← The MSing Link
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- [00:00]
Dr. Gretchen Holley
Before we jump into today's episode, I want to quickly tell you about something that I am super excited about. If you have Ms. And you feel like you're doing all the right things, but you're still not seeing the progress that you hoped for in your daily life, you are definitely not alone. And that is exactly why I created Ms. Summer Camp. It's a five day live experience happening July 27th through 31st, where I'll be teaching live every day and answering questions every day and helping you better understand your walking, balance, strength, fatigue and movement so you can stop guessing and feel more confident moving forward. And if you're thinking it's summer, it's hot. I already struggle with fatigue and heat intolerance. The last thing that I want is another exercise program. I completely understand. That's actually one of the reasons that summer camp is designed to be primarily educational. The goal isn't to give you more to do, it's to help you get clearer on what matters most for your body, your symptoms and your goals.
- [01:12]
Podcast Host / Narrator
If you've ever wished you could ask
- [01:14]
Dr. Gretchen Holley
me your questions and get my thoughts on your specific situation and learn alongside other people with ms, I'd love to have you join us. You can learn more and save your spot using the link in the description. I hope to see you inside. And actually, before we keep going, I want to tell you something I'm super excited about. And then it would go into if you have Ms. And feel like you're doing all the right things. Okay, now let's dive back in. And before you go, one quick reminder that registration for Ms. Summer Camp is officially open. If you're tired of piecing together advice, trying random, random exercises, and wondering if you're focusing on the right things, Mississippi Summer Camp was created for you. For five days, I'll be teaching live, answering questions and helping you better understand your walking, balance, strength, fatigue and movement so you can leave with more clarity, confidence and direction. It's the first time I've ever offered this level of live teaching, so support and access all in one place. And I'm so excited to spend the week with you. You can learn more, see everything I have planned for camp, and save your spot using the link in the description. I'd love to see you there.
- [02:43]
Podcast Host / Narrator
The big question is, how does someone with Ms. Actually improve their mobility, strength, energy independence? The list goes on. My name is Dr. Gretchen Holley, physical therapist and multiple sclerosis specialist. Welcome to the Missing Link podcast. Tune in as I share the top strategies and exercises to help you Gain control over your life with Ms. Using research driven insights and advice from top industry experts. Whether you're newly diagnosed or have had Ms. For over 30 years, whether you have relapsing Ms. Or progressive MS, this podcast is for you. You're sure to feel empowered and inspired after each episode. Ready? Let's dive in. Hello.
- [03:42]
Dr. Gretchen Holley
Hello. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I am so excited to talk to you today because something happened to me when I was on maternity leave that was such a light bulb moment. And even in the moment I couldn't wait to tell you about it. And I was thinking like, oh my gosh, when can I record a podcast episode about this? Because I think everyone needs to have this light bulb moment. And if you've ever found yourself going through the motions with your exercises or nutrition or honestly, any daily habit or thing that you do, just doing the same routine on autopilot without stopping to ask if it's still the right one for you or where you are today, this episode is definitely going to be for you. So let me paint the picture of what happened. So on Saturdays, my husband goes grocery shopping and typically it was the three of us, my husband, myself and our two year old. We'd all go grocery shopping together. We love going to Trader Joe's. The closest one is about 40, 45 minutes away, so it's a hike. We make an afternoon of it, but it's something that we like to do. However, ever since having a second child, we, we tend to divide and conquer. So my husband will go grocery shopping with the baby and I will stay home with our 2 year old because it's just easier to grocery shop with a baby who's not doing anything than it is a two year old who wants to run around and not stay by your side or in the grocery cart. So I'm at home with my 2 year old and we're having a great Saturday. I'm partially trying to get some things done so I'm doing some laundry and of course every piece of laundry that I fold, my daughter is then unfolding so it's taking twice as long and sometimes that bothers me, but in the moment it didn't. I just thought it was cute and you know, whatever, I'll get it done at some point. She wasn't unfolding every piece of clothing, so I saw that as a win. We also were just playing with a new silly activity where you put pipe cleaners in an oats container. You like, cut a little hole out of the top of an oats container and you put pipe cleaners in and out. That was keeping her busy. We were playing with our dog, Frankie the Puppy, and we were listening to a bunch of kids songs. My daughter is in a phase where she's just loving songs like Ring around The Rosie, the five five monkeys, five little monkeys. Something about five monkeys jumping on the bed. Old MacDonald has a farm, The Elmo Happy Dance song. Oh my gosh, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. She's just loving it. And she's not speaking in sentences yet. She just turned 2 in March. But she's definitely speaking well enough. She knows the words well enough where you can tell what she's saying. Oh, twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is a big one. So we're just singing these songs as we're playing. She has this microphone that she loves and she's singing some of them into the microphone. She'll give me the microphone to sing. And so we're just kind of going back and forth with all these different activities. And at some point she decides that she just wants to play by herself. So she leaves and goes into a different room. And I was like, great, now I can get back to being a little bit more productive. I had dishes to do. I had lots of things that I could do. So she left the room and was playing, I was doing dishes. And I realized that I was still singing these songs in my head back to back, you know, just singing Ring around the Rosie several times. Old MacDonald has a farm. Thinking about which different farm animals I could say. And I even think I was saying them out loud, like singing them out loud to myself. She was not in earshot. She couldn't hear me. And it occurred to me, why am I doing this? Like, she's not here. I don't have to be singing these kids songs. She's not even hearing me yet here I am just singing these songs as if it's my favorite song in the world. And it just made me stop and think, wait, what is happening? Why am I doing this? And we were listening to them on our Alexa as well. So they were also still playing. I could hear them. And again I was like, why don't I change this? Like, why am I still listening to this? And this happens all the time, not just on Saturdays when my husband is gone, but when my daughter wakes up from her three hour nap on a weekend or her one hour nap during the school week. We will play Kidz Bop Kids or Disney songs and I will keep them going the rest of the night, even when she's gone. To bed and even when she's outside playing. But I'm, you know, doing something in the house. So this isn't just a one time thing. This is something that happens all the time. But in this specific moment, it did make me stop and question, wait, do I actually want this music on? Do I actually want to keep singing it? Or am I just used to it? Is it just because it's what was on? And so I'm continuing to do it and I decided I don't want to keep listening to it. I want to listen to something that I want to listen to. So I switched it to George Ezra, who is one of my favorites. And it truly felt almost like exhaling. It just felt enjoyable and like, okay, this is me time. Even though she's right in the next room now it feels like me time versus just continuing on with what I had been doing all morning, which felt like my daughter's time. And I realized that this happens in small ways all the time. I'm sure this is not just something that occurs for me, but it happens with what music we listen to, but even habits like what time we wake up in the morning, our morning routine, but also in bigger ways. With careers that we've outgrown, relationships that have shifted, hobbies that we stopped loving, but we never stopped doing just these things where we're just on autopilot. Maybe we've been waking up at 7am every single day for the last 10 years, 5 years, however many years. But when you stop to think about it, that time doesn't actually serve you anymore. You don't have to wake up at seven. Maybe it's earlier, maybe it's later, but did we ever stop to question it for where we are right now in our lives? Is that the best time to wake up? Is that the music we want to be listening to? Is that the best morning routine? Is that the best exercise or exercise plan? Is that the best career? Is that the best friendship? Is this a hobby I even still like? Or does it just feel like something I have to do or I've just been doing, so why not keep doing it? And I just want to share too. Autopilot isn't always bad. Routines keep us functional. And some people, my husband being one of them, is amazing at routines. I wish I could be more like him. He thrives off of routines. But sometimes we just forget to check in and ask ourselves, is this still working for me or am I just used to it? And when it comes to multiple sclerosis, so many of the Patients and clients that I've worked with that are following exercise routines or avoiding activities or setting goals, it's based on where they were at at diagnosis or when they first went to physical therapy somewhere else, not necessarily where they now. And abilities change, goals change. And what felt right a year ago, I mean, or with ms, honestly, a week ago, or even day by day, because every day can be so different. It might not be the right fit today. And I've worked with people who were still avoiding something out of fear from a fall that they had two years ago, or not even a fear from a fall that they've had, but fear of falling in general, but their body had changed, their strength is better, their balance is better, they no longer need to avoid that activity, but their autopilot hadn't caught up yet. And by avoiding that activity, they were actually preventing improvements in that specific action, such as climbing stairs. If you don't practice climbing stairs, then the activity of climbing stairs will likely not get easier. Or if it does get easier, it will just be a little bit versus feeling like a real positive improvement. So my invitation to you here is to pause and actually reassess what is still serving you, what needs to change. And again, this happens in so many different areas of our life. As a physical therapist, it's easy for. For me to see this through the lens of what exercises are actually still appropriate for you versus which ones need to be changed. Maybe some made harder, some made easier, maybe some made more functional, more based on neuroplasticity, more based on what your daily activities look like now versus a year ago. But again, what about your morning routine, your afternoon routine, your nighttime routine, your nutrition, your hydration, your work, your hobbies? We can apply this to really any area of our life, and that can be daunting. Even as I'm saying that out loud myself, I'm thinking, oh, my gosh, that feels very overwhelming to think about my whole day and where I want to reassess. That's a lot to reassess and pause on. So what I plan on doing, what I would encourage you to do, is to pick one thing this week to check in on a routine, a habit, a goal, an exercise, and ask, am I still doing this intentionally? Is this still best for me and where I'm at right now, or am I just used to it? Am I just doing it because it worked for me back then, but it might not be the best fit right now, and it doesn't have to be a big change. Sometimes it's something as small as just switching from kids songs to George Ezra. You deserve to live intentionally, not just on autopilot. So I hope this episode has served as a reminder and a breath of fresh air and maybe even a light bulb moment to help you do justice. That.
- [15:09]
Podcast Host / Narrator
Thank you for listening to today's show.
- [15:11]
Dr. Gretchen Holley
I am so grateful to have you as a listener.
- [15:14]
Podcast Host / Narrator
If you'd like extra resources such as a video of one of my seated exercise classes, my favorite core exercises, and the opportunity to ask me your questions,
- [15:26]
Dr. Gretchen Holley
head to missinglink.com
- [15:31]
Podcast Host / Narrator
that link will be shared in the show notes along with links to my social media handles. If you love this episode and think a friend or family member with Ms. Would benefit from listening, please go ahead and text or email this podcast to them right now. Sharing this podcast will help me educate and empower as many Ms. Warriors as possible. Thanks again for joining and be sure to tune in next week for another episode episode of the Missing Link podcast.