What Might Be Missing From Your Chronic Wellness Journey
While traditional healthcare professionals can support you with the medical side of living with chronic illness, there are many other aspects of your life that might need some adjustment or support in order to live chronically well.
But, the problem is that the traditional medical model is not well-equipped to assist you with the practicalities of the very lifestyle changes that they prescribe. There is not a lot of time to go over all the details and intricacies during your medical appointments. While you might receive some general direction, the actual implementation of change in habits or lifestyle can be the real challenge.
It can be hard for anyone to make adjustments to their lifestyle and habits. But, when you add the additional considerations of chronic illness to the mix, that can make the endeavor even more complicated.
So, what do you do?
Get a health coach.
Why?
A health coach bridges the gap between what your healthcare providers can do for you and what you can do for yourself to implement their recommendations and explore other ways to support all aspects of your life with chronic illness.
A health coach is a behavior change expert who can support you as you identify what YOU think would be the most important parts of your lifestyle to place your focus. This might include anything from remembering to take your daily medicine/supplements, to making time for rest and recovery, to reprioritizing your day-to-day responsibilities and commitments.
A health coach can help you to reach a sustainable stride with your life with chronic illness. She can also help you to make space in your life for engaging in healthy habits that can be pivotal to living chronically well.
A health coach will take the time to go over the details of your daily life, your values, your hopes and help you to determine strategies to fit your priorities into your life.
If you are looking to make long-term sustainable changes, working with a health coach can help with the overwhelming nature of chronic illness. A health coach can help you to break down your end goal into small, actionable, realistic steps.
Because there is no one-size-fits-all to wellness - especially with chronic illness - a health coach can help you navigate your why and how you go about incorporating a healthy habit into your life in a way that is tailored to you.
Supporting YOU.
What is important in the health coaching relationship is that YOU are the expert on your life and your health. You know what is important to you, what your challenges are, what your strengths are, etc. We work TOGETHER in a supportive, realistic and encouraging way as you navigate how to implement a healthy goal or practice.
A health coach does not tell you what you “should” do. They help you with the practicalities of aligning your lifestyle with what is important to you in a step-by-step way. The whole process is about supporting YOU and your overall health and wellness.
This could look like:
implementING YOUR healthcare provider recommendations
When a Dr. prescribes a change, there are usually some practicalities that go along with that. Depending on what it is, it can be really challenging. You might be prescribed changes to what you eat, certain exercises to do, or receive more vague recommendations like advice to lower your stress. A health coach can help you find YOUR best way to do this.
We collaborate to come up with specific action steps to make it happen. Let’s face it, sometimes those recommendations sound so easy when you are in the doctor’s office, but they can entail a lot of shifts in your lifestyle that could use some support. We take it step-by-step to make positive changes to support your long-term health and well-being.
When you know you want to work on finding a better balance with your chronic illness, but could use some support.
When you just know you want to make some changes in your life, but they might not be medically prescribed, a health coach can help you with that, too. While there is no one-size-fits-all, we can work together to help you find your own path that will help you to live chronically well.
This is exactly how I ended up turning my health around. I did not have a specific prescription from any of my doctors, but I knew I wanted to feel better. After taking years to recover from chemotherapy and struggling side effects and my immune system, I was tired of feeling awful and wanted to find my answers and ways to feel better. I slowly started pursuing a more integrative approach. This ultimately helped me to move from a cycle of illness, infection and fatigue to a more balanced and full life.
For More Info
On how a health coach can support your path to living chronically well, here is another blog post that sheds some light.
While I don’t have a magic wand, I have a lot of powerful tools to help you to realize your way to find your balance with chronic wellness.
I combine my first-hand knowledge of living with chronic illness with my coaching certifications from Duke Integrative Medicine and National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches to support my clients on their path to living chronically well. It takes time, slow change, lots of encouragement, collaboration and utilizing your unique expertise on yourself.
Want to know more about an exciting, new way to work with me?
I invite you to check out the Chronically Well Membership! Chronically Well will allow you to be coached consistently over a long-term period that is flexible to your schedule. This new offering includes habit tracking, direct messaging and other regular check-ins designed to support you in a way that works for your unique situation. If you are interested in learning more, click here to get all the details!
How could you use some support in your chronic wellness journey?
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