I’ll start with the easy one first. Well done for noticing your pet stretching. Yoga has a dog and a cat stretch. Stretching twice a day is vital to good health. I try to stretch in between as well. The fuzz speech – Step 3 – mentions how fascia – fuzz – gets “stuck” if we sit still for more than 20 minutes.

Carol – your health problems are overwhelming. No wonder you have a hard time breathing. Where to start? I think you are correct in turning first to breathing. I think the easiest way to learn now to breathe correctly is:

1. Lie on your back on your bed
2. Both hands covering the lower part of your belly – from the level of your belly button down
3. Breathe out – gently pushing your hands down toward the mattress
4. hold your breath
5. Breathe in and feel your hands lifting towards the ceiling
6. hold
7. repeat

Ideally your out breath and holds should be twice as long as your in-breathe. When you have the breathing correct lying down, you can practice it sitting. Try Step 2 – sitting.

Try my daily program – the exercises can be done in a modified way – in a chair. Always make sure your knees are not too bent – you should be able to see your toes when you’re sitting straight in the chair.

Consider your childhood. You appear to have a lot of inflammation. That can many times be related to complex PTSD. That could be something you could explore through counselling. If you live in Canada – there is free mental health counselling and there are women’s resource centres even in small towns.

Good luck. Be kind to yourself. Your body has given you so many challenges that often come with a history of trauma. Dealing with the kind of illnesses you have also causes trauma. I wish you well.

Judy