A Focus on Wellness

This March, MSAA hosted a number of online activities with a focus on wellness through The Mind, Body, and MS Connection campaign. Each online activity highlighted emotional, mental, or physical health concerns of the MS community.

This is a significantly stressful and anxious time for everyone, and that can make it difficult to focus on wellness. As MS Awareness Month comes to a close, Continue reading

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Recipe for Mind-Body Wellness

By Doug Ankerman

Wee-Ha!  Phew, it has been crayzee celebrating MS Awareness Month! Wait, what?  You want MY recipe for mind/body wellness? Oh, I don’t know, we are all so very different.  What works for ME might not work for YOU.

Celebrating Mind Body WellnessIt’s like a recipe for chocolate chip cookies—everyone makes them a tad bit differently. Well, sure.  If you are okay with it, here is my personal recipe for mind/body Continue reading

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Blame it on the Brain…

By Scott Cremeans

The knee bone is connected to the thigh bone; the thigh bone is connected to the hip bone, and it is all connected to the brain bone. Ok, so the brain is not a bone, but that line sounds better poetically. The mind-body connection is often ignored and overlooked, especially if there is nothing wrong. When something does go wrong, many people bury it deep in their psyche, like a squirrel that hides his nuts for the winter. This disguise over Continue reading

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Physical Wellness

The concept of wellness can encompass many different pieces. However, when we hear this term the first thought that usually comes to mind is physical wellness. Maintaining a strong, healthy physique is a goal for many. So how can we improve our physical wellness? That is the million-dollar question that everybody wants to know—I know I do!

Physical wellness encourages us to care for our bodies through physical activity, proper nutrition, and positive thinking. It doesn’t have to be about Continue reading

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A Healing Mindset

By Alene Brennan

When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I immediately went into action in changing my diet. As a nutrition coach, it’s how I knew how to heal.

That approached served me well. It helped me to significantly reduce my symptoms – specifically brain fog and fatigue.

However, what I mistakenly overlooked was the way Continue reading

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Coronavirus, Multiple Sclerosis, Health Fears, and Lessons

By Stacie Prada

With the current coronavirus spreading, wellness is at the forefront of the news. I live in Washington state where the first confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 (the coronavirus) in the United States occurred. My neurologist’s office is in Kirkland, the epicenter of the US outbreak. We have a confirmed case in my community, and others are pending test results.

I’m writing this on March 8, 2020, and news updates are frequent. By the time I hit publish on this post, Continue reading

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Caring For Your Mind and Mental Health

A common misconception with MS is that the disease affects the body mostly in just the physical sense. This can be true for many diagnosed. However, one’s mental health may be impacted as a result of MS too. MS and its unpredictable nature can create a roller coaster of emotions, changes, and ups and downs for those affected. That kind of ride can impact all parts of one’s mind and body. Understandably so.

It’s not always easy to recognize or bring attention to Continue reading

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Cultivating Emotional Wellness

Cultivate emotional wellness

Emotional health plays such an important role in your wellness journey. The mind and body are connected which means that your emotional wellness can have a direct effect on your physical well-being. Individuals looking from the outside in are unable to see certain MS symptoms that can influence your emotional health. However, depression and anxiety are very real emotional symptoms that often accompany MS. Unfortunately, because others cannot physically see depression and anxiety, these Continue reading

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