This morning dawned cold and foggy; I think I could feel it in my bones before ever opening my eyes. My aching body bullied me out of an already fitful sleep and pushed me from my bed and into the frigid room.

Throwing on the warmest clean clothes I could find I start the first of my stretches – slowly and gently lowering chin to chest and rotating my head left, back and right to loosen the kinks – taking in long, deep breaths to aid the stretching and ease my sick stomach. After several rounds of the psudo-exorcist routine I raise my arms – elbows straight, palms up – until my hands touch above my head. Keeping my hands together I stretch carefully to the left and hold and then to the right and hold – I know the move has a yoga name, but I can never recall it, something cleverly obvious like half-moon.

I next bend forward to touch my toes, making it all the way to the floor with my fingertips after several repetitions I move into the warrior pose – the pain in my thighs hits somewhere between intense pain and euphoria.

Okay, so now you’re thinking “what’s up with the elevator-music-equivalent of a play-by-play”? Well, here’s the thing – that part about being able to touch my toes, or even raise my arms above my head is kind of a big deal. A few years ago raising my arms above my head or touching my toes would have been nearly impossible and I certainly wouldn’t have been doing it so easily, or holding each position so long.

Yes, it still hurts and yes, I have to stretch through headaches and dizziness and overwhelming nausea – hell sometimes I puke half way through, brush my teeth and keep going. Why? Because I have to – no matter how bad my pain might be I must stretch if I want to keep going at all. I remind myself that twice now I’ve been told I’d end up wheelchair bound – the first time by a doctor who knew little more about fibromyalgia other than its name. The same doctor who diagnosed my myofacial pain disorder and my chronic fatigue; he basically smiled a kindly smile, told me my pain would worsen to the point of crippling me and I’d end up in a wheelchair inside of 5 years (that was 7 years ago). He signed over a prescription of methadone (yes, you read that right) and sent me on my way.

Not liking his answer and having been recently gifted a working computer with internet access (thanks Pop) I set out to learn more about Fibromyalgia and the other crap I’d been told I had. In the first few months here is what I discovered: I was not alone, there were lots of awesome but sick folks out there looking for answers and understanding. I also discovered that the doctors really didn’t know that much about what I had either. I learned what it meant to be “diagnosed by elimination”. In other words, they test you for everything and if it’s all negative, you MAY have this, that or the other. I assure you waiting to hear if you have MD, MS or Parkinson’s makes for some utterly crap days.

Then I started learning about food allergies and intolerances, my sister thought she might have issues in that direction and paved the path for me. Sure enough I discovered through trial, error and a lot of tears that soy is really not good for me. Not just soy beans or tofu but anything with soy in it. For years my skin had a slightly yellowish cast to it, jaundice like but without actually being jaundice – once I got soy out of my system my skin returned to the original pasty, pale and pinkish hue of my German and Swedish ancestors.

I next learned about chemicals and toxins in and around our bodies and of course I learned and read about more ‘miracle’ cures that I care to remember, many of which I passed by, a few I fell for as do we all when searching for a way out of a miserable situation. I read everything I could get my hands on regarding my diagnoses, including “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fibromyalgia” which was co written by Lynne Matallana, founder of The National Fibromyalgia Association along with Laurence A. Bradley, Ph. D., Stuart Silverman M.D. and Muhammad Yunus, M.D. which I found to be an excellent resource.

I of course also learned that what I eat and do for exercise greatly affect my health. Yes, it sounds so simple, we’ve all heard it so many times – but let’s face it, there is a lot misinformation running amok in the world so a lot of us, especially in the U.S. get a little stuck on the two big questions of why is it important and how should we do it?

Like many of us I grew up hearing the mantra of ‘eat right and exercise’, of course that means like many of us, I also grew up with some seriously conflicting information as to what ‘eat right’ meant and what kind of exercise I should be getting. I’m 36; I grew up with television, which means that my nannies were trying to sell me everything from thigh-masters and slim-fast to cheeseburgers and videogames all the while telling me earnestly why I was a loser if I didn’t have  and use their product. Thanks guys, don’t wait too long for those ‘thank you for helping to raising me cards’ that Hallmark undoubtedly sells.

So here I was, learning all I could – letting common sense rule out the worst of the ideas for me (no, I won’t live on a diet of apple cider vinegar and coral calcium, thanks) and putting a gold star by anything that seemed reasonable – such as eliminating as many chemicals from my life as possible.

That idea was a good one and I’m glad I did it, as I’ve discussed before, I am really sensitive to a lot of common household cleaning and personal products, which I likely wouldn’t have found if I hadn’t done my homework and discovered the benefits of being as chemical free as I could be. I have reduced headaches and skin issues significantly by changing what products I use to clean and wash with.

One of the other common sense ideas was regular exercise, although this was a tricky one for me especially at that point since I was having so much pain I could barely walk some days. Determined to drop the significant amount of extra weight I was carrying (more than 100 pounds at the time) I started searching for anything I could do fitness wise to go with my new soy-free, mostly ‘crap food” free diet.

Starting out was pretty lame… I have a Select Comfort king size bed (I’m a 45) and I pumped it up full so the mattress was firm and would use it like a giant exercise mat, doing leg lifts and butt lifts and such. Then I added two cans of peas to the workout to throw in some arm exercises. I found a local cable station that did an exercise show for old folks that showed terrific, easy stretches and exercises one could do from a chair. Those old broads on the show were flexible, showing off their mad toe touching skills and waving their arms in the air as though they just didn’t care.

Some mornings I despised their chipper septuagenarian banter and raspy reminders to breath properly but after a about six weeks I was able to keep up with the ladies twice my age and then able to move onto the video for just fat out of shape people, having mastered “old lady stretching 101” I felt pretty confident about being able to hold my own with the significantly overweight and over 40 crowd. The first few weeks they kicked my ass but then I caught up. I won’t lie and say that I’ve been as active as an alley cat since – far from it. While I’ve now officially lost 100 pounds during the last several years, my exercise, and for that matter dietary habits, wax and wane with the seasons, the moon and whatever various stressors are in my life at the time, however I can happily say that the daily stretching habits have stayed. That’s right I made them a habit that my body won’t let me break – thankfully.

I realize it sounds a bit silly and I do often hear “can stretching really make that much of a difference?” Yes, yes it can. When I first started out with the old ladies I couldn’t raise my arms above my head for long nor touch my toes. Now I can do both, which brings me to that second wheelchair threat. When I horrendously broke my foot in July of 2009 I had to have major reconstructive surgery after which the doctor told me that with physically therapy I would limp, but walk again. I explained I couldn’t afford the PT, so he shook his head and told me to get used to the wheelchair, without all the proper treatment I wouldn’t walk right again. I was out of the wheelchair and walking by mid-October. Yes, sometimes I walk with a pronounced limp, some days no limp at all; it depends on how bad my pain is.

Yes, I’m bragging a bit here, I did all my own physical therapy using two things, okay, three if you count determination to give the doctor a giant FU. I used the internet to research the PT techniques that would work best for my foot, ankle and leg and I used my stretching. I firmly believe that If I wasn’t already accustomed to daily stretching I would have never continued to do it when I was confined to the bed, then the wheelchair. My pain from being bedridden would have been at least twice as bad as it was and I would have never been strong enough to keep puling myself into and out of the wheelchair let alone forcing my body through daily torture routines – most of which left me shaking and in tears – but I got them done.

I have now grown comfortable with my constant need to stretch and move in order to keep my pain levels as low as possible and my flexibility high, which in turn reduces chance of injury or strain. About half the time I don’t even know I’m stretching my various body parts. Even better all my good friends are now used to me pacing, standing around or stretching so I no longer feel like a dork when I hop up from a board game after my turn to stretch a bit while others take their turn. No one insists that I sit when I feel the need to stand nor do they question when I have to lay down on the floor to stretch my back and torso, which means I can comfortably stretch as I need to, no special equipment required.

Basically, the habit of stretching has become so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine not doing it. Luckily, unlike many enduring habits, this is a good one. No need to try to cut down or hide it from friends. It’s free, doesn’t hurt the environment and has great side effects like reduced inflammation and better circulation. But wait, there’s more, act now and you’ll also receive that sense of elation that comes from doing something good for yourself.

There are a plethora of books, cds and programs available to get you started on basic stretching routines, one of my personal and totally free favorites is Sparkpeople, an incredibly useful website – or in my mind tool – for everyone regardless of fitness level. Please remember to use common sense, start slow, stay hydrated and of course, speak to your doctor or medical team before adding exercise or making big changes, this is especially important for those who have recently injured themselves or had surgery. I’ve never heard a doctor say “no, stretching is bad for you”, however your doctor may have cautions for you depending on your health history and needs.

I now see I’ve been sitting here for nearly 2 hours which means, dear readers, it’s time to get my body moving…  … how about your? Happy stretching ya’ll!