Find your break

This past weekend I went on a run with a friend. I resort to running when I’ve crammed my life so full that I feel it’s necessary to expedite working out. My usual preference is for walking, which I’ve just returned home from.

Here are some of the things I saw on my walk:

White and pink Dogwood blossoms. Dogwood trees have a distinct smell – sweet and earthy.
A black and white cat tiptoeing through an overgrown corridor of leggy flowering grasses.
A mockingbird trilling from a tree limb.
Tightly packed azalea flowers flocking front porches.

This walk and yesterday’s yoga class were inspired by suggestions from two people whose wisdom I value. They suggested that in order to get everything I needed to done, I take a break. Different times call for different sorts of breaks, and lately I’ve needed a computer break. Like my friend, I’ve been losing productivity as one assignment blurs into the next. I’ve been losing sleep too and waking up with high or low blood sugars. These past couple days, stepping away and doing something slowly has made space for me to breathe – which, one could argue, is just another way to practice public health.

H2O

10 things you can do with water (that are great for diabetes):

Brush your teeth – People with diabetes are at an increased risk of periodontal disease and oral health issues

Drink until you’re hydrated – Dehydration can lead quickly to an emergency situation during ketoacidosis

Make hummus (soak chick peas, cook them, achieve desired consistency) – The fiber, protein, and other nutrients in hummus make it one of my favorite diabetes power foods

Wash your hands – When you have diabetes, infections can cause inflammation in the body that elevates blood sugar levels, which in turn makes it even harder to get well

Mop the floor – Clean floors are a vital part of happiness

Flush the toilet – Sanitation, obviously important

Wash your clothes – Although, I read on a tag of one of my ‘Toad&Co’ shirts that ‘clean is the new dirty’ and we should wash our clothes less often

Wash your dishes – Along with the next one, cooked meals are typically healthier than meals out. Keeping your kitchen free of foodborne bacteria is important to avoiding gastrointestinal illness

Clean your (non-starchy) veggies – My favorite diabetes superfood group!

Take your Vitamin D – there’s some promising research out about the importance of maintaining healthy Vitamin D levels for people with diabetes (and all people)

Interestingly enough, this is also a list of 10 things you can’t do without water. In my town this past weekend we were under a state of emergency for over 24 hours because of over-fluoridation and a water main break (two separate incidences). I had a friend visiting for the weekend, so she and I went to stay at another friend’s house in a neighboring county. We all had a great slumber party and then the ban was lifted.

It worked out so well for me that it was particularly sobering to realize how blessed/privileged I am – in terms of this country and internationally. I was able to afford bottles, access them, and also have a nice place to stay because of my social network. Then too, thinking about the world, how bizarre that we declare a crisis and state of emergency after an hour of reduced water when in some countries people live every day with no expectation of running water in their homes. Why don’t we think about how lucky we are to have clean water that we can access almost anywhere by turning on a tap? If clean drinking water is something you don’t think about every day, chances are you’re privileged in comparison to many people in the world. Worldwide, more than 1 billion people still lack access to improved drinking water. And in many places, global warming and industry is causing water sources that entire communities depended on to dry up completely: Climate Change Claims a Lake, and an Identity (this is a great NY Times article about Lago Poopó in Bolivia).

So I know you may be wondering, what’s the call to action here? Well I’ve got two for you. The first one is to sign up for your town’s Public Health Reserve Corps (PHRC) or another similar organization that will alert you to volunteer opportunities during crises like the water shortage we experienced. The second is to challenge yourself to discover one thing that you take for granted in your day-to-day and learn about what life is like in regards to this element, whether it be water, clean air, reliable transportation, or something else, for people living in another part of our world. Please feel free to add your thoughts, experiences and/or calls to action in the comments below!

A misty summer day in Austria

…that looks not very different from this misty winter day in North Carolina. Except for the cows, and the ice cold glacial stream and the rugged evergreen peaks.

In this mountain town in Austria the water was piped directly from the source, glacial springs high in the mountains, and poured out of copper pipes into intricately carved basins. Here in NC I can turn on my faucet and fill up my water bottle and not worry about bacteria and contamination.

Managing Type 1 diabetes or any chronic condition in an area where you don’t have access to clean water would be terrifying! Today I am so grateful for water.

Yoga with a Purpose: Life for a Child

Think back to ten years ago today. It’s hard to do. If you managed it, can you imagine your then self ever guessing what you’d be doing (and why) ten years later? Yesterday I could remember back to a Halloween a decade ago when I was too sick to carve pumpkins with the new friends I’d met just a few months before. It was my first semester of college. I had undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes and would have ever imagined why I felt so very miserable (and worse everyday).

I also would have never guessed that ten years later I would be lucky enough to be teaching a yoga class as a mini-fundraiser for “Life for a Child,” an amazing program of the International Diabetes Federation. “Life for a Child” provides insulin, test strips and trains teaching teams in clinics around the world to support children living with Type 1 diabetes who might otherwise die from lack of access to diabetes supplies and care.

The day meant so much to me, not just because “Life for a Child” is an amazing organization, but because of how much my own journey with diabetes has taught me and the twists and turns it’s taken me on. Because of diabetes I began to rely more heavily on yoga as a coping strategy and eventually got my yoga teacher certification. Because of diabetes I find myself pursuing a master’s in public health and meeting people that are all so dedicated to their causes and their passions and it’s so inspiring. And those are the people who were sitting on their mats on a crisp Halloween afternoon to do inner and outer work together. I am so grateful to them. The hour long class raised $112.00 to be donated to Life for a Child.

I am also so grateful to Loving Kindness Yoga School in Carrboro for allowing us to use the space.

Finally I’m grateful that “Life for a Child” is working tirelessly to literally make it possible for children to live, to grow and flourish with this condition instead of living in fear. Their work is essential. http://www.idf.org/lifeforachild