My ongoing recovery from CFS/ME.
I had a question via email about the supplements that the friend I mentioned in [intlink id=”902″ type=”post”]my previous post[/intlink] is taking to boost his acetylcholine (the vagus nerve neurotransmitter). Here’s what my friend sent me: As you know, I’m taking a whole bunch of supplements (e.g. I’m still taking Read more…
A relatively new friend who I told that I’m now coaching people with CFS just pointed me to this interview with Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Michael Van Elzakker, who hypothesises that CFS might be caused by an infection of the vagus nerve. Listening to the interview, it sounds like a pretty compelling theory. Read more…
I’ve been watching a lot of movies lately on the theme of “The Hero’s Journey” that every person must take in order to grow from being a child into being an adult. I’ve been particularly drawn to movies that talk about masculine empowerment, such as The Shawshank Redemption which is Read more…
A friend of mine with CFS put me onto FasterEFT a few years ago, and I’ve recently recommended it to several clients who have a history of bottling up their emotions and eventually became ill with CFS/ME. I had already done a lot of emotional healing work before coming across Read more…
2015 is turning out to be the year of completions for me. I went to my 30 year high school reunion on Saturday night. My experience of other boys at high school was challenging for me and on the way to the reunion I felt a bit triggered and reached Read more…
Stress can make you sick, and being sick all the time is stressful. I can see how that can become self-perpetuating. One of the antidotes to stress is to share what’s going on for us with other people. A burden shared is a burden lightened. This goes against my suck-it-up-boy Read more…
A couple of days a go I posted a couple of new pages on my blog about the [intlink id=”795″ type=”page”]coaching that I offer[/intlink], and published it to a wider audience on Twitter in the search for my first paying coaching client. I had been holding back on doing this until Read more…
I was out on past the breakers at the beach today on my body board, learning how to use my new flippers. I was in the ocean for a long time, and the following song I grew up with from the 1980’s popped into my head. I thought it seemed Read more…
Up until recently, are used to suppress/repress/internalise my anger. In fact, I now believe this is one of the main reasons why I came down with CFS. But now, after a lot of anger expression workshops, therapy, and non-violent communication practice, things are starting to change for me.
Do You Express Your Anger Constructively?
On the weekend, I attended yet another anger expression workshop called “Feel and Heal Anger”. The idea behind the workshop was that when were out of touch with our anger, we often internalise it self-destructively or project it outwards onto other people as violence or other forms of abuse, both of which are unhealthy.
The aim of the workshop was to get in touch with our anger and express it in ways that didn’t hurt anybody else, or ourselves. There were boundary setting exercises, group sharing, and dynamic burn meditations to help us process the anger and the grief that lies underneath it.
At this particular workshop, I felt more sadness and grief that anger and rage. But I figure if I’m feeling emotions, then the process must be working. I had a fairly sleepless night after the workshop as my body was still processing feelings that came up for me.
I just watched Inside Out, and found it quite cathartic. Everyone I know who is suffering from CFS has some kind of childhood trauma, emotional neglect, abandonment or abuse in their past. There are some really great lessons on how emotions, memories and the brain work in this movie, like: Read more…