Turning a Corner with a soundtrack of wellness and persistence

For those of you following my wellness quest with the psoriasis I am pleased to report that the first two weeks of working with fixing my diet, exercising more, taking vitamin D and zinc, and daily using a cleanser and ointment, has led to a dramatic improvement.

The redness has dramatically decreased in area and disappears for more of the day, the plaques have been thinned – and I am sleeping better due to all of this.  The extra sleep is helping. The feeling that psoriasis will continue unabated has eased, so my mind is so much calmer and clearer. I am definitely coaxing the monster to sleep step by step. Take that psoriasis!

I still want to exercise more, but have been pleased to be upping the levels more each time despite the humid days and thunder storms, but I’ve done exercise biking and stretching indoors and walking before the storms arrive.  I’ve combined my exercise with my great love of photography to  keep motivated. My dear husband took us to a great lake to walk around. It was a good walk which resulted in many fun photographs – including one of a dragon water feature pictured above.

Giving up some of the foods that are potential triggers,especially favourite foods like strawberries, hasn’t been too hard because the thought of going back to where I was a few weeks ago is a strong motivator.  I’ve been to a number of events where there is lots of sugar in the food and just had a glass of water and fruit (that I am allowed to eat).  I was really proud of myself for that.  I’ve become aware of how many times sugar is around me.  I am definitely partly what I eat, and the better I eat the better I feel.

I look at stress and think more  proactively about calming and centering myself. I do tend to worry about things.  Where does this worry come from?  Perhaps it is from experiences of the past.  This worry can be a great motivator (it’s what makes me write, strive to be a good parent, and look for work or making work), but on the other hand it can keep me up late at night thinking about how to save the world and worrying about things I have no control over.  The spanner in the works this week was receiving a letter that now we have to move house.  This was disappointing because we have only been in this rental house for a year and hoped to be here until we could save enough to buy a house.

I hate packing to move because we have had to do it so often (on average every two years) and because it takes a while to unpack and set up everything the way you like it, but of course moving always has its positives.  My challenge is to look for them.  Maybe we can find a slightly bigger house so we’re not so crammed in. Maybe we will have friendlier neighbours who’d appreciate knowing us etc. etc. I am breaking down that move step by step and don’t want it to become a monster that wakes up my psoriasis more.  It does have the potential to do that, but bring on my music sound track!

I have a sound track of music I like to listen to in my room to assist with this process. For me personally this includes Troy Casser Daley, Karise Eden,  Alesa Lajana, Lady Antebellum, and Mumford and Songs. I use some of this sound track to help me when it’s time to sleep rather than watching late night television. I keep looking for other music to add to this list of artists.

Writing is and has always been something that assists me with combating psoriasis. I continue to write poetry, especially about characters that are intent on coming to terms with something, like drought, or loss – in a way that is uplifting.  Journaling this process is yet another part of the journey to wellness.

Steps to Wellness with Psoriasis
1- Work on diet avoiding known food triggers of psoriasis
2- Take appropriate vitamins
3- Use daily cleanser exactly as instructed and avoid all soaps
4- Exercise
5- Use calming power of music
6- Journal Progress to reflect on what is going well and what could go better
7- Write poetry and a optimistic journal
8- Address anxieties and stresses in life with optimism and positive actions.

There are more steps in this journey.   I often wonder will anyone ever find a cure for psoriasis?  Maybe, maybe not, but I think in the meantime improving diet and general health can make it easier to cope with.  The most important step has been to ‘hope’ again for enough wellness to fully embrace living a full life.

(c) June Perkins