Last Updated on August 11, 2024 by melissanreynolds
I’ve been living with chronic symptoms for most of my life. In the past 12 years I’ve gone from moderate to mild fibromyalgia and improved ME/CFS.
A big part of my improvement has been mindfulness tools. Alongside LDN, pacing, sleep, healthy human habits, chiropractic care and working through perpetuating factors. See My key treatments for fibromyalgia.
When I use the term mindfulness, I incorporate yoga and meditation, most of the formal practices of mindfulness are yoga, meditation and breathwork tools. I won’t get into the origins or any nitty gritty. These are simply practices that have become mine over many years of study and practice.
Here’s seven ways mindfulness tools help with chronic illness.
Mindfulness tools can be:
- Something that soothes you when your nervous system is on high alert (much of the time with fibromyalgia)
- A practice that you can fall back on in a flare.
- Practices that can support your rest.
- A way to reconnect with your body.
- Support with acceptance (which is a long, hard journey with chronic illness)
- Gentle, mindful movement that can help you reclaim exercise in your way
- A snapshot of peace, joy and inspiration
There’s so much more it’s helped me with, and I’ve shared many blog posts, chapters in my books and videos about it.
For now, I’d love to share with you a simple mindfulness practice you can start immediately.
1. Get comfortable
2. Take a regular breath
3. Inhale for a count of four
4. Pause for a count of two
5. Exhale for a count of six (if you need to adjust the count, feel free to do so, simply make the exhale longer than the inhale. You shouldn’t feel out of breath)
6. Repeat a few times (as long as is comfortable)
7. Notice how you feel
Grab your free download guiding you through this practice.
It may seem super simple. But give it a go several times over the next few days and see how it makes you feel. There’s no point leaving the seven mindfulness tools on the table without trying them.
