January at Fibro Active
By Julie Barker, Chairperson
In this article we will be following the outcomes and discussions we have achieved in January. We are back to having a theme of the month, this month it is isolation and loneliness and how can we connect.
Happy New Year!
The New Year didn’t get off to the start we had planned. First of all, Jane and I had a last-minute invitation to meet the Derby Tai Chi and Qigong Instructors at Carsington Water on New Year’s Day to record a few forms for the Chinese New Year Festival. Luckily the weather was mild and it was an amazing way to start the year and celebrate my birthday.
I have started doing a weekly schedule of postings for Facebook. This has freed up time during the week, so I can spend less time on social media.
We made the decision to delay going back to group meetings and tai chi classes for a week due to the high levels of Omicron. This gave me a bit of breathing space as I had struggled health wise throughout Christmas and I still needed to write my chairperson’s report for our AGM on the 11th, which this year, for the first time, I couldn’t face writing.
Mon 10th Jan Tai Chi classes return
Attendance was down due to students isolating, as they had either tested positive, been in touch with someone who had tested positive, or for health procedures, and in one case bereavement. We had expected this, so we made it fun for those who did attend, we took them through the Traditional Eight Brocades as a carrot for the following Saturday.
AGM 11th Jan
I managed to finish the chair’s report the weekend before the AGM. It was eight pages long so, rather than print it, I emailed it out to our members. This year’s AGM was low key and we ran through the agenda within 30 minutes. The committee was voted in and we elected a new committee member, Opkar Bilkhu. Opkar has been one of our tai chi students for around 3 years and she is now in a position to help out at group meetings and will be a great asset to our team.
Focus Group 11th Jan
After the AGM we were joined by a representative from Erewash Borough Council. The assistant economic development officer had invited us to be involved with the consultations for the redevelopment of Long Eaton High Street. Group members were given a draft plan so they could discuss the proposed changes, with a view to how shopping on the high street impacts them. They also put forward a comprehensive list of ideal requirements such as:
· the positioning of blue badge parking spaces,
· ticket machines near to blue badge parking,
· consideration when putting planters and seating in a blue badge area
· covered seating areas,
· improved toilet facilities and disabled toilet schemes in various shops,
· improved accessibility in some shops,
· awareness of over stimulation such as noise, bright lights and pungent smells.
· Improve paving and reduce trip hazards off high street access points
· Provide low-cost community hubs
It was great that we represented the Fibro and CFS/ME community and for members to express the difficulties they have accessing the town centre and why they shop online. The points raised are also applicable to the whole of the disabled community.
Chinese New Year Festival Recording
In the meantime, I had been approached by Master Faye Yip from the Deyin Institute inviting us to be in the line-up for the Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday 29th Jan. This is a great honour. The festival will be on Zoom with members and instructors from around the world linking in. Jane and I chose to record our presentation. We have started with a PowerPoint about Fibro and CFS, about the group and how we incorporated Tai Chi into the programme and the benefits of tai chi and qigong. Then on Saturday 15th Jan, we invited representatives from group and all our classes to come along to record the Traditional Eight Brocades. We had to put out an SOS to everyone as a few of our main students and group members had either tested positive for covid, or were out of action due to medical procedures.
There were 14 of us in the end. We put up New Year decorations and had a run through before breaking for a cuppa and biscuits and then straight into the recording. The recordings were delivered to our media team who edited and stitched it together. I was able to meet the deadline and send the recording off first time on the 19th Jan. Quite an achievement with Mercury being in retrograde! We will pop the recording on our website after the festival for anyone who’s interested to watch.
Tues 18th Jan
Our next group meeting was due to be Marie from Inspiritive Arts, however, she contacted me to say she too had tested positive. It was easy to change the programme, so we had Qigong and Symptom of the Month instead and I went through my original introduction to Fibro and CFS.
Together for a Better Future
We received an invitation from the Chinese Health Qigong Association and the International Health Qigong Federation asking British Health Qigong Association members to participate in the themed event "Beijing Winter Olympics · Together for A Better Future".
They would like us to record our favourite qigong moves in picturesque places around our community. Jane, Ben and myself have been out at Elvaston Castle and Attenborough Nature Reserve in the freezing cold recording snippets to add in to the overall recording. We also have greater plans of getting as many group members and students to Bennerley Viaduct, which opened in the New Year afters millions of pounds were invested to restore it. There are only two of its kind in the UK and Bennerley is the longest. It is only in the next town so it will be fabulous to visit and pull off a dramatic scene.
Future Planning
I put out feelers to the pamper day stall holders to see if they were available for another try at the pamper day planned for Mother’s Day weekend. I only had one positive reply, so I had to make the difficult decision to cancel it. I haven’t got the time or the capacity to start planning from scratch so, instead, we will have a smaller event at the end of our Walking to Awareness Campaign.
The Website has been updated and a new Just Giving page has been created for the Walking to Awareness Campaign 2022 starting on March 30th. We would love it if you guys could join us in our virtual walks. There is no extra effort required. Just post your weekly steps on to our Walking to Awareness Facebook page and help us reach our target. Ask your family and friends to join in and as a bonus sponsor each other and pop it on the Just Giving page. All the information and links you need are at: https://fibroactive.co.uk/fibro-5/fibro-5-challenge/.
Sue from Open Minds
Our final meeting of the month was our popular emotional support workshop with Sue Poulter. This month we looked at isolation and loneliness and how we can connect with others.
Sue identified that social isolation is the lack of social contacts and having few people to interact with regularly. You can live alone and not feel lonely or socially isolated, and you can feel lonely while being with other people.
Lorraine stated that her neighbours are all at work so, there is no one about during the day. She feels that the illness stops her from going out and she finds it difficult to contribute to a conversation because she doesn’t do much.
Margaret says she is isolated from family as they live far away and she is desperate to spend time with her grandchildren.
Susan feels she is unable to make a meaningful contribution, stuck in the flat all day.
Peter gets frustrated frequently and finds it difficult to arrange insurance or deal with selling sites because they use automated systems and all he wants to do is talk to someone about his purchase. It makes him feel very lonely. He also said that chronic fatigue makes it difficult to deal with emotions.
There are things that you can do to help protect yourself from the negative effects of loneliness and social isolation. It is important to take care of yourself first:
· Gentle exercise, tai chi, qigong, yoga, Pilates, gentle walks
· Eating healthily
· Getting quality sleep
· Pursue activities you enjoy to help manage stress
· Stay as mentally and physically healthy as possible
At the end of the day the stress of isolation and loneliness do more damage to your body than chocolate cake ever will. So, invite a friend out for coffee and tell them how lonely you are. Talking about it, takes away its power. Take the first step and connect. You never know where it might lead. Look at me!