Labels can help people to understand what is going on...treatment options, etc. We do not believe in limiting potential or making excuses for not doing your best and striving to improve.
People have a lot of choices. Should I workout, wear a certain size, or fabric, or support a business or cause. I began practicing yoga after decades of playing competitive sports or teaching high intensity workouts. I am also a counselor and for a time I practiced neurofeedback therapy. I knew there was a mind body connection but away from sweat there was a disconnect and it effected my physical health in some major ways.
I have Ankylosing Spondilitis, Fibromyalgia, Complex Post Traumatic Disorder and Migraines. I will begin by telling you about the illnesses from my perspective because it might help others to relate to things that can't be seen on doctor's office images. Looks can also be deceiving.
Generally speaking I acknowledged I had medical issues, I just did not want to change my behavior or beliefs about will power. I wanted to be super woman and do it all. I was a single parent and I worked two jobs. I was willing to take medication to function at a high level and I looked fit or "healthy". I exercised compulsively and/or competitively for fun and to cope with stress. I had a hard time sleeping unless I was exhausted or medicated.
In my 20's, I had NSAID and steroid injections in multiple places along my spine to keep playing sports. I was in physical therapy a lot. I still believe in and participate in physical therapy but it could not get my systemic inflammation under control. In my 30's, I had inflammation in my rib cage which caused unrelenting stabbing pains in my chest. I continued to abuse my body without understanding and by my 40's I was hospitalized multiple times with kidney infections and pneumonia.
This was because three of my medications suppressed my immune system while preventing the progression and debilitation inflammation can cause in connective tissues. Many things are made of connective tissue: joints, eyes, vital organs, the outer membranes of the brain and spinal cord, skin, etc.
Chronic severe pain can be seen on brain scans in similar ways to depression. It is common for people with chronic pain to benefit from antidepressants and so did I. What was uncommon was that I had rarely stopped. I went hard and physically crashed. The medications worked but at a cost. I am mostly satisfactorily functional, all things considered, and I owe this in part to recognizing and working with the mind body connection.
Over the years I have come to appreciate yoga and the practices that can slowly and consistently help heal the body and mind through stretching, diet, breathing and prayer/meditation. I like offering this awareness and options. Sharing comfortable clothes while encouraging others to keep trying seems like a nice thing. We hope you think so too!
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