MS, mindfulness and me – how it helps me

I just meditated

I meditate every day. It is part of practising mindfulness. It helps me giving attention to myself, here and now.

MS hurts

I am ill, very ill. MS hurts and the idea of not being able to do what I want to do / to be who I want to be hurts. But mindfulness and meditating help me to handle these things. MS sucks, yes, and I am happy. I have a great husband, beautiful children and I am living in a beautiful house in a great village and region. Practising mindfulness helps me to be here and now, to experience what is here and now.

Attention to what there is here and now

Many people found their relieve in mindfulness. Since Jon Kabat Zinn introduced the mindfulness based  stress reduction approach (MBSR) many research is done to the effect of it on the well being of ill people and of ‘normal’ people. Mindfulness has its basis in the far east and is finally embraced in the western world. So many people feel well to retrieve and have full attention to your self here and now. I feel relatively well. Or at least mindfulness helps me to stay happy instead of drowning in self pity.

I sleep better!

After reading Gareth’s blog of Everyday Mindfulness I was reminded of the fact that the lack of stress helps me to fall asleep easier too. I had sleeping problems before I knew having MS (I have it for at least 13 years without knowing it). I had sleeping problems before I started practicing mindfulness about 4 years ago. Sleeping problems are one of the symptoms of MS. And fatigue is one too. So luckily I can sleep when I want to now. Nearly as fast as my loved one next to me. He starts to snore immediately after his head hit the pillow. That’s even too fast for me. Perhaps it’s because of the fact that he is being mindful too. It also helps care takers I’m convinced of it.

As long as there is no medicine that helps MS patients to recover we stay ill. I am being helped by giving the right self attention. For now that’s all there is.