HOW DO YOU COPE WITH NEGATIVE SELF-TALK?

There is no better way to cope with negative self-talk than to instill new, positive habits of self-talk to replace your old, negative ones. Here are a few tips on how to do this most effectively.

1. Try to practise one or two new positive self-talk messages to yourself every day.

2. Practise these positive messages for at least 2 weeks so that they can become routine.

3. If you falter, don’t beat yourself up. Just keep going the best that you can.

4. Practise loving yourself each and every day, regardless of how you feel. This practise alone can transform your life or pain and hardship.

5. Take the time to do the things that you enjoy and love every day. This will help you feel better about yourself and your disease.

6. After two weeks, try instilling one more positive self-talk habit. Keep reminding yourself of the first two that you already mastered. This should give you some additional self-confidence.

By following these tips, you will be able to more readily cope with bad days because your attitude can do so much for you.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU PRACTICE POSITIVE MESSAGES IN FRONT OF A MIRROR?

Once you have a list of positive messages, it is important to practise them in front of a mirror, even if you still don’t believe them. You must say them as you look at yourself in the mirror.

Keep saying those positive things for at least a few weeks to a month. There is something really positive about saying these positive statements over and over. You will not only feel better about yourself, but you will regain control over your negative feelings.

Here are a few benefits of saying the positive messages in front of a mirror.

1. You will be reinforcing positive messages about yourself.

2. You will be doing things to help yourself live much more positively with the disease.

3. You’ll be able to face your weaknesses with a sense of humour.

4. Your pain levels will probably drop a bit and you’ll feel much more able to do things.

5. You will be able to cope with your disabilities much more readily.

So, try this exercise today. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU JOURNAL?

There are many ways of coping with negative feelings–some of them are positive and some of them negative. For instance, gorging on food when you feel negative emotions, will make you put on needless weight. However, going for a walk can really help.

Another way that you could cope effectively with negative emotions is to journal daily. You may choose to journal in the morning or at night before bed. You may also choose to journal during the day when you start experiencing negative emotions. Either way, you should journal to feel much more in control of your negative emotions and feelings, not only when they come up, but before they arise too.

Journaling has many benefits. It can help you to:

1. Come to terms with negative feelings;

2. Cope with difficult situations.

3. Cope with difficult pain days.

4. Unload all of your feelings and negative emotions in a safe and reliable way.

5. Solve problems that you may have that seem intractable.

So, why not start journaling today. It will really help you cope with the disease a lot more.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU DE-STRESS OFTEN?

Many arthritis sufferers struggle with many difficult aspects of the disease. There is nothing that they can do about having the disease. However, there are things that arthritis sufferers can do to cope with the pain and fatigue.

Stress comes with arthritis like jam goes with toast. When arthritis sufferers feel a cycle of pain that is exacerbate by pain, fatigue, negative feelings, and constant overall discomfort, they will feel like life is an uphill battle. Not only that, but this feeling of overwhelm can make arthritis sufferers feel stressed out and unhappy in the long run.

So, arthritis sufferers have to learn to de-stress. How can we do that consistently? Here are a few tips:

1. Don’t multi-task. This causes needless stress and hardship.

2. Don’t rush. Get to your destination early by leaving early. Don’t run and don’t push yourself to get a more and more done every day.

3. Take time for yourself every day. You may want to just sit and read. Or you may want to watch a wonderful movie. Whatever you do, make sure it’s something that you would love to do.

4. Take three deep breaths a few times a day–say morning, noon, and dinnertime. This will really help you to be calmer and more capable to doing some of the things that you are doing with equanimity and poise.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to successfully de-stress and will be able to cope more effectively with your health and how you feel.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU TAKE BATHS TO RELAX?

There is nothing more relaxing for an arthritis sufferer than to take a bath every night before bed. Not only will it help you sleep, but it will also help you to rest and sleep better.

More importantly, taking a hot bath can help to alleviate your pain levels and stiff joints. You could do a few stretches after you take a bath, and this will give you much more mobility than before. Taking a bath can also help you to feel better about yourself and your life. You may even be able to solve problems while in taking your bath. I know I have.

Here are some additional benefits of exercise.

1. You could relax your mind and spirit.

2. You could get into rest mode.

3. Your joints will loosen up a lot more and you’ll be able to get more comfortable in bed.

4. You’ll clear your mind and heart before bed so that sleep will come naturally for you.

So, take a warm bath tonight an hour or so before bed. Take a deep breath while in the shower and remember you are okay in this moment and you can learn to relax. All you have to do is exhale.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU HAVE A BEDTIME ROUTINE?

Arthritis sufferers may sometimes have a difficult time to stick to a routine. That is because they have days when nothing seems to be going right and when they’re feeling absolutely awful. So, it is difficult for arthritis sufferers to keep to a routine when everything else seems to be an uphill battle for them.

However, getting enough rest is the most important thing that arthritis sufferers can do for themselves. They will not only feel refreshed but they will feel more able to cope with their disease and the pain and disability that ensue. Not only that, research shows that arthritis sufferers who get enough sleep won’t have as much joint wear and tear. And that is all the more reason to make sure that you get enough rest and sleep.

Here are a few tips to keep a bedtime routine.

1. Plan to go to sleep at the same time every night. This is absolutely essential if you want to set a sleep pattern.

2. Wake up at the same time every day–give or take no more than half an hour.

3. Do some relaxing activities before bed, such as meditate, read something relaxing, or take a nice warm bath.

4. An hour or two before bed, don’t watch the news or get into an argument with your spouse. Just try and make sure that you are in a relaxed state so that you could go to sleep.

5. Take a few deep breaths about half an hour before bed. Settle into a chair and just center as best as you can. To center means you should sit and just allow yourself to relax.

6. Refrain from obsessing about the day’s stresses and challenges. Rehearsing them over and over won’t do you any good, and will disrupt your sleep. Instead, tell yourself that you will deal with them tomorrow.

There is nothing better than just laying low before bed. And try to remember that you had a wonderful day, even if everything didn’t go as you first planned.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY? IF YOU DO, THIS BLOG IS FOR YOU!

It is hard to try and go with the flow all the time, especially when you’re in pain and stiff all the time. But unless you cut yourself some slack, you’ll feel overwhelmed and stressed out at all times.

So many times, when we think things are out of control, they really aren’t. It just seems that way because of how we feel about ourselves and the constant pain levels that we are tolerating. Most things are not such a big deal really, even if we think that they are so at the time. We need to take our time and to realize that it’s okay to make errors and it is possible to get beyond them. But we don’t need to beat ourselves up over it.

I know it isn’t easy to put things into perspective all the time. I have a horrible time doing this myself on any kind of consistent basis. But it is essential to actually try to do this. Otherwise, you’ll always feel out of control and stressed. And this will negatively impact your pain levels, fatigue, and overall health.

So, today try not to take things seriously. Try to breathe a lot and not to take things so seriously. You owe it to yourself to live in a stress-free manner. So, take the first steps today to achieve this goal.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU OVERDO IT A LOT AND THEN SUFFER WITH A LOT OF PAIN?

There is nothing harder than learning how not to overdo it. You may feel that you can’t measure up to the person that you used to be before your diagnosis. But that doesn’t give you free reign to overdo it.

In fact, a diagnosis of arthritis means that you have to take it easy and to pace yourself more than ever before. Instead of overdoing it, you have to under-do it, so to speak. What I mean is you should do less than before but not more.

When I was first diagnosed with arthritis, I was quite upset at how easy it was for me to get tired. I just couldn’t face being so slow. And the more I tried to overdo it, the more fatigue I felt, and the more fatigue I felt, the more pain and stress I felt. This sequence made me feel worse and worse.

The problem with overdoing it is that your body will be negatively impacted in more ways than one. You will feel out of place and as if everything is an uphill battle. But most of all, when you will feel stressed out, you may even develop heart palpitations, and you will feel out of control and unhappy. All of these negative emotions will make your arthritis pain a lot worse.

So, take the time today to make sure that you don’t overdo it. Take your time to smell the roses or look at the beautiful sunset, and don’t forget to breathe.

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

DO YOU TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS? IF YOU DON’T, THIS BLOG IS FOR YOU!

Very few arthritis sufferers, when initially diagnosed, know how to adequately take care of themselves. And this is a real shame, because if arthritis signifies one thing, it is that we have no choice but to take care of ourselves from this moment on.

Another way that we could pace ourselves is to take frequent breaks. That means when we start doing something, we don’t need to keep going continuously until we’re exhausted. Instead, we should take a break to refresh ourselves.

Usually, a safe rule of thumb is for arthritis sufferers to take a break every fifteen to twenty minutes of activity, regardless of what they are doing. This helps us to regroup and to take a few really deep breaths. And once we reconvene our activity, we will feel much less stressed and fatigued, which is a win-win scenario for an arthritis sufferer.

How can we remind ourselves to take a break away from our activities? Here are a few tips.

1. Set a timer for twenty minutes and once it beeps, stop and take a breather from the activity.

2. Have someone else, either a co-worker or family member remind you that you should take some time for yourself.

3. Pin up a post-it note in front of you, and look at it often, reminding you to take a break at a particular time. And once that time arrives, take a break.

By following these tips, you could get into the habit of taking a break. Your body will thank you at the end of the day. And you will also be less stressed and fatigued by the end of the day if you take frequent break. So, try it!

Irene S. Roth
Author and Editor

Do you have difficulty slowing down? If you do, this blog is for you!

There is nothing harder than learning how to slow down.  This sounds weird, I know. But it certainly is true for me.

Most individuals who are newly diagnosed with arthritis feel that they can’t just do things differently. To do so is to admit defeat somehow. And that is a real shame because there are ways to make yourself feel better without overdoing it.

One of the ways you can pace yourself is to slow down.  There are many ways that you could do this. Here are a few tips.

1.  Leave earlier if you are going on an appointment. There is nothing worse than to be running late when you can’t move as well as you used to.

2.  Don’t over-book or overextend yourself.  Try to only have one appointment a day if you’re going to see the doctor. That way you could get to your appointment on time.

3.  Do less instead of doing more. Try not to overload your to-do list with ten or twenty items, all of which could frustrate you and make you feel stressed out.

4.  Don’t multi-task. It is best to do one thing at a time. This is especially the case if you’re having a high pain day.

5.  Learn to walk but not run to appointments and errands. This may mean taking more time to do your activities. But this is much healthier for you in the long run anyways.

6.  Schedule rest periods during your day. You may just want to sit down for a few minutes or take a few deep breaths between tasks.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to slow down and take your time to do what you need to. And you will be taking important steps to pace yourself.

Irene S. Roth