This morning I sat down to think about this post. After a month of taking things slower I wondered what I should write. I looked out the window at our tree in the front yard. There are no more leaves and there are still some berries in the tree that birds come to eat during the winter. As I watched it started to lightly snow. I realized how beautiful that falling snow can be and when the sun broke through the clouds and the snow start to sparkle, it was breathtaking. It seems like something that someone makes up for drama, but every once in a while nature likes to bring its own drama. It reminded me that this week I have seen a Cedar Waxwing bird in this same tree eating the berries, they rarely come to our tree. And then yesterday two Bluejays came and sat on the lanterns that I have near the tree. A stunning rarity as well. In each of these cases I could have just kept moving, onto the next task or checking my social media, but I didn’t. I took the time to stop and really pay attention and I was rewarded. In our lives we are told to be more and more productive, that sitting down and just being is such a bad thing. But why? Watching nature makes me happy and I feel like I can relax a bit more when I take these tiny moments. This is something that I would like to do more often, not only to be more grounded and peaceful, but to truly be present.

The next coming month can be very busy, and quite frankly stressful, for so many people. Remember that it is not selfish to take care of yourself. You know the best way to care for yourself and try to not let anyone sway you from that. Need to take a break from social media? Do it! Long hot baths? Do it! Copious amounts of tea while reading a book just for fun? Do it! Now I know that is way easier to say then do, so let’s start small. Take a moment to watch the snow, to go outside and breathe fresh air, or smell fresh baked cookies. Take one minute for yourself where you are fully present and see what that can do for you.

A Note on Giving

The holiday season is a season of giving. This doesn’t just have to be gifts or money. This can also be in acts of service and love. If there is someone in your life that is struggling offer to help do the groceries, to bring some meals over, do some cleaning, bake some holiday treats for them, or help them decorate if that is what they would like to do. Offer to help with genuineness and kindness. It is amazing what little acts of kindness can do for someone’s holiday, whether they have chronic illness or not. Let’s all do our part to spread more love and kindness this holiday season.

This has been a season of false starts and stops here in Calgary. We thought summer was done and fall would begin, but then we had summer weather again. And then a couple days of fall, and then back to summer. This week we might even start deep winter with the coming weeks predictions. As a fall person, I am thrilled. Being able to walk outside while the trees still have their leaves on them while changing colour and it is not cold out is a magical feeling. There is something so rejuvenating about fresh air.

These false starts and stops to different seasons can be related to chronic illness in many ways. On the journey to get a diagnosis, in your condition in general and the cycling of symptoms, in feeling “normal” or having a flare, or in how you feel about yourself. Chronic illness is never static or stable. It is constantly changing and moving. This is often very frustrating and why the answer to “how are you doing?” changes every day. And, like these false starts and stops to the season, does not have a set pattern, nor any rhyme-or-reason. The changes can come quick or be prolonged but can never be predicted. With this in mind, be kind to yourself, you are learning to deal with uncertainty and you are doing great.

Remember, it is okay to take a rest. It is not selfish to care for yourself. It makes love and joy so much easier to give when you first have given yourself that same attention. Love yourself and take care until next month.

At the end of September the leaves in my hometown are in the process of changing colour and many trees have already lost all of their leaves. With a look into October we enter into a space of ending the seasonal plants and colder temperatures are approaching. It can be a time of coziness and reflection and an urgency of taking all the nice weather that still comes and savouring it.

As the days get colder and the weather starts to change, it can become quite isolating for people with chronic illness and disabilities since they cannot safely navigate the elements when they go outside. It is important to continue to check in with your friends that are differently-abled.

Not only can the weather create isolation, but so can experiencing a flare.

A part of chronic illness that almost always catches you by surprise is flares. They come whenever they want, usually come on very quickly, and lasts for almost longer then you can possibly stand.

Flares are frustrating in many ways. You never know when they will come or how long they will stay. You don’t have to “do” something to get a flare. You have to cancel everything for the upcoming week—you can try to fight it but 95% of the time it takes a week to recover. And they are demoralizing and can affect your mental health.

So what do you do when you have a flare? You take it one minute at a time because that is all you can handle. You do what absolutely has to be done and forget the rest. You throw your weekly to-do list out the window. You lean heavily on your support system. You listen to your body and take the time and care it needs. And you wish for it to end soon.

If you know someone who goes into a flare, be extra patient and kind. They feel like their world is imploding and are probably not sure how they can survive it. Offer to help with household tasks and food, they probably desperately need it. And, as always, love them.

Take a moment if you can to crunch some fall leaves, the sound will make you smile! Find little moments of joy and remember you are not alone!

Today is the first day of September which means the wrap up of summer. For people with chronic illness/disability there are two reactions to summer finishing. The first being sadness that they no longer have the life giving warmth of the sun anymore. The other group is extremely thankful that the heat that sets off their symptoms will be subsiding. Leading into fall is usually about hope and new starts. For many of us this is much needed as the intense weather this summer has had significant impacts on our world.

For example. in Canada right now, and throughout the summer, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia are on fire. Wildfires are raging all over the place. Many people have been evacuated from their homes and many people will have no homes to go back to. On top of that the environmental cost of this disaster is incalculable.

Wildfire smoke is obviously not healthy for you. The amount of toxins that are in the smoke is high. This affects everyone. However, it can affect people with chronic illness more. Symptoms are aggravated, and new symptoms such as headaches, nausea, sore throats, and actual allergic reactions to the smoke can occur. It makes people lethargic and just plain sick. And this is just the smoke which can come from a distance of 8 hours away, let alone if you live closer.

I am saddened to think of how much more earth and people’s homes will be destroyed. I wish there was something I could do to stop these fires. We can hope that the fall season will bring more rain. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and like there is nothing to be done. I have found one Canadian company that does the best they can to help by planting new trees in the areas that have been devastated by wildfires.

tentree is an ethical based, B-Certified environmental company that makes sustainable clothing. Not only are their products fun, soft, and stylish, I always feel good knowing that my purchase helps combat climate change. Every item that you purchase plants at least ten trees (hence the name!). So far they have planted over 100 million trees! They plant trees from their products and carbon offset programs in many different areas around the world that have need. Due to the overwhelming wildfires in Canada, they are ensuring that many of their trees will be planted where there has been wildfire devastation. They are a great company and it feels good to do something in the face of overwhelming catastrophe.

To learn more about tentree visit their website. Here is the Duo Gooder Climate+ link and here is the Climate+ page where you can find different carbon offset packages for couples, families, and individuals.

As the weather begins to change, let’s get joy out of the change of colours to the trees and the fresh-start feeling of crisp autumn air.

Hello and Welcome to the new Sava Wellness!

First an introduction!

Sava Wellness is a chronic illness support business where people with chronic illnesses and people with visible and invisible disabilities can come to be supported. We offer virtual one-on-one appointments to provide support and strategies for navigating chronic illness. This could include structured or conversational support such as: regular support check-ins to talk about how you are feeling, support for how to deal with situations that have changed because of your chronic illness or disabilities, strategies to navigate the world with chronic illness and disabilities, and peer-support from a knowledgeable listener who understands what it is like to have chronic illnesses and disabilities.

Through Sava Wellness, Sarah is also available for speaking engagements, conference keynotes, and educational webinars to educate and communicate the differences and challenges of living with chronic illnesses and invisible disabilities and to support initiatives to make the world more inclusive.

What a month!

The month of July is special in many ways for us at Sava Wellness. This month was the launch of the Sava Wellness Community: Interview Series. The interview series was created to celebrate the differences of people and to continue to bring awareness about chronic illnesses and disabilities. We have heard from four amazing people and their experiences with chronic illnesses and disabilities. July is also chronic disease month and disability pride month, and that is why the interview series was launched and that there are so many interviews to share!

Below are some snippets from the interviews and the links to listen or read the interviews. To be inclusive of all types of chronic illness and disabilities the interviews have been conducted in a number of ways. Some were recorded and the videos of the conversations have been posted. Others were done verbally and the interviews transcribed. And still others were done completely via email. These differences in interviews show that chronic illness and disabilities can affect everyone differently. Some people need the questions beforehand, some need the time to think of their answers, some have such bad brain fog that they need to carefully write out their answers and review them. Each style shows the different ways that people accommodate, and have learned to function, with their chronic illnesses/disabilities. Sava Wellness is an inclusive space for people to authentically reflect on their chronic illnesses and disabilities, and that is why some of the interviews are written and some are in video format. We thank you for taking the time to look at both kinds of interviews.

Please make sure you follow along as the interviews are raw, real, and inspiring!

Interviews From This Month

Courtney:

Courtney (she/her/hers) is a senior scientist with chronic illness who lives in the USA. She has fibromyalgia, psoriatic arthritis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. We talk about the difference between having or not having a diagnosis and how both of these can affect your life.

She also talks about different terms people use to describe themselves when they have chronic illnesses, the differences in having a diagnosis or not, and what Courtney would like people to know about chronic illness (3 important points!).

You can find Courtney and her husband, Rick, talking about restaurants and visiting theme parks on the “Tall Guy Talks Travel with Rick Dougherty” YouTube channel and Podcast. Please subscribe to YouTube @tallguytalkstravel7657, and also follow along on Instagram @rickdoughertytgtt and Twitter @rick_ear

Here is the link to Courtney’s interview on the Sava Wellness Community page, please take a read.

Adele:

Adele (she/her) is an illustrator with chronic illness who lives in the UK. She has chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Adele describes the joy of drawing and how due to her illnesses she has had to create and keep boundaries.

In the interview Adele describes her long journey of being diagnosed and how due to her illnesses she has had to create and keep boundaries. We talk about brain fog, how chronic illness can affect your mental health, and how patience towards people with chronic illness is key.

She also takes about her joy, and passion!, about being a small shop owner and creating her illustrations. Adele talks of how she now enjoys the little things in life and that her chronic illnesses have caused her to not overlook them.

Make sure to check out Adele’s lovely illustrations that she turns into stickers, colouring books, enamel pins, and more! Find her on Etsy, YouTube and Instagram @delliesdesigns!

Here is the link to Adele’s interview on the Sava Wellness Community page, and here is the direct link to the YouTube video.

Beth:

Beth (she/her) is an artist that incorporates medical devices into her art. She lives with chronic illness and resides in the UK. Beth has IBD (ulcerative colitis) and talks about the stigma around bodies and how an ostomy is not a cure but a treatment.

Beth talks about how having an ileostomy surgery helped her live again. She also talks about how hard it is to have her illness when there is so much stigma around bodies and bodily functions, how getting a diagnosis is relieving at first, but then you learn about having an autoimmune disease that is lifelong. Through her chronic illness Beth has learned to advocate for herself through pure frustration, realized the need for accessibility in the world, and how easy it is to normalize symptoms in everyday life only to realize how difficult it is when someone asks you to explain them.

When Beth received her surgery, she turned to drawing to help her cope. Each figure she drew had an ostomy bag. Inspired, Beth has created a whole line of prints, stickers, and more!, that feature beautiful bodies with medical devices.

Through her art, Beth aims to normalize medical devices and bodies through empowerment. Please check out her Instagram @broken_n_brave and her website https://brokennbrave.co.uk/

Here is the link to Beth’s interview on the Sava Wellness Community page, and here is the direct link to the YouTube video.

Sarah:

Sarah (she/her/hers), the owner of Sava Wellness, lives in Canada and has dealt with chronic illnesses/disabilities for many years. In this interview, Sarah talks about learning self-advocacy, her diagnoses of Lyme disease and chronic fatigue, grieving, and much more!

This instalment of the Sava Wellness Community Interview Series is a different and exciting episode where Sarah, the owner of Sava Wellness, is interviewed by Rick Dougherty, who is the creator and host of the “Tall Guy Talks Travel with Rick Dougherty” YouTube channel and podcast series.

Sarah talks about learning self-advocacy, what kinds of terminology to use around people with chronic illnesses and/or disabilities, her diagnoses of Lyme disease and chronic fatigue and how these impact her life, how to talk to family and friends about your chronic illnesses/disabilities, which includes grieving and much more!

Here is the link to Sarah’s interview on the Sava Wellness Community page, here is the direct link to the Sava Wellness Preview YouTube video, and the full interview video on the TGTT YouTube channel is here.

Stay tuned for next month where there are more interviews to follow along with and continue to learn about the differences people with chronic illnesses and/or disabilities live with to exist in the world.

Ending Note

Chronic disease month and disability pride month is coming to an end, let’s remember that even though it is no longer chronic disease month and disability pride month, that people with chronic illnesses and disabilities will still have symptoms and struggles to fit into society outside of this month. We should remember that they still appreciate people reaching out to them and people in their lives that try to understand what they are going through.

Thank you for following along with the Sava Wellness journey! Stay tuned to learn more about what Sava Wellness is doing to create a more inclusive world for people with chronic illnesses/disabilities!

Please subscribe to the newsletter through the footer of the Sava Wellness website. You can also follow along with Sava Wellness through the YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook.