Archive for the ‘compassion’ Category
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
“Nothing vivifies, and nothing kills, like emotions”, Joseph Roux
It’s almost the end of December already and I missed writing a blog in November. Seems I was trying to recover from the many crises (or at least perceived crises) in my life. The physiotherapist (Nick) said my nervous system was “completely exhausted” and to rest. For the past few weeks things have finally quieted down and I am having Feldenkrais movement treatments/activities (I am somewhat certain that Tai Chi would be equally as effective, or any kind of movement) to help revitalize me somewhat. The fatigue is slowly dissipating and with it some of the pain from all the hyperactivity and intense stressful emotions in my life. I am back on my recumbent bike a couple of times a week for about 20 minutes a day now (again!).
As I write this I watch little light snow flakes outside; there’s a fire in the fireplace; I have just spent 20 minutes meditating and I am at peace with my heating pad on my shoulders and hot tea to comfort me. The winter skylight is incredible at dusk. Now that we have had Solstice the days will be getting longer.
If only there were more days like this, but of course, crises happen…stuff happens. I can’t stop the world. I am though working on focused practices such as mild exercise and meditation which is what my emotional roller coaster craves and my brain ( that darn amygdala!) has a difficult time understanding. My brain wants to go that well worn path to emotional chaos instead of the new calming pathways I am trying to cultivate. The stresses that many of us experience during the festive season create in us emotions that can make us sick, or conversely could make us well.
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Posted in amygdala, angry, anxious, compassion, crises, depression, empathy, exhausted nervous system, fatigue, fearful, Feldenkrais, Fibromyalgia, fretting, happy, joyful, laughter, meditation, mild exercise, neuro-elasticity, recumbent bike, sad, seasonal stresses, sensitive persons, Solstice, stressed | No Comments »
Monday, December 1st, 2008
” There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”, Leonard Cohen
While I have read about and practiced (somewhat… and not diligently), mindfulness meditation, I have not often successfully been able to ‘let go’ of the pain messages from my brain, which seems to be from where anxiety and stress originates. Certianly there has been good success with mindfulness meditation for fibromyalgia (See the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn). Meditation is a life long undertaking and the practice itself is intended to be daily. Now I have been told of another way to facilitate bringing more peace into our lives and ‘letting go’. It is called Tonglin Practice. Although I am not a Buddhist, I do believe that there is much to be learned from Tonglin. It too appears to be another way to work with the breath and training the brain.
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Posted in anxiety, beginning mindfulness, breathing, Buddhist, compassion, Fibromyalgia, Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness meditation, PEACE, re-training the brain, stress, Tonglin, winter solstice | 7 Comments »
Friday, July 25th, 2008
“One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion”, Simone deBeauvoir
This week Estelle Getty died, one of the stars of The Golden Girls, a rather schmaltzy sitcom about friendships, the theme song words “thank you for being my friend” ringing clear in the hearts of some of us old enough to remember, even if we did not particularly enjoy the shows. However, it got me to thinking about the meaning of friendships among those of us with fibromyalgia, hence these following thoughts on the topic, in particular, friendships among women. While I might seem to generalize to all women and all men this is not my intent. I show here the results of years of observations, research and experience.
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Posted in advocates, buddies, chronic fatigue, compassion, emotions and feelings, Estelle Getty, estrogen, fair weather friends, female friendships, Fibromyalgia, friendships vs. support groups, Golden Girls, life partner, love, male friendships, maternal behaviour, meaning of friendships for fibromyalgia, oxytocin, pity, secrecy of fibromyalgia, sick role, sisters, testosterone | No Comments »
