ME/CFS patient and Buddhist practitioner, Toni Bernhard on How Not to Make Things Worse

[Cort]

Toni explains how to avoid adding an extra layer of suffering to chronic pain and illness. From the blog:

The fact is, sometimes people get sick. Sometimes they develop chronic pain. Sometimes doctors can’t fix them. And sometimes, as a result, people have to make drastic and unexpected changes to their life plans.

When this happens and we get stuck in Want/Don’t-Want Mind, waging a mental battle against the things we don’t control, we double our suffering by adding mental suffering to the physical suffering of the illness.

Check out the blog

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201801/are-you-chronically-ill-don-t-make-things-worse?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+turning-straw-gold+(Turning+Straw+Into+Gold)

I particularly liked this:

It was as if I’d been launching a militant assault on my body with my Want/Don’t-Want mind—even though I had no control over the fact that I’d become chronically ill. Not only was this mental stance not helping with my symptoms; it was making them worse.

 

[Abrin]

Confession time!

I adore Toni Bernhard. When I am in the middle of a flare, I always listen to her audiobooks. They help me to keep my chin up during the long, lonely wait for my body to start working again.

 

[Cort]

Confession time!

I adore Toni Bernhard. When I am in the middle of a flare, I always listen to her audiobooks. They help me to keep my chin up during the long, lonely wait for my body to start working again.

Good confession. I'm really glad you shared that. This disease is soo tough that we all need help - some practices - to help us get through it.