Living Well

Living Well

Confronting Isolation and Self-Doubt When You Live with an Invisible Chronic Condition

Living with a chronic condition comes with a lot of emotions. It’s incredibly isolating, frustrating, and sometimes leaves you questioning your own body and its experiences.

Living Well

6 Journal Prompts to Promote Mindfulness with IBD

Journaling helps us process experiences and emotions as they happen, keeping us in the moment and out of the anxiety spirals. Here are the journal prompts I use.

Living Well

How Modeling Empathy to My Toddler Helps Me Navigate Chronic Pain

Learning to practice self-compassion when pain or emotional triggers arise can be a beautiful teaching moment for children.

Living Well

Mindset Matters: 5 Reasons Acceptance of Your Chronic Illness Isn’t Synonymous with ‘Giving In’

Truly accepting your chronic illness can feel scary, but it can also open up new ways of living. Here are 5 ways acceptance can benefit your life and how to get started.

Living Well

Workplace Stress Worsened My Chronic Illness

My Crohn's disease came out of remission after 10 years, and I believe workplace stress played a major role. Here's how I handled it.

Living Well

7 Tips That Help Me Stay Hydrated in Warm Weather with IBD

Try these flavorful options instead of guzzling massive amounts of H2O.

Living Well

The Importance of Being a Hustle Culture Dropout When You’re Chronically Ill

The constant pressure to go-go-go took a toll on both my physical and mental health. Then I realized I could opt out.

Living Well

If You Experience Health Anxiety, You’re Not Alone

Health anxiety is common in people living with chronic conditions — and your fears are real and understandable. Learn tips for reducing anxiety and how to get help if needed.

Living Well

How I Manage Summer Travel with IBD

Planning might be the least fun part, but it means I get to enjoy my vacation more and stress less.

Living Well

Mindset Matters: Who Am I with Chronic Illness? Acceptance and Letting Go

Mindset Matters is a space to learn about the mental and emotional aspects of living with chronic illness. Nat Kelley, a certified life and mindset coach, shares how coming to terms with her ulcerative colitis diagnosis was hard, but it allowed her to build a more compassionate relationship with herself.

Living Well

The Mindflight Journal: A Journal for Chronic Illness

Meet Nicole and Aisley, the mom and daughter partnership behind the Mindflight Journal. Building from their own experiences, they've designed a journal for those living with chronic illnesses. Trust me, it's a game-changer.

Living Well

What I Learned While Applying for Disability Insurance to Manage Life with Crohn’s

I wish I'd applied for disability the minute I was eligible. I also wish I didn't try to do it all on my own the first time.

Living Well

Top 7 Yoga Poses for IBD Relief

These slow, gentle movements can help even absolute beginners ease some of their IBD-related discomfort.

Living Well

How to Live in the Moment When You’re in IBD Remission

Living with inflammatory bowel disease can be unpredictable, but you shouldn't let that stop you from enjoying the good moments while they're here.

Living Well

Should You Disclose Your Diagnosis at Work?

The decision of whether or not to share your chronic condition diagnosis with an employer or potential employer is personal. Here's my story and some things to consider as you make the choice.

Living Well

How to Go Green When You Live with IBD

Even though folks with Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis may use more of certain resources (like toilet paper) than the average person, you can still take steps to reduce your environmental impact.

Living Well

Consistency Is Overrated

Consistency helps us feel safe and reduces anxiety. But it also can create unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to redefine consistency (and success) so you’re OK with the ebbs and flows of life.

Living Well

Which Exercise Is Best for People with Crohn’s?

Crohn’s disease. Learn about the benefits of aerobic activity, resistance training, yoga, and tai chi.

Living Well

Your Holiday Gift Guide for Spoonies, by Spoonies

These gift ideas, from seven small businesses run by people living with chronic conditions, will help make this holiday season even more festive.

Living Well

What Moving to South Korea Taught Me About Managing Life and Health with IBD

Through new habits and high quality healthcare, I discovered what it’s like to feel strong and confident in my body.

Living Well

9 Ways to Prepare for the Holidays When You’re Living with IBD

Increased stress and indulgent meals can make the holidays tough when you're living with IBD. A writer living with ulcerative colitis shares her best holiday tips.

Living Well

How to Create Holiday Boundaries When You Have a Chronic Condition

When you're living with a chronic condition, understanding and communicating your needs is imperative. These boundaries can be especially important during the busy holiday season.

Living Well

Living with a Chronic Illness Can Be Isolating — These Tips Can Help

Even when it feels hard to reach out, taking small actions can help us feel more connected to others.

Living Well

7 Tips for Navigating the Stages of Grief After a New Diagnosis

Grieving a new diagnosis is complex. Hearing from others who have been there can help.

Living Well

8 Tips for Coping with ‘Reopening Anxiety’ When You’re Living with a Chronic Condition

Ready or not, the world is reopening around us. Here's how to reengage on your own terms.

Living Well

How to Be Your Own Best Advocate When You’re Living with a Chronic Illness

Good self-advocacy in medical settings requires a complicated balance of confidence and humility.

Living Well

How Embracing the Inevitability of Suffering Can Help You Thrive with Chronic Pain

While some things help, for many chronic illness diagnoses, nothing fixes. This is where changing your mindset may help more than changing your treatment.

Living Well

The Benefits of Gratitude When You’re Living with a Chronic Illness

Shifting to an attitude of gratitude can be the difference between surviving and truly thriving.

Living Well

What Living with Crohn’s Disease Has Taught Me About Trusting My Body

There are always factors within your control, whether you’re aware of them right now or not.

Living Well

5 Reasons Everyone with IBD Should Be Offered Therapy

Therapy helped me process the life changing reality of being diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and I think it should be a standard offering for everyone with IBD.

Living Well

How I Created Joy Through Chronic Pain and a Pandemic

This past year taught me that there is a resilience inside me that circumstances, including chronic migraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot touch.

Living Well

Realistic Approaches to Setting Resolutions When You Live with a Chronic Condition

Living with a chronic condition often means working within your body’s parameters, which can mean editing your expectations. Always give yourself grace and remember that your New Year’s resolutions — if you choose to set them — don’t have to “match” anyone else’s. They only have to feel helpful to you.

Living Well

How I Created Flexible, Remote Work While Living with a Chronic Illness

I was productive, I had purpose, and I was bringing in an income, all while taking good care of myself.

Living Well

9 Ways to Make Long-Haul Quarantine More Sustainable

These tips may help add some ease to your quarantined days.

Living Well

How to Reimagine What Fulfillment Means to You When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned

Life’s uninvited challenges, like illness and loss, can help us find deeper fulfillment in the present moment.

Living Well

Why I Choose Positivity in the Face of Chronic Illness

My mantra, 'living a positive life while chronically ill,' feels more necessary now than it ever has.

Living Well

How I Transformed My Mindset About Life with IBD

I learned to use the power of my mind to feel hope, gratitude, and even joy instead of spiraling into darkness.

Living Well

Having a Chronic Illness Helped Me Prepare for the Uncertainty of the Pandemic

Managing ulcerative colitis means accepting the unpredictability of life. That skill has become invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Living Well

The Value of Pursuing Hobbies When You’re Living with a Chronic Illness

Finding activities that you’re passionate about and can enjoy despite your condition can lead to a richer life.

Living Well

How Nature-Based Therapy Can Improve Your Mental Health

Medication isn’t the only way to treat your mental health when you live with a chronic condition. You might be surprised by all the benefits you can find right in the world around you.

Living Well

We Need to Talk About Chronic Pain and Suicide

People with chronic pain are at a higher risk of mental health conditions, which can lead to suicidal ideation and suicide. Several factors can heighten this risk, which is why it's important to speak up about it.

Living Well

How Chronic Illness Helped Me Cultivate Better Reading Habits

Through bibliotherapy I've learned that books can offer greater insight and healing than I ever imagined, as long as I pay attention.

Living Well

How to Stop Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill with Chronic Illness

Worry and anxiety are common among people with chronic illnesses. These tips can help you slow down and understand your emotions to both improve your mood and your quality of life.

Living Well

7 Self-Care Tips for Surviving the Holidays with IBD

Putting your needs first and being kind to yourself can help you enjoy this festive season.

Living Well

How to Set and Achieve Your Goals with Chronic Illness

Managing your chronic illness on top of life's everyday tasks can be overwhelming. These tips can help you find the motivation and inspiration you need to reach your goals.

Living Well

Planning an Event? Here Are 6 Reasons It Really Needs to Be Accessible

Not only is it the law, but planning an ADA-compliant event shows you care about people living with disabilities.

Living Well

Mindset Matters: Mindfulness and Chronic Illness: How to Focus on the Present When the Present Is Full of Pain

Staying grounded in the present might seem awful when you’re in pain. But if you do it with mindfulness, it can keep you from spiraling out.

Living Well

How the Spoon Theory Helps Me Explain My Health

It can be hard to explain the way that a chronic condition impacts your daily energy. The spoon theory is a clever way to help get the point across.

Living Well

A Public Health Crisis: Preventing Loneliness in Chronic Illness

Loneliness is more prevalent than ever in the U.S. — and people with chronic illness are likely familiar with it. Here's how to stay socially connected even when symptoms or flare-ups get in your way.

Living Well

How I Exercise with Ulcerative Colitis — In and Out of Remission

IBD symptoms can make you want to do anything but exercise. Here's why — and how — to keep moving your body.

Living Well

5 Tips for Safe Backcountry Adventures When You’re Living with a Chronic Condition

Wherever you're starting out on your outdoor recreation journey, these five tips from experienced, outdoorsy chronic illness warriors will help you find your way.

Living Well

10 Ways to Celebrate World IBD Day

Show your body some love, raise awareness (and money!) for the cause, and connect with fellow IBD warriors.

Living Well

7 Tips for Making Yourself Comfortable During an IBD Flare

When my IBD kicks in, I rely on these seven habits to feel less pain and stress.

Living Well

Mindset Matters: Fostering Self-Love and Rediscovering Yourself Post-Diagnosis

Mindset Matters is led by Nat Kelley, a certified life and mindset coach. This month, she focuses on ways to practice self-love and find the "new you" after a diagnosis.

Living Well

35 Date Ideas That Don’t Involve Food

Dating is hard enough without worrying about experiencing symptoms when out and about. Try one of these fun ideas for a less stressful date.

Living Well

Mindset Matters: How to Gently Stop the Mental Spirals That Accompany Chronic Illness

It's easy to spiral into negative thought patterns with chronic illness. But with a little self-awareness and reframing, you can start to get your thoughts under control.

Living Well

When You Don’t Live with a Chronic Condition, You Don’t See the Full Picture

Some of the most difficult parts of living with chronic illness are the aspects that others don't see.

Living Well

Gardening Is My Mindfulness Practice of Choice — Here’s Why

Watching my plants grow and bloom, as well as the benefits of grounding, are just some of the ways gardening teaches me to be more mindful for my chronic illness.

Living Well

The Pain-Energy Cycle and How to Pace Yourself with Chronic Illness

It can be hard to resist the urge to do everything at once when you have energy between flare-ups. But it’s important to remember to rest.

Living Well

Surviving Holiday Stress with IBD

With all the events focused on food and alcohol, plus the general busyness of the season, it's easy to feel stressed and fatigued. Here are some strategies to make the holidays feel special again.

Living Well

9 Products Everyone with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Absolutely Needs

Even the little things can make a big difference when you're living with IBD.

Living Well

Are Stress and Routine Changes Aggravating Your IBD Symptoms? Here’s How to Deal

It can be tricky to create and stick to a new routine, but there are ways to create a sense of calm amid chaos.

Living Well

7 Tips for Learning to Love Your Body After an IBD Diagnosis

There is no right way to come to terms with learning you have inflammatory bowel disease, but there are some strategies that might help you do so — and learn to love your body along the way.

Living Well

Uncover These 3 Superpowers to Reduce Pandemic Stress

We can't control the ongoing pandemic, but we can control how we react to the stress it's creating in our lives.

Living Well

How I Rebuilt Strength at Home After a UC Flare-Up

Before a year-long ulcerative colitis flare-up, I was in the best shape of my life. Here’s how I got it back.

Living Well

Mindset Matters: Moving Through the Strange Feeling of Grieving Your Old Life

Grieving your old self is a little different than grieving a loved one who's passed. Here's how I moved forward.

Living Well

How ASMR Can Benefit People with Chronic Illness

If you live with a chronic illness, ASMR may help you feel relaxed, comforted, or even relieved from chronic pain. But triggers aren't the same for everyone.

Living Well

How Movement Became My Medicine

I was only 4 years old when I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Slowly but surely I started to understand the consequences of missing playtime and not moving my body.

Living Well

Crohn’s Didn’t Stop Me from Having the Wedding of My Dreams

I had to consider my dress, the food we served, and numerous other details in addition to the normal stressful wedding decisions, but it worked out wonderfully.

Living Well

How My Fitness Routine Helps Me Better Understand My Crohn's Disease

Working out has helped me understand my body's signals better, and in turn, better manage my IBD.

Living Well

17 Great Chronically Ill and Disabled Content Creators to Follow

There are countless chronic condition and disability advocates on social media committed to spreading awareness and breaking down stigma. Here are 17 who are making an incredible impact.

Living Well

I’m a Patient Getting Paid — and You Can Be Too

In this column, Kathy Reagan shares advice, resources, and stories to help others navigate the world of work while living with a chronic illness.

Living Well

5 Yoga Practices to Consider If You Live with a Chronic Condition

Yoga is an accessible way to get your body moving that can provide a range of health benefits. Here's how to get started.

Living Well

Side Hustles to Start Now for Extra Holiday Money

Kathy Reagan shares advice and resources for earning extra income and avoiding scams in this Patients Getting Paid column.

Living Well

How to Find Meaning After Grieving the Former You

After my diagnosis, it took time to accept my new life. But I still struggled to understand its meaning. The sixth stage of grief helped me find meaning.

Living Well

My IBD Wish List: 12 Things I’d Buy Myself This Holiday Season

The items on my list will all make life with IBD a bit better, whether through improved adulting, self-care, or just plain fun!

Living Well

The 5 Best Things About Having Crohn’s

I'd happily give up the pain, expense, and inconvenience of life with Crohn's. But I wouldn't trade its life lessons.

Living Well

8 Tips to Find Lower Cost Therapy

Mental health treatment is expensive. Read on to learn about more affordable options that might help you get the support you need.