Health Hats The Podcast by Danny van Leeuwen - peer support and accessible yoga

Welcome to Health Hats, the Podcast, learning on the journey towards best health. We will learn what it takes to adjust to life's realities in the awesome circus of health care. Follow Health Hats, the Podcast on your favorite player. I am Danny van Leeuwen, a patient-caregiver activist, a patient with Multiple Sclerosis, care partner to my grandmother, mother, and son’s end-of-life journeys, a registered nurse, a person with health technology experience, and a leader in healthcare administration. I wear many hats. My guests and I muse about making health choices and decisions, communicating health information, sharing what works, and supporting each other. This brief PodBuffet episode offers two clips from Keith Scott entitled Peer Support: Patience and Kindness and one from Melissa Reynolds entitled Accessible Yoga: Honor Your Body

We don't give advice. We don't tell people that they should or need to do anything. We try to help the person understand that they possess this innate wisdom about themselves and what do they need to tap into that? “I don't know the answer to your question, but I believe that you know the answer to your question. I'm here to provide you with any information you need, support to access resources in the community.” or just to be patient and listen. And through that process, when the other person starts to understand that I'm not going to force them to do anything. I'm not going to coerce them to do anything. I'm not going to convince them that they need to do anything.  The magic of peer support if you will, starts to happen. And what's key to this process is patience and kindness in all of the interactions. It really boils down to being patient, and to being kind. 

It's always seemed clear to me that for the system to change in a direction that's going to be beneficial to the people that it serves, the folks that it serves have to be involved in the decision-making process. They must be involved in planning. They must be involved in every conversation about their treatment. If the fundamental idea is recovery as a personal responsibility, for anyone to hold someone accountable, you also must allow them all the liberties and privileges and rights of everybody else.

https://www.health-hats.com/peer-support-patience-and-kindness/

With chronic pain and fatigue, there's such a variation.  Some people are always at high levels of pain. Some people vary. There are various stages within fibromyalgia and chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Plus, you have other things going on.  Some people also have arthritis where their chronic pain comes from. Or there are other complexities. You can't say, “this is how you do yoga for chronic pain.” Key is letting people see that they have choices, so there's never a push. They don't need to be aiming for anything. They need to listen to their body and do what jells with their body. What feels nice? For too long, we've been told you have to push yourself. You've got to get to this point.  This is your goal.  I'm sick of external goals   I want to work on my own goals. 

https://www.health-hats.com/accessible-yoga-honor-your-body/

I podcast to make a ruckus. Making a ruckus means sharing stories of learning on the journey towards best health. I'm trying to move the needle of health care a couple of degrees towards more self-confidence, more participation, more collaboration, more dignity and more inclusion. Wait a minute. I should tell you the truth. I'm a selfish person at heart. I'm a storytelling, patient/caregiver activist, living at peak capacity. I couldn't say that before my diagnosis. I podcast mostly for myself. My show notes are comprehensive with a full

Welcome to Health Hats, the Podcast, learning on the journey towards best health. We will learn what it takes to adjust to life's realities in the awesome circus of health care. Follow Health Hats, the Podcast on your favorite player. I am Danny van Leeuwen, a patient-caregiver activist, a patient with Multiple Sclerosis, care partner to my grandmother, mother, and son’s end-of-life journeys, a registered nurse, a person with health technology experience, and a leader in healthcare administration. I wear many hats. My guests and I muse about making health choices and decisions, communicating health information, sharing what works, and supporting each other. This brief PodBuffet episode offers two clips from Keith Scott entitled Peer Support: Patience and Kindness and one from Melissa Reynolds entitled Accessible Yoga: Honor Your Body

We don't give advice. We don't tell people that they should or need to do anything. We try to help the person understand that they possess this innate wisdom about themselves and what do they need to tap into that? “I don't know the answer to your question, but I believe that you know the answer to your question. I'm here to provide you with any information you need, support to access resources in the community.” or just to be patient and listen. And through that process, when the other person starts to understand that I'm not going to force them to do anything. I'm not going to coerce them to do anything. I'm not going to convince them that they need to do anything.  The magic of peer support if you will, starts to happen. And what's key to this process is patience and kindness in all of the interactions. It really boils down to being patient, and to being kind. 

It's always seemed clear to me that for the system to change in a direction that's going to be beneficial to the people that it serves, the folks that it serves have to be involved in the decision-making process. They must be involved in planning. They must be involved in every conversation about their treatment. If the fundamental idea is recovery as a personal responsibility, for anyone to hold someone accountable, you also must allow them all the liberties and privileges and rights of everybody else.

https://www.health-hats.com/peer-support-patience-and-kindness/

With chronic pain and fatigue, there's such a variation.  Some people are always at high levels of pain. Some people vary. There are various stages within fibromyalgia and chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Plus, you have other things going on.  Some people also have arthritis where their chronic pain comes from. Or there are other complexities. You can't say, “this is how you do yoga for chronic pain.” Key is letting people see that they have choices, so there's never a push. They don't need to be aiming for anything. They need to listen to their body and do what jells with their body. What feels nice? For too long, we've been told you have to push yourself. You've got to get to this point.  This is your goal.  I'm sick of external goals   I want to work on my own goals. 

https://www.health-hats.com/accessible-yoga-honor-your-body/

I podcast to make a ruckus. Making a ruckus means sharing stories of learning on the journey towards best health. I'm trying to move the needle of health care a couple of degrees towards more self-confidence, more participation, more collaboration, more dignity and more inclusion. Wait a minute. I should tell you the truth. I'm a selfish person at heart. I'm a storytelling, patient/caregiver activist, living at peak capacity. I couldn't say that before my diagnosis. I podcast mostly for myself. My show notes are comprehensive with a full transcript and many resources.  Find the recent podcasts here https://www.health-hats.com/pod.

Follow my blog, podcasts and resources through my website https://www.health-hats.com. See around the block.