One of the most mentally draining and all-around challenging parts of living with chronic illness are flare-ups. During flares, rest for your body and mind are equally important. Which if you’re like me can be hard because I find myself at my happiest when I’m busy and productive. I used to beat myself up for taking time to rest, and I would be upset with myself for days after having a rest day. Now I know how important it is to listen to what my body is trying to tell me. Because you can choose when to rest or your body will choose for you.
When I first started having flare-ups they would last for weeks. I would lay in bed most of the day, and when I would get a little energy burst I’d try to get everything on my to-do list done(since I didn’t know when the next time I would have it in me to get it done) I would be left weaker and feeling worse than before. Setting myself back further by never allowing my body the rest it needed.
I know flare-ups are nothing I can directly control once they have begun but for so long I felt like flare-ups were black periods of my life where nothing happened. I would come out the other end majorly behind on self-care, and life responsibilities. This is where it really becomes a mental battle for me. My mind was ready to go but my body was calling for rest. I would mentally beat myself up over something I couldn’t control. I think it came down to the fact that I was 16-17. I constantly thought I shouldn’t have to ask for help to open a bottle of water or be able to walk around my house without feeling fatigued.
Now I’ve learned that for my body to be able to heal and regenerate I have to turn my mind off. Emotions and stress do affect autoimmune diseases. So while in a flare-up keeping emotions and stress levels controlled are extremely important. Click here to read my article on “stress and autoimmunity”.
I’ve grown to appreciate times when I’m in a flare just for the me time I get. And because changing my mindset from “I’ll never have a life”, “I’ll never get caught up on xyz”, to “I’m thankful I listen to my body and take time to rest when I need it”, and “I’m thankful God is healing me and giving me this time”. Not only have I become happier and more at peace but I get so much more done when I’m not constantly beating myself down through negative self-talk in my head. Internal turmoil will manifest itself externally and only cause resistance. I started focusing on getting in rhythm with a flow state. Only worrying about what I can control and being in a flare-up is not something I can control.
My goal was to heal my autoimmune disease and to do that I had to accept the setbacks and choose my perception of reality. Ultimately making it fit my goal. You have to be your biggest supporter. Nothing grows from negativity. Changing my mindset is what helped me begin getting my emotions under control. Which led to emotional intelligence. Which led to me creating healthy habits that kept my stress levels controlled.
During flare-ups I decided it wasn’t a waste of time and actually an opportunity to learn about anything I wanted to. I’m all about learning new topics, hobbies, etc. I basically made flare-up times work in my favor. I choose to look at it as anything I want it to be; I can learn a whole new skill and become an expert, learn ways to passively make money, read a new book, perfect a new hobby, meal plan in advance, or plan a project out for when I’m feeling better.
Some of my biggest projects have been made during flare-ups. Since I have begun healing my leaky gut I haven’t had a flare-up. So writing this post now just feels right because I have reflected on the times while I was sick and realized the even bigger picture of endless possibilities of the time I had. Even though my body wasn’t ready to go, my mind was.
And I would like to quickly pause here and put a little disclaimer. With all that being said I still had days while in a flare I physically and mentally could do absolutely nothing….and that’s completely ok. On days like that I make sure and listen to what my body is telling me. If I am full of mental energy I put it to use. Sometimes I have very minimal mental energy and no physical energy. During a time like that once me and my mom went on a movie marathon to find the best rom-coms, and we set out to make the perfect rom-com movie list in order of how to watch them for the perfect movie weekend.
This is one of my favorite memories from a flare up and I felt like I was extremely productive. Productivity is what you make it. It kinda goes along with the “create your reality/ control your perception”. Because I allowed my body to rest, had fun, and made something really cool that I can now share with you all! That is a win in my eyes. But before I developed self-compassion and self-awareness I would have mentally beat myself up. For literally anything like not forcing myself to get the housework that was building up taken care of, “wasting” my time doing nothing, or etc. Even though I physically couldn’t. It still baffles me I genuinely thought this way.
For example, I wrote a whole flower farm small business plan while in a flare-up. Before I get into exactly what I did. Reflecting on this made me realize during the time I made this plan I had a huge mindset change. Instead of letting my chronic illness run my life I had begun flipping the script. Living with chronic illness doesn’t mean you can’t do certain things (like a flower farm) it means you just have to do them a little different. For me, that looked like planning every singular detail so that when the time was right I could act.
- I started by watching youtube videos and reading articles on how to plant flowers, what you would need, etc.
- I made a google doc to organize the articles and videos
- I made an amazon wishlist with all the supplies
- I wrote out a business plan including all the startup fees
All this was accomplished in my longest flare to date. My goal was to plan and fine-tune every detail so each step was broken up into smaller manageable steps that I would be able to accomplish without overexerting myself. Living with chronic illness means you need to be strategic with your energy.
In our “how to make your life with chronic illness easier” blog post I go over my formula for how I plan anything and everything I do. Which is the formula I used to make the business plan for the flower farm. Using the same formula makes tackling new adventures feel more predictable and in return easier.
When you’re chronically ill you have to be smart with your energy. Even your flare-up energy. And that doesn’t mean force yourself when your mind and body are crying for rest. It means when you’re in a flare-up and mentally need something to do, use that time to your advantage.
For example when I was too sick to do anything I decided to learn face yoga for a natural botox look and let me tell you I came out of that flare-up with a pep in my step AND a “at home face lift”. If you’re skeptical, believe me I was too. Keep reading and I have linked all the free resources I learned face yoga from on the comfort of my own couch! Let’s go ahead and jump right into my favorite flare-up hobbies.
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Spending time with God
One area I focus a good deal of my energy on while in a flare is spending time with God. I like to listen to praise music, read my bible, watch videos to better understand, and meditate on God’s word. I focus on getting in the presence of God and calling out on Jesus name. Heres a few of my favorite Christian books:
- “The Bondage Breaker” By: Neil T. Anderson
- “Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table” By: Louie Giglio
Journaling
Journaling is a great way to let thoughts that are cluttering your head find a safe way out. And the beauty of journaling is there is endless possibility. Journaling is whatever you make it. Which can look like; just clearing your mental plate by getting your thoughts out, prompted journal questions (for growth, getting closer with your faith, healing, setting goals, getting to know yourself etc.), or one of my favorites junk journaling. The possibilities are endless.
Personally, I journal just to clear my mind every day. For me that’s the only way I can think clearly. It’s very freeing, I always feel a weight has been lifted off my chest, and I find myself less anxious. I also love prompted journaling and mainly I focus on faith-based, goal setting, healing, and getting to know myself better promted journaling. When I need to get inspired I turn to junk journaling because no thinking is really involved. There’s no right or wrong way to do it and afterward, I’m always left with something cool!
Face yoga
Many wrinkles on the face come from excess muscle activity. By doing face yoga you are working on building up the correct muscles that will prevent you from constantly making wrinkle-causing facial expressions. Resulting in your skin looking younger because when you tighten the muscles in your face the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines are reduced. Leaving you with a tighter firmer “natural facelift” if you will. Face yoga also focuses on breaking the tension we tend to hold ex. furrowing of the brows. Releasing pent-up tension will aid in stress relief. I like to do two rounds a day, one in the morning during my self-care routine, and one at night to wind down.
Another plus of face yoga is one it can be free depending on the resources you choose to use, and two you’re not putting random chemicals into your face (which is always something I think about now after being chronically ill). And don’t take that as me knocking botox. Before being exposed to the world of face yoga If I had the money I would probably be botoxed up right now. Which reminds me of a saying I heard once: being poor doesn’t suck. You suck at being poor. When I heard that it really hit home and it kinda relates to the botox situation. You don’t have to have money to look good.
I could go on a whole hour-long rant about face yoga, but I will keep it short and simple. Other than the obvious beauty reasons why I swear by face yoga. Finding an activity where you take care and spend time focusing on yourself, is natural, it can be completely free, you can get it done in under five minutes, and relieve stress all at once is 10000% a win for me. It all around adds to my life and that’s what you should keep in mind for looking for your flare-up activities. Hobbies/ stress relievers that resonate with you.
Get started with face yoga:
- “The 5-minute facial workout” By:Catherine Pez
- Full free face yoga class
Coloring
Coloring can be extremely therapeutic and is an activity that takes almost no brain power/ energy to do. With all the options for coloring books these days the sky’s the limit. Almost anything you can think of already has one made. A fun idea could be getting one of your favorite movies and color along as you watch. This is a great budget friendly option. You can find free coloring pages online. All you really need are a basic pack of colored pencils and your set. You don’t have to spend but a few bucks (if you don’t already have colored pencils or crayons).
My favorite coloring supplies:
- Village coloring book
- Whimsical universe coloring book
- Twistable crayons (These help my hands avoid getting tired fast)
- Free adult coloring pages
Reading
Reading is a great hobby that brings enrichment. I love a good self-help/ improvement book but I know personally when I’m in a flare I don’t always want to/ do not have the brain power to read. But if you do find yourself wanting to read click here to check out what I’m reading now. Also when I have a lot of free time I like to focus on healing/ growth/ inner-child healing. If you’re interested in healing trauma check out these books:
- “Recovery of your inner child” By: Lucia Cappacchione
- “Atomic habits” By: James Clear
My current flare-up hobby
I’m finally using the plan I made a year ago for a flower farm. Right now I’ve ordered everything I need and am just waiting for it to come in. Breaking a physical activity down into manageable steps is how I am capable of tackling big projects with chronic illness. You just have to find something that inspires you enough to make you want to do it. If there’s a will there’s a way.
There are endless hobbies you can pick up during a flare-up. These are just my favorites! Let us know what your favorite hobbies to do in a flare-up are we would love to know and give them a try!
