I feel funny saying anything about winter here in Southern California, but it’s been kinda cold and dreary lately. Especially since the time change. I was doing really well on getting out for afternoon walks, but that was when it was still warm and sunny when I got home from work. Now it is overcast in the morning and dark when I get home. Getting out for a little sun and fresh air was part of my motivation for walking. Now I’m trying to get myself into a different frame of mind because I’m not getting as much walking in. Meanwhile on the YOU: Staying Young special, it was suggested to take cod liver oil as a good source of vitamin D. I decided that I would try it since I’m not getting as much sun right now. It’s day two. I had it once on my salad and once mixed with vegetable juice.

In a moment of synchronicity, I turned on the television to find the Oprah Winfrey show with Dr. Oz of the YOU books on it. I haven’t watched Oprah in ages, but I was curious to hear about the new YOU book. I love their diet and exercise approach to wellness and it was amazing to see the dramatic improvements to the participants’ health. It was in the final 10 minutes of the show that it happened… a woman suffering from Fibromyalgia said she was out of pain for the first time in 7 years. Dr. Oz announced that while the medical community used to not admit they exist, Fibromyalgia and CFS are do exist and they now have solutions.

“I hope a lot of the audience members’ eyes [are open] now to a problem that afflicts 8 million Americans,” Dr. Oz says. “You don’t have to live with that agony.”

If that wasn’t enough, Dr. Oz said that Dr. Teitelbaum who specializes in Fibromyalgia opened his eyes. This was amazing to me because it was reading Dr. Teitelbaum’s book From Fatigued to Fantastic that led to the second significant sea change in my health. (My introduction to Hellerwork created the first.) I was also reading Fibromyalgia & Muscle Pain: Your Self-Treatment Guide by Leon Chaitow N.D., D.O. Both books helped me to put together a treatment plan that helped me pull myself out of the last major downturn into being in the best health I’ve been in over 10 years and returning to a normal life. I’m still working hard to continue to improve and keep any major downturns at bay.

Tonight I celebrated my long awaited triumphant return to my beloved bellydance class! It was delayed two weeks by my shoulder injury. So far I seem to be no worse for having danced my heart out.

Nuff said about the simple pleasure of moving your body to music. The fact that I was 20 lbs lighter just added to the experience.

Walking home from my Pilates session today, I was thinking about my success with losing weight. Fifteen pounds may be the most I’ve ever lost. I can remember losing 10 lbs a few times with great effort and sacrifice and then feeling stalled, discouraged and having a hard time keeping up what I was doing (then of course I gained them back plus more). This time I’m putting in some effort but it feels more relaxed and rather than keeping up extreme diet habits, I’m building ones that I plan to keep on an ongoing basis. For instance, I have yogurt with my breakfast now and for an afternoon snack, I have an apple and a low-fat cheese stick. I have always enjoyed eating apples and yogurt, but instead of eating them randomly I now have a sense of where they best fit in during my day. I’ve also focused a great deal on exercising before with frustratingly little impact – sometimes I did two Spinning classes a day!

Now I’m doing lots of small things – diet, relaxation, exercise – and together they are having a big impact. It reminded me of the quote I have had on my email signature lately:

“Perhaps what we are called to do may not seem like much, but the butterfly is a small creature to affect galaxies thousands of light years away.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle

Within the complex system of my own body, the small efforts I’m making are like the butterflies whose movements can create big waves of change.

Self-care is part of the web of your life and is affected by any stress you are experiencing. Work is usually the primary source of stress for me. When the stress volume rises, I start to miss some of my self-care goals. It often starts with not sleeping well and starting the day tired. Next thing you know I haven’t had that good breakfast. I’m running out the door with an energy bar if I’m lucky. And then add skipping my morning yoga. I start my day frazzled and end up working through lunch. Uh, oh… there went my mid-day walk. I barely make it through the afternoon and work into the evening. I get home and collapse in front of the computer where I look for some modern day stress relief. Web surfing take me away!

Stress seems to start the spiral but it becomes a self-perpetuating downward trend. Once I am being sucked down into the vortex, it is hard to remind myself of how my good habits made me feel. How eating a good breakfast and doing yoga helped me feel so much more resilient. How the mid-day walk gave me a little boost of energy. Luckily I have my weekly Pilates session as a touchstone. When all else has fallen away, I still go to my weekly session. There I am reminded of how good my body can feel. Not necessarily during the session, which can be so hard. But afterwards, my body feels restored to a more healthy state of being. It loves to move – to stretch and to flex. It wants me to remember how good taking care of it feels.

Another week. Another chance to start again and start the spiral back upward.