After a long break, the show is back up and running (well, sitting!) - a welcome to new listeners, and some brief intro advice to people who may have sought out the podcast because of Long Covid. 

Tap into the wisdom of the ME/CFS community in regards to Exercise: contentiously, perhaps counter intuitively, not recommended. Try restorative rest, and pacing instead - so as not to exacerbate or develop ME/CFS, as it's an established origin story for many ME/CFS sufferers who pushed themselves after a viral illness. 

Helpful ME/CFS information can be found here:
www.actionforme.org.uk 
@actionforme on Twitter
@mecfsnews on Twitter
www.meassociation.org.uk
Twitter tags: #millionsmissing #pwME #MECFS 

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Follow the podcast on Instagram @beingtiredpod
Produced by The Pod Farm
Music by Oliver Blake
Artwork by Gem Davis

We cannot think our conditions away - we cannot 'positive vibes' or yoga or meditate them away - they are not figments of our imagination, or lifestyle failings. 

This week I talk about acceptance - many of the tips I share in this podcast are for self care / managing mental health / adjustments we can make in lifestyle or mindset etc. This is to support and ease our experience of chronic illness, NOT as a cure, or based on a belief that the origins of the illness are in the mind/lifestyle failings. 

It's important to take care of ourselves in lots of different ways - managing a chronic illness is challenging, and a strain on our mental, emotional and physical health - on TOP of the 'base' symptoms of our conditions. But I want to take today to also pause and remind ourselves that in our quest for easing/managing our fatigue, we can often get caught up and send backhanded messages to ourselves that we aren't good enough as we are.
Some days we need to consciously take the decision to accept how we feel, instead of constantly fight it / tweak it / change it, at the detriment of our actual experience of life. 

We can be sleepy zombie babes, and still do stuff (within reason/not pushing ourselves) - we don't have to wait for "good days" to be whole people.

Also featuring a poem from @rubyetc and a Tweet from @Wheelsofsteer and a call-out for next week's episode: Dating, with a chronic condition.


Artwork by Gem Davis | Music by Oliver Blake | Edited by The Pod Farm
~~ Follow the podcast on social media @beingtiredpod ~~

Our society places a lot of pressure on "achievements" in a very limiting way, and the value placed in a limited definition of "productivity" can be alienating and emotionally destructive for those of us with chronic conditions who cannot perform tasks in this way. We need to re-learn how we view "productivity", place the focus on how we *spend our time* whether or not a task gets done. 

In this episode I discuss my own struggles with this "Productivity Myth" this week as I try and 'kondo' my clothes and it takes so much longer than I anticipate, as we can do when we forget to adjust to our limitations, and be kind to ourselves in our thinking. 

Also continuing on my quest for media representation of chronic illness - talking about Dr House on a skateboard, the wonderful Jameela Jamil, and Stacey (Mallory?!) from the Babysitter's Club. Also She-ra again because...it's sublime and I heart it. #TeamCatradora

Artwork by Gem Davis | Music by Oliver Blake | Edited by The Pod Farm
~~ Follow the podcast on social media @beingtiredpod ~~