How Nature and Gardening Can Help You to Heal Fibromyalgia / Chronic Fatigue
Being outdoors is key to healing fibromyalgia. On this site I share my experience of healing through nature and gardening and show you how.
Getting outside and growing will not cure you, but can play a significant part in your healing, a key distinction in terms that I explore below.
So What Do I Know About Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Growing or Healing?
- An asylum seeker, living in a tower block, in tears over having something to care about. He planted a windowsill salad in a paper cup that he tended on the floor by his mattress.
- A homeless hostel resident, dealing with his addictions through the responsibility of having a single plant pot to tend.
- A person who had been completely paralysed by a stroke, enjoying the taste of carrots and sweetcorn she had sown with her husband. He lovingly guided her hand to place the seeds, which they grew by the window where she watched them grow.
So there really are no barriers too great to overcome with just a little encouragement and advice, if you start small and tailor your growing to your energy levels.
Curing versus Healing Fibromyalgia / Chronic Fatigue
They have no medical cure, but that does not mean there is no hope of healing and recovery.
A cure comes from outside and we expect it to be quick and easy, a physical solution to a physical disorder. In contrast, healing comes from the old English word hælan, to make whole and as such it involves not only the body, but the mind and the spirit. It takes time and often a personal dedication to prioritising being over doing.
It also takes a lot of support and encouragement to make the changes you need. For me, this came through a wonderful online recovery programme The Chrysalis Effect. If you haven’t done so already, do click on the link. It was a life changer for me and through it I found the support of people, who have fully recovered themselves, to make the changes to my life that have put me on the road to recovery.
If you too have been told that you are tired and achy as a natural part of aging, politely inform this misguided person that they are talking nonsense. Aches and pains often come along with age, but are not inevitable and are often helped by some gentle exercise and a lightening of the spirit.
If you too have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue I hope my work will give you some hope that recovery is possible. Read on for more on how you might start your own recovery rather than miserably waiting for a cure.
The Role of Nature in Healing
How can nature heal the tired body or the aching soul if we continue to drive ourselves, to ignore our body’s demands for rest and relaxation or to hide ourselves indoors, waiting for rescue? Rather than waiting for a cure to be performed upon us, we need to become our own healers and work with and within nature.
Muir's understanding of the importance of nature to our wellbeing points us to the importance of taking time to step out of our busy lives into a beautiful space, reconnecting with ourselves and with nature to remain whole and to avoid becoming ill. I hope that this website will help those of you who are ‘just’ tired but not yet ill to find these times and spaces, wherever you are.
But I’m Too Tired to Try
Even if the demands of life, or the limitations of our bodies, restrict the energy and time we can spend on our healing, we can start somewhere. If we spend much of the day in bed we can open the windows to let the fresh air and the birdsong in, we can sow a pot of seeds for our windowsill and watch them grow day by day. Creating even such a small spark of life gives a sense of responsibility that can prompt enough motivation to get out of bed to water a wilting plant, even when we lack the will to fetch a glass of water for ourselves. Even better, we can sow herbs in pots and have the satisfaction of creating something to give away to friends, family or carers.
We may only be able to potter around the house, but a couple of large containers on a patio or balcony will draw us outside in our pottering and give us something creative to distract from the internal misery. If we plant something edible and beautiful, like french beans with their purple and white flowers, or a strawberry, we create a feast for the eye and the mouth and nourish our body as well as our soul.
So What Can I Expect from this Website?
Alongside my reflections I will share practical ideas for activities that you might try, whatever your situation or level of energy/mobility.
I also love to learn and this has been part of my own healing, so I will share what I have learned, and am learning, about my illness and recovery, about growing, cooking and preparing foods that nourish both the body and soul. I will also share the resources that I have found helpful and inspiring through weblinks and my bookshelf page.
Whatever your situation or your level of energy, I hope that you will enjoy sharing the joy and healing I find in my garden through my writing.
If you enjoy my work …
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Alison