With 3 top tips that won’t cost you a penny!
When you have CFS or extreme fatigue it can feel like the bottom has fallen out of your world, as trying to live a normal life can feel either impossible or a battle that you can never seem to win. Either way, you can’t live the life you want to.
Your wellbeing can seem as if it is at rock bottom and it can leave you feeling miserable and fearful that life may never be the same again.
Whilst I know that living with, and trying to recover from, CFS can feel like a real struggle, my recovery journey has shown me and my clients that it IS possible. Improving your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing is crucial to helping you to face the future boldly.
There has been a long history of helping the body to recover its energy and vitality using the many resources nature offers us. Naturopaths have been harnessing the ‘healing power of nature’ for centuries and I believe it can play an important role in helping to recover from a chronic illness like CFS.
In this blog, I share my top 3 personal tips for improving your emotional wellbeing, that could play a key role in your mission to reclaim your natural health and vitality without it costing you a penny.
Allow yourself to be nurtured by nature
You probably noticed, over the past couple of years, how much being in nature can support your wellbeing. And the science backs up what you intuitively worked out; there have been numerous scientific studies demonstrating just how much being in nature can positively influence our mood and mindset
This doesn’t mean you have to go on a long walk in a wood or by the seaside to get the benefits when you don’t have the energy to do so, it can be as simple as taking a slow stroll in a local park or green space or just sitting on a park bench and breathing in the beauty of your surroundings and admiring the wonderful autumn shades of the tree leaves.
If you are fortunate, like me, to have a garden, I find that spending time listening to the bird song and enjoying the changes that autumn brings, can make me feel not only more energised but also more positive too.
If outside space is not an option for you, research has shown that having a houseplant can increase your connection with nature and also support your wellbeing.
2. Having a spiritual practice
Some traditional healing traditions like Ayurveda, believe that spirituality is closely linked to our health and overall wellbeing and encourage a spiritual practice as part of your daily routine.
My personal experience has shown me that having and sustaining a spiritual connection helps me to feel more grounded with a stronger connection to life and to others. The research seems to back this up, as it shows that people who have a spiritual practice whether it be a religious or secular practice, experience greater feelings of wellbeing. It may be the desire for us as human beings to feel like we belong and have a connection to a greater power or energy force, but it does seem that some form of a spiritual connection can help us to feel more balanced emotionally.
It’s important to stress that having a spiritual practice doesn’t necessarily mean going to church or praying to your God. Many people develop a spiritual practice by tapping into a universal life force or by developing a practice of gratitude. In fact research has shown that practising gratitude can boost your mood and improve your sleep. My blog 3 reasons you need to develop a gratitude practice to support your CFS Recovery discusses the benefits of a gratitude practice and how it could reduce your fatigue.
3. Building a strong connection with yourself through meditation
When you have CFS you can feel like a different person when you can’t do all the things you previously took for granted. You may be feeling stressed or anxious about how much your life has changed and you could be left thinking ‘who am I now’ and that can be very disempowering and unhelpful.
The truth is that you are the same person with the same values, connections and hopes for the future and meditation can help you to become more connected with your true self again. Scientific research has also shown that it can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety as well as helping to improve sleep.
I know many people think ‘I can’t meditate’ and so don’t give it a go, but meditating can be as simple as focusing on the breath and letting your thoughts come and go. Just this simple practice can help you to feel calmer and more in control of your thoughts and emotions. The good news is that you don’t need to sit cross legged on the floor either, sitting up straight on a chair can work just as well! For more tips and breathing practices to help you to become calmer and more energised, check out my blog ‘The one simple thing you can change for increased energy’.
I found meditation to be hugely helpful in my CFS recovery by helping me to become calmer and more relaxed. It was a great way to remind myself that I was the same person who I have always been it was just that I was unwell, but I would get better.
Taking the next steps on your recovery journey
I hope this blog has filled you with some hope and confidence that you can recover from CFS. From experience I know that recovery means you have to be brave, move out of your comfort zone and make some changes. Taking charge of your emotional resilience with 3 easy to do (and free!) practices gives you a great starting point to starting your journey back to feeling well again.
Why don’t you try some of these out for yourself and see what a positive difference it can make to how you feel. I personally know just how powerful taking a small tentative step can be. When you start notice that you have that little extra energy or feel a bit more positive about the future, it can give your mood and self-belief a boost, which can only help with your recovery.
By utilising one or all of these 3 ways to build emotional resilience, you are placing your body in a better place to recover from CFS naturally.
Are you willing to take the next step?
Feel like you’d like some support with your recovery from CFS?
As someone who has personally benefited from using meditation and spiritual practices and witnessed just how powerful a connection with nature can be in recovering from CFS, I am in a unique position to understand what you may be feeling. I am committed to supporting your recovery by providing you with a safe space where you will not feel like you are being judged but will be treated with care and empathy.
From my experience I believe that recovery requires both physical and emotional support. I do this by using a combination of herbal medicine, nutritional advice and supplements, mindfulness and meditation practices and flower remedies.
I help people on a one to one basis, but if you are looking for support from likeminded people, I offer mindfulness and meditation courses to help manage those challenging thoughts that can sometimes feel like they have taken charge of your mind.
Your Top 5 take aways
1. Building your emotional resilience can support your CFS recovery by reducing the stress response and allowing your body to be in a better place to heal.
2. Science has shown us that being in nature can help you to feel calmer, more optimistic and happier, boosting your feelings of wellbeing, which will in turn help your body to recover.
3. Having a spiritual practice (religious or non religious) has been shown to make us feel more connected to ourselves and others, leading to less worry and fear with a greater sense of wellbeing.
4. Meditation can help to bring you a sense of peace and calm, reducing feelings of stress and anxiety, and place your body into ‘rest and digest’ where it is better placed to recover from this illness.
5. By utilising these 3 ways to build resilience you are placing your body in a better place to recover from CFS naturally.
Want to learn more about me and my recovery journey?
You can find more about me here and my recovery journey here.
Important Information
If you are experiencing persistent fatigue or Chronic Fatigue symptoms, it is very important you first discuss how you are feeling with your GP before you start making any lifestyle changes. He/she may arrange tests and work with you to rule out any other serious illness and conditions that can cause chronic tiredness.
This content is provided for information only and does not constitute advice. It is recommended that prior to making any diet, supplement or other lifestyle changes, you discuss these with your doctor or health care practitioner.