34 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • JULY 6, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
Strategies for self-love
It’s not easy to practice self-love no
matter who you are, and for people living
with a chronic condition such as rheumatoid
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ADVERTORIAL
arthritis (RA) - an autoimmune disease
of the joints1 that aff ects approximately
1.6 million people in the United
States - it can feel even more overwhelming
to love a body that doesn’t always
cooperate with you.
Rheumatoid arthritis can create body
image challenges by causing painful, swollen
joints and infl ammation in the hands,
knees and feet that may make you feel
like you’re not yourself and your body is
betraying you. RA is oft en referred to as
an “invisible” illness that also contributes
to many emotional and physical symptoms,
like fatigue and joint damage, that
can’t be seen from the outside. Th ese
symptoms can impact self-love for people
who are living with RA. If you feel like you
are fi ghting your body, it isn’t a surprise
that body image and self-esteem may be a
source of struggle and frustration.
Further, poor body-image may come
from a lack of public representation. For
people living with RA, not being “present”
in mass media can make it challenging
to see their experiences and their body
as normal - even though there is no “normal.”
Th ere is no one way to be, and we
do a huge disservice when diversity of all
kinds is missing from what we see and/
or consume.
Practicing self-love and self-care is
important in feeling comfortable with
relationships too. It can be diffi cult to
engage in meaningful and healthy relationships
and friendships without a good
dose of confi dence and care for yourself.
If we don’t feel good about who we
are, we may be less likely to speak up for
ourselves, less likely to have - or ask for -
pleasure, and less likely to have equal, balanced
relationships.
We only have one body, and it’s important
to come up with strategies to remind
ourselves that no one is perfect and we
should love who we are. Check out these
tips that may help address self-love while
living with a chronic condition like RA:
Make time to self-refl ect: Th ink about
what makes you feel good. When do
you feel most beautiful? Most confi dent?
Sexiest? Capitalize on those times and
think about what those experiences have
in common. Is it music? Is it a smell? Is
it a particular texture? Can we commit
to fi nding a few moments in each day to
breathe and shift our focus from frustration
to positivity?Write it down: Keeping
a daily journal of your feelings can help
you identify areas that you need to work
on both mentally and emotionally. It can
be diffi cult to realize that you need to
improve self-love until you see it written
down on paper.Send yourself reminders:
Leave Post-it® notes or set spontaneous
calendar alarms throughout the year to
inspire you and remind you to practice
self-love.Don’t keep it all inside: While
self-love is very personal, it doesn’t mean
you should bottle up your feelings. Tell
a partner, friend or even a professional
about your feelings and lean on them for
support.Life isn’t perfect, but if you give
yourself the freedom to love the skin you
have, you may be far better off .
For more tips on self-love and relationships
while living with RA, visit www.
Arthritis.com.
Courtesy BPT