Yesterday was Rheumatic Disease Awareness Day, #rheumday, sponsored by The Rheumatic Patient Association.

Even though I’m very public with my health status, because my diseases are invisible, many people are not aware of my struggles.  Rheumatoid arthritis is something I’ve been living with since I was a teen even though my ‘official’ diagnosis was relatively recent.  After the birth of my second son, my health really crashed and I started seeing a lot of doctors.  All I really knew for certain was I used to shoe horses, move tons of hay, exercise regularly, and I’d hit a brick wall.  Anything more than a mellow walk sent me into disabling migraines.  I’d been a member of my local Y for several years but I was reduced to a gentle walk on the treadmill.  When I got my lupus diagnosis, I thought that was it.  I was never going to get off that treadmill, and life as I knew it, was over for me.

Fast forward 5 years later and my health is in a much better place through medication, lifestyle changes, and effort.  I now work at the Y that supported me through that dark time.  I’m really proud to work at the Y that helped me get my health back.  Teaching deep water aerobics yesterday, I played this song called Chico Gospel by MaMuse.  It’s a personal song for me since I first heard it when I was getting back on my feet.

There was a time I believed
Life was over for me
There was time I believed
My life was over
I feel strong today
Thanks to your help
I’ll find my way and
I too will lend you a hand
When you need one…

I am proud to work at the Y.  Because of them I am walking on this earth stronger than ever!

Find a Y near you.  They’ve got a dedicated team, many of whom have their own stories of recovery.  

Life is not over for you either!

Support an Indie band by buying music off their website from CD baby.  Listen to this song, Chico Gospel, off the album All the Way on MaMuse’s website.

Read more with 8 Tips for Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis with Yoga

If you want help managing your RA with aqua yoga, join my Aqua Yoga for Arthritis Course

I’ve taught 100’s of people in live classes and helped them achieve results that improved their daily lives like:

🧘 getting on and off the floor again

🤻 being able to use the stairs

🚶 ditching the assistive devices

👟 throwing out the sensible shoes

🧎 rehabbing after joint replacements,

🛌 and getting a decent night’s sleep.

And finally, I get to do that for you long-distance too. The Aqua Yoga for Arthritis course is the culmination of hundreds of hours of training geared towards exercise and pain management for arthritis. As well as my lived experience of managing multiple kinds of arthritis through yoga.

Yoga improves arthritis through more than movement and the course gives you a suite of resources to apply the full 8 limbs of yoga. From a professionally produced practice class for the days you feel good and want to build strength and flexibility, to a downloadable workbook for the days when a physical practice isn’t possible.

The resources are grounded in best practice from the science, in line with yoga philosophy, and approved by regular people bettering their lives with these techniques.