Legs on a cushion for fibromyalgia is my simplest, quickest way to get some restorative yoga in and it can be done in bed.
I am not kidding.
When I am not pregnant, and therefore allowed to lie on my back for prolonged periods of time, I do this pose right before I go to sleep.
Restorative yoga is a type of yoga that is passive, designed to calm the central nervous system and induce rest and relaxation. It is incredibly accessible, which is why I love it so much.
Legs on a Cushion for Fibromyalgia
How did that make you feel?
Hopefully super relaxed. Maybe you caught a nap afterward? That would be fab feedback to hear.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Melissa, and I am passionate about sharing the tools of yoga for fibromyalgia with you. I use these tools myself every day to manage my pain, fatigue, insomnia and basically feel a little better. If you’d like to learn more check out the following:
But if you really want to go all in for a full restful yoga program that includes an entire module on using it to help with sleep – then check out Restful Yoga for the Chronic Life. It’s entirely self-paced and you can get started now.
Would you like to learn more about yoga for fibromyalgia?
If you have been around for a while, you may have noticed that I have a thing for supported child’s pose. Well, child’s pose in general. But the supported version has a special place in my heart.
Restorative yoga is a passive practice that helps to calm the central nervous system and is therefore super relaxing. From the first pose I tried, supported child’s pose (!), I was hooked.
Below is your opportunity to give it a try. You will want two or three cushions/pillows/bolsters to make a comfortable bed to relax into as pictured. The aim is to relax fully, so you don’t want your body to be “holding” you want it to be supported.
Feel free to play with the set up and hold for as long as is comfortable.
Try Supported Child’s Pose Right Now
How did this make you feel?
Hopefully relaxed, calm and ready to give more yoga a go. I have heard from way too many people that they were put off by yoga previously. I don’t want that for you.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Melissa, and I am passionate about sharing the tools of yoga for fibromyalgia with you. I use these tools myself every day to manage my pain, fatigue, insomnia and basically feel a little better. If you’d like to learn more check out the following:
Would you like to try a gentle, seated, breath-focused class that is designed especially for people with fibromyalgia?
I have just the class for you. It will take just six minutes and you don’t need any props.
You can give this a go at any time of the day, as a quick begin your day practice, during your lunch break, after work or whenever you want to get some gentle movement in.
Seated, breath-focused yoga for fibromyalgia
How did that make you feel?
Hopefully relaxed, calm and ready to give more yoga a go. I have heard from way too many people that they were put off by yoga previously. I don’t want that for you.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Melissa, and I am passionate about sharing the tools of yoga for fibromyalgia with you. I use these tools myself every day to manage my pain, fatigue, insomnia and basically feel a little better. If you’d like to learn more check out the following:
Yoga for chronic pain and fatigue, it seems to be recommended a lot. It can be a really excellent addition to our whole of life plan when managing chronic pain and fatigue. But so often, people have the wrong idea of what yoga means or what they have to do in order to do it. Or, worse, they have been put off by previous experiences.
In this post I will share what yoga is not, what it can be, guidelines for practicing with chronic pain and fatigue and how I use the tools in my every day life (yes I use the tools everyday). I also share how you can try some yoga designed especially for chronic pain and fatigue for free, so read on.
Let me first spell out what yoga for fibromyalgia is not.
It is not 60 or 90 minute classes – it is not defined by the length of time you practice.
Nor is it defined by what poses you can do and how far into them you go.
It is not even limited to your physical practice – you can “do” yoga by lying on your bed breathing or meditating.
You do not have to subscribe to a “lifestyle”, set of beliefs or a religion to “do” yoga.
Guidelines for practicing when you have chronic pain and fatigue
1. Listen to your body. This is absolutely key, in a world where we are trained to push through and ignore our cues, you must listen in yoga. If you are feeling particularly fatigued then perhaps breathing, meditation or a restorative posture might be best for today. 2. Pay attention to your body. How does a movement feel? Should you pull back? Is a certain posture for you right now? 3. Start slow. 4. Frame practice with breathing and rest. After all my research and practice, I would say the ideal practice for fibromyalgia is gentle breathing, gentle poses, followed by a restorative pose and a good yoga nidra meditation. 5. It’s not linear. You won’t necessarily do five minutes today, seven minutes tomorrow, 30 minutes in six months. You may do 10 minutes of physical practice today, meditation tomorrow, 5 minutes of physical practice the next day and then 20 minutes of restorative postures the next. We are on a journey with our body not with our type or length of practice. 6. It should not hurt.
What does my yoga practice look like?
Here is a sample of my daily routine: 7.15am 5 minutes standing sun salutations when I get dressed Neck stretches and cat and cow pose randomly throughout the day 1pm 40 minute yoga nidra guided meditation Deep breathing breaks as needed 9pm a couple of poses by the bed, legs on a cushion pose in bed, body scan meditation.
Let’s look at when the tools of yoga could be useful for you
Deep breathing – whenever you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, sore, anxious. As a pick me up. Meditation – first thing in the morning, during a rest, in a flare, after work, before bed, in the middle of the night when experiencing painsomnia. Physical postures – as needed throughout the day, in “classes” a few together for 5-30 minutes, one off restorative postures for rest/rejuvenation.
Of course, it is not from one or two practices. We see the best results over time. Ten minutes a day is far better than one hour every day for a few days until you cause a flare and then never do it again!
Perhaps the most important benefit – at least for me – is the power. I can use these tools anytime, anywhere. I don’t need to wait for an appointment, I can employ them how I like and when I like. Forever. These tools are mine. And side-effect free, provided I practice safely.
Would you like to try some yoga designed especially for people with fibromyalgia?
Jump in and give it a good go in the Yoga for the Chronic Life studio here. We have breathing practices, slow flow practices of varying lengths, restorative practices of varying lengths, meditations and more. I add new classes monthly. I also periodically create challenges/plans to guide practice. There are several toolkits which you can work your way through as well – including the Bed Yoga Toolkit, the Chair Yoga Toolkit and the 10 Day Beginners Toolkit. The Foundations of Yoga for Fibromyalgia full course (value $199) is in there too.
So tell me, have you tried yoga, does it help you?
Recently I’ve come across many people who, like myself, struggle with headaches caused by neck (and shoulder) tension. Specifically from trigger points.
So I shared my routine – what I have been doing to manage neck-caused headaches. This routine is the further development of one I was already doing to manage between physiotherapy appointments. When, all of a sudden, I was stuck at home with three small children, a new job that required me on the computer for 20 hours per week and no access to physiotherapy – I had to step it up in order to cope.
My team loved it.
So I created a 10 minute version for you all to try.
Yoga for Neck Headaches Video
Please remember that, no matter how gentle the sequence, you do need to be cleared to exercise by your medical team. Move mindfully and if something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
We utilise gentle yoga, breathing and meditations in this practice (and all of my practices).
Let me know, how did you find it? What do you do for headaches caused by upper body muscle tension and trigger points?
This is just one of the ways in which I am making practical tools for my members to help them in their journey. If you want to join us – you can do so in the Yoga for the Chronic Life virtual studio here.
Let’s talk about my favourite yoga poses for fibromyalgia. As a yoga practitioner and a teacher I have a few poses I come back to again and again in mine and my student’s toolkit.
These are great standalone poses that have a prominent place in my toolkit and my students are loving these too.
As you can likely tell, there are a multitude of tools on offer from the yoga toolkit and I use many. It is hard to narrow it down so in this post, I share just six.
My favourite version of this pose is supported child’s pose, but even usual child’s pose is a great restful pose. It gently stretches the lower back and shoulders (if you take it extended). Placing your forehead on the ground will calm you down. This pose comes from restorative yoga, a lovely, gentle yoga style that is great for calming the nervous system.
This is such a great introductory restorative pose. One prop required. It is very calming and can be replicated with pillows/cushions/an ottoman, anything to raise those legs a little. Relieving pressure in our legs can be a nice bonus here. Place your neck on a flat pillows/cushion/folded towel if you find it uncomfortable.
While they are stand alone poses, I like them together, they are the perfect counter pose to each other and a great way to mobilize the back and neck. I use this regularly throughout the day. Not only does the physical movement help my body but matching the movement to my breath and moving mindfully helps my mind. It’s calming and relaxing.
Forward bend is so great for a gentle neck and back stretch (as well as the hamstrings). I was using it for gentle neck tractions between physiotherapy appointments before I knew what I was doing (using yoga as tools).
Eagle is really great for helping out the upper back (a key problem area for fibromyalgia, desk workers and almost everyone). In Foundations of Yoga for Chronic Pain and Fatigue we work through this pose as a journey because there is so much space in this pose for us to grow.
This is great if you’re not getting onto the floor and want to stretch your lower back. You could use this as a standalone pose, as part of a sequence before bed, in bed and first thing in the morning.
Breathing. It’s not sexy. It’s super subtle. Everyone does it every day. But we need to do it better. Optimal respiration can help us to calm the central nervous system and manage the symptoms of fibromyalgia better.
So many people do it incorrectly. Not breathing fully, chest or mouth breathing and more.
Correct breathing is vital so that we can take the benefits it offers.
Breathing well:
Saves
energy
Improves
energy
Reduces
pain and tension
Helps
us activate the “rest and digest” mode or the parasympathetic nervous system
Improves
digestion
Lowers
blood pressure
Reduces
heart rate
Decreases
stress
Improves
cognitive function
https://youtu.be/9_AUMn8Cnrg
It can help
respiratory issues, back and chest pain
“One of the
benefits of breathing deeply is that it helps to release tension in the
diaphragm and primary breathing muscles, relieving many long-term respiratory
issues such as asthma and breathlessness. It opens up the chest, releasing
tension from the intercostal muscles and around the scapula, erector spinae and
trapezius muscles, allowing for a more relaxed posture.” From the article The
Benefits of Breathing Deeply
It helps us activate
the parasympathetic nervous system and helps us to calm down
Just a few
deep breaths can help us to relax and calm down. Even if we have been anxious,
scared or in pain. It is the quickest tool in our arsenal to respond to stress.
Please note I am not saying it can cure anxiety or depression – I am saying it
can help (as an adjunct to treatment with your medical team).
Would you like a free, simple yoga for fibromyalgia challenge to fit it into your daily life? Sign up here.
It improves the
cardiovascular system
“Deep diaphragmatic breathing tones, massages and increases circulation to the heart, liver, brain and reproductive organs. In one study of heart attack patients, 100% of the patients were chest breathers whose breathing involved very little diaphragm or belly expansion. Another study found that patients who survived a heart attack and who adopted an exercise regime and breath training afterward experienced a 50% reduction in their risk factor of another heart attack over the following 5 years.”
All of the benefits that optimal respiration offers us are essential for people with the symptoms of fibromyalgia. We need to save energy, get more energy, reduce pain and tension, activate the rest and digest mode and all of the rest of the benefits mentioned earlier.
It is also easy to learn. And practice. Below we will talk about what breathing well is and my easiest recommendation for breathing. I have a couple of breathing practices for you on YouTube. But you will get a whole heap of breathing support in Yoga for the Chronic Life virtual studio. Starting with Breathing 101 module, continuing with pretty much every single yoga and meditation practice focusing on the breath. Breath is central to yoga.
So what is breathing well?
Using your nose and not your mouth, filling your abdomen and not your chest. Taking the time to focus on it each day. Focusing on it is actually the simplest meditation you can do!
What is my easiest
recommendation for breathing?
Inhale for four, pause for two, out for six. Adapting the numbers to what works for you, focusing on making the exhale slightly longer than the inhale. For example inhale for three, pause for two, out for four.
In the video below I share this simple practice
Look at breathing and other yoga tools to help you in this free challenge
Micro yoga is such a good tool for managing chronic pain and fatigue. The benefits of yoga are continually being proven in research, especially for chronic symptoms. I want to share what micro yoga is, how micro yoga helps me as a mama with chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia and tiny children and how you can use the tools too.
What is micro yoga?
It is simply yoga that is not a traditional length or what we typically (in the west) think of as “yoga”.
I literally do 5-30 minute snippets at a time. As a person with chronic symptoms I find it much better to do 10 minutes regularly than one hour once a week.
I’d take it one step further and call my yoga super accessible micro yoga. When done right, yoga is super accessible for us and what we need.
What does this look like?
Five minutes of asana (stretches) when I am getting dressed.
A random pose to help my back when it is feeling tight during the day.
Five minutes of breathing when I am feeling overwhelmed.
Micro yoga can be one or two poses that you use as needed. Or a more formal practice on the mat for 5-45 minutes. It could even be a breathing break or rest guided meditation.
Affiliate notice: Please note that some of my links are affiliate links and I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
“By weaving micro practices into your everyday life, you will: Cultivate a consistent yoga routine that won’t overwhelm your busy schedule Have the tools to reset your mood and energy with just a few breaths Feel empowered by the quality of your self-care Recognize that small acts can make a major difference in your physical and mental health.”
I use micro yoga as part of my toolkit for managing pain and fatigue.
You might like the targeted stretches section starting pg 65. The best part of The Little Book of Yoga Practices is the succinctly described pose section. You can see what resonates and try one or two at a time.
The one minute miracles section is a gold mine! Pg 82
Rachel might not specialise in yoga for chronic pain and fatigue but her books are great resources when you are trying to build a micro yoga practice. And the size of The Little Book of Yoga Practices means it isn’t going to be hard on the old brain fog to get through, it is succinct and easy to follow.
Let’s chat central nervous system, restorative yoga and fibromyalgia. A lot of research suggests that Fibromyalgia is the result of central nervous system dysfunction – specifically an overactive nervous system, stressing and exhausting the brain (Dennis W. Dobritt, Fibromyalgia – A Brief Overview).
Having lived it for over 15 years, I would be inclined to agree.
Check out the video of my live training
It is not the sole problem, but it certainly causes
physiological flow on effects, even after we have learned to calm it down
again.
Like perhaps a switch gets flipped in our brain from some kind of trauma – an illness, childbirth, experiencing abuse of some kind, experiencing a natural disaster etc. and then it is very hard to turn it off.
The simplest way to
put it
Simply put – we are too often in “fight or flight” mode and
struggle to active the “rest and digest” mode.
Fight or flight is that response
we have to stressful stimuli – a bear chasing us? Energy is diverted to the
functions that are needed to fly, or run really fast! We experience that belly
full of butterflies on crack, feel shaky, anxious and fearful.
The rest and digest response is that delicious restful
feeling when we are totally relaxed – like during a good, gentle massage.
When you have a central nervous system over activation it is
like you are stuck in the fight or flight mode. A chronic, low level anxiety
that persists that you live with for so long you might not recognize it as
anxiety – because you try to adapt.
This causes real problems in the body. If our energy is constantly diverted to scanning for threats and getting to run or protect ourselves, how can we have energy for normal functions? Digestion itself takes a lot of energy. Then being unable to drop into deep sleep because our brain is watching for threats, even more energy is drained. It is a big, vicious cycle.
What are some of the
symptoms of a central nervous system over activity?
From personal experience, I can tell you it is not a quick
fix either. I have meditated, done yoga, worked on sleep, removed myself from
perpetuating factors (as best as I can) and it is still a work in progress.
And – although my central nervous system is MUCH calmer, I
am not magically healed. But with my whole of life plan in place, including a
heavy amount of the above treatments, I am feeling much better.
For a long time meditation was my thing, particularly yoga
Nidra guided meditation, because I needed the profound rest it offered
immediately.
Gentle breathing was a great tool to reduce some of the
constant tension in my chest, shoulders and neck. It is also fantastic at
helping to calm the central nervous system when it gets flared again.
Right now, though, my jam is restorative yoga.
Why? Because it is a little less passive and easier to
access for those who find it difficult to just sit still and breathe.
What are the benefits
of restorative yoga?
Enhances flexibility
Total relaxation of body and mind
Improves capacity for healing
Balances the central nervous system
Helps us tune into our body
What is restorative
yoga?
Well this is a big question. Because a lot of people get it
confused with yin yoga.
Restorative yoga is a passive practice that utilises props
(cushions, bolsters, blocks etc.) to achieve total support. Yin yoga also holds
poses for longer than other yoga traditions, around five minutes or so, but it
is looking for deep sensation and it is energetically more strenuous (while
still being relatively gentle).
In a restorative yoga class you will have your props around
you, it will be a calm atmosphere and you will like only do a few poses. There
may or may not be calming music and essential oils.
Would you like to learn restorative yoga with me?
Join me in this free workshop to learn what restorative yoga is, how it can benefit us, try a restorative pose (the one that made me fall in love with restorative yoga) and more.
Sources
In this post I have taken my combined knowledge and written
it up as you see. For some sources and further reading see below…
Have you thought about your self-care plans for this year yet? Self-care is as vital as it is undervalued. Especially for busy women juggling multiple priorities. Add in chronic health issues and it should be compulsory.
Accidental multi-tasking is one of my favourite things – a two for one on your energy levels. When self-care doubles as something that also manages my health, I’m pretty stoked.
Here are my top five self-care plans for 2020 that also double as part of my chronic illness management plans.
Meditation
If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you will know that meditation saved my life. I do it every single day, and if I must miss a day it’s very rare. It gives me deep rest my body doesn’t even achieve during sleep. It tops up my energy levels for the afternoon. It calms my central nervous system. It is just for me. 15-30 minutes of pure self-care.
Try it: I have a free challenge for you to try it out for five days.
Do you meditate? Tell us about your practice in the comments!
Yoga
Ya’ll know I LOVE Yoga. Yoga is simultaneously mindful movement (gentle exercise), relaxation, stretching, strengthening, pain management and a sleep aid (for me). It balances the central nervous system which has been key for me. I have shared extensively how I use it to help me. Here’s the short of it: One off poses, “micro yoga” formal practices (of 10-20 minutes) and a bed time class I made to help me wind down for sleep.
Join us for the FREE five minutes a day for five days yoga for chronic pain and fatigue challenge
Have you tried this challenge? Please tell me if so!
Getting to bed on time
Sleep is way too underrated. Seriously, lack of sleep will kill you (slowly) and make you feel terrible. I’ve written extensively about it. Going to bed around the same time each night is a key part of good sleep hygiene aka practices that help you sleep.
(Who just went, “What? I can’t treat myself. Ain’t nobody got time or money for that! It need not take much money or time!)
What is something that makes you feel super special that doesn’t cost the earth? This year I’d like to attempt something different each quarter: a manicure, a massage, a weekend away with the husband etc. With three kids 5 and under we’ve been snowed under and going to the physiotherapist every month has been the extent of it for me.
Try: Schedule something right now! A manicure? Book one once a month, schedule a time to do it yourself, or swap with your friend to do each other. Massage? Book one once a month, swap with your partner, or get out that lavender oil and give yourself a hand and foot massage. A Saturday morning lie in? Negotiate with the partner if you have kids, or send them to grandparents/aunts/uncles and grab at least one a month.
Journaling
I am an analyst, a thinker, a written processor. So taking the time, even just five minutes to process with my pen is helpful for me to work through things. Even if you’re more of a talker, research shows journaling to be useful. You can have free reign to vent. To get things out of your head. Write down memories. Whatever works.
Try it: You can make a habit of giving yourself 1 or 5 minutes a day, a gratitude journal of just three good things or maybe you could draw in your journal.
Do you journal? Tell us how you do it in the comments.
Want to jump in and get some real, concrete help with your self-care in 2020?
So these were my top five self-care plans for 2020, I’d love to know what are yours?? Tell us in the comments below.
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