I want to preface this message by saying. I’m ok. And my family is ok.
Lately, it seems like I’ve been having a bit of a health crisis. My auto immune condition has been flaring up and my left hip has been giving me pain. If you want to skip my history, move down toward the bottom.
TL;DR: Creating more “evidence” that taking care of yourself feels good is the difference than just saying, “treat yo self” or “self-care.” You need to feel that goodness it brings.
Recently, I had a couple of days where I received a massage, saw my doctor, and then the PT. In between appointments, I handled a few things for my son and his school. It was a full day but a grateful one. At the end of a day of appointments, I felt a fullness in my heart and my soul for the care I was taking of my body and mind. Granted, I was given good news and a plan to work toward.
I’ve had hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s and autoimmune eczema for about 8 years now. I have a lot of experience and now education on auto immune conditions because of my own experience and it waxes and wanes given what the rest of my life is going through.
Stress affects our life so much.
And stress can be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Stress is a natural and expected thing and our bodies are quite resilient. But we’ll still see effects of the stress on our systems.
I’ve been in pain.
My left hip has been bothering me. And while I’ve spent many hours diagnosing it myself, it was to the place where I needed someone to help me. I started physical therapy. I have some theories as to why this is happening but I’m fairly certain my ankle injury almost 3 years ago is playing a big part of it.
The PT is going really well and giving me new information into my body and I appreciate that. I really enjoy my PT because we are both anatomy nerds and I can tell she’s like me with an insatiable curiosity about how the muscles and bones work together. Our sessions are super fun. But the work is not easy and creates new sensations in my body that I wasn’t prepared for.
All this to say, don’t be surprised if some of this new knowledge leaks into our sessions together. It’s been super inspiring. And humbling to know experience what some of you bring to me when you’re in pain.
One of the most important take aways is how this speaks to the Social Nervous System.
We need each other to survive but also to feel better. I could diagnose my hip and try to do my own exercises but pain and tension get in the way of thinking clearly. I’ve done enough research on my auto immune condition that I should know the supplements and nutrition plan to help myself. But having a doctor guide me gave me a sense of ease that I didn’t HAVE to figure it all out myself. And the person to bounce ideas and to ask questions and feel heard. And honestly, the feeling heard part is probably the most healing part of it all.
And I left that day feeling a sense of completion and gratitude for how well I advocated and nourished my body thus giving my soul a big hug. And creating more evidence that taking care of my well being is not only good for prolonging my health and function but also for my mental peace.
More evidence. Where can you find it today? 
Today, I’ll take some sweet couch cuddles with my cat.
