A new year, a fresh new start. What if 2024 is the year that you will significantly improve, and even reverse your IBS? If you’re not sure where to start to make this year different, this will be a precious ally to you.
Same again please?
Have you noticed them? All the joggers are out. They are every year – puffing and panting in the cold with the resolve to get fit. Some of them make it. But the vast majority will last for a week, maybe two. Maybe they’ll get to the end of January. And then there will be that day when they have too much on. Or they get sick. And they stop.
That was me wanting a new start with IBS. Again.
This year I’ll eat better (although that wasn’t the solution anyway).
This year I’ll make meals from scratch all the time (I did keep that one up).
And this year I will FINALLY improve my IBS.
As every year before that, whatever I tried didn’t actually get me much relief.
Then life gave me a hand. It moved me to a place I did not want to live in, and put me in a job that did not match my values AT ALL And all hell let loose in my body.
I was actually fed up when my contract came to an end and was not renewed because of budget problems. But it was my saving grace. I could finally plough all my efforts into solving IBS.
Where you can start
Looking back, if there was ONE thing that prepared me for a new start with IBS back it was meditation. Meditation laid a solid foundation. I didn’t particularly like it. And I found it really hard to focus on nothing. And yet being able to redirect thought is a highly undervalued life skill.
You have heard about the mind-body connection. Well meditation actually helps you to spend time in your body, without your mind racing. We are taught to think and fret all the time at school. Add to that the news, and all the mental stimulation we are surrounded with. Well meditation interrupts that.
Even for a few minutes you are giving your body the message that “all is well” and allowing it to rest from overwhelm.
Meditation wasn’t the solution to my IBS. However it was a precious ally.
It is a skill that it took me a few months to develop. And when Covid hit, I was able to keep calm through the craziness and my body didn’t flinch.
How not to quit
If you are left to your own devices, chances are that you will quit. That’s where you need someone or something to keep you moving forward.
In the case of meditation, an app like Calm tells you how many days in a row you have practiced.
The golden rule to not quit is to let yourself off the hook if you miss a day. As soon as you can, come back to it.
My meditation practice was far from perfect. There were holes all over the place. However, I always came back and took off from there. In time, I didn’t need to do meditation any more. I would automatically create that space to feel, and I still do.
A new start with IBS
Persistence is a skill you will need to beat your IBS. Whether you do that on your own, or fast-track this year with the help of an expert coach.
1