Day 15 Tips and Tricks for Sofa Heroes: Wayfinding
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| Help other spoonies find their way to feeling better with The OHC |
Today we're going to quickly mention a mindfulness technique perfected by fellow spoonie and author Martha Beck - living your life according to your inner compass. This concept is deliciously elaborated in Martha's books, Finding Your Own North Star and Steering By Starlight.
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| Wayfinding is how sailors track their course using the stars |
Finding your way in the world when you're chronically ill, especially with some mystery illnesses that modern medicine doesn't understand yet, can be really tricky - and can feel devastating at first when what we expected of our lives is not our reality.
Through her own lifetime of chronic illness and pain, Martha Beck has learned to tune in to her own wellspring of inner guidance that always can help her take the next best step in any given moment. She calls this the inner compass.
In simple terms, your inner compass is your intuitive knowing of what is best for you, where you are being led, and what is the next best step for you right now.
The key to tuning into the inner compass is to become very present - be right here in the now - and ask a simple question that gives you a "yes" or "no" response, or a "yum" or "yuck" response, or as Martha discusses in one of her books, a "shackles on" or "shackles off" vibe - does it make you feel stuck or does it make you feel free.
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| Inner Compass says "YESS!" |
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| Inner Compass says "Nope." |
For those that are familiar with the spoon theory, following the guidance of your inner compass can help you decide how to best use your spoons, and often, when you're moving in the direction of your joy, you may even have more spoons to spend.
If this sounds a bit airy-fairy wuwu to you - for a moment just suspend your disbelief and see it as a completely practical tool for dealing with a difficult moment. You're spiraling out of control worried about not feeling well at work, imagining having to quit your job, imagining losing all your money and becoming homeless, and realizing you're living in a story. Come back to the present moment and ask "Do I need a break right now?" take a breath and hear the answer. Instead of quitting your job (right now) you might just need 10 minutes in the sunshine for the moment.
When the idea popped in my head for this 30 day project I checked in with my inner compass to see if it was something I really wanted to do. I felt a wooosh from behind me like a strong wind filling my sails and that was a big yes. Even with the energy cost, being sick of seeing my face every day, the horror of the vulnerability of putting myself out there everyday, and taking the time to work on this project, there's still a big YES behind it for me. NOT doing it would be the resistance for me.
Sometimes your answer sounds like a word, sometimes it's a feeling. Just give it a try, you have nothing to lose.
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| Unleash your inner Moana - try wayfinding with your inner compass |
I hope you take the time to test this for yourself today and let me know in the comments what you experience!
(and if anyone thinks you're crazy for following your inner compass - that probably means you're doing it right. As Scrooge said on Christmas Day, "no I haven't taken leave of my senses, I've COME to them." )
"Be deliberately weird. I respectfully do not care if people think I'm weird when something's healing my body and my soul." - Martha Beck
Feel better and we'll be back tomorrow.
If you feel so moved to help The OHC bring an integrated approach to more ME/CFS patients, Click Here to Donate to the Optimum Health Clinic Foundation
Go to Day 1: What ME Feels Like and About This Challenge!
Go to Day 2: Gentle Movement
Go to Day 3: Meditation
Go to Day 4: Protein and Plant Power!
Go to Day 5: Sleep
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