Last week, my patient with chronic illnesses with multitude of behaviour risk factors came to me in great distress. I listened to her at great length and this is how I engaged her.
I asked her if she would confirm my impression that she is in great distress and extremely unhappy with her lot in life. She said yes.
I then asked her if her sufferings is sufficient for her to consider my perspective.
She said yes.
I then asked her if she would be willing to refrain from saying “I can’t” until she has given some consideration of the hardship of her present experience. She also agreed.
I then shared the rules I live and die by with her.
1. Breath fully with chest out and abdominal muscles engaged.
2. Drink 2-4 liters of water per day.
3. Eat 400 grams of non-starchy vegetables per day.
4. Mindful of above 3 things being all I need and say yes with curiosity to the gift of each and every moment.
She agree to start coming to the “Getting Unstuck” group next week.
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o Hold on to something solid like the washroom sink, and do at least one deep squat everyday. Knee must not past the toes.
ReplyDeleteo Make a fist and grab with the the hand. Try twist and turn while resisting with the other hand for 10 seconds. Repeat on the opposite side. End by rubbing the forearm with the other forearm to relax the muscles.
o Do some proper push-ups slowly. Relax shoulders by backward rotate the shoulders then depress the shoulders. Tilt head left and right to stretch out the neck muscles..
o Once you are in bed for the night, before going to sleep, do a bit of light stretching. Don't get up afterwards because stretching weakens the muscles. You will recover by the morning.
o Drink if you feel thirsty. Test use the thumb fingernail to cleave each finger tip. If it springs back quickly then you are fine.
o Breathe in and out using the nose, not the mouth.
o Eat some salt if you did not get enough during the day. If I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee, and it was not because I drank too much water then it could be because I did not cook with enough salt.
o Walk at a brisk pace. Don't land on the heel too often. For 10% of the time, take a slightly longer stride than usual, not by reaching out further with you front leg, but by moving your body forward with the front leg and stretching out your hind leg a quarter of a second longer before lifting it.
o Sweat a little everyday to get rid of toxins via the body's skin - exercise in bed with blanket on, or exercise with slight excessive clothing, or take a hot shower or bath, or sauna/hot tub.