Chronic Wellness

Chronic Wellness

By Annette LeonardHealth & Fitness
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Chronic Wellness episodes

  • Episode 155: How do You Advocate With Chronic Illness? Expertise
    How must we become specialists in ourselves?
    Why is expertise necessary for advocacy?
    No one will speak up on my behalf, the way I'll speak up on my behalf.
    Learning about my illnesses, medications, my body are crucial.
    Have you stopped talking a med because of it's side effects?
    Whether it's about the science or my own experience, we must be the expert.
    5 min
  • Episode 154: How do You Advocate With Chronic Illness? Communication
    Remember the game telephone?
    My ability to self-advocate is only ever as good as my ability to communicate.
    How can I translate my self-awareness?
    What are the descriptors of my experience?
    How can I ensure that the message was received?
    While I don't want to have to facilitate communication, I always lose if I don't.
    It takes more energy and effort, but outcomes improve when I do that work.
    What is the cost-benefit?
    Doing the pre-work is part of this communication.
    6 min
  • Episode 152: How do You Advocate with Chronic Illness? Self-worth
    What is your orientation towards self-advocacy?
    What are the necessary skills for self-advocacy?
    What is it about being "other" that requires being an educator?
    If you don't believe you're worth it, you won't speak up on your own behalf.
    Knowing that I am enough is a foundation for self-advocacy.
    Be it affirmations, gratitude, a contemplative practice, or doing it to model it for your kids, whatever your access point, building self-worth is necessary.
    My value is not diminished or lessened by being a person with chronic illness.
    5 min
  • Episode 151: What About Race and Chronic Illness?
    Did your illness come on during a time of greater stress?
    Stress always exacerbates chronic illness.
    People of color are 1.5-2 times more likely to suffer a chronic illness than those of us who are white.
    Why is that true?
    How can we change and transform that?
    One of the manifestations of racism is disease.
    What can we do as white allies?
    6 min
  • Episode 149: What About Secondary Injuries? Impact on Others
    How does my being worse off make things harder on the person caring for me?
    As an empath, I was more focused on how much more this would mean for my wife.
    When independence is curtailed it always means more work for someone else.
    What about the guilt that arises?
    Once again working to accept what is and see this as another opportunity to cede control practice increasing the space between what happens and my reaction to it.
    6 min
  • Episode 148: What About Secondary Injuries? The Impacts
    What do you do when you injure yourself on top of being ill?
    I've torn tendons and ligaments in my ankle.
    When mobility is already restricted, any further restrictions cause a lot of additional burden.
    The implications are broad-reaching things are made exponentially more difficult.
    These are some of the things I'm exploring in today's episode.
    5 min
  • Episode 147: What are My New Year’s Intentions? Spirit Part 2
    My final intention is for my spirit and is to make time for creative pursuits.
    Brene Brown says that "creativity is the opposite of depression."
    Creative outlets can be almost anything.
    Currently, I tend to do small projects like embroidery, painting, collage, calligraphy, knitting, etc.
    Being generative helps me tap into parts of myself that feel eternal and are beyond and deeper than these illnesses.
    These are some of the things I'm discussing today.
    4 min
  • Episode 146: What are My New Year’s Intentions? Spirit Part 1
    How can I seek joy like a heat-seeking missile?
    In the midst of carrying heavy burdens, I need support. Some of that support comes in the form of daily infusions of joy.
    Am I clear about what brings me joy? If not, I need to make these lists so that I have a place to turn when I am feeling most disheartened.
    Joy lightens my spirit in the midst of struggle.
    How can I make it easy to say "yes!" to joy?
    6 min

About Chronic Wellness

From the publisher's feed

Are you one of the millions living with a chronic illness or pain? Our diseases may be very different, but we have many of the same experiences, obstacles and frustrations. We are all working for a better quality of life knowing that pain and limitations will be our traveling companions. My name is Annette and I'm the host of Chronic Wellness, a brief, weekly, podcast where we talk about it all: sex, self-care, mental heath, loss of identity, anger, how to navigate health care and have less days that suck so hard.