Drive Lyme Healing Move More

I took freedom of movement for granted before Lyme disease, but I don’t any more. How about you?  I move more consistently and gently than ever in my life. One of the big adjustments for me on my healing journey was my approach to movement.  I had to change how I used and thought about movement to help me heal.  Drive Lyme healing with movement.

Did You Grow Up With Sports And Movement?

Growing up I was not particularly active as a kid.  I would rather hold a book than a ball. In my tween years I tried sports and it was a total bust.  No natural athleticism in my DNA and being really heavy and out of shape for my age was too much to overcome.

Throughout high school and college I reverted to couch potato mode.  It was when I joined the work force I decided that exercise was a must and I needed to move more.  I figured out that exercise helped me relieve stress, and manage my weight, so I joined a gym and added more active habits.

Fast Forward Twenty Five Years

My weekly workout included fast walking on a treadmill 4 miles 5 days, weights 3 days and a couple of yoga classes.  My husband and I hiked all over the place.  I completed a yoga teacher training then started to teach 4 or 5 yoga classes a week.  When my ability to freely move started to decline,  I didn’t understand why.

Over time my workouts continued to get more difficult as I began to fight with pain and injury.  I would be in a yoga class with 50 people and do an easy transition and fall down, the only one who fell down. Getting on my knees was agony and sometimes I had to teach from a chair. It got so that I could not trust my body at its edge where fitness is enhanced and my fitness declined.

Lyme Disease Impaired My Ability To Move

Lyme disease progressed to the point where I was pretty much immobile and miserable before I got an accurate diagnosis and started treatment.  I knew that I needed to move to help my body heal.  But pushing myself with strenuous workouts was out of the picture.  For me it was humbling to have to let go of my workouts and yoga practice.  My doctor still says no exhausting workouts, keep it short and sweet. Consider movement as a restorative activity rather than a building one.

How Movement Helps the Body Heal from Lyme

• Gentle movement gets you out of your head and into your body this soothes the nervous system
• Lyme likes it cool, so when you move and heat things up it discourages them from getting too comfortable.
• Walking, swimming all help relaxation and get you into a parasympathetic state, which helps  immune system activity.
• Muscle contraction is the pump for lymph. (Alternatives to movement are dry brushing, self massage, and using gravity to assist flow.) This natural pumping action also promotes
  • natural detox action in the cells call autophagy,
  • peristalsis, defecation and regularly moving toxins out of the body.
  • Sweating which carries toxins out through the skin.
  • Improves muscle tone of the bladder and supports more complete evacuation of the bladder when you pee
  • Healthy and synovial fluid to protect your joints and keep you out of pain. Regular movement helps your synovial fluid refresh and maintain the right viscosity to lubricate the joints.

Drive Lyme Healing With Movement Move More And Take Care

It is crucial that you work with your health care team and move more in ways that fit your life and build your health.  Never exercise to the point of exhaustion or depletion. For instance it might be that you start with simple conscious breathing and joint range of motion exercises in a chair, or do some stretches on the floor with support to get up or down.  You want activity to honor where you are. Work on frequency, duration then intensity as you progress.

The purpose of blog is to share and educate on  Lyme disease recovery strategies. The information provided on this website is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment or advice. All the material here is for information purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.