Hello and welcome back.

Today I will give you an update on how my health is right now and how it was a year ago. I am also going to give you some tips on how you can find your balanced life having a chronic, and/or invisible illness.

Looking back to January 2025

When I look back to January 2025 I can see that I am getting better. I still have a long way to go to reach the level I want to be at, but my health is so much better.

Last January I was in so bad shape that I can hardly remember anything. I know we rented a location to celebrate my mans birthday, and I know we celebrated my sons first birthday. I know we had family come visit us to celebrate him, and I know we served food and cake. But that is pretty much it. 

I remember being in so much pain everyday that I would lay on the floor playing with my son before I went to work. If I would load the dishwasher before I went to work and give my son all the attention he deserved I would end up in so extreme pain that I could lift him and put him to bed. There where days where I would just cry because I couldn’t do anything. I ended up jut existing and not living.

My best friend told me a couple of months later after I got a bit better that she told her husband after my sons birthday that she could see that I was in a bad shape. She told me that when she looked me in the eyes it was like there was a veil over my eyes and that even if I was physical there I was still not there. She noticed that I was getting better more myself again.

One year later

We are now halfway through January and my health is not at it’s best. It really started back in the end of October 2025 when I fell down the stairs when I was going to the basement to fetch some vegetables to make dinner. I hurt my tailbone so bad that it took me a week to be able to sit, walk, move and lay down like a normal person. (I don’t recommend doing that).
Because of this I was unable to work out for several weeks, and when I finally got good again I needed to have my son home from kindergarten for December to minimalize the change of him getting the stomachflu (there’s a legit reason behind it, it’s not just because we don’t want it).
And since I had him home during the day and I wanted to use December to decorate for Christmas I decided to put my workouts on hold. All of this, including being social during the Christmasweek and working took a turn on my health.

So the beginning for January has been painful, lack of energy and either extreme sleep or lack of sleep. I have needed to start taking painmeds and meds to get my swollen feet down to normal again.  And with both my man and my son having birthdays in January I want to be present, be able to enjoy their days and celebrate them the way they deserve

And I know that for me to able to give them the attention they deserve I need to plan my days and weeks ahead both before and after to uphold my health at the same time.

This means that I need to plan when and how I will work out. I need focus on strength training before their days and focus on stretching after their days, I need to take painmeds before I become more or less bedridden with pain. I need to use two or three days for baking, tidying and cleaning and not do it the day before. I need to prioritize lots of rest before and after and not make any other plans during the days before.

I see you

And I know that there are so many out there that are in that lifespace right know. I just want you all to know that there are help out there. I see you and I feel you!

So with me being on this path to achieve a more elegant, soft and aligned life. I hope you will find tips and tricks and inspiration to find your balanced life with either having a chronic and/or invisible illness.

Tips

Tip number 1.
Start planning and put in your rest time.
Find a beautiful planner that works for you and plot inn everything from training, to rest, to dinner, doctorsapp, coffee with your best friend ect.
I love planning and I have started to first plan my month, I write down everything I already know is happening, like my workweekends, my nailaoppintment ect. I also put in when I am going to workout, when I am going to write a post and when to post it (some weeks it may vary due to other things happening). And when things come up I will put in my planner, and when I get asked to meet up I can look in my planner to see if I have to much that week or what is happening the next week to see if I would benefit from meeting up or if I would get more tired.

Tip number 2.
In start out with few things a week!
This will of course depend heavenly on what that thing is. But if you can, then only have one important thing planned a week. If you know that you need to see your doctor and dentist the same month, then try and have them in seperat weeks. This because we often end up exhausted and needing alot of time to recover if we have lots of important things in the same week. So when we have that one thing that week, we will recover faster and then in the long run we will be healthier, more present and have more energy to do the things we want and love.

Tip number 3.
Ask for help and accept help!
I know I know. This could be the hardest thing to do. Simply because we can often need help with simple things like washing our hair or clean the floor. However, if you get help with the things that trigger pain then you can do more of other things.

I need help washing my hair. This because we need to actually hold the showerhead when we shower and when I have my hands over my shoulders for that long I will end up in a flare and need some days recover. I do have really long thick hair so that does not help. Luckily though I only need to wash my hair once a week and my man is amazing and holds the showerhead for me.
I also have put the cleaning of floors and put the duvet covers on our weighted duvets on to him. Many of you would think that these are easy tasks that are done in no-time. Well, yes and no. I can do both, but when I do I end up in a flare again and need days to recover. Days want to use spending time with my family instead of just watching them.

Tip number 5.
Find a workout that works for you and your body! Moving our body is one thing that will help us getting better. But there are things that can be triggers.
I will talk more about this next week.

Tip number 6.
Find a calming hobby! This will help you find joy and purpose on the days where you don’t leave the house. This could be, embroidery, knitting, puzzles, books ect.
More about this in a future post.

Love
Emilie Cathrin