#fibrolife

Accepting myself, even the parts that hurt me, has been a struggle. But I'm trying.

Edit : including an image description that mod bright at @accessfashion did!

[image description: a thirteen panel comic about chronic pain in the artist’s legs.

First, black text reads: “sometimes all of the pain just gets too much”.

Beneath the panel show a pale person sitting and holding onto their thigh with both hands.

Second, text reads: “and I begin wishing that I could just exchange my legs for better ones”.

Panel shows a red book labeled “legs”.

Third, text reads: “maybe I could have a mermaid tail instead”.

Panel shows the book open to pages that show a fish tail and a text bubble that says “so many options”.

Fourth, text reads: “it would be beautiful, and I could spend all my time swimming”.

Panel shows a pale mermaid swimming away, surrounded by sea life.

Fifth, text reads: “but then I wouldn’t be able to leave the water…”

Panel shows a pale centaur facing away from the camera.

Sixth, text reads: “a centaur body would give me twice the number of legs, and I go anywhere I want without a car”.

Panel shows the book with a rearing centaur, but fine print reads: “caution: can’t fit in small areas such as elevators and household doorways”.

Seventh, text reads: “I guess maybe not everywhere”.

Panel shows faun legs with a bubble that reads: “smaller than a centaur! Very nimble!”

Eighth, text reads: “goat legs would be smaller, and I could prance about”.

Panel shows a pale faun standing facing away from the camera.

Ninth, text reads: “but I don’t think I could handle all the extra fur…”

Panel shows snake tails with a bubble that reads: “slithering is the new walking!”

Tenth, text reads: “a snake tail would be really comfortable to sleep with”.

Panel shows a Naga curled up with their tail falling into their face.

Eleventh, text reads: “but I would probably get myself tangled up.”

Panel shows the legs book closed again, next to a boba tea and a cat’s paws.

Twelfth, text reads: “maybe I’m just too picky”.

Panel shows pale legs extended in a bathtub full of pink water.

Thirteenth, text reads: “or maybe I should accept my legs the way they are, pain and all”.

Panel shows the pale legs bent at the knee, a black cat curled up beside them, and two bottles of pills sitting beside them.

“That’s fibro.”

“Endo.”

“Migraine.”

“Ooh, hyper mobility it’s been a while.”

Take care of yourself as if you would an ill loved one. You deserve that cozy blanket, with the good show, a hot bath and that warm cup of tea.

Be kind to your body and what love it can manage to give you today and what love you can manage to give it.

Yoga is a wonderful option for some pain relief with Fibromyalgia and chronic pain in general. Yoga can help release tension from cramped up and tense muscles. Yoga is also a great stress buster and helps to reduce those feelings and effectively relax our nervous system. If you’re like me, high intensity workouts hurt me more than help me - being able to ease into each yoga pose slowly and be able to hold it for as long as it feels good for you and your body helps you feel both relaxed in your muscles and energized in your mind.

I like to curate a morning and evening yoga routine with the few practices I keep in my back pocket for those extremely high pain days.

Here’s a few yoga poses I suggest to help release some of that fibromyalgia tension and pain most of us experience:

1. Childs Pose - This asana helps to calm the mind.

It also gives a good stretch to the arms, shoulders, back, and hips.

2. Legs up the wall pose - By taking the weight off your feet, this pose helps relax the muscles of the hips and legs.

It relieves you of fatigue, a major symptom of fibromyalgia.

3. Cobra Pose - This pose helps flex the upper and middle back, another main affected area in fibromyalgia.

It also helps strengthen the arm muscles.

It helps improve blood circulation to various parts of the body.

It reduces fatigue; you feel deeply relaxed as you open up your shoulders and chest.

4. Bridge pose - This gives you a deep stretch to your back and wards off fatigue.

It also helps calm the nervous system so you feel less anxious.

It strengthens the back muscles, a possible tender point in those suffering from fibromyalgia.

5. Corpse Pose - It calms the mind and reduces both stress and fatigue.

It relieves headaches and sundry pains.

It helps you sleep better at night.

It may take you some time to get adjusted to these poses and how they feel for you but I advise to at least try them once, once a day, even just for 30 seconds. You’ve got this and most importantly…always listen to what your body needs from you. There’s no shame in having to adjust for ourselves and what we need to feel better in our bodies. Take care everyone 🦋

Ps. I posted some photos of each pose in the comments from google..each picture has the name of the pose underneath it. 🪬 and I also included a photo of my adorable yoga partner, my doodle who loves to join me on my mat everyday.

Think of those things we are grateful for❤️