Mindfulness and Chronic Illness

Instead of viewing our chronic illness as a disease in your body, choose to view it as an opportunity to join forces with yourself and learn to love yourself — flaws and all.

Meditation and mindfulness can positively influence the lives of those living with a chronic illness or rare disease. Meditation has been studied in populations with fibromyalgia, cancer, hypertension, Ehlers Danlos syndromes, multiple sclerosis, and generalized anxiety disorder.

While earlier studies were small and lacked experimental controls, the quality and quantity of valued research has grown tremendously. Health professionals have demonstrated that mindfulness can be taught in a clinical setting and predict that more and more evidence will grow to support the role of consciousness in the human experience of chronic illness and diseases.

How to get started:

-Get comfortable, and be in the present moment while focusing on your breath. Your breath is your life force and anchor, become one with it.

-Focus on breathing through your nose, lowering your breath into your tummy, and expand your ribcage to the sides. Then slowly exhale through your mouth. Repeat as needed, and practice every day!

Don’t stop if you feel uncomfortable and weird in the beginning, its part of the process. Be persistent and practice often. You will begin to feel more loving and forgiving of yourself. Meditation is a powerful tool for those with chronic illness, and can help you become enlightened and realize that you are so much more than your painful joints, migraine headaches, and fatigue. Happy meditating!

Be sure to consult with your primary care physician or other medical professionals in regards to your medical concerns. This text cannot and should not replace advice from the patient's healthcare professionals. Any person who experiences symptoms or feels that something may be wrong should seek individual professional help for evaluation and/or treatment. This post is informative only.