My First Day Tai Chi'ing

My doctor heard me when I explained that exercise has always allowed me to tap into some energy.  Ever since High School, I've been doing some sort of cardio exercise.  It seemed to me that if I didn't sweat, I wasn't getting much out of the task of exercising my body.  I used it as a cleansing of both body and mind; allowing my soul to see clearly.

At my sickest, I pushed myself to get out and run or something between a walk, wobble and jog.  Even in the winter months I'd force myself to get out of bed in the wee hours of the morning, bundle up and get out the door.

Exercise seemed to be all I had left in my hopes to overcome the debilitating effects of fibromyalgia.  Other doctors told me to stop because it was too hard on my body, but I couldn't risk handing over the last hope I had.  Dr. Bier heard me.  He told me to continue to jog, if that's what made me feel better.  He also suggested that I use a martial arts to build and strengthen my chi (life energy).

I ran for another two weeks after Dr. Bier's advice and then I noticed the urge to push myself wasn't as strong.  There was definitely a shift going on in my consciousness and my body. Then last week I decided to go on youtube to try a beginner's Tai Chi class.

It was frustrating at first because the pace was much slower than my general day-to-day pace.  I took this as a sign to slow down even more…consciously.  I followed the instructions, allowed a flow of the movements and caught myself wanting to do a Tai Chi version of Americanized Vinyasa Yoga.  I taught this yoga for many years.  It flows from one movement to the next, connecting the breath to the movement and it can move quickly.  I held back from changing the Tai Chi I was learning.  It occurred to me that this ancient martial art has lasted through the generations and studies have shown that it is of great benefit for the flow of energy.

I'll need to work on being in the moment no matter how fast or slow the moments come.  I spent a great deal of time learning the movements and being in my head most of the time.  I'm sure with practice, the movements will be second nature and my brain will have the opportunity to get out of the way.

Surprisingly, I had normal achy muscles the next day.  I give Tai Chi one and a half thumbs up.  The half of thumb is only my hesitation to make it part of my routine.

With time, I'm sure I'll be Tai Chi'ing at least three times a week.

Thanks for reading, forwarding and following!!!
Terri

Great Doctor's Appointment

I can't remember the last time I had a good, never mind, great doctor's appointment.  At least, since I began with this new doctor.

I can go back to when I was a teen and feeling as though I wasn't being heard.  I had back-to-back step throat and each time I saw the doctor, he prescribed a stronger antibiotic.  After two straight months of being sick, I insisted that my parents step in and let the doctor know that if there is no other treatment, the tonsils need to come out.  Six months later, I was in the ER, unable to breath because my airways were too inflamed.  My tonsils finally came out.  Treatments in mainstream medicine followed this same path for many years.

The diagnosis for Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and IBS, took two years to come, from the time I had symptoms.  My primary care physician continued to tell me that all of these symptoms were 'in my head'.  He told me that there was nothing he could do and that I'd be fine.  I changed doctors and the next prescribed one medication after another with no real improvement in my symptoms or focus on the root cause of the problems.  Doesn't it make sense that if the true issue is...lets say, the immune system, you do what you can to strengthen the immune system?  The medical community I was being treated by continued to try to mask the symptoms.  The outcome was that my symptoms were still robbing me of a decent quality of life and the side effects of the prescriptions were creating more problems.

I felt stuck, alone and at times I felt like I was the crazy one to think that our advanced medical knowledge would help cure me. I was then treated as if I was weak and unable to deal with the stresses of life when I became depressed.  No wonder I was depressed!  Those who I thought would be working with me, in my best interest, to support a healthy me, were sabotaging my health potential.

Not any more!  I am grateful that I am now working with a doctor who hears me and relies on the knowledge I have about my health.  Over the last two months, I've called about discomfort I was having and both time, they were able to fit me into an appointment to help relieve my discomfort.  I've emailed my doctor with response within the same day.  Each response was clear, direct and had logical suggestions as to how to move forward with the issue I had emailed about.  I had an adverse reaction to one of the supplements and I contacted the doctor right away.  Instead of telling me to 'tough it out', he told me to discontinue and gave me other options.

Today was my re-exam visit, 10 weeks from my initial consultation.  I'm feeling like I have a bit more energy these days, I have a much better idea of what is causing my digestion issues, I'm sleeping through the night with no restless legs or teeth grinding.  The exam also showed that there's slight improvement in my health.  It is a slow process and I don't mind at all, as long as there is progress.  I'd rather be the tortoise, taking it slow and enjoying the scenery than the hare who misses everything along the way but loses the race in the end.

There is something to be said about having a supportive team who will assist you across that finish line.


Thank you for reading, forwarding and following!!!
Terri