixed.
As soon as we are attached to that one side, we shut off the other side-we don’t see it or hear it.

Only when we are willing to show up in each moment with a fresh, curious mind, willing to listen, knowing that possibly everything we believed and thought -that perhaps that’s not true. And, if we can maintain that freshness of mind, called a beginner’s mind—

then we can create a space where the mind can absorb, can respect the way other people think— take in new perspectives, and all of a sudden, we start to see not only a transformation in our mind, but a greater sense of calm, of clarity, and also a positive change in our relationships.

By letting go of preconceived ideas, expectations, and attachments, we can fully engage with each moment, experiencing life as it truly is, rather than through the filter of our thoughts and beliefs.

Key concepts:

Openness to possibilities:
The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

No attachment to outcomes:
By approaching situations with a beginner's mind, one is less likely to be fixated on achieving a specific result, allowing for greater flexibility and adaptability.

And, the extremely critical skill of learning How to focus on the present moment:
This mindset encourages a deep awareness of the current experience, without getting caught up in past regrets or future anxieties; which we all know the negative consequences this has on our mental health.

We have to help ourselves to not be stuck dwelling on either the "what could have been" or the "what might happen", so that we can instead stay living in and fully enjoying the actual present moment. This is all a part of our role in managing our depression and anxiety and not letting these win and take from us and our potential and our lives that we can have.

It’s important to remember that all of this is not an achievement to be attained but rather a continuous process of self-discovery and self-transformation.

#MentalHealth #ChronicIllness #Mindfulness #MajorDepressiveDisorder #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #MoodDisorders #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Cancers #ChronicFatigue #AnorexiaNervosa #Selfcare #Addiction #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #Selfharm #Grief #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Suicide #Trauma #Agoraphobia #ADHD #SocialAnxiety #SocialAnxietyDisorder #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #PTSD #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Headache #Migraine #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Disability #IfYouFeelHopeless #EatingDisorders #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #MightyTogether #Caregiving #CheckInWithMe #DistractMe

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I can’t believe I just wrote this entire post about drinking tea 🤣😀 How could you not join this new group I created “Resilience and Mindfulness”?

TRY THIS PEACEFUL TEA MEDITATION TO BRING COMFORT TO YOUR DAY

Let me know in the comments who has tried this or will try it?

Read on to get the full picture-

I just did this and it was so much more than just drinking tea.

I chose to drink a mug of Vanilla Chai tea on this cloudy and rainy day to bring some zen into the ordinary thing of having a cup of tea.

I chose to not do anything else at all while drinking my cup of tea, except to live in the actual moment of this and broaden and build on positive thoughts and positive emotions.

I sat on the stool in my kitchen facing my backyard glass door and I took slow sips savoring the flavor and smell of the tea and I took deep breaths while just watching the raindrops coming down on the concrete of our patio. And seeing the beauty of the golden leaves 🍁 mixed in with the green leaves and some red leaves on one of the trees in my view.

I noticed and smiled a few times seeing one of my two kitties curled up sleeping in her “doughnut” shaped cat bed enjoying my presence next to her.

In the words of Thich Nhat Hanh:

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves...
Live the actual moment."

“Tea is an act complete in its simplicity. When I drink tea, there is only me, and the tea. The rest of the world dissolves. There are no worries about the future. No dwelling on past mistakes. Tea is simple: Loose-leaf tea, hot pure water, a cup. I inhale the scent, tiny delicate pieces of the tea floating above the cup. I drink the tea, the essence of the leaves becoming a part of me. I am informed by the tea, changed. This is the act of life, in one pure moment, and in this act the truth of the world suddenly becomes revealed; all the complexity, pain, drama of life is a pretense, invented in our minds for no good purpose. There is only the tea, and me, converging.”

This is just one of the ways we can consciously choose to help calm and center our mind, and invite a moment of stillness and ease into your day.

You can practice a tea meditation during anytime of the day — perhaps you try it in the morning (or coffee!) to start your day with PRESENCE enjoy it in the middle of the day for increased FOCUS AND CLARITY, or end your day with the PRACTICE for a more PEACEFUL mindset for a better night’s sleep.

#MentalHealth #ChronicIllness #Mindfulness #MajorDepressiveDisorder #BipolarDepression #BipolarDisorder #MoodDisorders #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Cancer #ChronicFatigue #Selfcare #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #Selfharm #Grief #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Suicide #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #Trauma #Headache #Migraine #RareDisease #Addiction #Disability #IfYouFeelHopeless #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ADHD #EatingDisorders #MightyTogether #Caregiving

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1 of 9 Foundational Attitudes/Principles of Mindfulness

But, first a quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn who introduced these principles

“It is only when the mind is open and receptive that learning and seeing and change can occur.”
Kabat-Zinn, 2005, p. 31

Beginner’s Mind -The attitude of intentionally seeing things around you as if for the first time, by shedding our expectations and preconceptions and welcoming the possibility of a new moment, one that has never been seen before.

Curiosity, simplicity; Rather than coming to a situation with the weight of past ideas and experiences, the beginner’s mind asks you to arrive knowing that you do not know everything. As no moment is the same as another, every moment allows you a chance to learn. Being open and curious can help save you from being stuck in a rut.

#MentalHealth #MajorDepressiveDisorder #Anxiety #Depression #ChronicIllness #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Mindfulness #BipolarDepression #PTSD #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Trauma #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #BipolarDisorder #Selfcare #Selfharm #Grief #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #CheckInWithMe #DistractMe #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Cancers #ADHD #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #Caregiving #MoodDisorders #Addiction #PostpartumDisorders #Agoraphobia #SocialAnxiety #Loneliness #Headache #Migraine #AnorexiaNervosa #RareDisease #EatingDisorders #IfYouFeelHopeless

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