Chronic illness, pacing, and why slowly getting back into routine mattered more than pushing through
I got back from my Mediterranean trip last Saturday, and honestly, I was surprised by how well I did. I did not crash after my trip… as in… FROM the trip at all. And that is because of the stage of healing I am in. I was quite surprised by that… and very grateful.
That brings us to the first week home, this past week. That was a little different…
First off, no one was at my beck and call. I mean… can we just mention here that personal butlers and a sous chef that manages your food sensitivities for you, are the REAL vacation? Ha ha.
So, I once again had to manage all my own “stuff”.
Secondly, I had to catch up on all the work I had missed… and that was a lot more planning and work than I had actually bargained for.
Third and lastly, it was suddenly spring… and my deck garden was needing a LOT of attention. Have I ever mentioned that I have a serious container garden going on over here?
All of that together meant that I was likely going to “overdo” things, or at least work to my limit. And let’s be honest, when you have several chronic illness diagnoses, you never “really” know where that limit is, because it does shift from day to day.
So I made one very intentional decision. I did not jump fully back into routine. Instead, I started back into my routines slowly.
I didn’t go for my daily walk for another 3 days. And then when I did, I didn’t go the full distance, but half. And even now, I’m actually not fully back to the length of the walk I did before my vacation.
Another tactic I employed is that I made my therapies top priority. I had craniosacral therapy, acupuncture therapy, and 2 NESA therapies booked. (NESA is a neuromodulation therapy that is new to me… it works on relaxing the brain.)
I did get plant shopping done, and asked for help with the bigger pots. So now both Rob and I have some new sore muscles. LOL.
It’s so important to actually look honestly at where your body is at, keep the task list simple, and prioritize the things that matter the most first.
I balanced each day with morning sun in the chair on the corner of my deck, and a late afternoon rest. Not sleep… just rest.
One of my newest revelations is that laying as flat as possible and “not thinking” is one of the best ways to actually rest both the body and the mind.
It’s not easy for our bodies to step back fully into our best routines, especially after being out of them for a while. It can actually feel overwhelming, even when the amount of physical activity itself is not excessive. So I simply didn’t try to jump right back into everything at full speed. I did about half my routine for a few days, and then slowly built it back up.
Routine is good… in fact, routines in themselves rest the brain in general. But when you’ve been out of routine, picking right up where you left off is similar to establishing a new routine. And that’s much harder on the body and the brain… even with the exact same amount of physical activity.
So I built rest into my day.
I started it slowly in the sun, I took a long lunch, and I quit early and laid down in bed and Netflixed something that didn’t make me think.
I think many of us with chronic illness are so used to pushing through that we don’t always realize how much support and recovery our bodies actually need while we are doing normal life. This week really reminded me that I handle life much better when I stop expecting my body to instantly return to full speed and instead pay attention to where it is actually at right now.
And honestly? After a full week at home, I still feel surprisingly stable. Tired at moments, yes. Sore muscles from gardening, definitely. But not crashed. Not completely flattened. And I really believe a large part of that came down to this one decision to not force myself immediately back into full routine the second I got home.
I also think God designed our bodies to need this kind of wisdom. Not punishment. Not pressure. Just awareness, rest, support, and a little more honesty about what we actually need in a given season.
If this is something you’re navigating too, and you’re trying to figure out how to work with your body instead of constantly fighting it, that’s exactly why I made the guide below.
If this is something you’re learning too, I created a free guide called Faith Over Fatigue: 5 Gentle Energy Shifts That Protect You From Crashing.
It walks through some of the mindset shifts and pacing practices that have helped me stop fighting my body and start working with it more compassionately instead.