Yesterday I did my first presentation for Yoga teachers on how to meet the needs of someone living with diabetes in a yoga class. It was a long and carefully thought out presentation. I wanted to cover a landscape which is unknown, often treacherous and has, to be brutally honest, no happy endings. At the end of the session, I opened it up to the audience for questions.
The first one?
Do you see what’s happened to you as a blessing?
I am sure the look on my face said it all.
Having a baby was a blessing
Meeting my husband was a blessing
Discovering yoga… a blessing
Type 1 diabetes? Not so much…
Later when everyone else had left she stayed behind. She was curious to know how I had come to terms with a condition that obviously was not something I chose or even wanted?
I shared that when I finally comprehended that I had type 1 diabetes, (it took me 6 years to find out that that was what I had) I felt relieved. Finally, I had an answer to the varied and confusing symptoms that not one health practitioner or medical doctor seemed to understand. But understanding what was wrong with me didn’t mean that relief translated into silver linings and rainbows.
It reminded me of when I was little and my mom used to try to get me to swallow a pill. I used to hunker down, screw up my face and flat out refuse. I’d rather die than swallow one of those damn things. So instead I’d take medicine in liquid form, or a suppository or even a skin cream.
Eventually, though that damn pill didn’t come in any other form and I had to face my fears and swallow. It took guts, willpower and a lot of love and encouragement from my mom to take that pill.
Now I swallow like a pro.
That’s how it felt when I finally let go and accepted my diagnosis. I swallowed it whole.
And I still do….
Every day I wake up and roll with the punches…
Like today when my reading is higher than I’d like it to be and I know that it’s better to accept than fight. So I do my yoga practice…and smile at my husband because he has my back
…and take as much time as I need to be grateful…
Grateful I am alive in spite of diabetes
What if there was an easy way to feel better, have extra confidence and be more relaxed about managing your diabetes?
Yoga absolutely helped me and I’m convinced it can help you too
Join me on September 1, 2017 for my free yoga challenge
” Better Diabetes Management in 7 steps with Yoga”
With great respect…Rachel
Yoga for Diabetes 
I dislike but accept diabetes. I am grateful for RA. Why grateful for RA? I am grateful because I did not expect to live much past 40. Being in my 40’s when I was DX’d with RA, I thought wow you know my mom (she died at 46 after 23 years with type 1) and my aunt (she passed when she was 10 with T1) did not live long enough to have RA. Yeah, I have much to be grateful for.
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I’m not a diabetic but I work with Dr. Bernstein who recently said that his Type 1 diabetes has forced him to live a healthier lifestyle and at 83 years old he is healthier than non-diabetic people who are 10-15 years younger than him. That’s something to be grateful for!
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