Well folks, it’s been an incredible, life-changing six months!  I just returned from Isis Physical Therapy at Renew and boy, I really had it brought home to me just how much my pain level, energy level, flexibility, and overall health have improved! Dr. Kevin gave me a great PT session this morning  & continued to loosen the muscles in my pelvis, hips, & glutes.  Then Adam totally kicked my be-hind one more time–for 1-1/2 hours!!!

What a difference from the first time I was there & I couldn’t gently pedal the stationary bike for one minute without stopping to put my head down to prevent myself from blacking out! I’m sure glad Dr. Hedayat was able to discover the root causes of  my ‘mystery fatigue’ & help me with this & my fibromyalgia.

I didn’t realize at first how much these health issues were preventing me from exercising–which is a crucial part of pain management for me (with fibromyalgia, three broken lumbar vertebrae, & scoliosis).  It also felt great to see my slimmer, more athletic shape in all those mirrors today!  Feeling great is the best reward but it’s nice to have the little ego-boos along the way too!

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Actually, I think my post from Thanksgiving says it all: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/for-this-i-am-truly-thankful/

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I had no idea when I began this journey how my life would be forever changed by this experience. As I’ve said before, I hope that you take away some tidbits that are helpful to you in your life–hopefully from all of us who were part of this Challenge.

I do hope you’ve found my journey especially inspirational, so I’ll leave you with some early posts when I was struggling with motivation & trying to establish new habits.

May you and your loved ones have a peaceful, prosperous, happy and healthy New Year!

~~Dawn

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My poor health had a major impact on my ability to interact with my family: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/reality-bites/

Beginning my coordinated health plan at Renew: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/yay-progress-d/

My 51st Birthday, and my test results which have profoundly effected my outlook: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/life-the-universe-everything-or-i-want-another-50-years-please/

Setting tough priorities for health & time management: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/workin-it/ http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/yikes-where-does-the-time-go/

Learning to adjust my thinking for healthy living & stress management: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/finding-the-one-who-is-not-busy/

As I get up this Thanksgiving morning I do as I’ve done every morning since I began ABC10′s Half-Year Resolution Challenge:  I stop to say a prayer of thanks for being part of this fantastic, life-changing event. Clichéd?  Yes, but I honestly mean it from the bottom of my heart.

This opportunity has meant everything to me, and to my family! Being chosen, and partnered with Renew Integrative Health Center, was exactly what I needed, and what I had been praying for. Renew’s  fabulous team of doctors and health practitioners  have given me the tools to:

Overcome my fibromyalgia. Dietary changes coupled with chiropractic, acupuncture, and the correct supplements and exercises, including yoga, have virtually eliminated my symptoms.  It certainly didn’t happen overnight, and I still have mild twinges in my elbows and wrists at times, but for all intents and purposes I consider myself cured.  Super-Yay for me!!

Regain a significant portion of my stamina and strength, and I’m still building! I’m not almost blacking out anymore when trying to exercise and I’m getting stronger and can do more each week.  Last week I went to Julian (in the mountains) and was able to easily walk up and down small hills with no problems!  And the elevation is 4000 feet!! My body is stronger and I carry myself with correct posture again because I have the energy to do so, and my spine is aligned properly.  My pain is 80% less!

Have energy again, with a clear and calm mind. After undergoing the Biology of Function, including in-depth blood tests, exam, & history, the dietary changes and correct supplements prescribed by Dr. Hedayat combined with the pain relief from Dr. Buchel‘s chiropractic adjustments and Dr. Jackson & Dr. Pansky’s physical therapy  have virtually eliminated my symptoms! Discovering my issues with thyroid and adrenal function, my over-worked liver from too many prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and my unhealthy coping mechanisms (sugar + caffeine) have been crucial.  Changing this dynamic has been the key! (In fact, my 8 year-old son just woke up and came in to see what I’m doing.  When he saw my blog he said, “I”m thankful for you getting better!  You’re a much better mommy now because you have more energy to play with me and do all sorts of things!”)  Not much I can add to that except that I’m doing it all caffeine-free and with healthy sweeteners!  Whooda thunk?   ;-D

Discover and address my current risk for cancer. Pre-cancerous levels of abnormal cells were also found as part of my blood tests for the Biology of Function. (I wrote about this and my previous removals of pre-cancerous lesions in my October post, Test Results, or I Want Another 50 Years.) The diet and supplements prescribed by Dr. Hedayat address this issue as well. Hopefully I’ll be here for many years to come to see my family grow and change.  (Maybe I’ll even see grandchildren!)

Have the bonus benefits of dropping excess weight and improving my skin and hair. I’ve dropped 24 pounds, most of it before I was able to exercise very much, and I get daily complements on how healthy my skin looks–no more black circles under my eyes either!  My hair continues to grow back and a significant portion of it is coming back brown, not grey as it did at first.  (Weird, but true!)  Less weight has also helped increase my energy level–I’m not toting it around all day (and my joints thank me too).

Help my family and friends make their own healthy changes. My husband and several of my friends have seen the progress I’ve made and have been inspired to improve their health, beginning with healthier diet and exercise.  My husband is now willing to change his eating habits in ways he wasn’t before (poor cholesterol tests continue to haunt him) so I feel our son will also benefit from a healthier dad!  Yay!  My goal for this next year is to improve my family’s dietary patterns and for us to spend more time outdoors together like we love, but have been unable to do with mom in such poor health.

So, for all these reasons I’m thankful to be chosen as part of ABC10′s Half-Year Resolution Challenge and for my Challenge partners, my team at Renew Integrative Health Center.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime gift I’ve received and I decided on Day One I wasn’t going to waste this God-given opportunity.  I feel I’ve pretty much achieved all my goals (except for the swimming the mile part-brrrrr!!) and  I’m well on my way to going on all-day hikes in the mountains.  I’ll have some maintenance and fine-tuning visits with my team at Renew to continue to stabilize my health and I will continue to cement my permanent life-style changes at home.

I’ve gained all I dreamed I possibly could and for all these things my family and I are truly grateful.  Thank you all for giving me my life back!

So, on with my quest to reduce my ever-present, high-stress levels!  After receiving my test results & diagnosis two weeks ago, I’ve been doing a lot of observation of my feelings of stress, & experimenting with ways to reduce them. I began from my continued assumption I’ve held for umpteen years: That I over-react to my environment compared to ‘average’ people & that I should learn to somehow calm my outlook, and my reactions to the normal, daily stress of life. I’ve been trying for years to find a way to do this & I’ve learned many positive, helpful calming & coping strategies.  But now, armed with the new knowledge of my thyroid & adrenal gland imbalances, I see a major part of my stress has physiological roots which then effect my feelings of stress & anxiety–not the other way around.

I’ve always been a high-energy person but as I’ve gone from my 20s to my 50s, I’ve realized my high-energy swings during each day are then followed by a period of low-energy recovery.  And the high-energy time has gradually become shorter & shorter while my recovery time has taken longer & longer, finally to where I’ve had virtually no base-line energy at all the last 12-14 years or so–& especially the last 5 years!  The only way I’ve been able to get anything done has been from adreneaine boosts that power me along in spite of my fatigue, & I finally wore those out over the last year or two. (I’m sure that stretch of time about 2 years ago where I couldn’t take the time to sleep one night a week–every week–for 11 months was literally my last straw.  I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia about 6 months later.)

This now makes perfect sense to me.  My thyroid has been underperforming so I’ve been exhausted. But I have things to do–that’s life!  So I amp myself up with fear of what will happen if I don’t complete a task, or I use lots of sugar & simple carbs + tons of caffeine.  (Triple-hammerheads anyone?  That’s coffee with 3 shots of espresso to you non-addicted folks.) What I’ve really been doing is setting in motion that feeling of panic!   Bring on that adrenaline!! I’ve become a stupendous procrastinator because I need the adreneline to help me clear my head & get my job done.  Panic–the fight or flight response–is very powerful!  It’s become my hated ally in my daily routine & I see that now because my body has become so worn out I need the feeling of panic just to get myself moving in the morning. I’ve developed an automatic stress/adreneline response to even everyday-life type stresses which is now, thankfully, becomeing out-dated.

Since my diagnosis & ensuing treatment regimin I’ve noticed such a tremendous difference in my energy level & my concentration that I no longer need to rely on kicking my adrenal glands into high gear. I’m guessing that my thyroid level has risen, along with being in better physical shape thanks to the chiropractic work, physical therapy, & acupuncture, & losing 20 pounds from the synergy of my treatment plans.   (Yay me!! Yay Renew!!)

But the most important realization I’ve made this week is the whole adrenaline-addiction thing. In the past, I’ve been either a bump on a log, or a crazy person, rushing around, busy, busy, busy, afraid to stop because I’m afraid if I sit down I won’t get up for a week.  So my biggest challenge now is to stop myself from the habit of busyness & to find a calm center from which to live & work.

I just read thought-provoking article in November’s Yoga Journal (“busyness plan“) where Sally Kempton explores the ideas of addiction to busyness & finding meditation in all work. At first I thought she referred to the ‘zen’-like feeling I’ve found when doing simple, repetitive actions where I can lose myself in the motions & feel centered & calm.  But on closer reading there was so much more.  I was really taken with her analogy of the two monks.  One was sweeping the temple steps & the other walked past & scolded him saying he was too busy & should be meditating, not sweeping.  But the sweeping monk replies, “You should know that there is one inside me who is not busy!” Keller goes on to explain:

“The “one who is not busy” is our own pure Being, the unchanging presence within us that effortlessly connects us with the heart of the universe and and imbues us with the simple feeling of basic all-rightness.  That monk was able to act in time and space from a state of stillness and timelessness, because even in action, he never lost contact with pure Being. Internal busyness comes from the feeling of not having enough time.  When you act with inner focus, it shifts you out of time bind by anchoring you in the place where time is always enough.“

” . . . as you go about your daily tasks, the [yogic meditation] lies in your intention to keep turning to the one who is not busy and to feel [his/her] steadiness, [his/her] detachment, and [his/her] freedom.  You won’t always see [the one who is not busy] immediately, but once you’re committed to looking though activity to stillness, [he/she] starts to find you. Tuning in to the one who is not busy makes your effort, well, effortless.  That’s when action truly becomes [yogic meditation] and you become like an eight-armed action deity, effortlessly multi-tasking with no sense of being busy at all.” [emphasis mine]

That’s what I’ve been trying to find!! I need to re-train my body to function from a place of centered calm, not from adrenaline panic. Since I read Kempton’s article I’ve tried to put this in practice each day–as often as I can remember to when I feel the rush of panic–& the frequency of these feelings makes me aware of just how hard I’ve pushed my body.  It’s like I’ve been at war & now I don’t know what to do now that a secure peace has been negotiated. “The one who is not busy” has definitely been in hiding for years & now I’ve got to find her & coax her out!  Each day when I find that calm place–even for a few minutes–I find Kempton is right.  I do feel calm & centered no matter what I’m doing or the maelstrom that’s whirling about my head and that centered place helps my body stay on a more even energy level, since I’m not burning up energy & depleting my adrenaline stores.

So now I’ll spend the rest of this Challenge & beyond learning a new way of living in my newly-balancing body.  As I continue to heal & gain sturdiness to my health I must retrain the neural pathways of my brain to leave behind the old coping mechanisms of panic & adrenaline & grow new pathways of calm energy that will benefit my physical health (& thus my mental health)  for the rest of my life.  This is getting a little easier because each time I can find “the one” inside me, I’m rewarded with a calmness & peace inside my healthier body that I’ve never known, & it leaves me wanting more.  So I’m motivated even more to seek the calm and avoid the panic.  I think that’s a pretty good trade for life–don’t you?