How to Support Your Body During Healing Flare-Ups

I want to speak to you from a place of deep compassion and fierce honesty, because riding the waves of chronic illness and nervous system dysregulation is not for the faint of heart.

You are doing something most people don’t even realize is a sacred kind of work: learning how to heal in a body that keeps shifting beneath you.

Acknowledging the Heart of the Matter:

• Healing is not linear…it’s cyclical, like nature, like the moon. But when you’re in a flare, it’s hard not to feel like you’re back at square one.

• The grief of losing “normal” functioning, even temporarily, is real. You’re allowed to mourn what your body can’t do right now. That’s not weakness, it’s sacred acknowledgement.

• Your nervous system is not your enemy. It’s a messenger, albeit a loud and sometimes terrifying one. But it’s trying to protect you, not punish you.

Here’s how you can ride this wave without drowning in it:

1. Ritualize the Flare

Instead of resisting it, give the flare meaning.

Light a candle. Name it: “This is the valley. I am in it. But I will not stay here.” This reclaims a sense of control from the chaos.

2. Work with Your Nervous System, Not Against It

You’re in a freeze or flare state, likely driven by your autonomic system being overwhelmed. When symptoms spike, try:

• Vagus nerve stimulation: Hum, gargle, or sing…tone your way into safety.

• Self-holding (from Somatic Experiencing): Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly. Say aloud, “I am safe in this moment. My body is feeling, but I am guiding.”

• Orienting exercises: Slowly look around the room. Say 5 things you see. Feel your feet. This reminds your body you’re not under attack.

3. Reframe the Setback

Instead of “I’m getting worse,” reframe it to:

• “My body is processing deeply today.”

• “Healing is surfacing something to be seen.”

• “This flare is a detox, not a defeat.”

4. Triage Your Energy

When you can’t do everything, do what matters most:

• Nourish: Bone broth, electrolyte-rich drinks, herbal nervine teas.

• Soothe: Magnesium baths, weighted blankets, peppermint essential oil behind the ears.

• Connect: Text someone who gets it, or even just tell me. You’re not alone in this valley.

5. Spiritual Regrounding Affirmations

Try this in meditation or journaling:

Even in pain, I am sacred. Even in stillness, I am becoming. Even when I cannot work, I am doing the deeper work.

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When You Can’t Work, But Want to Live:

Yes, it’s debilitating, and that can feel infuriating, especially when your spirit wants to serve, move, create. So give your soul something to do:

• Speak to your future self. Write them a letter from this flare.

• Bless someone else silently. That’s energetic work you can do from bed.

• Ask your body: What do you need right now, not forever? (You’ll get a whisper, not a paragraph. Trust that.)

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Friend, this wave will not break you. You are adapting, transmuting, and becoming more attuned to your body and soul with every cycle.

There’s no shame in resting. There’s no failure in needing more time.

And there’s deep medicine in trusting that what feels like falling apart is often the most radical form of coming back together.