My Story - Caroline Craven, theGirlwithMS

Boundaries, Safe Spaces and Safe Places

Wow! Amazing how we have to really slam down our boundaries at time. We need to to stay healthy. When friends and family continue to push and prod you into an emotional wreck you must take care of yourself!

I had a horrible day the other day nears and all. Anger so hot it burned inside.

I found a safe place: a walk by myself.

I found a safe space: meditation through the anger to find peace and happiness.

It is OK to scream and rant and rave when one is angry as long as its not directed at anyone else. This wasn't. I ranted and raved for three miles.

And amazingly as the anger came out of me the peace flowed in. With each breath I would shout my anger and exhale all negativity. Then inhale the beauty surrounding me and visualize peace, joy and grace.

Boy did it work. But it took 45 minutes to realize that when I am upset I can only change the things I have control over. My safe place and my safe space. One physical. One mental.

In order to thrive with MS: Boundaries are necessary. Knowing what is in my control and what isn't is crucial. Seeking a safe place and a safe space is critical.

I am in a great mood today. Woke early and visualized the negativity flowing out of me and the positive beauty of life flow in. Ahhhhhh.

Off to take a walk with a dear friend. Safe place. Safe space.

Let's do this!

 

Leg Cramps Getting the Best of You?

It doesn't need to be this way! And when the doctors say "just take more drugs" you can just say No Thank You!

Here is a great solution. Calm: magnesium calcium supplement. Seriously folks, take this every night and your leg cramps will be gone. I went on a four mile hike in relatively muggy weather. Basically, I drank a lot of water but sweated as well. My body was taxed!

When we got home I took my Calm before going to bed and voila! My legs feel pretty darn good considering the last few days of activities.

Learn more at their website. There are two favors, or one flavor and one plain. We find it bast to mix them as the flavored is kind of sweet! But all I really care about is that it works!

Click here for more: http://naturalvitality.com/natural-calm/.

 

Importance of family and friend support

It can not be said enough, this importance of family and friends during an illness such as multiple sclerosis. Let's just begin with diet and nutrition. I live in a house that insists on a dinner of starch, meat and veggies. I know, old school. But adhere I must and its frustrating.

Yet here I am at a friends house and we have a beautiful dinner of freshly sprouted mung beans, quinoa, steamed kale and tomatoes. So delicious and just what this MS body needed to keep me in the green zone!

What's the Green zone? That's when your body feels MS neutral. Not stressed. Not over heated. Not chilled. The muscles and nerves feel good. And cooling foods such as mung beans and more was just the answer after a three hour walk on the beautiful beach of Kailua Bay.

I couldn't take these walks without knowing that a healthy meal as medicine was awaiting me!

Mahalo my friends! You mean the world to me!

 

Kidney Yin?

A post you may have missed from before:

I am asked almost daily, how are you surviving your MS? Has it just gone into remission? No. It doesn't just go into remission. At least not for me. I have to take steps to put my MS into remission. Lifestyle changes, diet changes, activity changes.

My survival with MS is significantly contributed to my nutritional intake. As you know I studied holistic nutrition at Bauman College and became a certified nutrition educator. This education was inspired by my three experiences with kidney yin deficiency. I recommend looking it up and reading about it as I will be brief. But the bottom-line, the symptoms of kidney yin deficiency are near identical to those of multiple sclerosis as well as other auto-immune diseases.

More of that to come. What's important to me right now is to combine my holistic education with the Chinese based recommendations to create a macro-diet to rebuild my organs and blood.

So, Shen-Cleanse this Daddy-O:

1. Shen Cleanse - teas or tonics. I'm using teas this time.
2. ShenTrition - alway
3. Water or Plenty. Have you investigated the living water yet?
4. Yoga or the like - a nice yin yoga caught me in a loop for over two hours the other day.
5. Outdoor health - gardening, hiking, walking. Enjoy and bless our surroundings.
6. Building diet - I need my calories right now. Healthy, digestible nutrients. Here's what I'm talking about:
  • Fuji apples
  • Swiss chard
  • Gala apples
  • Turnip greens
  • Roasted turnips
  • Steamed green beans
  • Quinoa, onions and home made chicken stock
  • Black bean, corn, jicama jalepeno salsa
  • Silver salmon fresh caught by very cool father on recent fishing trip to Canada and perfectly marinated by awesome mother and myself with an herbal explosion from the yard overgrown with tarragon, marjoram and thyme. Broiling worked just fine this cold fall day.
  • Radish, lime, cilantro salad
  • Strawberries
That is a pretty kidney yin friendly diet. It can be better, more focused. We'll add some pine nuts to the quinoa. Keep with the greens. Oh yeah and have some kidney eggs. Egg whites, turnip greens, turmeric, bacon and salmon. No the bacon has nothing kidney yin friendly about it but it makes me happy.

Turmeric on everything, baby, go for the turmeric!

More on this later. Check out Paul Pritchford: Healing with Whole Foods and Henry C. Lu's Chinese Natural Cures. Many other great folks out there. Also Dr. Stephen Gascoigne's The Chinese way to Health.

Off to ingest some medicine - food that is.

Some of my favorite resources:

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Life Coach for Those Affected by Multiple Sclerosis

I've been through a lot with my MS from losing my ability to walk and see to losing my career to rebuilding my life for utter enjoyment. It's time you do the same and I'm here to help!

As a sounding board I am here to guide you through options and ideas to reach your final goals. Here are some of the areas we cover:

  • Adjustment to the illness, including the long-term impact of living with MS
  • Health and wellness issues
  • Stress management
  • Work/life balance
  • Family relationships
  • Medication adherence issues
  • Self advocacy
  • Resource identification
  • Behavioral approaches to pain management
  • Planning for the future
Anyone wanting to learn new techniques about coping with MS can benefit from Life Coaching. This service typically involves weekly toll-free telephone or video sessions and a variety of "homework" type assignments to reflect upon between coaching sessions. In addition, group sessions, presentation and key note speakers are available.

If you are interested in this program, please contact Life Coach Caroline Craven at (818) 585-5660, or email TheGirlwithMS@gmail.com.




 

Meditation for Peace

Love this post from Llayaqa Holistic Fitness:

Here's a meditation recommended from Abby's Energy Healing Page for Tomorrow:

If you can repeat this meditation every day for the next five days, your participation will greatly enhance the quality of light in the world - believe me, you matter, and every thought you have matters.

Please sit for as long as you are able to, in a quiet space of love. You may need a notebook at the end of this to write down any ideas that come to you during this practice.

Clear your mind of your expectations. Visualise the planet Earth being surrounded with loving light. Visualise this light coming right down into the centre of the earth, feeding and nurturing the planet. Visualise the people, the animals, the oceans, the savannahs, the grasslands, the mountains being healed. See the smiling faces on strangers in lands you’ve never been to. See the fish swimming in clear, crystal waters. See the bears, the tigers, the elephants living fearlessly in their homelands. See the children of the world growing up loved, safe and happy.

Now bring your hands to your heart. Breathe the love from this white light into your own body, and allow all elements of fear to be dissolved away. Give the light your limiting beliefs, breathe out any old patterns, any family histories, any stories that hold you stuck in your life right now. Breathe in joy, hope and happiness. Breathe in your dreams for the future, for yourself and for your family.

Breathe in your hopes for the world.

Stay with this for as long as you can. Then let it go.Ask for any messages that are for you, anything that is needed for the world that you can do to help. Write it down and make a commitment to carry out any actions on your list, and you can be part of this change.

In love and light for the future and all of us together in it,
Abby

 

What is a life coach?

Are you as happy as you can be in life? Dealing with MS has its ups and downs. An MS life coach is a great sounding board as you progress into your dreams of the future. Live the life you want!

Diagnosed 12 years ago, I couldn't walk or see. Now look at me! Nutrition, lifestyle change, attitude adjustment. It all helps!

Lets chat and see how we can visualize your future and come up worth a game plan to get there!

Call me or DM me at 818-585-5660

 

Life coach for MS

The time has come! This Girl with MS is opening doors as a life coach for those effected by multiple sclerosis. Need a sounding board? Just diagnosed? Tons of questions about all of the medicine your doctor is giving you? Want to THRIVE?! Then let's do it!

Diagnosed in 2001, this Girl with MS has seen a lot! From losing my ability to see and walk, I had to start from scratch. First of all, what is MS? I had no idea.

Several months later I was able to walk and see with more regularity. Then I was accepted into a Three year double blind study at USC for an actual MS vaccine! After three years of being off western drugs, ie the ABC shots, and coming up with my own system of holistic nutrition and life style changes, this Girl with MS rocked the study Coming out healthier then anyone else!

I'm now taking this knowledge and ten more years of thriving with MS to share with you!

Personal consultation, phone/Skype consults, group sessions and presentations are all available for your health! Call me today at 818-585-5660.

Who would have ever believed that I would be able to ride in Ecuador with photography gear. Now that's what I call THRIVING with MS!