Arthritis Management Chart on Scribt

Since I have taken my health more seriously over the years, I have had less and less symptoms…. and pain and today Arthritis is mostly inconvenience. I do mobility exercises, Tai chi and swimming. I also ,use journaling and meditation to live with pain. I discovered with meditation that my own thoughts of anticipating and dreading pain actually make the pain worse.

The tightening of my body do to stress seems to increase symptoms. I have learned to live with my health problems and not fight them… this is a big part of my wellness management.
I have created a simple chart for Arthritis Management. The idea of charting…..

From my Post:
Pennsylvania Echoes::Arthritis and charting Health Problems.

I have come to believe that managing health conditions such as my Arthritis, in which no fix or cure exists: it is helpful to think Holistically.
That is, paying attention to not only the body, but the mind, body, environment, spirit (for those who are spiritual) as they are integral parts of us.
Arthritis physical pain begets mental stress and sometimes depression and vice versa… temperature and dampness can affect both mind and body.

previously I have posted:

arthritis-management-chart
– the PDF  is downloadable for free… click the link  above .

Update:

It is now accessible on Scribd:

View this document on Scribd

other health charts are available on the Charts tab of this blog.

Tai Chi and me

a river current moves water to the river’s mouth with force and energy.
A canoe is moved by its paddler, the energy of paddlers moves the canoe. If the Canoe is paddled up stream on the river, it requires more energy from canoe… Chopping breaking water thrashing

However if the canoe turns and rows with the current of the river, the two forces move together.
Less energy is expelled. Less chopping of the water between the paddles and the water. less resistance between the canoe and the river. The two forces are moving together instead of conflict.

I have started Tai Chi this weekend with the video:

Step by Step Tai Chi with Tiffany Chan.

the trailer for the video.
The video is accessible to a beginner, slowly taking you through the movement repetitions.

My Gestalt therapist suggest investigating Tai chi to me a while back. I have Arthritis through my body and some budging disks in my back. Tai Chi is a low impact form of meditation/exercise with movement.

I do not know a lot about the details of Tai Chi, other than it is away to learn to move with less unnecessary resistance in the body to allow the mind/body to flow together. The art has gained popularity world wide as a form of health and mindfulness exercise.

I do not want to know everything yet. That defeats the purpose of experiential discovery . So I am just following the video and doing the exercises and to being in the movements.

arthritis and re thinking exercise

Its easy for me to pay a painful price of over exercising. With arthritis, bulging and deteriorating in the spinal disks, and sciatica, my physical exercise is limited. I did to much last week. Shoveling snow didn’t help

I played football all through my youth, and a year into college. Exercise meant running up stadium steps, Weightlifting, calisthenics, and foot speed drills. All these exercises are out of the question for me today. Hell walking more than a quarter mile can be too much.

A while ago, my leg went numb and i fell. my back and right side of my body was in pain. Then came the trip to the ER, then the X rays, the MRIs, then pain pills. The constant trips to the doctors that in the end were really just costing me time and money, and i was getting no where. i was in a rut.

I had a difficulty to work through over the last several years: I needed exercise to manage my health problems, but all I knew about exercise actually hampered by health.
I had always done exercise to get stronger faster, get flexible faster. Lots of of pushing and forcing to “bulk up”.

Starting with a pamphlet i picked up about arthritis management at a doctors office, I was exposed to health perspectives on exercise i hadn’t considered before. Balance exercises, toning exercises, beginners yoga .

I learned that exercise can be done without pushing, forcing, or over trying. previously i would be pushing for flexibility in a calf stretch or a hurdler stretch. Today my focus is in maintaining a position such as a hurdler stretch. Feeling my body extend and relax. remembering to breathe with a relaxed but disciplined breath. I place much more emphasis on posture and balance today, then i do getting stronger. surprisingly to me, I have gotten more durable and stronger than i was before i picked up that Arthritis pamphlet.

Today i have a a lot of commitments and responsibilities, just like everyone else. And, because i am human i do stupid things…such a shoveling too much… just like everyone else. Overall i am managing my health as best as i can and doing pretty well. i do not take pain pills today, i count my good fortune at least for now.

Sitting and being with pain

The weather here has been damp. And my pain that shoots through my right side of my body reminds me of my arthritis and nerve problems.
on thursday at work i felt the pain, discomfort.
I reminded my self of a zen proverb on sitting (zazen). it roughly goes: A novice at zazen said to his zenmaster i have been sitting so long i have pain in my back.the zenmaster said, “so be with your pain.”
So at lunch at work, i meditated…

an abbreviated zazen I sat and “i was”. I sat with my pain. Simple being and being with my physical pain.The mind is an odd thing. when i think of the sensations that my arthritis bringing process it. create psychic feelings. I feel resentment towards my pain, then resentment towards myself.
In simple:  A novice at zazen said to his zenmaster i have been sitting so long i have pain in my back.the zenmaster said, “so be with your pain.”….
makes them more tolerable and less distancing.whether i can fully accept my discomfort when it comes, well maybe someday.