Chronically Living and how to make the most of it

This episode focuses on mental health and it's connection to physical health and chronic illness.
We talk about:

• common mental health problems for certain chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, arthritis, MS and more
• symptoms of depression and anxiety
• body-mind connections
• how to reduce risk of developing a mental health problem
• what to do if you have a mental health problem 

If you are in Crisis, please always contact a Crisis/Suicide Hotline:
Crisis Canada - 1-833-456-4566
Text Option - WELLNESS to 741741
USA National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-784-2433
TTY Hearing and Speech Impaired - 1-800-799-4889

You can always Google search a hotline for your country.

This week's guest, Queenie Wu, discusses how she works with the pelvic floor to help with issues from endometriosis to severe menstural camps to pregnancy to prostate cancer. There are so many reasons that chronic illness warriors should be budgeting physio into their lives, and Queenie shares her immense knowledge with us! Definitely an episode worth checking out!

We discuss:

• What the pelvic floor is and what pelvic floor physio is
• what illnesses and health problems benefit from pelvic floor physio
• at home tips for chronic health problems
• the body-mind connection

Guest Bio:

Queenie is a pelvic health and orthopaedic physiotherapist who received her Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Toronto after completing her undergraduate studies with honours and high distinction at the University of Toronto (in psychology and human biology). She is also a certified clinical hypnotist and holds a Status-Only Appointment (lecturer ranking) with the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto.

In addition to her clinical work, Queenie promotes mindful movement and living as a social media influencer (find @QueeniePhysio on Instagram, YouTube or any other platform) through educational posts and video content on physiotherapy, mind-body wellness, stress management and more. She serves as a speaker at wellness workshops, conferences and various university panels. She is also a lead facilitator for the Interfaculty Pain Curriculum at the University of Toronto, which is an integrated and interdisciplinary pain curriculum for all pre-licensure health science students.

More information about Queenie can be found on her website https://Queeniephysio.com/ and her Instagram/YouTube/Facebook/Twitter channels @QueeniePhysio. Her clinical practice is located in Cloud Rehab and Wellness in Toronto, Canada. .

It's totally fair to not have great days when you have a chronic illness. And sitting in those emotions that comes along with that is completely normal. But what can we learn from our illness.
Hippocrates has a quote about illness that can make you think deeply about illness and what good can come from it. 
So, what good can you find in your situation?
All this is explored in this week's episode!

My good friend Katie James discusses her diagnosis and life with psoriatic arthritis, a condition which affects approximately 1% of the population. Always the optimist, Katie shares her struggles with her physical and mental health, and all the ways that she continues to live an a great life despite her condition. 
In this episode we talk about:

• What led up to her diagnosis.
• Her initial reactions to her diagnosis.
• How it affects her life now.
• What she has learned that is helpful.
  
  

Guest Info:
Follow her art on instagram: @iamkatiejames

Whether you prefer to go by Chronic Illness Warrior or Spoonie (or maybe let's combine them into Spoonie Warrior) your experience in dealing with chronic illness is real. Finding other spoonie warriors to look up to, whether that's in your own life, online, or in the media, can be a helpful part of the process.

Welcome to the chronically living podcast! Chronic illnesses have become increasingly common and different perspectives on dealing with them are much needed for our growing community. This episode highlights who I am, why I started this podcast, and what you can expect to get from it. 

This podcast will be bringing you three perspectives on chronic illness:

1. My perspectives, based on my experiences.
2. Community perspectives, from friends, colleagues, and others who have a chronic illness.
3. Professional perspectives, from health care professionals sharing their knowledge with us!

All in the name of letting you make the most out of life!