"Learning" to Breathe

so at the wellness workshop last week, they taught us to use a breathing (diaghramatic breathing – deep breathing flexing your diaghram not ur rib cage) and progressive muscle relaxation techniques to help deal with stress and fatigue, among other symptoms.  Who knew we would learn how to breathe???  At the beginning of the workshop, we were given a CD (Time for Healing, Relaxation for Mind and Body), but didn’t find out exactly what it was for until last week.

The progressive muscle relaxation starts with your feet (tensing the muscles and completely relaxing them) and ends with the muscles in my face.  While i wasn’t as skeptical as I can be about things, such as this, i have to admit that it has me sleeping ah lil better and feelin less stiff.  I copied the CD onto my phone and every nite when i hit the bed, i go through the entire exercise (it lasts 20-30 mins) coupled with the breathing technique.  Tensing the muscles was extremely uncomfortable at first because u have to tense up and hold for a few, but it is getting better with each one.  (Try tensing – really tensing – ur facial muscles for 30 secs or so…it’s a RATHER uncomfortable feeling)

Anyway, after these past few weeks at work (things have slowed down for now, but i am not completely over the hump as yet), this is exactly what the the doctor ordered for me.

A picture of total relaxation right here…

“Learning” to Breathe

so at the wellness workshop last week, they taught us to use a breathing (diaghramatic breathing – deep breathing flexing your diaghram not ur rib cage) and progressive muscle relaxation techniques to help deal with stress and fatigue, among other symptoms.  Who knew we would learn how to breathe???  At the beginning of the workshop, we were given a CD (Time for Healing, Relaxation for Mind and Body), but didn’t find out exactly what it was for until last week.

The progressive muscle relaxation starts with your feet (tensing the muscles and completely relaxing them) and ends with the muscles in my face.  While i wasn’t as skeptical as I can be about things, such as this, i have to admit that it has me sleeping ah lil better and feelin less stiff.  I copied the CD onto my phone and every nite when i hit the bed, i go through the entire exercise (it lasts 20-30 mins) coupled with the breathing technique.  Tensing the muscles was extremely uncomfortable at first because u have to tense up and hold for a few, but it is getting better with each one.  (Try tensing – really tensing – ur facial muscles for 30 secs or so…it’s a RATHER uncomfortable feeling)

Anyway, after these past few weeks at work (things have slowed down for now, but i am not completely over the hump as yet), this is exactly what the the doctor ordered for me.

A picture of total relaxation right here…

Work…work…and more work!

I’ve been working my ass off or as we would say at home “wuk in meh rookoongkootoongkung!!!! (sp)”…so i haven’t had any time to come here and say hi 🙂

I havent forgotten about you; i just really havent had the time…everything’s going well with me and as soon as i get over this hump at work (hopefully next week) I’LL BE BACK!!

Living Well

I signed up to attend a wellness seminar being offered by the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Georgia Chapter titled, “Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions”.  It’s a 6 week program that is not specifically for MS patients but geared toward teaching people with chronic diseases how to self manage their disease so that life just becomes easier all round.  Of course, since it’s being offered by the MS Society, all the attendees actually do have MS.
It’s the first time that I’ve ever been around other “people like me” and i have to say that i am enjoying it thoroughly.  It’s a small “class” and so everyone’s been very open and honest and even though i always knew that there are other people going thru the same thing that i’m going thru, being in these sessions has driven home the fact that I am not “alone”.  Sharing stories etc, has also driven home the fact that MS is, I think, an incredible disease.  Whereas many of our syptoms are similar, the way our bodies react can be quite different!  It’s actually been amazing to me and i have to think, it’s no wonder there is no cure for it.  Scientists must be so confused about how it will affect 1 person to another.  One person told me last nite that she refers to MS as a designer disease; everyone has their own “one of a kind” story to tell.
I’ve been to 2 sessions so far and in each they’ve gone go thru different techniques that we can use to overcome what might be bothering us at any given point in time.  Last nite’s class focused on Physical Activity and the pros of (u guessed it!) exercising.  We were given a book at the first session to use as a reference and in this book are different stregth building and stretching exercises that we can focus on to assist with our various weaknesses…I will be incorporating some of them into my exercise routine and hopefully i will see an improvement in the weakness i feel in my feet/legs.  More to come on this….

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