Welcome to Phoenix Rising!
Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.
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How many irritations CFS sends your way...this is what really got me with CFS. I was not under undue stress when I got ill - I was actually doing very well. I was enjoying the forest immensely..I felt I had found my niche.....I was exercising regularly and feeling great - and then everything just imploded and rather quickly as well. I can chart it over one quarter - I was getting superb evaluations on my papers during the first 2/3rds of the quarter and by the end I was just holding on...I could barely walk down the street without pain.The thing I have noticed most after so many years of practice is just how challenging living with Chronic Illness is. I mean we all know that. But sitting for hours- in total stillness- and watching the subtlest of internal reactions bubble up- gives you an appreciation for just how many irritations CFS sends your way. At the most subtle and subconscious levels we are under constant assault from our bodies and psyches.
I have thought this for years..........I am certain that when this thing gets cured, we will emerge as healthy individuals who are so mentally tough- nothing will bother us.
What really caught my eye about Full Catastrosphe Living and MBSR is that it grew out of his work with the most difficult problem of all - severe pain....His mindfulness techniques were developed for people for whom pain drugs were not working - a horrifying thought really. The fact that they do help these people is a testament to just how powerful these techniques can be if practiced regularly.Also- if you want a great book on the subject of facing illness with mindfulness try "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
That's who I'll be doing my MBSR teaching training with in June. He's the best in the world.
EST is now the Landmark Forum. Lets just say that many people from all walks of life and different experiences have benefited from it and I would encourage anyone, sick or healthy, to check it out if they are inclined in that area (and if you do tell me how it goes).
Hey Cort,
This is Julie (from Planet Thrive). I did a whole bunch of Landmark Forum workshops in NYC back before I had MCS, and was "just" recovering from severe mercury and arsenic poisoning. This is going back about 8 or 9 years. I loved it at the time, and it was life-changing and very helpful for me. But I just wanted to mention, that I went in thinking I was pretty emotionally open and self-reflective, but felt as though I was going to have a heart attack from the strain of repression/resistance I went through during the process. That was in the Forum. In another workshop, I nearly had a nervous breakdown. I think I had the toughest time out of everyone in the whole class. Did you feel the process strained your health at all? I just wanted to warn people that it can be very emotionally/physically taxing. But also amazingly rewarding. I could never go again now due to my MCS.
From a human interest point of view, I found the workshops fascinating, especially the Forum. Every Forum leader is different, but I loved the style of mine. I saw people look 20 years younger overnight from dropping emotional weights in that workshop, it was truly miraculous.