Where it starts
To change habits that have developed and been reinforced over years and years is not easy. Sometimes it can feel like swimming against the tide with family, friends, colleagues, work, life all going against you, not understanding you (or at best going your way just for one journey then hopping off.)
In 2012 just after the closing ceremony of the Olympics my world changed. People say this and some have gone through far worse and it really has a deep effect, others say it and really mean one element of their life changed for a while before returning to something similar to what they had before. I think if you change how you think, respond to others, what you eat, your perception of yourself and your relationship with yourself after a traumatic event then you have probably changed your world, or your world has changed.
I am a mother of a fantastic son, wife to a lovely and quite patient husband, sister to two very strong women (who sometimes don't realise how strong they are), daughter to wonderful parents, my father died in 2014, my mother is an incredible person, (especially over the last 4 years). And I am a teacher. A PE teacher. A self doubting teacher who has been teaching for quarter of a century. And very recently a teacher who, it seems, now has arthritis in many joints and connective tissue.
So how does a teacher of Physical Exercise teach when they wake up, roll over onto their side to get up, feel pain in their hip, stand up to walk to the bathroom and ankles, knees, hips and spine don't want to cooperate? It feels like a long day ahead. But often I lie in bed and before getting up do a Body CALM meditation devised by Sandy Newbigging. Sandy Newbigging He was introduced to me by my older sister-the biggest influence on my sanity, health, common sense anyone can have. She has taken her passion and created Derwenthorpewellgood. So I meditate. Sometimes it's a really cluttered and seemingly unsuccessful meditation, other times it's like a breath of fresh air. Sometimes I wait to go through it with my 11 year old son. Sometimes he's reluctant, sometimes he goes with the flow. Then when I wash my face I do it mindfully and although I am not a fan of the ever increasing wrinkles when I look in the mirror, I love to wash my face and just feel my face and engage with me. It's my way of being kind to myself before the rush starts. Today I woke up at 5am (not part of the plan on my day off) but the time it has given me to listen to at least a dozen birds singing for joy, singing for the sake of singing-is wonderful. Blackbirds and their tuneful song. I'm going to listen and try and count how many different trills and songs I can hear.... That's a lovely mindfulness practice right there.
So then breakfast. Can I take my meditation or mindful approach there? Often not. It tends to be a race, to get breakfast into my son, lunch box made for him, another made for me, my own breakfast then out of the door (maybe I'll put a wash on, maybe I'll empty the dish washer??). But just occasionally I watch the steam from the kettle as it dances, twists and turns.
Then once at school I am the luckiest teacher in the world. My school lets me work with 11-18s, (anyone who wants to or their head of year or tutor has suggested they come along). I deliver the IMPACT Well being course to them. Impact Wellbeing Some self Massage, peer Massage and mindfulness. It's the best way to start the day by far. The students are great. A little unsure sometimes of whether they are doing it right (they are always doing it right) always going out after with smiles on their faces. Sometimes passing on to parents or friends what they have learnt, a wonderful ripple effect from these lovely individuals. I am so lucky. Regardless of how rubbish I'm feeling, how much pain, discomfort or fatigue I am feeling, that half an hour is full of health, warmth and calm. Those students make my day. I wish all students, teachers and school staff could start their day like this. I'm working on it.
Then it's the usual role of any PE teacher. Finding a pair of trainers for the student who has forgotten theirs, registering, hoping the WiFi connection will work outside today, persuading so-and-so to get their kit on........then to get their kit on faster, remove jewellery, hand in that phone they are trying to hide, tie their hair back. To a fit healthy young person this can be taken in their stride. Sometimes when I have struggled to open the door and walk to the gym this can be exhausting. My psoriatic athritis came on quite rapidly in December. The jury is out on this diagnosis being totally accurate but we'll see. After Physio from the aptly named James Goode I can now reach the top of my head to brush my hair, I can get my own clothes on and off again. And I can often cope with the pain despite not being on any medication. (Apple cider vinegar and raw honey, blackstrap molasses, mindfulness, Epsom salts baths, gentle exercise, physio exercises, a 50% Raw Food diet) Treating Arthritis the Drug Free Way But the rapid onset and crashing fatigue that comes along with it is bizarre and hard to deal with at the moment. Finding out that exams have taken over the sports hall again so the indoor lesson now becomes an outdoor lesson half a kilometre away in the freezing cold means that the pacing that I'm recommended to carry out is all undone. And the following day in a classroom-based lesson I grind to a halt, crashing fatigue just wore me out... barely able to walk 5 metres I am wheeled to a car and driven home.
So I am logging my symptoms as part of a national survey but also to look for patterns and ways of helping to make the rough smooth again. https://www.cloudywithachanceofpain.com/
And as we know the days that start so wonderfully don't always go to plan. But they don't have to end there.
That's where it starts....
This was a few years ago in Woolacombe just before the "challenging" North Devon Marathon that I have loved doing but have to put on pause... for now.
In 2012 just after the closing ceremony of the Olympics my world changed. People say this and some have gone through far worse and it really has a deep effect, others say it and really mean one element of their life changed for a while before returning to something similar to what they had before. I think if you change how you think, respond to others, what you eat, your perception of yourself and your relationship with yourself after a traumatic event then you have probably changed your world, or your world has changed.
I am a mother of a fantastic son, wife to a lovely and quite patient husband, sister to two very strong women (who sometimes don't realise how strong they are), daughter to wonderful parents, my father died in 2014, my mother is an incredible person, (especially over the last 4 years). And I am a teacher. A PE teacher. A self doubting teacher who has been teaching for quarter of a century. And very recently a teacher who, it seems, now has arthritis in many joints and connective tissue.
So how does a teacher of Physical Exercise teach when they wake up, roll over onto their side to get up, feel pain in their hip, stand up to walk to the bathroom and ankles, knees, hips and spine don't want to cooperate? It feels like a long day ahead. But often I lie in bed and before getting up do a Body CALM meditation devised by Sandy Newbigging. Sandy Newbigging He was introduced to me by my older sister-the biggest influence on my sanity, health, common sense anyone can have. She has taken her passion and created Derwenthorpewellgood. So I meditate. Sometimes it's a really cluttered and seemingly unsuccessful meditation, other times it's like a breath of fresh air. Sometimes I wait to go through it with my 11 year old son. Sometimes he's reluctant, sometimes he goes with the flow. Then when I wash my face I do it mindfully and although I am not a fan of the ever increasing wrinkles when I look in the mirror, I love to wash my face and just feel my face and engage with me. It's my way of being kind to myself before the rush starts. Today I woke up at 5am (not part of the plan on my day off) but the time it has given me to listen to at least a dozen birds singing for joy, singing for the sake of singing-is wonderful. Blackbirds and their tuneful song. I'm going to listen and try and count how many different trills and songs I can hear.... That's a lovely mindfulness practice right there.
So then breakfast. Can I take my meditation or mindful approach there? Often not. It tends to be a race, to get breakfast into my son, lunch box made for him, another made for me, my own breakfast then out of the door (maybe I'll put a wash on, maybe I'll empty the dish washer??). But just occasionally I watch the steam from the kettle as it dances, twists and turns.
Then once at school I am the luckiest teacher in the world. My school lets me work with 11-18s, (anyone who wants to or their head of year or tutor has suggested they come along). I deliver the IMPACT Well being course to them. Impact Wellbeing Some self Massage, peer Massage and mindfulness. It's the best way to start the day by far. The students are great. A little unsure sometimes of whether they are doing it right (they are always doing it right) always going out after with smiles on their faces. Sometimes passing on to parents or friends what they have learnt, a wonderful ripple effect from these lovely individuals. I am so lucky. Regardless of how rubbish I'm feeling, how much pain, discomfort or fatigue I am feeling, that half an hour is full of health, warmth and calm. Those students make my day. I wish all students, teachers and school staff could start their day like this. I'm working on it.
Then it's the usual role of any PE teacher. Finding a pair of trainers for the student who has forgotten theirs, registering, hoping the WiFi connection will work outside today, persuading so-and-so to get their kit on........then to get their kit on faster, remove jewellery, hand in that phone they are trying to hide, tie their hair back. To a fit healthy young person this can be taken in their stride. Sometimes when I have struggled to open the door and walk to the gym this can be exhausting. My psoriatic athritis came on quite rapidly in December. The jury is out on this diagnosis being totally accurate but we'll see. After Physio from the aptly named James Goode I can now reach the top of my head to brush my hair, I can get my own clothes on and off again. And I can often cope with the pain despite not being on any medication. (Apple cider vinegar and raw honey, blackstrap molasses, mindfulness, Epsom salts baths, gentle exercise, physio exercises, a 50% Raw Food diet) Treating Arthritis the Drug Free Way But the rapid onset and crashing fatigue that comes along with it is bizarre and hard to deal with at the moment. Finding out that exams have taken over the sports hall again so the indoor lesson now becomes an outdoor lesson half a kilometre away in the freezing cold means that the pacing that I'm recommended to carry out is all undone. And the following day in a classroom-based lesson I grind to a halt, crashing fatigue just wore me out... barely able to walk 5 metres I am wheeled to a car and driven home.
So I am logging my symptoms as part of a national survey but also to look for patterns and ways of helping to make the rough smooth again. https://www.cloudywithachanceofpain.com/
And as we know the days that start so wonderfully don't always go to plan. But they don't have to end there.
That's where it starts....
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