When you are feeling really stuck with regular, even daily IBS flare-ups, life can feel a really hard and lonely place. By its very nature, we feel a little ashamed of our IBS. We try to hide it, pretend we don’t have it. And we walk around shackled to it everywhere we go.
And when you are doing what everyone tells you to and not really getting results, it can be so hard to see how you can break out of this prison and move forward.
So how the hell can you move forward with IBS?
By challenging everything you have ever been told to do and that is not working for you. And actively experimenting.
That may sound a little crazy, but just think about it. If you keep doing the same things over and over, chances are you are going to get the same results. And that will not help you move forward with IBS…
So I challenge you to try out relatively simple experiment:
EVERY WEEK, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY
Have lunch somewhere different one day. Or eat with different people. Or competely alone. And make a note of how you feel just afterwards.
Same? Better? Worse?
Keep trying out small but new situations, until you find ones where you feel a little better.
Maybe you notice you feel more at ease, in a better mood, or bloat a little less.
I don’t see how this is going to help me move forward…
Well you would be surprised just how much our mind LOVES familiar situations. Ones that we experience regularly and feel comfortable and completely safe with.
This is great in some ways, but these same familiar habits are also the ones that keep us stuck. If you start building your “doing things a little differently” muscle, that is what will become familiar. This will help you to open up, and try out new solutions that can help you move forward.
Why not sign up to try out a new activity or class? Instead of just doing the usuals.
This takes a little COURAGE. And to pull it off it might require shutting out the usual thoughts around “I don’t know if I’m going to like it” and opening yourself up to DIFFERENT.
Or watch something completely different on TV? If you like soaps, try a comedy instead. And notice how you feel just afterwards. Or turn off Netflix and play some music instead.
Why not even sing some songs you like on Youtube? This is my favourite this week.
At the weekend, try doing something you liked doing before you had IBS. Something relaxing that you don’t normally take the time for. And make a note of how you feel just afterwards.
Same? Better? Worse?
How this helps your mind
Changing routine can even help open your mind to new perspectives. Our minds like to think thoughts and look for evidence to support it (Let’s face it, we all love to be right!)
So why not play with this thought “I can actually recover from IBS”, and experiment with that. See what evidence out there supports that inspiring belief, and helps you to move forward with IBS.
It gradually allows you to learn to trust yourself (and others) more, and even try out new techniques that your doctor cannot bring you.
You could, for example, find the courage try something that you find really off the charts, like Reiki. Just to see what it’s all about and form your own opinion.
No matter how small, any changes you make open up new possibilities ahead.