I didn’t sleep well last night. I woke up at 3:30 and never fell back asleep. I woke up thinking about Christmas gift ideas and then I had a hard time shutting my brain off. So I knew when I got out of bed this morning around 6:30, today was going to have to be a chill day at home. Plus it was a rainy, damp, chilly day which is when my fibro body aches and fatigue are worse. I started my day by going to gentle yoga. It was hard to get there because part of me just wanted to stay in bed, but I was so glad that I went. We did some gentle stretching poses to help prepare for backbends. Most of our poses were done using the chair. On my way home from yoga, I stopped by the knitting store so I could pick up yarn for a Christmas gift. After that, I was beat! I just wanted to curl up on the couch. I have a confession to make, I didn’t even change out of my yoga clothes (before you say, “Ewww. ..gross!”, remember I went to gentle yoga.. I didn’t sweat at all). After heating up a bowl of lentil soup (leftovers from last week), I took a nap. Besides taking my dog out for quick walks, I pretty much stayed in and rested today. I watched some tv, emailed, knit, read, and snuggled with my dog. Even with all the resting I did, I still feel like I did too much.
Hopefully, I’ll sleep better tonight. Sleep is so crucial. When I don’t sleep well, the little energy that I have is minimized even more and my symptoms (headaches, body aches, sore throat) get worse. So frustrating! But that’s just my reality. I have days where I just need to veg out and rest up in my comfy yoga clothes and slipper socks and drink lots of tea. It’s just funny because not once did I think that at 31, I would be going to gentle yoga with all the grandmas, knitting, and then taking a nap. I guess sometimes you just had to laugh and make the most of what life brings.
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (Thank you Good Earth tea!)
HI, Amanda -
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment. It's nice to "meet" you! You and I aren't too far from each other - I live in NJ.
Sorry to hear you are living with this crazy illness, too, but I'm so glad you asked me about sleep. Correcting the sleep dysfunction of CFS is critical because - as you've noticed - poor quality sleep affects EVERYthing else.
Here's a post I wrote on treating sleep dysfunction - these treatments really work and it makes such a difference:
http://livewithcfs.blogspot.com/2009/09/treating-cfs-sleep-dysfunction.html
I hope that helps a bit - I look forward to getting to know you better.
Sue
P.S. I'm so impressed you are able to manage a full yoga class (even gentle) outside of the house! I usually stick with a yoga DVD at home with mostly lying down or floor poses.
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking out my blog! It's nice to meet you too!!
I just read your post on sleep! That would explain why Ambien doesn't really do the trick for me. It helps me fall asleep, but I still wake up early. I usually sleep between 4-7 hours a night. I really struggle with shutting off my brain. Also, my cortisol levels for some reason go up at night, which also causes issues.
I love my yoga studio. I found a great teacher who is very familiar with my health needs. It's a small class and she always goes around to check on everyone. I like to go to class because it gets me out of the house and is social (even if everyone in the class is much, much older than me) and at the studio I have access to all the yoga props-- bolsters, chairs, blankets, straps, etc. I still try to do a few gentle yoga poses at home each day. My favorite is Viparita Karani!
Thanks once again!