Category: hidden disabilities

4 Health Benefits Of Walking 10,000 Steps A Day

So maybe you’re like me and you’re wondering what all this talk is about 10,000 steps and walking 10K steps a day? Why do I need to know? What’s the magic in that? Well on this video, I’m going to share with you 4 health benefits from walking 10K steps a day.

I was reading this great article, as you do. And I too was intrigued, because a friend of mine said that she was enjoying getting in her 10 K steps a day and kept checking her ‘steps’. Anyway, I found out that 10K steps works out at just under 5 miles and there are so many benefits and it made me think, wow, this is super important, and so I thought I’d share the ones that resonated with me most, with you.

So let’s dive straight in.

Improved Mood and Brain Function

So when you exercise, you release these feel-good chemicals in your body called endorphins, and they lift your mood. So you get that benefit from walking 10K steps a day. If you’re going to do your 10K steps outside, in nature, then that’s great too. The release of those endorphins is going to reduce your stress levels and reduce your anxiety, which is brilliant as we don’t need that! Now walking generally, improves your cognitive function and memory, which is important for all of us, no matter what your age. And this will make you feel more focused, having less physical tension and feeling lighter. So that gets my vote.

Help You Improve Your Mobility

Now we all need this, again, as we’re talking about improving your joint health. Now I’m someone who has a personal interest in joint health so I was really intrigued to read about this. I mean, you know walking generally is very good for you. It’s about the movement and how it releases all that lovely lubrication, that synovial fluid, in your joints, which is what you want. I was interested to read that specifically around knee joints, walking 10K a day can help to reduce pain, the type of joint pain that you often get with arthritis. And it increases your circulation. So that’s really interesting. Even if you don’t suffer from joint pain, you want to get into a groove of movement in your life that is going to help prevent joint pain, which this actually does. If you do have pain, I know that when you’re in pain you’re thinking, well, I’m not going to walk because I don’t want to push it. Well, it’s one of those things isn’t it….walking is actually going to help you get out of that painful place. So wherever you can, if it is safe for you to do so, then please do.

Are you with me?

Watch the Video Here

Helping You With Healthy Weightloss

This is of course as part of the other things you would do to lose weight. How does it do that? Well its going to get your heart-rate up which is fantastic. Its going to increase how many calories you burn. Also fantastic. So that will support you if you are intentionally trying to lose weight. Also, we often can take walking for granted. But it works specifically a set of muscles that have to be engaged to enable the movement of walking. Maybe when you’re walking you don’t even think twice about how your leg is naturally lifting up your foot and your ankle. Maybe you don’t think about the muscles, the quadriceps that are needed to ensure that your knee joint is moving. All these muscles in your legs, back, core, abdomen, glutes, these are all working and getting engaged. So it’s great for weightloss.

Helping You To Recover More Quickly

So what do I mean by that? Maybe you’re like me and yes you like walking, but you also like to workout, and you like your weight training, or your yoga or your Pilates practice, or all of those. Well walking 10K steps a day can really help to soothe your muscles and prevent soreness, so good quick recovery from a workout. And also it is stimulating your blood flow which is going to carry the nutrients that are needed around your body after your physical exercise. So that’s really important for recovery.

So many good benefits!

I’ve been aiming towards 10K steps a day for a little while now and it helps if you can monitor your step count. Whether you have an app on your phone or one of these things that I have on my wrist which can also monitor your heart rate. And I love it. I love how I feel. And its exciting. It becomes like a bit of a game. You’re checking how many steps you’ve done so far, and maybe its lunchtime and you’ve hit 5000 steps, and you’re thinking ooh where can I get some more steps. Your body is going to thank you for it, and if you are physically able to do so, you might want to check this out.

So there you have it.

I’d love to hear how you get on.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

3 Little Known Factors That Could Affect Your Friendships

Have you ever felt guilty about your friendships? Thinking that you’re not great at keeping in touch with friends, or because of your hidden disability, you have had to cancel so many plans with friends at the last minute and disappointed friends? Perhaps you’re feeling like you’re not really a very good friend? It just bothers you.

Well my friend, this video is for you!

I am a big fan of Brendon Burchard. I love the way he teaches and it resonates with me. I was listening to one of his talks on friendship, and it really struck a chord with me. I was thinking that this is something that I struggle with, and carrying around that guilt, trying to understand how I can do better, and where to put your energies. It’s important to be able to let go of the stuff, the heaviness that defeats you. And sometimes carrying around guilt, just adds to the heavy baby!

Brendon talked about putting friendships into three categories, to help you manage them better and say adios to the guilt. It really helped me, and as I share my takeaways, I hope they help you.

Let’s dive straight in.

Old Friends

So here we’re talking about friends you have had from a long time ago. Friends from the past (not old as in age!), maybe from school or from old workplaces. Friends who you may not have been in touch with for a while, but you have some good memories about those friendships. What I learnt from Brendon when he was talking about this group of people, is that actually, it is okay to have peace with letting go of friendships because they have lived out their timing. People come into our lives, sometimes for a season or a particular time, and we can have a lot of guilt about that like, ‘why didn’t I keep in touch?’.

Sometimes the fact that you haven’t kept in touch, is a bit of an indicator of where you’re at, and whether or not those friendships still have value for you. So I encourage you to think about that in your life. If you have friends in this old friends category, you have permission to just be at peace, and let go of that guilt of not staying in touch. It is important to embrace and give thanks for those wonderful memories that you have with them, but let go of the guilt. Are you with me?

Watch Video Here

Maintenance Friends

These are the kind of friends that you maintain. So this is like friends that you might be in touch with once or twice a year. Actually, in all honesty, maybe some of your family, extended or immediate, might fall into this category. Maybe you send them a birthday card, or Christmas card, and when you do connect, it’s great. ‘How are you doing? What’s new with you? It’s really lovely to speak with you’, and you can feel joy for that person. And it’s okay. It’s fine if you have friends in this category.

Growth Friends

So these are people that you have a real heart connection with. You just ‘get’ them. You love being around them. And you do kind of grow together. So you want to have regular contact with these friends, whether that is speaking each week, each month, or maybe daily! These friends might be your besties, if you have them. They might be friends that you just deeply resonate with and you have such deep laughter with. You want to give a commitment to nurturing that friendship because these are people that you’re going to grow with.

Brendon said a number of things about this category that I found really interesting. It might be that you’re really fascinated by friends in this category. Perhaps you’re loving their personal development journey and you’re inspired to become a better person yourself. Perhaps you both bounce ideas off each other, with that level of connection. Perhaps you have deep trust for them and you may confide in them in a way that you wouldn’t with anyone else. You respect their journey and you understand what goals they are working towards.

Then of course your attitude will be completely different for these friends. You want to prioritise making the time to have some good quality connection. You want to put it in the diary when you’re going to meet up, and to create new experiences together. And there shouldn’t be any guilt here, because you’re aligning yourself with these friends, and consciously putting in the time to be with, and to grow together.

Food for thought?

Maybe this might resonate with you and give you permission to let go of that guilt you’ve been carrying. To feel a bit lighter about the people that you haven’t kept in touch with and perhaps have a different point of reference for how you relate to friends and people in your life.

So over to you. I encourage you to take this opportunity to do a bit of soul-searching of the friendships in your life. Perhaps get your journal out and really work through this. Take an inventory of your friendships. The answers you get may be illuminating. You move through different seasons in your life, and so your friendship desires also change.

I’d love to hear how you get on.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

How Do You Do Low Impact Exercise?

If you are someone living with a hidden disability like me, or you have other restrictions to your mobility, or to your physicality generally, be that permanently or coming in ebbs and flows, then this video might be of value to you.

I don’t know about you, but exercise has always been a little bit of a tricky situation to navigate and manage. There are certain triggers for my hidden disability where excessive exercise or excessive cold, can trigger a painful episode. Sometimes exercise can be the trigger for the trigger!

However, low impact exercise might be something you want to consider if you haven’t already, because you’re looking at exercise that is still going to have great benefits to your health, but with minimal negative impact and stress on your joints and sometimes muscles. So this may be an area of exercise you wish to explore.

Remember that you should always listen to your body, and even with low impact exercise, if it is causing you pain or harm then you probably shouldn’t be doing it and you might want to consult a medical professional for specific advice.

So I have 4 ways that you may want to explore plus 1 extra option that I think is fun with a high ‘feel-good’ factor.

Watch the Video

Walking & Power Walking

The wonderful thing about walking, if you are physically able to do so, is that you can control it quite easily, and you can do this within your home, in your building, or outside. It is an immediate feel-good exercise and shifts your mood. It can help you to manage your weight, it is really good for your balance and coordination, and you can make it more strenuous if you wish by going up a hill, or an incline. You may decide to invest in a treadmill for the long-term, or maybe you have lots of spaces outside where you can walk. Even if you live in a built up area, I think walking is a great, immediate, low impact exercise to consider as part of your regular routine.

Pilates

Over the years this has become my favourite go-to low impact exercise for my body and my mind. There are so many benefits for you including building your core strength, improving your alignment, improving your breathing and your breathwork, and depending on how you use pilates, there can be a cardio element too which is great for your heart health. If you are physically able, I would encourage you to try pilates. I first found out about pilates over a decade ago when I was researching how best to rehabilitate after surgery, and I also found out about an actual machine called a Pilates Reformer, so it can be as gentle as you want or as advanced as you want. My muscles and body respond so well and I’m super grateful. Perhaps this could work for you too?

Cycling

So this is mostly low impact but perhaps not for everybody. Great that you can do it indoors or outdoors if you are physically able. It is non-weight bearing and is generally low impact. If you have an issue with your knees, or specifically joint health around your knees is very important to you, you may want to get some advice before you start as some people can find this very challenging on the knees.

Swimming

This can be a wonderful exercise for you if you are physically able, or if you have help with managing your hidden disability and you can go to swimming classes with someone else in the water with you. That can also be quite wonderful. Yes it is low impact exercise, but it can also give a resistance training element with the resistance of the water and the different strokes you’re using. If like me you have a hidden disability that can be triggered with hot and cold temperatures, then you may want to do a bit more research and have a little think about that. So it depends on your circumstances.

Dancing and Moving Freestyle to Your Favourite Music (Loud)

So I love this! Though it isn’t technically a sporty exercise, but the feel-good element is really high. So you whack on your favourite music or some thumping music, nice high volume, and just dancing, moving your body, moving how you are able. Sure, you would have to have a think about how you might make this a regular activity so that you have the impact you desire. However, this can become a great way to instantly change your mood and change your state and you get a bit of a sweat on, which is so good for you. A great tool to have up your sleeve.

So enjoy yourself, exercise safely and I look forward to hearing how you get on.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

Two Breathing Exercises To Increase Your Oxygen Levels

Have you ever given some thought to your breathing, and whether you’re actually breathing properly? Or perhaps wondered if you could improve your oxygen flow in the blood? Your breathing is an important foundation and baseline for your health. Whether you have a hidden disability like I do, or you describe yourself as someone of good health, it is so important to maximise the flow of oxygen in your blood, replenishing your organs and your body.

Before we get into it, let’s picture your lungs. Maybe refresh your memory of your school biology lessons! They are vaguely triangular in shape, with the bottom of your lungs being wider than the top part. So your lung capacity is greatest at the bottom of your lungs.

If when you breathe, your chest (and shoulders) is going up and out, chances are you’re not breathing correctly. Most of us aren’t breathing correctly. By breathing into your chest, you may not be maximising the expansion of your lungs and end up with far shallower breathing than your lungs are capable of.

So the first breathing exercise is diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing. Your diaphragm is sort of like this immense band of muscle across your abdomen. When that muscle pulls downwards, it allows the bottom of your lungs, the widest part of your lungs, to fully expand and let more air into your lungs. When you inhale by blowing or pushing your belly out, your diaphragm pulls down and you let air fully enter your lungs. Yes eventually your chest rises slightly, but the action is coming from your belly first. Are you with me?

I know it takes a little tweak in your mind of this action that is mostly involuntary, but with a bit of practise it’ll become much easier. You are also teaching your body a tool to use to reduce anxiety and reduce stressful situations, so keep practicing.

The second breathing exercise is power breathing. So this is really simple to remember but it is so impactful and well..powerful!

So you’re going to take 10 power breaths three times a day, or more, but you’re taking the breaths in a particular ratio. And the ratio is 1:4:2. So you inhale for 1, you hold your breath for 4, then you exhale for 2. So let’s say for example that you decide to take an inhale for 8 seconds. Then using the ratio, you would hold your breath for 32 seconds. Then you would exhale for 16 seconds. Are you with me?

And this is great because you’re bringing some intentionality into it, so it’s like a technique you can use. You can use it regularly to punctuate your day and get some extra oxygen circulation in your blood, but you can also use this as a technique for when you’re in an anxious or stressful situation. Perhaps you’re in a great deal of physical pain, or a painful episode as a symptom of your hidden disability. It can be a great tool to move you forward through your experience of pain.

Or perhaps you’re in a never-ending queue to get on an airplane, or feeling frustrated in heavy traffic, or whatever it is that is causing your stress or worry. Use the power breathing 1:4:2 to help your body move through the situation.

I think these are great tools to empower you in your health and nourishment journey. I’d love to hear how you get on.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

What Everybody Ought To Know About Sauna Bathing

So maybe like me you always figured that there were benefits to spending time in the sauna, because it feels so good and you feel more relaxed, and it’s gotta be great for your skin right?

Well, there is SO much more to know about the benefits to your health with regular sauna bathing.

I recently listened to Dr Rhonda Patrick speak at a live event, and then went on to read some of her articles, and I’m totally blown away by the research she shares and collates about the HUGE benefits to your health from regular hot sauna bathing.

In this video, I share some of the benefits that really resonated with me, however there are so many other benefits so I would encourage you, if this resonates with you, to check out Dr Rhonda Patrick and her findings to get all the specific details. In the meantime, let’s dive straight in!

Video

Again, for the specific details on temperatures, duration and frequency of use, as well as guidance on seeking medical advice before sauna use if you’re pregnant and if you’re on medication, make sure to check out Dr Rhonda Patrick’s information. I have highlighted 7 big impact benefits that resonated with me, and talk about these more in the video. They are:

Heavy Metal Detoxification

Dr Rhonda sets out how there are naturally occurring metallic elements that are toxic or poisonous and we absorb them routinely and regularly into our bodies (how nice!) such as arsenic in agricultural products, substances in cigarette smoke and car exhaust fumes, lead in toys, mercury in dental amalgam and in a lot of the fish we eat. Well if you know me, you know I’m a fan and follower of the Medical Medium teachings about removing the deep seated toxic heavy metals in our bodies, so I was excited to read that regular use of hot saunas can help facilitate the excretion of some heavy metals through heat acclimation and sweat. Result!

Helps Support Muscle Mass Maintenance

Heat acclimation through hot sauna use can help support muscle mass maintenance after muscle atrophy, often seen in injuries, or sometimes in hidden disabilities, like mine, after extended extreme episodes of pain. This was a welcome surprise for me when I read it.

Depression

Hot Sauna use has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression. Wow! Worth a read of her research on this.

Improves Mental Focus and Attention Span

Research has shown that hot sauna use supports an increase in the 2 key hormones responsible for cognitive and mental function. This is great news, right?

Inflammation

Chronic inflammation occurs on a cellular level in response to toxins and other stressors and is often invisible. It plays a key role in the development of chronic illnesses, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Hot sauna use regularly helps to reduce inflammation. Fantastic?!

Helps Prevent Cardiovascular Disease!

Lowers Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia!

I encourage you to consider how you might bring this practice into your life, if appropriate for you and of course considering your hidden disability.

I look forward to hearing how you get on.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

How Decluttering Can Improve Your Life – 3 Emotional Benefits

Hmmmm, decluttering! Not a word that everyone likes. I’m a big fan however, for many reasons. In this video, you’ll learn how decluttering can improve your life, by looking at 3 emotional benefits of decluttering.

Your living space and enjoyment of your everyday is impacted by the flow of energy and space around you. Of course there are wonderful physical benefits to decluttering, but there are some important emotional benefits of decluttering which you may appreciate just as much. Let’s dive straight in.

Video

Giving yourself a fighting chance to better deal with your everyday challenges.

Life is always going to throw you curve balls and problems. We are defined by how we then deal with the problems thrown at us. Why wouldn’t you want to equip yourself as best as you can to better deal with it all? One thing decluttering does is clearing the decks so you have more space and energy available. Having a life full of stuff – takes away energy from where you need to direct it most. I like to see it as part of your preparation for living your life well.

Helping you to simplify your life, to make it feel lighter and less burdensome.

Ever since I adopted this philosophy for myself, I’ve only seen good things that come out of removing obstacles that do nothing but detract from my enjoyment and my peace of the everyday. There are so many benefits to living simply and living lightly and decluttering is a part of that. There are so many examples, and I go into a few in the video.

My spiritual emotional health and the idea of being able to create space, physical space where I can be much more open to experiencing the divine presence around me. Think of the last time you went to a church and lit a candle, or to a yoga studio and the feeling you got, the last time you went to a gallery or museum, and that sense of openness and space. You can create that in your own space, it doesn’t matter how small or big your living space is. It makes it harder to be able to fully enjoy your space and present moment with all the clutter around you. It takes away from your physical space and the flow of good energy.

A fourth bonus, if you are like me with a hidden disability, the whole concept of simplifying your life is multiplied by a million, getting rid of the clutter will immediately make you feel better about yourself, directly connected to how well you can show up that day and give yourself the best possible chance to win and thrive in your life everyday.

I’m excited for you on your journey. I’d love to hear how you’re getting on!

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

How To Build Self Confidence – 7 Ways

Do you say to yourself, ‘I wish I had a bit more confidence’, ‘I feel as though I could express myself better if I knew how’, or ‘I just don’t feel confident enough to do xyz’?

Well, you’re not alone! In this video, you’ll learn about helpful ways on how to build self confidence, which is a challenge for so many people. The good news is that this is a skill that can be learnt and practised! So you can learn how to increase your confidence levels.

So let’s have a look at how we can get you started on the road to building self confidence.

Video

  1. Identify where your lack of self confidence is coming from. This first step will help you focus on the most important area(s) to work on, and also you’ll be able to replace that problem area with more positive thoughts and reinforcement. Take a little bit of time and honesty to get to the root problem if you can. Journalling can be a great way to get to the nub of this.
  2. Aligning with your true self and true desires. We all have ideas of who we should be, what we should look life, how we should sound etc and letting go of that picture to an extent and focusing on who you are, just as you are. Your authentic self.
  3. Emotions are temporary and don’t last – the fearful feeling that you have and you get, it will have its peak and then run its course. It doesn’t last. So as the famous book says ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. It will get easier. Please don’t let your fear stop you from stepping into your light.
  4. Cultivating self compassion – often we are so hard on ourselves, I know I am. At times we need to tune into that beautiful inner voice of compassion for ourselves, and allow ourselves to grow and build confidence. So be forgiving and congratulate yourself for taking steps forward, no matter how small.
  5. Standing up to your own inner critic – Oh my goodness, isn’t the inner voice responsible for so many naughty things! Knowing how to control it – its not that you’ll stop the thoughts, but its like what Eckhart Tolle says about acknowledging that inner voice, and saying okay I see you, I hear you, I’ll give you your 5 mins of fame, but then I’m going to squish you (my word)!
  6. Taking a break from social media – I think this can be quite useful, as there is a tendency for us, at those times when we are feeling really low in confidence, and it could be just one post you see of someone else’s life, that could send you into a downward spiral or a place where you start to self sabotage and undermine your good work and progress.
  7. What is within your sphere of influence? What are the things that you can do? As you are doing things that you directly control, you’re gonna start feeling more confident. And as you are building confidence, you are in fact building even more confidence!

I’m excited for you on your journey. I’d love to hear how you get on!

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/

3 Mindset Tips On How To Manage Pain (Hidden Disabilities)

In this video, you’ll learn about 3 mindset tips (also practical tips) to help you, when you are experiencing serious or chronic pain, perhaps as part of your hidden disability. Millions of people just like me, all around the world, have a hidden disability where one of the symptoms involves experiencing varying levels of pain and so finding ways to manage pain, or tips on how to manage pain, are so important for your lived experience and journey of life.

So let’s dive straight in. I explain a bit about how my hidden disability manifests itself in my body and in my everyday to give you some context.

First up – Lose the Warrior !

A lot of people have this attitude towards pain, where you’re in fighter mode, like you have declared a war on your pain. And your language changes and your mindset reflects this too. I used to feel that way as I thought it was the only way to get through my agony. However, I have since found that this consumes so much of my energy and actually can work against me and become counter productive.

So I moved from that to trying to view the pain episode and embracing it as a part of my journey and relationship with pain. This involved having a real acceptance, in the moment, in that moment of pain, almost like a letting go. Almost like I’m distancing myself a little bit. I know some people are programmed to fight against the word ‘acceptance’ or ‘surrender’, but I have found that there is a real strength in that.

Next – Focus on getting over the bridge!

Focussing on moving to the next point. Maybe if pain is a regular part of your life as part of your HD, you will know that there are times when the pain is SO severe. And rather than focusing on the slightly longer term things (like will I have to take time off work? will I need to go into hospital? what will I do with all the food I just bought in the fridge?),

just focus on the next moment thing (okay I’ve just taken some strong pain relief which should kick in in about 20 mins, let me focus on my deep breathing and try to calm down for the next 10 mins and reassess). And ONLY focussing on that. Condensing your focus within the pain just on the next moment. Getting over to that next point, over the bridge.

Lastly – Single person Ninja Strategies! Time to get smart!

Maybe you’re like me and millions globally who live alone. If you have a HD and have a long-term relationship with pain and have to manage your pain, then you do need some ninja strategies, to make this whole process as simplified and empowering as possible for you. What do I mean by that? Well we’ll need a bit of planning, a bit of preparation.

Knowing at what point is the final point where I absolutely will need to get help, call an ambulance etc. Also, being quite organised in what you’re going to need and when. So where is your key room at home, where you know that if you’re going into a painful episode, that is your go-to place, because that is where you have all your stuff within easy reach.

Where you’ve got extra blankets, access to your water bottle, your tv remote for those comedies to help you get through your painful episode, where your phone is fully charged, easy access to the toilet an/or kitchen for when your pain hits a plateau and you can finally stand upright and hobble about – whatever you need!

Also planning your hospital bag ready to go, should the worst happen and your home pain management can’t cut it in this instance because the pain has spiked and suddenly it has become an emergency.

It really is about a marathon, rather than a sprint! So the thing is to help yourself get through this time, as tomorrow is another day with more life to enjoy.

This is just a little dip into the pain management conversation. More to follow. I’d love to hear from you if you have a hidden disability and/or have other strategies that you use.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this then hit the ‘FOLLOW’ button, COMMENT letting me know what was your biggest takeaway, and tell a friend!

If you’d like to watch more videos then hit the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ button on my YouTube channel so we can journey together. I’d love to hear from you.

Many people ask me to share what health, wellness and beauty products I use. Instead of listing out each item individually here on the blog, I made a list of my Top 20 favourites, the ones I personally love and use here linktr.ee/tessafyffe

To get my great tips about having healthy glowing skin download my FREE Get The Glow Guide https://tessafyffe.com/glowguide/