Tag: interstitial cystitis

I’ve just finished my ten-minute relaxation and am feeling calm and peaceful.  (See yesterday’s post.)  While I was doing my deep breathing, I remembered another piece of the puzzle you might find helpful.  (Have I mentioned that taking ten minutes to focus on the breath and evoke a relaxation response often leads to inspiration as… Continue reading It Sounds Good…

I’ve talked a little about the detrimental affect panic has on your physiological healing, and you are familiar with the unpleasant sensation of living with panic or fear as your primary emotion.  My last post discussed a quick way to escape the panic when it is just too overwhelming.  I’d like to talk today about… Continue reading The Relaxation Response – Why You’ll Love It!

Your symptoms are flaring.  You’ve read the previous posts, so you know that panicking will only make your symptoms worse.  You’ve done the Emotion Log and the Thought Log, so you even know some of the thoughts behind the panic you’re feeling right now.  Maybe you’re thinking something like, “This will never end,” or “I’ll… Continue reading How to Stop the Panic Now

I would like to tell a little more of my story today, because it just might open a door or two for you.  I’ve written about the Emotion Diagnosis, the Emotion Log, and the breath watching technique, so showing you how I put those three tools together for myself might give you ideas for your… Continue reading The Thought Log

Now you know why investigating your emotions can help you heal, and you’ve done some work to find the main culprits.  Negative emotions, besides hindering your healing, just aren’t much fun.  It’s not exactly something you’ve dreamed of – feeling fear, panic, anger, or despair (to name a few of the biggies) on a daily basis.   … Continue reading Follow the Flow

If you have your list of emotions handy, (see previous blogs) set it in front of you and scan through it again.  What is your diagnosis?  Fear?  Anger?  Despair?  Only you can really know, and if you find yourself not quite certain which of these emotions is most prevalent, don’t worry.  It will become clearer… Continue reading The Emotion Log

If you’ve started or completed your Emotion Diagnosis, (see previous blogs) you might be looking at a long list of emotions ranging from anger to panic to despair to shame.  The thoughts circling in your mind about vulvodynia have probably brought a multitude of emotions with them.  I can remember thinking about the sheer embarrassment… Continue reading What’s your diagnosis?

I am sharing my vulvodynia story, which is long and complicated, because it ties into every aspect of my life, including becoming a life coach and learning how to work with emotions and the thoughts that create them.  No Martha Beck life coach would ever tell you what to do or say “you should try… Continue reading How to do an Emotion Diagnosis (and why it can help)

Like most vulvodynia sufferers, I saw multiple doctors before I discovered I was not suffering from the world’s longest running yeast infection, an antibiotic-resistant form of a bacterial infection, or any other semi-normal gynecological problem.  Armed with the new word for my condition, I went straight to the internet.  I quickly realized this was not… Continue reading Two Kinds of Diagnoses

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with vulvodynia or you’ve been dealing with it for a while (and even two days with vulvodynia can seem like a very LONG while), you are now a member of the club.  It’s that exclusive membership you never asked for, never dreamed you’d get, and though you never pay the… Continue reading The Emotional Impact of Vulvodynia