Exploring six pillars of healing and support that can help you move from surviving to thriving with chronic fatigue

If you have stumbled on this article first, it is actually part two of a series. So, you’ll want to read part one before you read this. You can find part one at this link. Part one ended on a cliff-hanger in which I had introduced the idea of creating the basic environment for supporting your body. Now we’re ready to unpack what that basic environment contains…

Before we do that, let me just offer a piece of advice… Make sure you read all the way to the end of this article. The ending has a very important twist that may not be what you expect…

The six pillars of energy

If the problem is not your body, but the environment you are putting it in, then that puts a very different perspective on how you solve the problem.

Instead of trying to unpack each symptom and the mechanism that is causing it, take a step back and ask yourself this question:

Am I creating an environment for myself that allows my body to thrive?

What is the basic environment for healing and support?

In order to answer that, you need to understand what we mean by ‘environment’. Naturally, there are many layers we can explore here, but let’s start with the simple level: the six basic pillars.

• Food
• Sleep
• Movement
• Breath
• Light
• Emotions

The beauty of this is that those six pillars are all within your control. And they are all free to put in place, if you wish.

Food

Forget getting caught up in the question of, “what’s the best diet?” Just start today by focusing on eating as much natural, whole food as you can. Ideally organic. But if you can’t afford organic, at least just focus on cutting out all the processed stuff. (And that includes drink too…just in case you didn’t realise).

To explore this pillar in more depth, check out this article (coming soon!).

Sleep

Forget the misguided notion that, “sleep is for wimps,” or, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” If you want a life that feels more energised and energy that lasts longer, get 8 hours’ sleep a night. And quality is just as important as quantity. So, if you struggle with poor quality sleep, focus on setting up a good Circadian rhythm.

To learn what Circadian rhythm is, check out this article (coming soon!).

Movement

Yes, this element of the basic environment for healing is tricky when it comes to CFS/ME. On the one hand, your body requires movement or it will atrophy and wither away. Not to mention some functions, like the lymph, which is a key component of clearing your cells of toxins and debris, requires movement to function well.

On the other hand, your lack of Mitochondrial energy will severely impair your ability to move. And, if you don’t work with that, you are perpetuating the sense of your body being in danger. So, you need to find the balance that is appropriate for you, and to use careful pacing to grow your movement over time.

To explore this idea further, check out this article by following this link.

Breath

For most of us, the way we breathe actually works against us. We simply get into bad habits and don’t even realise we are doing this.

If you want to find out more about this area, check out this article (coming soon!).

Light

Did you know that your body operates like a battery? And one of its key power sources is daylight. You probably learned about plants and photosynthesis in biology classes at school. But did you learn that the human body also has its own kind of photosynthesising system?

So, if your lifestyle means you spend little or no time out of doors, you are depriving your body of a key energy source. It’s easy to fix, simply by changing up your habits.

So, if you want to explore further, check out this article (coming soon!).

Emotions

Have you ever heard that phrase, “stinking thinking”? Well, that’s an easy key to focus on changing up your emotional environment. Did you even realise that your emotions literally change your physical biology?

You do know this: you may just not have thought about it before. So, you can do a quick experiment right now.

Think about your biggest fear. Let’s say, public speaking. Now, imagine I am about to force you to stand up in front of a crowd of ten thousand people and give a presentation. What is happening in your body as you imagine that scenario? Are you feeling a little nauseous? Maybe your hands are clammy, perhaps you have butterflies in your stomach? (And, if public speaking doesn’t scare you, imagine something that does).

Now imagine spending the most blissful day with the love of your life. How does that make you feel? Light? Joyous? Like you can do anything? Floating on cloud nine? Feel what sensations are coming up in your body now.

Neither of those scenarios has actually happened right now. But just by thinking about them, you managed to change your hormones, signalling your body to either panic or deeply relax.

Every thought you have, whether you notice it or not, is affecting your biology. So, if you want your body to exist in an environment that feels safe and secure, it’s time to start becoming aware. When you catch yourself falling into patterns of “stinking thinking”, just stop.

Now, as you are probably aware, there are many layers to this. It’s not as easy as flicking a switch and changing how you think. So, if you want to explore this area further, start with this article.

Now, do you begin to see how empowering this is?

How has this made you feel? Is it helpful to realise that there is nothing wrong with your body: it’s simply trying to keep you safe?

If you can embrace that idea, it opens the way to working with your symptoms, instead of rejecting them. And, guess what…?

There’s even another little layer of magic in there! Talking of stopping the “stinking thinking”, when you begin to see how your body is serving you, you will start to flip from a mindset of resentment to an attitude of gratitude. According to this beautiful video by Dr Bruce Lipton, gratitude is one of the best anti-ageing drugs on the market… And it’s free and can be taken as often as you like!

So, if you want to work from this principle of healing, you can get started today with my self-help guide, which you will find at this link.

That will also help you with any feelings of overwhelm you might have. Although it is empowering to realise there is a lot you can do to help yourself, it can also be overwhelming. With so many different options for working with the basic environment, where so you start?

The self-help guide, as I’ve just mentioned. But you may also benefit from trying a body field scan. Find out more about that at this link.

What if the basic environment idea doesn’t resonate with you?

I wanted to end on a positive note – and I will – but I also have to acknowledge something very important.

It is so easy for me to write a quick article saying, “just change your habits and everything will be fine.” But maybe you have already tried some of those ideas and you’re currently sitting there rolling your eyes and tutting at me.

“What does she know?!”

Well, as it happens, I have also experienced that there is another huge layer to all of this.

What happens when you follow all the “right” (even scientifically proven) lifestyle advice and you still feel pretty awful?

Is it because the advice is rubbish? Or are you at fault – are you failing to do it “properly”?

Those were certainly questions that I have had to address for myself. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I did make some intriguing discoveries that helped me.

Are you really in alignment?

For me, I didn’t begin to see all the benefits from the lifestyle changes until I started addressing underlying trauma.

I regard the trauma piece of the puzzle as fundamental to understanding what is happening in the body. But there is too much to say here in this post. So, it is something I am delving into in much, much more detail within other articles.

I just want to highlight one element here. Your conscious mind can be 200% devoted and primed to overcoming troublesome symptoms. It may be willing, dedicated, determined and diligent.

BUT, if there is just a little piece of subconscious resistance to healing, you will find your efforts feel like swimming against the tide.

And I’m not going to lie to you. Identifying and confronting the parts of you that may find safety in experiencing CFS is really challenging. Also, I cannot promise you a solution to all of that.

A positive ending…

The truth is, we still have much to understand before we can categorically make promises like that. But the positive in all of this is coming up…

If you have been struggling with the basic environment for healing, it’s not your fault. It isn’t because you’re doing something wrong, or even necessarily that the “science” is wrong. There is simply another factor at play.

So, rather than being a depressing idea, that could provide you with another path to explore as you work your way through your own CFS maze.

And this is a big area, so if you wish to explore it, make sure you join my mailing list. In return, I will make sure I share as much of my experience with you as I can. And between us, let’s see if we can improve the basic environment for supporting you!