EFT and Pain Relief

Emotional Freedom Technique is catching on big time. Now when I say EFT, people know what the letters mean. I just found a site that has an EFT program that is specific to pain. Now that is a good thing for everyone with fibromyalgia and any condition that contributes to chronic pain. 

Here's the link:EFT Pain Relief

Fogged In

This morning, the sky was overcast and the humidity was high. My ears were popping and I felt entirely disoriented and forgetful and scattered. I have already reversed half the letters in this sentence and misspelled most of the words. Thank goodness for spell check. I checked the weather forecast, and sure enough, a big green patch of precipitation is covering TN and headed my way. I just don't understand articles I read that claim the weather has no effect on people. I do not need to look at a barometer to know the pressure is dropping - my head and bones know.

I had a few productive, but physically painful days this week. I can ride pain out. What puts me at a stand still and makes me totally ineffectual and very dysfunctional is this damned fibro fog, which I swear is at least 80% weather related. So how can I change this? Any ideas? Anything work for you? 

Fibromyalgia and Driving

This morning someone asked the Facebook Fellow Travelers Group how they handled driving and long trips. After I posted there, I decided to post my thoughts here.

A person without fibromyalgia may consider a drive to be relaxing. They hardly consider it to be work or a tiring activity. Those of us with fibromyalgia cringe when we face a trip of a half an hour or more. 

The combination of sitting still for too long and the sensory overload can push a fibro sufferer right into the pain zone. 

If you have to make a long trip alone, it helps to be prepared before you set out. Have your directions at hand before you go, or program the GPS. Pack water and healthy nibbling snacks like nuts, dried fruit, cheezits or pretzels to keep yourself hydrated in the car and to help keep your blood sugar steady. It also saves you money and you may not be as tempted to indulge in fast food. A lunch at a burger joint can bring your energy crashing down just when you need it most to stay alert in midday traffic. Stop every twenty minutes and get out and stretch a bit. 

Take care of checking your tires, fluids and gas the day before you leave, if possible. The stress of doing these things last minute or wondering mid-trip if you need oil just makes things worse.  

Plan your trip to minimize stressful and overstimulating environments. An hour spent in a Walmart after an hour trip to a doctor visit can make the drive home feel twice as long and it lands me in bed the next day. I find making a list of what I need to do or buy and sticking to it helps me get in and out of stressful environments faster. 

Even if you are on best behavior during your trip, you may still feel the effects the next day. Plan your calendar, if possible to allow for a day of decompression and be gentle with yourself.

While traveling, and in general, drinking soda and diet soda is a big no-no. One of the most healthful and helpful things you can do for your body is get the water habit and kick the soda habit. I admit, I like pizza a whole lot more with a Coca Cola, but I rarely drink soda - I consider it a special treat. The perils of soda, regular or diet, are great and the price a person with fibromyalgia pays for drinking either regularly is enormous.

I know the blast of energy is a soda gives is tempting when you are on the road. Years ago, when I moved from NY to AZ, I used a product called Emergen-C and sipped it nonstop while I drove 12 hour days. It kept me alive. It tastes great. It is a great alternative to soda and canned energy drinks when you are on the road.

New Group at Facebook

My friend, Clarissa Shepherd, was slowly growing a fibro group on a ning based site. Many users began complaining of inconsistencies with overall ability to use the site, so Clarissa moved to facebook and the group is rockin'. New members joining by the minutes. Come and play with us. We keep it hopeful and loving.

Fellow Travelers 

Painless Living

Today I found a doctor on Twitter who makes me wish he was in my neck of the woods. His tweets  are short but full of good health info. His name is Dr.Cassaro. His website is www.painlessliving.net. If you are on twitter, read some of his tweets and see if any of them speak to you. I enjoyed reading the list of supplements on his site. As my income expands, I plan on adding some of the things he recommends. The first thing I will be adding is milk thistle extract to support my liver. A fibro friend of mine has recently posted in her own fibromyalgia group that her acupuncturist told her that this time of year is when the energy of the liver is at it's lowest. I know I don't eat quite as well in winter as in summer months and my liver is probably sluggish as a result of my winter diet.

EFT

It's late and I am extremely exhausted after helping four eager Webelo Scouts make marshmallow shooting catapults out of milk cartons but my hair is too wet from my late, but needed shampoo to go to bed yet so I will follow a thought I had the other day in a previous post about fibromyalgia and emotions. 

Personally, I have come to the conclusion that most people with fibromyalgia are highly intuitive and often very spiritual and deeply sensitive and empathetic people. While these may seem like fine qualities, I believe they create a congestion of energy in the auric field around the body which then filters down, or in, to the body. This creates congestion, constriction and pain in the body. Or perhaps it simply adds to and amplifies a pattern of response already locked into the body. 

To what extent is our condition physical and to what extent is it created or affected by our emotional state and our thoughts about our emotions? 

There is a system of tapping on energy meridian points while stating affirmations that has been growing in popularity and mainstream awareness called EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique. It is supposed to work on any problem that has an emotional component. Recently, I was on youtube looking at the videos of several EFT practitioners. One woman in particular felt highly effective for me and I have since spent time at her web site and found lots more to love. Every time I am there, I get a big boost of positve energy. Her site is www.rebeccamarina.com.

Today I was visiting a fibromyalgia group and came upon a link to another woman who has had wonderful results with EFT - a form of the EFT technique called Faster EFT. Her name is Grace and you may enjoy reading her story of healing from fibromyalgia at www.denalidragonfly.com.

And now, off to too little sleep and a busy day tomorrow - a sure fire recipe for a Saturday crash landing!

Look at My Fibromyalgia Button

Inspiration struck today. I looked at my cat sacked out on the floor and thought that it's OK for a cat to be flat out - we kind of expect it of them. Not the same for us peeps. When fibromyalgia knocks us flat and all we want to do is lie down and rest, we feel guilty or we allow others to make us feel guilty  (more about this another time ) when we really shouldn't feel any guilt at all. As I looked at my cat, I thought "fibro-me-ow-gia". Ha, ha. I love a good play on words. Kitties get to run around saying "me - ow" ( translation: I hurt ) all the time. Why can't we?

So I headed over to zazzle and designed a button that says it all. Only took me forever and now I'm seeing kind of cross-eyed, but I think it's cute and I'll be adding more items. The button is just a start. I love designing things, even though I am not so computer savvy. In fact, couldn't seem to find the right code to display the image as I would like, so here is the link. Go look and be prepared to say, "Awwww."
http://www.zazzle.com/be_nice_to_me_i_have_fibro_me_ow_gia_button-145136719153263859?rf=238643543004369513