by Janet Church | Apr 5, 2020 | Grief, Living with Autoimmune Disease, Mindfulness and Meditation, Sjogren's Disease
Tomorrow, as Chair of the Board of the Sjogren’s Foundation, I am hosting a program on Building Resilience with Meditation and Mindset. This phone-in program is for members of the Sjogren’s Foundation who have registered (the registration is filled to capacity). As I prepare for the sessions, I thought I’d also write this post to share the information for those who can’t make the call.
You may ask why I am choosing the term “resilience” instead of inner calm, or positive mindset. The definition of resilience is, “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness”. And to be resilient, one has already started the practice of creating a positive mindset and creating inner-calm. In fact, that is a huge part of being a resilient person. So during this Covid-19 Pandemic time, why not use tools to help us through this very stressful time now, and also set us up for future resilience! That is my hope for sharing this information with you. By practicing some meditation and positive mindset exercises, you can help your stress now, as well as build your resilience for future stressors and challenging events!
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by Janet Church | Mar 21, 2020 | Living with Autoimmune Disease, Mindfulness and Meditation, Sjogren's Disease, Tips for Living with Sjogren's
I have found that living with an autoimmune disease brings its own level of anxiety. Before I had Sjogren’s or the major symptoms of Sjogren’s, I really did not have much anxiety in my life. I had a sense that if I needed something, I could work hard enough to either get it, avoid it, or bounce back from it. In essence, I had a pretty good sense of what I could achieve and control in my life. Enter Sjogren’s and anxiety — and the new experience that I no longer had control over my own body. That was my first experience of taming anxiety during uncertain times. As you all know, receiving your autoimmune diagnosis is a relief at first, and then it throws you into the realm of living with uncertainty.
My anxiety tends to show up as the fear of the unknown. For me, it’s predominantly the fear that I may not be able to make enough money to pay for treatments and my cost of living as I age. That’s my big one! However, I’ve learned many techniques to help calm my anxiety and focus on what is most important to me.
Enter Covid-19! I have now ramped-up my practice to manage my increased anxiety during this very uncertain time. See if some of my practices can help you!
by Janet Church | Dec 22, 2019 | Sjogren's Disease, Sjogren's Foundation
As many of you know, I am the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Sjögren’s Foundation. It is my greatest honor and pleasure to serve as Chair and to participate as one of the patient voices on the Board. It is also my favorite thing that I do! I feel like my truest self at our Board meetings — understood as a patient, viewed as a reasonable leader, and accepted for who I am as a whole person. And I love the people. The Sjögren’s Foundation December 2019 Board meeting was no exception.
This year’s winter Board meeting was especially fulfilling because of what has been accomplished this past calendar year! And I’m excited to tell you all about it…
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by Janet Church | Jul 22, 2019 | Sjogren's Disease, Sjogren's Foundation
Tomorrow, July 23rd, is World Sjögren’s Day. World Sjögren’s Day was established by the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation more than a decade ago to commemorate Dr. Henrik Sjögren (the man who discovered our disease). It’s a day when we can put a face on the millions of people living with this disease and gives those touched by Sjögren’s a vehicle to educate others and have their voices heard.
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by Janet Church | Jun 3, 2019 | Tips for Living with Sjogren's
The Sjögren’s Foundation has produced a video series on Sjögren’s disease called Exploring Sjögren’s. If you have not seen the YouTube channel, Exploring Sjögren’s, you really must take a look! The channel is the brainchild of Steve Taylor, Sjögren’s Foundation CEO and Brad Lemack, a fellow patient, great guy, and artist’s agent. In other words, Brad knows a thing or two about making videos! This past Fall/Winter the planning and footage was shot and post-production followed. Take a look …
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