What better month to take a closer look at self love and how it relates to resilience in chronic illness!  

The relationship you have with yourself is the longest lasting relationship you’ll ever have! Make sure that you are pouring into yourself the same support, compassion and attention that you would give a loved one who was experiencing what you are experiencing. And reminder, self-care doesn’t have to mean a lavish or time consuming event - in fact, small, consistent acts of self love are much more sustainable! Every little action counts. 

Tips to strengthen your relationship to self:

• Check how you are speaking to yourself:  
  Notice the tone and the language you use. Notice, don’t judge! And then see if there is room to shift into a more compassionate, gentle tone. For example, replacing the belief that  “my symptoms make me a burden” with the statement “I feel sad that my symptoms make it challenging to spend time with loved ones the same way we used to”.
  
  Remember, we grow and learn so much better when faced with a nurturing environment. The phrase “you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” comes to mind!

• Cope proactively (rather than reactively): 
  Identify ahead of time some things you can do for yourself during moments of challenge. It can be extra helpful to consider strategies that you can access when you have low, medium and high levels of capacity! Self soothing can include joyful activities, rest, or sensory strategies - check out this freebie for some extra tips! (link sensory FND freebie)

• Allow yourself some release:
  This might look like releasing emotion by crying, this might look like releasing pent up energy through dance or other form of movement. 

• Connect with community:
  Identify environments where you feel safe, seen and supported. You might even join a support group or one of our fantastic re+active online communities! Often, verbalizing to your friends/family what specifically they can do to support you is a gift that goes both ways - giving them clarity around how to show up for you, and helping you to feel more supported and seen!  (and PS, our online communities for people with chronic illness and neurological disorders are a great place to find community) 

If this post has spurred some curiosity, we have a wonderful free resource from our psychology team.  3 Nervous System Regulation Strategies for FND.  Go download that guide here!