Three things everyone with Multiple Sclerosis must do now to live their best life

As someone with Multiple Sclerosis, I am sure you have read, watched videos and been told from well-meaning friends and family of ways to stop or slow down your progression and lessen the severity of your symptoms. Some may have claimed they have found the cure. My belief, is that, as all people are different, all of those with Multiple Sclerosis are different. Not one of us is moving through this life with MS the same and therefore, we will react in our own unique way to each medication, supplement or suggestion. And, I believe, it could even be other factors such as your environment or your mind-set at the time that can affect how your body responds. What we need to do, is determine which techniques work for each one of us. What makes you feel your best and what are you willing and able to do with consistent effort? Here is where we begin our journey to find your best life. Three things everyone with Multiple Sclerosis must do now to live their best life 1. Practice stress control - it s a stress filled world out there and even more so for someone with MS. We worry about everything - we are anxious about being anxious. Those with Multiple Sclerosis are known to live with more anxiety. The what-ifs take over and we stress over what we cannot do instead of focusing on what we can do. When I think of when my symptoms have been at their worst, it was when I was going through an extremely stressful situation. What about you? The most difficult part of this is that we cannot control certain situations that lead to the stress in our lives. But, we can control how we handle this stress to some extent. I have implemented stress reducing techniques to be practiced at non-stressful times that I believe have helped at times when my stress level has been sky-high. Here are my go-to stress relievers: - Meditation - go ahead, tell me you have tried to meditate with no success. But that s it - there is no success or fail with meditation. It just is. Sometimes, my mind wanders and instead of becoming frustrated with this, I let it go, I let it wander. No judgement - you are not being graded. Relax and go with it. - Red light relaxation - so, I discovered this when I was extremely anxious about being on time. I thought I was going to have a panic attack when I reached a red

stoplight which in my mind was going to make me even later. I talked myself into doing some deep breathing to calm down. I loved how this worked. It took time to put it into practice but now, each time I reach a traffic light - even when green - I begin my deep breathing. Bonus - I am no longer an aggressive driver and have much more patience while on the road. - Box breathing - have you heard of this? I feel that anxiety equals shallow breathing. Box breathing automatically slows your breathing down. I usually start with a small number like 4. Breathe in for a four count while picturing a line moving up, hold your breath for a count of four and picture the line moving horizontally, exhale to the count of four and picture your line moving down. Hold your breath again for a count of four and picture your line moving horizontally completing your box. Repeat! - Re-focus - my mind can be my own worst enemy. I can overthink anything. I can put so many to do s on the list in my mind. I can worry about things that have not happened yet. My best cure for this is to refocus. It may involve reading something completely off subject to what my mind is gravitating towards. Or, forcing myself to focus on remembering things. How many sisters did my grandmother have and what were their names? Name all the states in the United States and how many have I visited? Or, one of my favorite nighttime, can t sleep options, walk through and see in detail my childhood home or any home that can be remembered in detail. Or, maybe walk through your local mall, remembering each store as you go. Scent: I love using essential oils to help with stress, anxiety, headaches and more. There are great mixes for each. I especially enjoy Ylang Ylang for anxiety and Peppermint for headaches. 2. Treat the Food as a Drug - I ve heard food as medicine but I prefer to see it as a drug. The word, medicine sounds like it will only benefit your condition. To me, drugs can be helpful or they can be a poor choice. For me, and I think possibly for you and for many people, food can be the same. We can make great food choices that help our body and mind feel great. Or, we can make poor

choices that can cause our symptoms and illness to persist. Please understand that I do not believe foods are good or bad. Any food in moderation should be okay unless an allergy is present. As best we can, we need to slow down and mindfully decide if what we are about to ingest will benefit our health and condition or have the opposite effect. With this in mind, please be careful to not believe everything you read, every piece of advice you are given or all of the studies published to those with Multiple Sclerosis or other autoimmune conditions. For every study that you can find supporting that you drink 7 cups of Green Tea a day, you will find a study telling you to completely avoid Green Tea. Who can possibly drink 7 cups of tea a day anyway?! The trick is to determine this for yourself. Really pay attention to how you feel after you eat or drink something and decide based on your own personal study if this is something you should continue to eat or drink or avoid. One of the first foods I completely cut from my diet was French fries. As I began to eliminate this food, I noticed that when I did eat one, I did not feel well after. Maybe it was the grease, maybe if was because it is a carb - either way - I felt better when I did not eat these. A habit I adopted was drinking water first thing in the morning. This may seem extreme to some, but I now drink a liter of water each morning upon waking. This is how, I have found that I feel my best. I immediately feel wide awake and ready to start the day. This feeling lasts throughout the morning and I often can skip the cup of coffee! Remember, and this is a difficult one for me, you do not have to be perfect. You do not need to eat perfectly or make perfect choices each time. I have had to let go of this all or nothing mentality when it comes to food. I make good choices that make me feel good most of the time. As I found the foods that make me feel good, I want to choose these foods more and more and avoid the ones that do not make me feel my best. I love chocolate. I mean, I LOVE chocolate!! I said it - totally admit it. I know it is sugar. I know I should avoid sugar but I am a work in progress. I have my days where I cannot get enough and I have days where I get to the end of the day and I have to ask myself, did I have chocolate today?

The point is to not beat yourself up about it. 3. Build Strength and fight to keep it. I began regular strength training using body weight, bands and weights about 16 years ago and 6 months into my training, my doctor asked what I was doing as he could not believe the difference in my exam from the previous one. I have had some issues with weakness on my left side and still continue to work hard to boost my strength on that side. Staying strong has not only the obvious benefits for those with Multiple Sclerosis but can also help with flexibility and balance. Another fantastic benefit of strength training is that it gives a feeling of empowerment. It is easy to feel out of control with MS - as if your body has its own agenda. Strength training gives power like nothing else I have found. And, this power helps relieve stress too! If you are able, a personal trainer is a great route as long as they have an understanding of Multiple Sclerosis and your own personal limitations where exercise is concerned. Online resources for exercises to improve strength are another option. Strength can be built without any equipment and can be done sitting or standing. Other types of exercise that are great for those with Multiple Sclerosis are Yoga, Pilates, Biking (I prefer stationary), Walking and even Boxing. Be cautious with those exercises that can cause a rise in core body temperature. Hot yoga is most likely not a good choice. Yin Yoga is a great choice for flexibility. Pilates is incredible for core strength which helps with balance. Boxing can be done in spurts to keep core temperature at a safe level. It is an incredibly empowering choice! So...where do we begin? Here is where I struggled. My first impulse is to try to implement it all at once. This is not reasonable or sustainable. Please do not put that pressure on yourself. Choose one only. Which one can you implement and continue to do on a regular basis? - maybe not everyday but as many days as you can. Which one can you stay positive as you continue to create a habit to see if it makes a difference for you? Which one is the start of continued progress to live your best life?