For some, healing from tick born illness is like swimming the English channel, the effort of your life. Like long-distance swimming, recovery is as much a spiritual and mental as physical effort. If you lose perspective when you swim, you can go off course from what you know is right; your inner compass slips you miss the destination. If you gain weight, start smoking due to worry, or get COVID19, you may delay Lyme recovery. Protect yourself from vulnerabilities and stress by learning about yourself. Take action to meet life from a more spiritual perspective. The pandemic has shifted our focus, reflect on how the weight of COVID19 and ongoing demonstrations are affecting you.
COVID19 forced social isolation can cause anxiety, the protests are adding more. How are the demonstrations in support of racial equality and justice affecting body and mind? The pandemic is also shining a bright light on racism. While long overdue, the journey to healing the racial inequality in our country is painful for many. The news, Facebook feeds conversations all focus us on complex problems without clear solutions. Holes are showing in the constructed illusions of certainty and security unsettling many. What do you need to figure out, and what actions do you need to take to protect yourself from stress?
“Stay positive we are in this together” is one of those glib phrases we have heard a lot lately. A lot of generous people are stepping up to help others. It is fantastic to tap into the compassion and positivity generated in response to current events. But what does that mean to you on your recovery journey from tick-borne illness? Stay positive in part means stay on a consistent course with healing activities and optimistic in your outlook.
Identify Your Vulnerabilities And Stress
Warren Buffet says, “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. ..”.
https://money.com/swimming-naked-when-the-tide-goes-out/
Buffet was talking about business vulnerability in adverse conditions, but I think this applies to recovery as well. If you are immuno-compromised due to tick-borne illness or an autoimmune diagnosis, check if you are among the naked in the low tide of COVID 19. Take action to protect yourself build health and strength.
Stress can derail a recovery, and contribute to symptom load with tick-borne illness, so as part of your self-care, you need to recognize and manage stress, no wait a minute diffuse stress. I don’t want to manage my anxiety so that maybe it is gurgling below the surface, negatively impacting my recovery, I want to minimize and diffuse negative energies that might hurt me.
Self-Care Heals Stress And Vulnerabilities Leading To Ease
Get to know yourself anew in this changing environment. Discover what brings you ease and release control of what tightens your heart or dims your light. Ease is the opposite of stress can be elusive in times of constant change. Be truthful with our boundaries and desires, then strengthen them. Make room in your new schedule for self-reflection and self-care.
Self-reflection is an examination process to learn about desires, boundaries, strengths, and weaknesses, not to judge but rather to plot a course of growth. We all may need to rethink fitness routines, social habits, and even careers in the light of ongoing COVID 19 guidelines. Engage life with these potential changes in mind.
Appreciation is a step away from self-reflection. Track what you appreciate and lights you up about each day. The things you are grateful for are making an impact in your life. High low is another method that has you jot down the high and low point of each day. Look for patterns in what excites you to pursue. Weak points tell you where you have stress and vulnerabilities, and need to protect yourself.
Actively Release Stress
Build protective strategies you enjoy to diffuse stress and build ease into each day. Individual preferences matter, a reflection practice will help you figure out what works best for you.
Structure & Scheduling
Schedule open space in your calendar with no screen time or deadlines involved. When the time comes, honor the white space. Do something you enjoy or will give you a sense of personal accomplishment. Plan your ease time or be spontaneous, but don’t let it slip away in front of the computer. Take a walk in nature, pick local fruit, or play a round of golf whatever floats your boat.
Progressive Relaxation
Progressive relaxation moves tension and stress systematically held in our muscles. Do this practice before bed for a deeper, more rejuvenating sleep. Click this link for an example.
“The technique of progressive muscle relaxation was described by Edmund Jacobson in the 1930s and is based upon his premise that mental calmness is a natural result of physical relaxation. Progressive muscle relaxation can be learned by nearly anyone and requires only 10 minutes to 20 minutes per day to practice.”
https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/muscle-relaxation-for-stress-insomnia
Deconcentration
Do exercises to empty your mind. Let go of all the chatter and clutter to help your brain relax and refresh. Do a deconcentration exercise to remove stressful unpleasant thoughts and images consciously. Fill the space you create with humorous, joyful, and loving ones. Try this deconcentration example exercise. Before you go to sleep relax and consciously write an anxious thought on the landscape of your mind. Breathe in and out then see the thought wash away. Move onto the next thought until you feel spacious.
There are many tools to help with self-reflection and build ease in your life. Do some self-assessment to understand how things are going. If you are swimming naked under the water, do something. Find the self-help tools you need or add a new member to your health care team to help you stay on course for healing.
The purpose of this article 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.