Living Lightly: A Journey Through Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E.)
By Jenny Light
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Living Lightly - Jenny Light
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT
LIVING LIGHTLY: A JOURNEY THROUGH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (M.E.)
Jenny Light has got a ‘light’ on the problem of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, as there are many mysterious explanations given to it. Having lived with this condition herself, through her experience, her fight and research, Jenny takes you on an inward journey to full health, through healthy living, exercises and therapies that can be used to overcome Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Jan de Vries, Author of 42 nature cure books
I used VegEPA, an evening primrose and omega supplement specifically for CFS/M.E. as part of my recovery process. Igennus are endorsing me and I am endorsing their product as part of a case study.
Igennus, Manufacturer
First published by Ayni Books, 2015
Ayni Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach,
Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK
office1@jhpbooks.net
www.johnhuntpublishing.com
www.ayni-books.com
For distributor details and how to order please visit the ‘Ordering’ section on our website.
Text copyright: Jenny Light 2014
ISBN: 978 1 78535 139 6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937450
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.
The rights of Jenny Light as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design: Lee Nash
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1 Collapse
1. My collapse
2. Cracks started to show!
3. Loss of freedoms
4. Cloud gazing
Part 2 Coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
5. Grounding, discharging and cleansing
6. Coping with conversation and public places
7. Psychic protection
8. Sensitivity to sound and ELF (extremely low frequencies of electromagnetic energy)
9. Pleasing other people
10. Coping with others’ mixed reactions
11. The raw food diet
12. Getting a good sleep
13. Arrhythmia: the message of the heart
Part 3 Recovery and forging a healthier approach to life
14. Meaning of the illness
15. Acceptance
16. Other therapies and supplements
17. Ahimsa (non-violence): getting the balance right
18. A better way to be
Appendix A: My favourite raw food recipes
Appendix B: 14-day sleep diary
Bibliography
About the author
Through the clarity of time
We see our life mapped out
In colours, red and gold:
Experience etching our soul
Into a softness which
We couldn’t have fathomed before.
I see a gentler way to be
And am more happy being me.
I dedicate this book to my mother, Jan, and daughters, Ashley and Lesley, who looked after me at my lowest ebb with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Without their unerring practical and emotional support, I would not have been able to take the first steps to recovery.
Also, this book is dedicated to all those suffering with extreme energy sensitivity and fatigue:
May this book lead you to full health and may you know your own inner light.
Foreword
There are a vast amount of books on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ M.E., including my own.
Living Lightly is a different book altogether. At first I thought ‘Not another one!’ until I picked it up, started to read it and couldn’t put it down because this book is totally different from any others on the subject.
We can quickly see that Jenny Light has got a ‘light’ on the problem of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, as there are many mysterious explanations given to it. Having lived with this condition herself, through her experience, her fight and research, Jenny takes you on an inward journey to full health, through healthy living, exercises and therapies that can be used to overcome Chronic Fatigue Syndrome much more quickly.
I was greatly impressed with this book, which I am sure will give many fellow sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome hope that this debilitating condition can be fought and won!
I wish Jenny every success with her book.
Jan de Vries
Jan de Vries Health Care Ltd
20 Wellington Square
Ayr
Ayrshire KA7 1EZ
Scotland, UK
www.jandevrieshealth.co.uk
Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to my guides and angels for carrying my spirit through the empty waste I felt inside to guiding me to place each word of this book.
I am indebted to my friend Anita Neilson, who, being a colleague with the same condition, grew to be my best friend and worked valiantly with each chapter as I wrote it and led herself back to health.
To my good friend Frank Murphy, a big thank-you for your spiritual healing and giving me the courage and energy to face myself on the inward journey to health.
To Neil Campbell, my deepest yoga friend and confidant, a big thank-you for proofreading my book and encouraging me on my inner journey.
To my grandchildren, Lily, Tom, Sandy, Elsie and Alice, thank you for your exuberance and joy in living that lifted my spirits and reminded me of joy on those days when I felt low.
And to my friends and clients who encouraged me along the way by giving positive feedback that this book was needed and was helpful to them.
I am grateful to Jan de Vries, naturopath, friend of the family and eminent author, for endorsing my book.
Introduction
It is with deepest gratitude to my illness that I write this book. That may seem strange, but without Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), I would not have experienced the magical teachings it had in store for me.
I would like to take you on my journey. It doesn’t matter whether you have suffered Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, post-viral fatigue, myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) or not, I hope my journey will be entertaining and that you, my reader, may gain some insights into yourself. This book is for you. You, who just happened to pick up this book, if you believe in the coincidence. For my part, I believe that I was meant to have Chronic Fatigue, that I was meant to learn from it, and that you, dear reader, were meant to share in what I have learned. This book is not dedicated to associating with symptoms or disease labels. There are plenty of other books on the subject. This book instead leads you to associating with wellness by helping you to embark on your own journey of self-enquiry and giving you the tools to heal yourself along the way.
Each chapter is designed to lead you through the process of your own self-healing by empowering you to spiritually grow from this experience. You will learn how to connect with the earth’s core, with your higher self, use prayer and develop gratitude and acceptance. The chapters conclude with a powerful affirmation which you can write out and repeat over and over several times a day. I suggest that you take your time to learn the tools from each chapter and record your healing journey. I promise that when you take responsibility for your own healing process, you will not be the person you were before. You will be more fully you, more whole as you step through all the lessons of your condition.
So sit back and prepare for our journey. This moment now is a new moment: fresh and poignant with all possibilities. Take a deep breath in and breathe out the past.
Visualise a shining white light coming down from your highest self through your crown. Breathe in white light; breathe grey out to the trees outside.
Keep breathing in white into your heart and breathing out the grey until you feel fresher and clearer at your core.
Now you are ready. With a sense of expectancy, like a child at Christmas, turn the page…
Part 1
Collapse
Chapter 1
My collapse
There was a time when my own family had to have appointments to see me in my busy schedule. I was busier than Job. I used to say to people that I burned my candle at both ends and four places in the middle! I was even proud of the fact.
And I liked to help everyone. The saying: ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person’, was never truer. And I couldn’t say no to anyone who asked. It was as if I was playing a game of pride with myself to see how much I could do in one day, stretching the bounds of what was humanly possible. Every 10 minutes I had spare, I’d fill with one task or another. I took multi-tasking to a new level: I’d use the moments when I should have been overseeing my food cooking to practise piano, wash out a bin or sew a cushion. Needless to say, I often burned my pot dry when I got absorbed in another task, or two! But that was part of the buzz for me: to see how much I could fit in, like I was cheating time itself or at the very least, beating myself. It was as if I had a personal bet with myself to complete two tasks before the food burned. Not surprising I didn’t always get it right. Nor did I think that I’d ever burn my own pot dry.
Perhaps it’s my competitive nature that’s partly to blame? Choosing to be in the teaching profession was also an indicator: teachers are control freaks who take planning and preparation to the nth degree. It’s a prerequisite of the job which suited my ‘A type’ personality. It’s of no surprise to see that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and M.E. are really prevalent among teachers. At the time, I mused that my colleagues who purported to suffer from M.E. or CFS were a bit pathetic, or dare I say it, maybe attention seeking? You never think that it’ll happen to you. As time has gone on, I have learned never to judge anyone else: ‘There but for the grace of god go I.’
I suppose, looking back, I had an indication within myself that the energy output needed to maintain a high achievement rate was too great. But I was burning fast, like a rocket, an adrenalin junkie…it felt so good to be ‘doing’ all the time. I felt high. Important. Like others might respect me better? I certainly respected myself best when I was achieving.
I was a ‘lists person’. My list of things to do being systematically ticked off gave me great pleasure. Looking back, it’s a sad kind of achievement. But immersed in it, I felt important, infallible, a success. But underlying it all, the toll was being marked up against this unachievable, non-existent goal I was setting myself.
When the cracks started to show, I didn’t recognise them as warning signs: At my lunch break, I’d be puzzled that my arm shook so much bringing my fork to my mouth from a plate on my lap. I learned to tense my arm so food didn’t fall off or so that others didn’t notice (how concerned are we to appear capable and normal to others?). And then there were the cases of flu which I got, bringing an overheated brain, foggy thought processes, sore bones and sometimes a fever. What was also odd was that often I was the only person going down with flu. Why was that? I seemed to get this with a worrying frequency, which increased the more rundown I became as the school year ran on. January, February and March were the lowest months.
The holidays became vital to my recovery in order to start afresh, especially the summer months. However, 10 years ago, in the year that I turned 40, for the first time in my life I hit a wall. My marriage had broken down, I had moved into a new place on my own, I had health issues with fibroids causing heavy bleeding, lots of visits to gynaecology, a new relationship and I was concurrently working hard in the evenings after work and at weekends for a Chartered Teacher award. I had never experienced feeling burnt out before. My body had previously been a capable, tireless machine which would perform anything I wanted it to. I hadn’t really thought about it or really appreciated it. Like a well-running car, you don’t notice it. It’s when it starts to speak to you in the voice of tiredness, when even after 9 or 10 hours’ sleep you never seem to feel rested – that and the awful dislocated feeling of not being quite present in the proceedings. That was the first time that I realised something was wrong. Other people assured me that it was just my age catching up with me. My mother assured me that she’d hit the same wall at 40 after completing her honours degree, so I took it as a temporary glitch. If I rested up a while, then I’d be able to take up the reins again. Surely? So, I remember