Supporting a Life with a Chronic Illness

by Melitta Rorty

I have been living with a chronic illness for the 27 years since I was diagnosed with type 1 (autoimmune) diabetes and autoimmune hypothyroidism. For those of you who might not know, type 1 diabetes is a life-threatening disease that requires a never-ending cycle of monitoring food intake, dosing insulin, dealing with hyper- and hypoglycemia, managing technology (in my case, an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor), and so much more.

Since then, yoga, including the asana practice, meditation, and yoga philosophy, has provided me with “magic pills” that help me navigate difficult times, stay calm, and cope with the demands of living with a 24/7 chronic illness with as yet no cure. Yoga cannot cure my disease, but it helps me live a better life every day.

We often do not appreciate the emotional toll of chronic illness. When you are first diagnosed, you may experience a mourning period, grieving for the life you once had, as you struggle to adjust to the realities of your new life.  Eventually, you can come to terms with the loss and begin to accept that your life has changed forever. This acceptance does not mean you will not still experience stress, anger, sadness, fear, or any of the other rollercoaster of emotions that are common with this level of disruption to your life. These feelings are normal, but we all can benefit from more advanced coping mechanisms to deal with difficult feelings when faced with a life-changing diagnosis.

Yoga does not provide a quick fix; a good practice requires time, effort, and dedication. But when practiced and applied over time, the benefits that yoga provides are worth it. Your health, both mental and physical, are worth it. Here’s how it helps:

Chronic Illnesses and Stress

Stress exacerbates most chronic illnesses, as it can raise cortisol levels, increase blood pressure, cause fatigue, create muscle tension, and disrupt sleep. Here is an example of a stressor in my life: In the case of type 1 diabetes, high levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol raise blood glucose levels, so when I am overly stressed, my blood glucose levels tend to be high and are harder to control. This can make an already difficult day even worse.  For me, managing stress is integral to good blood glucose control.

Yoga includes both stress-reducing poses, such as restorative poses, supported inverted poses, and gentle stretches, and meditation, which also reduces stress. And your asana practice can help you maintain your physical health as it provides all-important exercise, including strengthening and increasing flexibility.

A regular practice created to meet your needs and preferences can reduce stress, thus lowering cortisol levels and blood pressure, relieving muscle tension, improving mobility, building strength, and contributing to better sleep.  The combination of feeling better both mentally and physically is strong “medicine!” By taking a few moments to practice meditation or do a calming asana practice, I can find a sense of relief which allows me to both mentally and physically better manage my disease. See Stress Management for When You’re Stressed for information on creating a personalized practice to reduce your stress.

For me, these techniques are not necessarily easy to put into practice—sometimes they are HARD!  For example, my diabetes technology, including my insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, beep at me often for a myriad of reasons. When this happens, I often curse my technology for reminding me again and again that something has gone wrong and of what I must live with every day. Upon reflection, I realized I truly appreciate my life-bettering technology, so why was I cursing it? So, I added “diabetes technology” to my morning meditation gratitude list—I still curse at the beeps, but I am less bothered because I am also reminded of the benefit my diabetes technology brings to my life.

Meditation

For me, movement is easier than sitting with my thoughts. But I meditate because I’ve learned a particularly valuable lesson from it—when you practice meditation, if your thoughts wander, you can simply “begin again” and bring yourself back to your breath or whatever you’re meditating on, without beating yourself up. And I’ve found that similarly that with the self-care required for chronic illness, mistakes happen, you get off track. And if you can just bring yourself back without beating yourself up as you learn to do in meditation, you are so much better off. For example, if I make a mistake or miscalculation and end up with a high blood sugar, I can view it as just a number and gently “begin again,” bringing myself back to self-care, without beating myself up.

Many people say that they can’t meditate because they can’t keep their minds still. Thoughts end up flitting through their minds like monkeys swinging from branch to branch in the jungle. But virtually everyone will have “monkey mind!”  The point is just to be mindful and to be in the present moment. There are countless tools to help you with your meditation practice—just find a quiet space and give it a try. Even a moment of quieting your mind can bring you a sense of equanimity. See Yoga Meditation Techniques for some basic information about starting a meditation practice.

In the yoga tradition, for people who have a hard time meditating, starting with a simple pranayama practice can help you improve your concentration skills. So if you’re not ready to meditate, you could start with a calming breath practice instead. See  Calming Breath Practices We Recommend for information.

Important Reminder

Finally, one very important reminder:  yoga provides several valuable tools in your toolbox, but they are not a substitute for quality medical care. Appointments with your medical team and following your team’s guidance, including taking medications, is an important part of integrated care. Yoga is a great addition to your medical care, but it is not a replacement for it.

Yoga and Meditation Resources

 There are so many excellent resources, but here are a few of my favorites:

• The Yoga for Healthy Aging blog, of course.
• Meditation for the Love of It. Sally Kempton. Sounds True Inc, Boulder CO, 2011.
• Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation. Sharon Salzberg. Workman Publishing, New York, 2011.
• Yoga for Times of Change: Practices and Meditations for Moving Through Stress, Anxiety, Grief, and Life’s Transitions. Nina Zolotow. Shambhala, 2021.
• Full Catastrophe Living:  Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Bantam, 2013.

 

Melitta Rorty has been happily practicing yoga for 28 years. For 27 years, Melitta has been a patient advocate for adults diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. You can find her blog Adult Onset Type 1 Diabetes at: https://adultt1diabetes.blogspot.com/.

 

• Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and follow Nina on Instagram • Order Yoga for Times of Change here  and purchase the companion videos here • Order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being here.