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Feeling Overwhelm, Resistance, or Listlessness? Try This.

June 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Image of woman feeling overwhelmed and listless

Discover why you feel overwhelmed and learn a technique to get in the flow.

Do you ever feel resistant and overwhelmed in response to some everyday needs or tasks such as:

Part of it is that the flu-like symptoms and brain fog of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) or Fibromyalgia (FM) make any seemingly easy task more difficult. Another part of it—the part I want to offer some help for in this article—is that the brains of people with ME/CFS or FM work differently from those of healthy people.

Let me first share with you how scientific findings in ME/CFS and FM explain why we feel easily listless and overwhelmed. Then, in the next section, I will share with you a way of working around your brain handicaps. This has worked for me and others.

My article was published as a guest post on one of my favorite blogs, “Health Rising.” Click here to read the article:

http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2014/06/30/combating-overwhelm-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/

Warmly,
Johannes

Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies, inspiration

New Insights into How to Benefit from Exercise when you have ME/CFS

April 11, 2014 By 4 Comments
Learn how to exercise without worsening your symptoms.

Learn how to exercise without worsening your symptoms.

Exercising in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a delicate matter. If you push yourself beyond your boundaries or engage in the wrong types of exercise, it can make you worse. If you do it right, however, it becomes an essential piece of you reaching your optimum health.

“It is very important for my patients to know how to approach exercise in a safe way…. if they don’t exercise, they will only get worse.” ~ Dr. Nancy Klimas

Recently I visited the IACFS/ME, the world’s largest conference on ME/CFS, and attended a workshop by exercise physiologist Stacy Stevens, MA, who was the first researcher to study a way of exercising that is safe and effective for people with ME/CFS. Stevens has dedicated the last twenty-five years of her career to exploring what causes post-exertional malaise in ME/CFS and what type of safe exercises people with the condition can engage in to avoid worsened symptoms after exercise. Inspired by what I learned in her workshop, I completely updated my free e-course lesson on How to Benefit from Exercise When You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

The updates on how to exercise safely and effectively [Read more…]
Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies

A Simple Way to Feel More Joy and Peace
When You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Image of woman feeling gratitude

Let the sun burst through the clouds.

It can be challenging to keep up your spirits as, on a daily basis, you have to face your symptoms and possibly other illness-related hardships, such as loss of relationships or financial stress.

Therefore I want to share with you a simple technique for filling up your reserves of emotional energy. The technique is called “making a gratitude list”.

I made my first gratitude list at a time when I was still so ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) that I thought I would never be able to work or exercise again, and was sure my partner would abandon me. While I was slow to discover aspects of my life to be grateful for at first, I eventually discovered more and more as I stuck with the practice. When I contemplated what I was grateful for, it helped me to forget for a moment all that I was lacking.

Over the last four years of looking out for little things in my life to be grateful for, feeling grateful has become second nature, and now I can count on it as a continued source of positive emotional energy.

If you want this too, have a look with me at this simple technique for feeling better: [Read more…]

Filed Under: inspiration, Popular

How to Let Go of Anger (and Regret) –
And Why It’s Important in ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia

January 23, 2014 By 6 Comments
Sometimes feel angry? Learn how to reduce your symptoms by letting go of it.

Sometimes feel angry? Learn how to feel better (and likely reduce your symptoms along the way).

Andrew, an airline pilot, was troubled by anger and regret when he thought about how his company had let him down when he had gotten sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS).

Even though he loved his job and did his very best to excel in it, he had always needed to take slightly more sick days than his colleagues. Sometimes, due to jet-lag, he hadn’t been able to sleep the night before a flight and had therefore felt too tired to safely fly his passenger airplane. His company, instead of supporting him in flying only when he felt well and rested, had put pressure on him and treated him with disrespect.

With pain and indignation, Andrew still remembered his boss’ face when he had been ordered into his office and spoken to as if he were a child.  “How can my boss talk to me like that?” Andrew said visibly shaken during one of our coaching sessions.

This painful memory still kept Andrew awake at night—not only because the associated emotion was very intense, but also because his sensitivity to stress had increased since he had come down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (as is common in ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia).

How Andrew let go of his hurt and anger

To help Andrew sleep better, we looked at ways for him to let go of the painful memory and move on. We settled on a technique inspired by a process called “The Work” from world-renowned therapist and healer Byron Katie.

Let me walk you through the five steps of this technique (10-20min), so that you, too, can use it to let go of old feelings, memories, and thoughts that no longer serve you. [Read more…]

Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies, inspiration, Popular

A Simple Technique to Increase Your Functioning with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia

December 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Could a simple list help you increase your functioning?

Could a simple list help you increase your functioning?

Have you ever noticed that since you’ve come down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) or Fibromyalgia (FM), completing even the most mundane tasks, such as making lunch or taking a shower, can overwhelm you and send your mind reeling?

If you have, it’s likely that you suffer from cognitive impairment, one of the most common symptoms in ME / CFS and Fibromyalgia.

But what exactly is going on and—most importantly—what can you do about it?

In this week’s article, I’ll look with you at three common everyday tasks most of us tend to struggle with and show you a simple technique for making them easier.

So that you can succeed at them and many other tasks and ultimately increase your functioning and quality of life.

My article was published as a guest post on one of my favorite blogs, “Health Rising.” Click here to read the article:

http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2013/12/14/simple-way-increase-functioning-reduce-stress-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-fibromyalgia/

Warmly,
Johannes

Filed Under: Uncategorized

How Rosalie Cleared Her Mind of Worries

November 13, 2013 By 2 Comments
image of sun bursting through the clouds

How to dissipate worries?

When Rosalie spoke to her sister over the phone, their conversation worried her deeply. Her sister had come down with symptoms that could very well turn out to be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

Anyone would get worried if a loved one came down with severe and debilitating symptoms with an unknown cause, but for Rosalie the situation was especially peculiar. She had been sick with ME / CFS since her mid-teens and only recently gotten well for an extended period of time for the first time in her life. She knew firsthand some of what her sister was going through

Rosalie decided to move back home for a while to support her sister, even though she knew that this meant she’d have to face the ghosts from her past, the memories of her own being sick at her parents’ house. Although Rosalie’s parents were always very loving, it had been difficult for them all to navigate her unknown and, at the time, misunderstood illness.

What helped Rosalie to cope?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies

The Uplifting Health Lesson I Learned From Buying a Fixer-Upper

October 23, 2013 By 2 Comments
Why there is hope.

Why there is hope.

A few of months ago, this entire place was covered by a layer of one inch of dirt. Dog hair was everywhere, one wall had mold, and the roof leaked in a couple of spots. The backyard was a mix of weeds, garbage, and dirt.

If this place was a human body, it would have been the perfect equivalent to how my body felt during the first eighteen months of my journey with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS). The brain fog, my gut problems, my inability to exercise had me think that my body was in real bad shape and – unlike this house – impossible to repair.

Today, six years from the date I was hit by ME / CFS and a few months after we started fixing up this place, I just came inside my living room from digging up little weedy tree trunks that were spread all over the backyard. The first thing I felt when I lied down on my couch to rest, was a lot of gratitude for being able do this work again—something I thought impossible a few years ago.

Then it occurred to me that rehabilitating this formerly run-down house is very similar to my recovery journey from chronic fatigue syndrome. I believe it’s an uplifting story if you are in the depth of things right now, so let me share it with you. [Read more…]

Filed Under: inspiration

How to Enjoy a Vacation Even Though You Have ME / CFS or Fibromyalgia

October 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Seven tips for how to make the most of a vacation -- despite your limitations

Seven tips for how to make the most of a vacation — despite your limitations

Did you go on a vacation this summer?

If yes, how was it?

The reason I’m asking is that it’s likely that some things were great, but other things might have been challenging. Life with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia isn’t always easy, and going on vacation is no exception.

And when is a better time to ensure that next year’s vacation will be even better than this year’s? Right now, when your memories are still fresh!

Let’s take a moment to reflect then.

First, I’ll share with you seven easy-to-use tips I’ve gathered from my coaching clients’ and my own experiences over this past summer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies, inspiration, Popular

Will This High-Tech, Low-Cost Solution Alleviate Your Sleep Problems?

September 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

woman-healing-state-rest

CFS specialists agree that sleep is THE most important symptom to address.

~Charles W. Lapp, M.D., Director of the Hunter-Hopkins Center in Charlotte

Do you have sleep problems?

If yes, then you could possibly improve many of your symptoms just by improving that one symptom.

But how do you go about it?

That’s what I’ll walk you through in my latest Guest Post on health rising.

Click the link below to access the article!
http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2013/09/20/high-tech-low-cost-path-better-sleep-me-cfs-fibromyalgia

Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies

Will this New, Low-Cost Technology Change the Way You Manage Your ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia?

August 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I’d like to share with you my latest Health Rising blog, which is about an idea that I believe could drastically improve your life with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia.

Learn about the many ways a smartphone can help you improve your health and life.

Learn about the many ways a smartphone can help you improve your health and life.

The blog is about smartphones and how they can be used to help you improve your health and life.

Just thinking of smartphones might produce feelings of overwhelm and resistance in you. While I concede that it takes a small upfront investment of time and energy to get used to them, the reward of successfully leveraging them is unbelievably powerful.

Another thing you might be worried about is the cost of a smartphone. Unbelievably, smartphones have gotten so cheap these days that you can get a perfectly adequate smart phone for less than $70 and no recurring monthly fees (shopping guide is included in the article).

Please have a look at all the wonderful ways in which a smartphone could help you improve your health and life and  then judge for yourself whether you want to take the leap into a new age of improved health and more control over your life.

Read the article here:
http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2013/08/27/can-a-smartphone-help-you-overcome-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-or-fibromyalgia-the-ultimate-guide/

P.S.
My new wise-investment guarantee individual coaching program turned out to be even more popular than I had hoped. I invite you to have a look at it here and apply today by filling in the form at the bottom of that page if you are interested in the last remaining spot.

Filed Under: CFS Recovery Strategies

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