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Inspiring and empowering people to maximize their quality of life in spite of a chronic health condition or a disability |
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STEPS TO CHANGE |
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Issue # 18 |
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This ezine is 100% opt-in. You are receiving it because you subscribed but may cancel by using the link at the end of this message. |
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IN THIS ISSUE |
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A chronic health condition can be a catalyst for personal growth and self-discovery. Are
you ready to break free of the bindings that are holding you back from
discovering your
own personal level of optimal health? We all have one – no matter what the condition is that ails us. We
challenge you to want to discover yours! We take people from an overwhelmed existence to a comfortably paced lifestyle. Are you ready for that journey?
Contact us today for a fr~ee sample coaching session and get started on living your maximum life. |
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TRAVELS WITH TRISH |
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Did you know that:
These stats have been collected by Rest Ministries in honour of "National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week". I'm very excited to share with you that I'm taking part in this event as a guest speaker for one of their chat room seminars! I'll be "chatting" about the ABC's of Living Well with Chronic Illness on Tuesday, September 12th at 12:00 noon (EDT). I hope you'll join us. There will be 4 seminars per day and they're all n0 c0st to participants. Use this link to find out more about the wealth of great guest speakers that they'll be hosting and how to get online with them. To those of you who subscribed to our newsletter just recently: Welcome to our readership! We truly appreciate your interest. Feel free to forward our newsletters to anyone who you think may benefit from them. Till
next time, take care and God bless.
~~
Trish :-) and
The Changing Paces Team trish@changingpaces.com
~~ 905-967-3014 ~~ www.ChangingPaces.com Uncertain what coaching is all about? Check out our "Audio Library" and listen. |
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POST-DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT |
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AFTER
THE DIAGNOSIS:
WHAT'S NEXT?
Brought to you by
www.MyOptimalHeathSolutions.com That's our new website above, check it out! POST-DIAGNOSIS
SUPPORT PROGRAM AN
8-PART TELECLASS SERIES Over this
8-week intensive, we'll walk through the critical steps necessary to
achieve positive and powerful living despite being diagnosed with a
chronic illness. You will: ·
Have a chance to see that you’re not alone, ·
Find comfort in the discovery that others have
the same difficulties that you do, ·
Learn about both unique and similar perspectives
to your own, ·
Decide how you can make the transition from
denial to acceptance, ·
Be invited to approach life in a way that will
enable you to transform your outlook from uncertainty to hope, ·
Create a healthy emotional foundation so that you
can shift from reactive to proactive living, ·
Learn tried and true
strategies to be empowered to take control of your life. This is an
opportunity to break down the anxieties and the isolation that
are inherent for many who live with chronic illness.
RESERVE YOUR
SPACE! All sessions are on Monday evenings from 7:30 to 8:30 pm (Eastern/NY time) This series will be limited to ONLY 6 participants so register NOW by emailing postdiagnosis@changingpaces.com with “Sign Me Up” in the subject line OR call 905-967-3014.
The
next series will start in OCTOBER.
Email
us today to add your name to the waiting
list. Cost: If you're ready to move past the
trauma of your diagnosis and through the steps to finding your optimal
health, then email
us NOW and we'll travel that
journey together. |
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FEATURE ARTICLE |
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WRESTLING WITH FATIGUE? GET SOME REST! Often the first hint that we’re fatigued can be something that happens to us as a result of being tired. For example, when we’re fatigued, we can turn into short-tempered, ill-mannered, foul-mouthed son-of-a whoops! Sorry, I’m a little tired tonight. J Other hints might be forgetfulness, clumsiness or brain-fog. All of which can seem a mere annoyance but can present far worse consequences if ignored for any length of time. Ongoing exposure to pervasive fatigue cannot only alter our ability to cope with the daily stresses of life but can actually compromise our safety. Imagine yourself driving down a major highway in moderate traffic moving along at a good clip. Then suddenly you realize that you’re experiencing a wave of brain-fog or heaviness in your right leg. Everything is fine; you’ll be home soon enough. Then out of nowhere this idiot changes lanes just inches in front of your car. Will you have the response time necessary to slow down in a big hurry? Picture yourself working in your home office for the day. You plan to make dinner before your spouse gets home and most everything is ready you just have to sauté the vegetables. You missed your afternoon nap and you’re behind on the paperwork on your desk but the meal needs to be made. Everything is going as planned, the veggies are warming nicely when the phone rings in your office. You know it’s a client that you need to talk to and it’ll just take a minute. Off you go planning to promptly return but the client turns out to have a crisis and you forget about the pan on the stove. Want to take odds on whether you remember before the smoke alarm goes off (or God forbid it doesn’t and a fire starts)? How about the laundry that needs to be done? If you’re fatigued while you’re going up and down the stairs back and forth to the washer and dryer and the rest of the house work, how likely do you think it is that eventually, you’ll trip and stumble down the stairs. What a “pleasant” surprise for your spouse to come home and find you planted at the bottom of the stairs! In the end, those of us with a chronic health condition can actually jeopardize our long-term health and safety by refusing to rest when we need it. Being well rested optimizes our body’s ability to function physically, intellectually and emotionally even under the most disabling circumstances. For those of us with a type “A” mentality, it’s not easy to give ourselves “permission” to take that break, go lie down and have a rest. Ironically though, having a rest when we need it will actually make us far more productive afterwards than we would have been if we’d worked right through the fatigue. Just do it! Lie down and close your eyes even for just 20 minutes whenever you need to. Sometimes you don’t even need to sleep, just rest. Think of it as gathering up the energy to do the balance of the tasks at hand. I know it’s not an easy shift in attitude. Acceptance is key. Until we can accept that we need more rest than we did before we got sick, we’ll never to be able to properly manage our energy reserves. Here’s a strategy to try: Block out a 2-hour (or 15 minutes if that's all you can spare to start) appointment with yourself as many times a week as you need to. Think of it as an investment in your effectiveness. Experiment with the scheduling of the appointment for rest. Perhaps an hour in the late morning and another hour late in the afternoon might be the answer for you. If you find it difficult to sleep during the day even when you’re fatigued, try using some inspirational or motivational tapes or CDs. They’re wonderful products for promoting wellness and restfulness. Many of them will sooth you to sleep while they fill your subconscious with positive affirmations and visualizations. It’s a “Win-Win”!
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FEEDBACK FORUM |
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"I enjoy that Trish
really tailors the coaching to the individual. I felt that she got to
know me and the challenges I face living with my illness, and then
specifically addressed the areas that were causing me the most concern
(the ones that are within my sphere of control). Trish is very positive
in how she approaches things, and has a constructive and unique approach
to situations (ie. she knows how to think outside the box).
"Probably one of the top things (if I really have to choose) is how she helped me to view organization of my daily activities. I feel that this really helped me to learn to feel less overwhelmed with all that I need to do in my day. "Trish have a lovely personality and is very easy to talk with. She makes the person feel that the coaching really is a joint effort. She also allows people with chronic illnesses to reframe the way they see themselves." LB an Artist and a Student living with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain |
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CHUCKLES TO LIGHTEN YOUR DAY |
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SUNBURN
RELIEF The doctor replied, "It'll keep the sheets off his legs." |
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FR~EE RESOURCES |
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WORDS TO CONSIDER |
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“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.” – Roger
Bannister “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson
Mandela, statesman “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles
Darwin, biologist |
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ABOUT THE EDITOR |
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Trish Robichaud is a Maximum Life Coach who lives with major depression and multiple sclerosis. Her passion is helping people to maximize their quality of life in spite of a chronic health condition or a disability. Through the process of coaching, she takes her clients from an overwhelmed existence to a comfortably-paced lifestyle. Trish facilitates TeleClasses and a monthly TeleSupport Group at no charge to participants as well as publishes a free monthly electronic newsletter. Her services also include motivational speaking and Disability Awareness Coaching for organizations through interactive experiential workshops. Her background is in business with training and extensive experience in support counseling and life skills facilitation. Together with her vast experience advocating for people with disabilities, her success with her own personal journey makes her ideally suited to coaching others through their life, health and vocational transitions. She can be found on the web at www.ChangingPaces.com. |
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© 2003-2006 Trish Robichaud, All rights reserved |
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