What my Lifestyle looks like (July 2024)

  • Exercise – 4 days/week lifting (program here), 1 day pilates/yoga, 1 day basketball, 1 day exercise bike, stretch every day, foam roll, lacrosse ball massage daily
  • Diet – Whole foods only. Centered around meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, grass-fed butter, A2 dairy, San Francisco sourdough, honey, dark chocolate
    • Sleep – Eye mask, mouth tape, white noise during sleep, 1/2 tsp baking soda in warm water (experimental), magnesium glycinate before bed, read and journal before bed, go to bed and wake up at same time (+- 1 hour) every day
    • Stress management – Daily meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, daily journaling, therapy
    • General lifestyle – avoid red eye flights, spend time in nature, spend time with people, be grateful!

Will expand on this more going forward. Took a lot of self-experimentation to get here, especially on exercise, sleep, and diet.

The Challenges of Moderation and Balance

Over the last 8 years of living with autonomic dysfunction, one of the hardest parts is practicing lifestyle moderation and balance. Initially, when you start experiencing chronic illness and pain, you become limited. Limited in activities, energy, thoughts, because pain and fatigue cast clouds over the mind and body. Many people don’t know what’s going on and find themselves facing new limitations every day as their body breaks down.

For me, I “lost” a year of life – in high school – to pain and fatigue. I missed school, didn’t see friends, and exercise seemed impossible. I feared how much worse everything would get, and lost hope in my ability to return to normalcy in the future. I’ve written before about my journey back to health through the Mayo Clinic and self-experimentation. Today I want to focus on what comes after normalcy.

A healthy person wants a million things. A sick person only wants one. For a long time, I’ve oscillated between those two states of being. I’ll feel healthy and I’ll push myself, in search of achievement in academics, athletics, work, or relationships. If I push myself too far, I swing back to the other side of the spectrum. I’ll feel limited by pain and illness, only wanting to get back to feeling okay. A constant pendulum swing is exhausting and frustrating. Feeling limited makes me want to break through limitations. Breaking through limitations puts me right back into the place of being limited again. The happy medium is one of moderation and balance. Accepting limitations while pushing myself whenever I can. 

In high energy states, I’ve learned to push myself. In low energy states, I’ll take it easy. It’s hard to know which is which, and paying too much attention to the body can make me a slave to every new thought and sensation. Ultimately, I’ve found a rhythm. I plan ahead when I know I’ll be extending myself with travels and adventure. I’ll build in habits and periods of rest into these times to ensure I keep some balance. That way, I don’t develop negative associations with these experiences, and I’m able to return to life more normally afterwards. 

In low energy states, I play for tomorrow. I ask myself: “what can I do now to make me feel better later today, or tomorrow?” I’d love to be high energy all of the time but I realize that’s not my reality. So I make the best of what I can and hope I wake up feeling better the next day. Usually I do, and my “low energy” time was a success.

For me, the long term goal is to gradually move the needle forward so my “normal” becomes a place of better health and higher activity levels. I believe the body is malleable and resilient, and I slowly push myself with exercise and breath work while always optimizing nutrition, sleep, and stress management.

I don’t think moderation and balance make as much sense to people without chronic illness, but it’s always top of mind for me 🙂 

How can I best help you?

I’ll be posting here again, much more frequently.

It’s been 9 years since I was diagnosed with POTS. Life has been full of ups and downs and I’m thankful to feel healthier than ever.

Symptoms are not gone and I still center my life around my health and routines.

I’ve just learned what works through trial and error and I’m excited to share that here.

For anyone who sees this, let me know what would be helpful to share. I’m also going to open up some 1:1 sessions for coaching/advice to tailor advice to individual profiles.

I hope everyone is doing well and don’t hesitate to reach out.

We got this 🙂

The Secret Backpack: Disability, Diversity, and My Perspective on Privilege

Hi, I’m Tommy, and I’m a current college student living with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS is a condition affecting circulation with some nasty symptoms, such as dizziness, brain fog, fainting, chronic fatigue, and gastrointestinal stress. POTS is categorized as a chronic illness, meaning it does not often go away over time. To live with POTS, one has to develop a lifestyle where they can function despite their symptoms. Today, I’ll be talking about some of the pains and gains I’ve experienced because of POTS, and I’ll also be touching on what I view as the hidden powers of challenges, disability and diversity. I believe everyone can relate to this post in some way and it can be thought-provoking and/or put a smile on your face. Enjoy!


When I read the famous Spoon Theory post by Christine Miseranido, I realized using spoons as an analogy was an incredibly enlightening way to explain chronic illness to someone. For those that are unfamiliar, the Spoon Theory is a disability metaphor and expression used to explain the reduced amount of energy available for daily activities that can result from chronic illness. It can be a great way to understand the challenges of living with disability.

What I liked most is the idea that spoons are invisible, meaning people can look perfectly healthy and well but may not actually be healthy and well. Additionally, I’ve learned through experience that some people start the day with more “spoons” than others, and different tasks take different amounts and energy from different people. Personally, because of living with POTS, I have to devote a certain amount of energy every day to taking care of my health and making deposits in my energy “bank.” If I don’t, I know that when I try and make withdrawals out of my “bank” in the future, by expending mental or physical energy through effort, I’ll crash if I don’t have any energy stored. For me, trying to run on empty could not just affect my day, but even multiple days or an entire week.

I want to build off of the spoon theory today by talking about the “secret backpack” theory. The theory discusses not just disability but also diversity, while also bringing to light the advantages and superpowers one can develop from limitations, obstacles, and other perceived “negatives.” 

First off, I have to give credit where credit is due — my Uncle Jeff and fitness influencer Shaun T have been instrumental in helping me form this theory, and I’m directly communicating many of their ideas. I’m even copying the name of the “secret backpack” concept from Shaun T; I heard him talk about it on a podcast recently and it inspired me to write this post. I combine his ideas with some of my own, and I hope my perspective as a college student who has battled through chronic illness can bring a unique and refreshing viewpoint to the limitation conversation.

By now, you’re probably wondering, what is the concept of the “secret backpack”? What does it have to do with me? 

I believe everyone carries an invisible backpack through life. Each person on Earth has their own backpack, and everyone’s bag is filled with the weight of challenges, limitations, shame, fear, self-loathing, pressure, and all other sorts of baggage that comes from both internal and external sources. 

To personify this concept, we can start with a person with a disability. They might be carrying an extra 20 pounds relative to the average person. Their weight could be made up of the daily stressors caused by physical or mental limitations, or fear and self-loathing from social discrimination and harassment, or anxiety because they don’t fit into groups very well. Their weight could be a combination of all those things.

For someone who is an ethnic or sexual minority, they too are carrying some extra weight, because of the stress and trauma they constantly face through discrimination, microaggressions, and cognitive biases. Furthermore, you can add some weight to anyone’s pack if they grew up without a stable family structure. Same with anyone who has ever experienced financial hardship. Those are visible challenges, but invisible, internal, challenges can weigh one down too.

Even those who can be viewed as famous or privileged are carrying some sort of weight. Shame and guilt? The pressure of success? Anxiety? Loss of a loved one? That’s all extra luggage. People who struggle with mental illness, eating disorders, diabetes, or ADHD? Add weight. The point is, everyone has some kind of weight in their backpack. Some have more than others. And if you look at all of the weight I just mentioned, not too much of it is visible to the public eye. How often do we think of what others are going through before we judge? And how many of their challenges do we acknowledge on a daily basis? 

I don’t know about you, but I never used to look at people with an initial reaction of trying to understand the backpack they’re wearing. If they are clearly physically disabled, or the subject of visible discrimination, it’s pretty easy. But I never understood the struggle of a racial or sexual minority. I still can’t fully relate — I’m a straight white male. However, I can now empathize much more with those who do carry some heavy individual baggage, because of what I’ve been through and because of my new perspective on the world through the secret backpack lens. 

I used to dismiss and disparage the diversity programs at schools and corporations because I thought those programs gave unfair advantages to minorities solely because they were gay or black or transgender. I didn’t understand how the programs were leveling any playing field. Ironically, though, I failed to step back and grasp that I’ve used my story of struggles with disability to showcase my backpack. I’ve probably been a benefactor of open-mindedness and empathy because I know someone out there has acknowledged my limitations and weight and given me a special chance or opportunity because of what I’ve gone through. Realizing that completely changed my viewpoint. 

Sitting here today, I get it. I’m a fan of diversity programs. They acknowledge secret backpacks. Not only do they appreciate the weight that people secretly carry, but they also realize that secret backpacks don’t just carry dead weight. The heavier a bag is, the more tools and superpowers it contains. It’s not just about leveling the playing field for people who have visible or invisible struggles, rather, it’s more so about giving people the opportunity to use their tools and superpowers that they’ve developed through times of hardship. This allows for a platform for those with the heaviest bags to showcase their abilities of empathy, creativity, resilience, execution, and positivity. I’ll jump in more into the superpowers later on, but I first want to touch on how the weight actually affects people. Because it’s invisible, and it’s easy to dismiss. But stories and statistics can help to illuminate struggles and their significance.

I’ll start with the example of my life, which I touched on at the start of this piece. How does Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia, and its related disorders, affect me? 

My backpack is weighed down by physical weight, along with mental and psychological weight. First off, because of POTS, I have to pay strict attention to my sleep, exercise, and diet. Getting a consistent 8 hours of high-quality sleep is close to a non-negotiable for me. If I don’t get proper sleep, you can add some weight to my backpack. We can all relate to that; getting no sleep isn’t fun for anyone. However, because of my body and its makeup, I carry a little more weight than the average person if I miss out on sleep. Plus, I don’t recover as quickly and lose that weight out of my bag as fast as others. 

Don’t get me wrong, I can get through a day on low sleep. It’ll be a little tougher, but I can carry that bag. However, if I don’t take care of my sleep the next night, my bag doesn’t get any lighter overnight. It gets even heavier. Ditto for exercise and diet. If I don’t exercise, stretch, and do my mobility drills on a daily basis, my headaches and neck and back pain will flare up. That pain is not too bad to deal with from time to time. It’s a little extra weight. However, imagine combining that weight with the weight from bad sleep. If you add the weight put on by rapid inflammation or stomach distress resulting from poor dietary choices, I’m suddenly carrying a much heavier bag. Life becomes much harder.

A day with a headache isn’t that hard. A day with aching upper body pain, fatigue, and brain fog, along with nausea after every meal, is far more difficult. 

A different example for me, using the same analogy, can be shown through my mental energy capacity. When I take an exam at school, I believe my backpack fills up a little bit faster than others’ do. Once I’ve completed an exam, my bag is often so heavy – in the form of mental stress – that it’s difficult to do anything else during the day. Going back to the spoons analogy, a difficult exam can take all of my spoons away for the day. Same with a basketball game, for instance. I absolutely love playing basketball, and I often want to never stop playing once I get on the court. However, if I play for too long, I’ll pay the price. Whether it’s later that day or sometime in the next, I’ll realize my backpack got heavier, as I’ll start to experience an inflamed upper body and tightness and searing pains in my muscles.

I don’t want to play the victim here or make it look like I’m fighting an internal war every day when I wake up. I was just relaying some of my toughest challenges and how they relate to my bag. I know that in everyone’s backpack, there’s a lot of weight added after an exam. Some people, through learning disabilities or things such as ADHD or anxiety, can have a backpack that fills up much more rapidly than mine. Other might love to play basketball, but the weight of past injuries or illness might prevent them from ever stepping foot on the court again. I’ll reiterate it here — everyone has a secret backpack. Everyone’s backpack weighs them down in some areas of life.

I struggled to relate to the weight brought on by being a member of a typical “minority” group. However, I can see how being black, gay, or a woman, in modern society, could add weight into a backpack. The Harvard-based Implicit Association test highlights unconscious cognitive biases and shows, using numbers and statistics, that many white people, including myself, have a more favorable view of whites than blacks. In the past, after taking the test and revealing my bias to myself, I thought, “so what, I still treat black people and gay people and women with the same respect as everyone else.” And I stayed true to that. However, the new science of microaggressions shows that these cognitive biases can lead to slights that can add up over time. 

Before I dive into this, I want to say there are arguments both for and against microaggressions by scientists and thought leaders alike. With that being said, even if you disagree with the concept, bear with me, because I think something can be gained from a discussion of how race can relate to weight in our backpacks. 

According to the Journal of Qualitative Psychology,

“Microaggresions are subtle, mundane exchanges that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to individuals based on group membership. They can be verbal, behavioural, or environmental, and include staring, glaring, comments, actions, and gestures. These actions are not always conscious, yet are constant – often daily – experiences for people of colour, women, LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, and members of other under-represented groups.”

A study from the scientific journal Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology showed that ethnic minority students experienced an average of 291 microaggressions over the span of 3 months. It also found a significant association between microaggressions and anxiety as well as microaggressions and binge drinking. 

Say what you want about that study, but there’s something to be gleaned from that information. My view is that taunts, insults, snide remarks, jokes, and other small, hurtful, actions add up over time. They are small, and inconsequential, and can often seem harmless. However, just think about every slight, or microaggression, as a pebble. One doesn’t do anything. But add 291 to a backpack, and that bag gets very heavy. Even when that number is much lower, stuff adds up over time. A comment about affirmative action toward a black person? A gay joke? Telling a woman they’re lucky they’re pretty, or else they wouldn’t have a job? Some things are aggressions, some are microaggressions, and some are straight up insults.

Imagine the weight that can build up and bear down on someone just because they are different. There may not ever come a moment where you see direct discrimination or hate directed towards a person, but the invisible accumulation of small things can make someone’s life that much harder. I don’t want to speak too much on sexism or racism because I haven’t really experienced it. But I think discrimination and microaggressions are significant forms of weight for a backpack, and the secret buildup of that weight can lead to a very heavy secret backpack.

As I mentioned before, I think there are examples of weight in everyone’s life and in all places. I know there are people who may have made a decision as a child that they still regret and have never come to terms with. I view that as weight in a backpack, and that weight is probably there for life without some degree of acceptance or acknowledgment to help remove it. People that have a tendency towards anxiety also have thousands of tiny pebbles that add up over time, and, when you add a rock from an exam or breakup or another stressful life event to the backpack, they can absolutely crumble under the heavy weight. To others, it can look like someone is perfectly fine, whereas the weight of their backpack could be growing too heavy for them to carry, starting to overflow with rocks and pebbles of the present and past.

If you think about carrying a backpack every day, carrying a heavier one would be undesirable and would lead to more daily stress. Over time, though, there’s also something positive about carrying weight. It helps you build strength, and carrying the same amount of weight every day gets easier over time.

I believe, using the same analogy, we get better at carrying our secret backpacks over time. At first, a weight can be very heavy and difficult to carry, and new, added, baggage in the form of trauma or challenges just makes life harder. But, carrying that same amount of weight gets a bit easier the next day. Even if weight is added over time, we as humans are adept at adjusting and adapting. Whether we are healing mental or physical scars or distancing ourselves from a negative event, we are often able to come to terms with the heaviest weight in our lives, over time.  

The process of pain and struggle is how we rise up and conquer limitations, and it’s also through struggles where we can build some of our biggest strengths. That’s the second component of the secret backpack, and one that may be even more important than the first.

Those weighed down most by weight in their packs grow stronger over time, and living life despite their weight helps them to develop superpowers that no one else has. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and I believe every hidden weight develops an equal and opposite superpower in people. 

I’ll start with what I believe are my hidden superpowers. First off, I think I’ve developed the perspective to write this post through the empathy I have developed on my journey. Before I was diagnosed with POTS, I had it all in life; it was easy to relate to those around me who excelled in school, sports, and in their social life. However, when I had all three of those things taken away from me in a single year of high school, I suddenly couldn’t relate as much to the all-stars and overachievers. I initially thought that was a bad thing; it’s easy to look at society and see the top achievers as the most special and important people out there. When I looked around, though, I realized that there were other people who had hidden struggles. The girl who took a test in a different room was no longer weird or different for doing that; she was now a friend because she was the only other one in the class who walked to the Testing Room with me. That kid who sat out of gym class often, because he “hurt his back?” He sure did look fine. But I looked fine too, and I could relate to him because I was experiencing firsthand that not all injuries are visible cuts and bruises. 

I was starting to see everyone else’s backpack. Actually, to be fair, I swung to the other end of the empathy pendulum, and I identified much more with the invisible than the visible, popular, superstars. I started to look down upon the people who had it all. I was a bit jealous — they had what I used to have, and now I had to struggle, while they lived an easy, ideal, life, focusing on what I viewed as surface-level achievements in school and sports. 

My superpower started out small, but my empathy has increased over time. Remember the equal and opposite reaction principle? I realized that with fame comes pressure, with power comes responsibility, and with achievement comes unrealistic expectations. Now I was really starting to see the backpacks of others. Not only could I see the hidden “negative” struggles of others a little better, but I also realized that everything society views as “positive” comes with a cost, and that cost equals weight in a backpack. Did I still think it was unfair that my backpack was heavier than the bags of others? Yes, but I also realized my backpack was a far lighter load than so many others’ in the world. The empathy that allowed me to view and relate to people’s challenges helped my perspective to dramatically shift.

I was always focused on what mattered in my community growing up, which meant achievement in academics and athletics. I don’t believe the societal championing of achievement is wrong, but I also realized some people are limited by their body or their past in what they can achieve. I’m a proponent of big ideas, big dreams, and the concept of “you can do anything you put your mind to,” but, when I was suffering the most through POTS, I couldn’t do everything. Literally, if I tried to push my body too far out of my comfort zone, it would push back. I would have a miserable few days that could include vomiting and fainting and headaches and brain fog, and I would have to live far below my comfort zone for a number of days just to get my body back to normal. That thought was completely new to me. 

I’m still very driven by achievement, but it’s definitely not the value I champion today. To me, progress is more important. Progress is something we can all do. Everyone can be a little bit better than they were yesterday. Progress can mean taking one more step on the treadmill or lasting a little longer through a class without a headache. For Amazon, progress could mean a billion more dollars in revenue It’s all relative. We’re only competing against ourselves. My superpower of empathy bred the development of my superpower of perspective, and both of those are fundamental principles in my life today.

Diversity, especially for organizations, is clearly a superpower — this article cites studies done by McKinsey & Company that show that gender and ethnic diversity in companies are clearly correlated with profitability. Why is this the case? There’s definitely the valid argument that diversity of people leads to diversity of thought, and diversity of thought helps to challenge long-standing beliefs while bringing new ideas to the table. I agree with that theory. I also surmise there is something else working behind the scenes for diverse companies. It’s the superpowers of diverse people themselves! 

I talked earlier about how sexual and ethnic minorities have heavier bags than others, due to cognitive biases, implicit associations, and direct and indirect discrimination. I also talked about how more weight leads to more strength. If someone has been faced taunts and slights and discrimination all their life, they might have developed an incredible fortitude. They don’t care what people say or think, and it allows them to act with complete self-awareness and leverage their strengths more than others, so that they can give their absolute best contribution to their work and relationships. A man who has been in a wheelchair all his life may have to work much harder than others to plan his day because “normal” activities are more difficult for him than average. In turn, this planning has helped him to develop incredible organizational and management superpowers, so he may be able to oversee multiple large teams in a corporation and keep them all on track without any problems. These are all hypotheticals, but you can see where I’m going. People who are blind or deaf compensate by developing extraordinarily strong senses in a different part of their body. Similarly, when people get weighed down in one area of life, they compensate by growing stronger in another.

I mentioned my personal empathy as a superpower earlier, but I bet I pale in comparison to so many others. That’s a superpower that almost anyone who has gone through a struggle can pull from. The more challenges you’ve gone through, the more you can relate to others who have faced obstacles. And all of us, from the newborn child to the Fortune 500 CEO, want and need people to relate to us and help us through our problems. There’s a reason Forbes talks about sensitivity and empathy as a superpower. With the world becoming so interconnected, the ability to relate to others on a human level is becoming increasingly important. The heavier one’s secret backpack is, the more they can relate to the hidden weight of others.

Think about it: what coping strategies have you used to work through your toughest trials, and how have those strategies helped you to develop superpowers today? A different strength of mine I didn’t mention earlier, that comes directly from my battle with POTS, is my desire to improve and progress in my life. When I was out of school, sports, and without a social life, I had to find a way to get past those issues and take back control of my life. Since then, I’ve harnessed the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-related powers of the brain to find new habits and strategies by which I can live my life, and then I have implemented them into a sustainable structure. I can’t tell you how much my morning meditation, cold showers, exercise, healthy eating, and high-quality sleep have changed my life. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without any of those habits. I can tell you, though, that they’ve been built up over time, and I’ve taken the initiative to build each of them from scratch, modeling myself after world-class performers in different areas of my life to set my body up to support my brain and its work. I don’t think the desire to constantly innovate and improve in my life will ever go away. It would’ve never materialized, however, had I not hit rock bottom, with no choice but to make progress in my life. When I was content with my life before POTS, I saw no need to innovate or improve. I’m now thankful for all of the weight POTS added to my backpack, because now I have a superpower I pull from my bag on a daily basis.

My only ask to readers of this post is that they recognize secret backpacks; both the bags that one carries personally and the bags of others. I truly believe one’s greatest strengths come from his most strenuous challenges, and recognizing and accepting pain is often the first step in lightening one’s load and building up a superpower. In addition, when we accept our own weight, it helps us to relate to and acknowledge the weight of others. Privilege is the ability to live without a certain weight that others may have. Privilege for me, as a straight white male, is the benefit of never having to worry about being discriminated against. If I get a promotion, I’ll never hear it’s just because I’m pretty (even though I am!) or because I’m filling a quota. If I get pulled over by a cop, there’s no worry about unfair violence against me. I’m privileged because I’ve never had to worry about if there will be food on the table for dinner.

I can go to the gym on a daily basis and work my body out almost to its max, without too many repercussions afterward. That’s a privilege that’s very real to me right now, because it’s one that I didn’t have two years ago. Two years ago, other people had the privilege of living on a daily basis without having to worry about their salt intake, standing up too fast and getting dizzy, or getting a splitting migraine ten minutes after starting a test. We all have different challenges and privileges.

I don’t think people should be shamed for being straight or white or rich. I just think people who have the privilege of not having certain weights in their secret backpack should acknowledge others who do. If someone gets accommodations in school or says they can’t go out to eat with everyone, take a step back and think for a second. Maybe they have a secret backpack with an intense learning disability or a myriad of money issues hidden inside. The worst thing you can do is ignore the backpack altogether and dismiss someone for being different, thinking that you’re better than them.

We all have different backpacks, and we all have different ways in which we are privileged. We also all have different superpowers that we’ve developed because we’ve lacked certain privileges and advantages, and we’ve had no choice but to push our way through certain weights in our bags. Let’s remember that and show love and acceptance to everyone.

Much like the powers present in diverse organizations,  when society as a whole recognizes the secret backpacks worn by its members, society, in turn, develops superpowers. First, we recognize the weight held by our peers, and love and acknowledgment will lead to personal acceptance and peace. Then, once we can become self and societally-aware, we can start to bring out the absolute best in people. A world of superheroes with superpowers will lead to superhuman efforts, advancements, and developments. How does that sound for a change?

Thanks for reading! I appreciate every little bit of feedback and support, so please reach out to me if you have any comments, questions or thoughts! 

How I Succeed in School with POTS

Disclaimer: These posts are speaking from my personal experience and I am merely relaying what has been beneficial for me. I know everyone’s situation is different, and I truly respect that and want to say up front that I know my methods may not work for others. By no means am I looking to push my experience as the only way that works, nor am I trying to say that anyone is wrong or weak for not exploring the methods I propose, or for having a varying opinion or experience. I have tremendous respect for everyone fighting through POTS, and I am only looking to extend empathy, offer support, encourage resilience, all while attempting to be as positive as possible! I’m also just looking to share my story and connect with others!


POTS knocked me out of school for about half of the days in my junior year. I had to drop my first-period class because mornings were associated with throbbing pains all over my body and an inability to concentrate on any subject matter material at all. On the days when I did go into school, my time there was limited to a few hours at a time. The mornings weren’t the only tough times. Concentrating was a monumental task for all of my classes. Reading a textbook and finishing a test, which were activities I had always breezed through, gave me headaches and rendered me incapacitated due to the mental stress and overwhelm. 

Being in and out of class didn’t help either. Instead of being viewed as my normal, friendly, academically competitive self, many people looked at me with confusion, indifference, or the occasional sense of disdain. I can’t blame them for not being able to see an invisible illness. It can be hard enough for you and me to conceptualize POTS, even as we live with it on a daily basis. Others, by way of human nature, tried to simplify my condition by placing me in a “sick” bucket or a “making something up to miss school” bucket. All of these things combined to make high school a battle socially, mentally, emotionally, physically, and psychologically for me. Every day was an all-around challenge. 

I just painted a bleak picture of my time in high school with POTS. However, my experience improved over time, and my senior year was night and day compared to my junior year. I was extremely fortunate to have amazing people and resources to help me through high school, so I want to share what helped me to finish out my junior year and then build up to an even better senior year of high school. These strategies, along with strokes of luck and caring people, carried me through the college application process and have now helped me tremendously as a student at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, ranked the top public university in the country.

Before I give credit to myself or anyone else, I have to give credit to my mom. She worked tirelessly behind the scenes to set my siblings and me up for success at school, and, without her, none of my relationships with teachers or counselors – or any of my academic success for that matter – would be possible. That’s something to keep in mind during this post — I’m lucky enough to have an amazing mother who did all she could to work with doctors, school, and with me to help me reach my highest level academically.

I also want to give this post a bit more background by explaining the type of help I got from my high school. Through my mom’s efforts, I had the support of my guidance department and teachers that allowed me to do whatever it took to get me through my classes. I also had a learning support teacher and department to help me communicate with teachers – shoutout to Mrs. Kelly, you’re an angel – and I took most tests in the learning support room. Extra aids included extra time on all assignments, the ability to dismiss the completion of some assignments, such as more frivolous homework or in-class activities, without consequence, and the option to take tests over a multi-day period. 

I was definitely an outsider in terms of how I was completing my assignments relative to the rest of my classmates, but my individualized education plan was designed purely to help me overcome my unique limitations and balance the playing field between the other students and me. It allowed me to work at my own pace and take tests quietly, with breaks in between. It also took some of the weight off of my shoulders in terms of communicating with teachers about assignments, which can be incredibly intimidating for someone struggling with chronic illness. 

I’ll talk more about accommodations later on, but they were an essential part of my story and I was lucky enough to have the help I did. I know other people or other schools may not have the same luck with guidance. If any parents or kids who are trying to work with school are reading this and want to hear my mom’s view on how she got medical information and talked with our guidance department to get our accommodations, please reach out to let me know and I can arrange a guest post where my mom can lay out her approach with doctors and school for accommodations. 

My last couple posts have been in list form, and I hope they aren’t coming across as similar to BuzzFeed-esque posts like “17 Ways to Slice an Avocado this Summer.” I believe laying out my content as separate points can help to differentiate between and highlight each major detail, and today’s post will be a “list” of 5 strategies that have helped me to get back in school, get through a day of school, and get back to my best self academically.

So, without further ado, here are 5 things that have helped me go from out of school to a full-time college student in two years. Keep in mind that my situation is unique and fortunate, so these strategies may not work for everyone. However, hopefully, you can pull one or two takeaways from this post that can help you in school, work, or life.

1. Build Up Over Time

At my worst, I was in school for 1-2 days a week, for only a couple hours at a time. At my best, a year later, I was in school 5 days a week for three full periods, or about six hours of time. This transition did not happen overnight. It was a gradual build-up, and I set small goals for time spent in school and then kept checking them off and building up upon them. 

I remember my first goal clearly — my 3rd-period class was Advanced Placement English, and it was a class in the afternoon that was fairly fast-paced, leading to my desire to keep up with it the best I could. The class was in the second semester, and my first semester took the analogy of a valley. I started high, fell down to my lowest point, and then started to build myself back up. By the time winter break was over and second semester was starting, I was still struggling with my health. Nonetheless, I had built some positive momentum with school, so I wanted to transfer my momentum over to concrete goals for my second semester.

My only second-semester goal was to go to AP English every day. I started out with about 3-4 days a week of the class, and the other two classes I had at the time were less of a priority. A significant accomplishment on a daily basis for me was showing up in class. Once I was in class, I knew I was helping myself because I wouldn’t be missing out on lessons or assignments that I would’ve had to make up had I been absent. Even if I weren’t 100% focused, I knew being there would help me to remember and complete at least some things, and that was much better than nothing at all. 

Integrating myself into a group setting was tremendously helpful as well. Our class had desks in groups that entire semester, and listening to my groupmates discuss the content we were learning or the problem we were working through greatly helped me enhance my understanding of the class material. The ability to speak up in a small setting also took some pressure off of me and allowed me to build my concentration and confidence by contributing my point of view, along with asking for help if I were confused on a section. 

Whenever we had an in-class essay or small test, I went to a different room to complete the assignment. I usually didn’t finish in the time the other kids did, but I got better and better and faster and faster over time. At first, I would be plagued by headaches and brain fog after having to read or write for 20-30 minutes. That went to 35, then 40, then 45, and by the end of the year, I was able to complete full assignments in one sitting.

In my other classes, my top focus was again showing up and participating. I started out with 2-3 days a week, and then gradually progressed. Those classes didn’t have as intense a workload as English, so I was able to miss a bit more time without having to make up as much. I completed many assignments for those two classes late, in the learning support room with accommodations, but over time I built up my mental energy supply and started to keep up with my classmates. By the end of the year, I was able to take 3 AP tests, which helped me receive college credit that is incredibly beneficial for me at Michigan. I didn’t get passing scores in all of my AP tests, but I viewed sitting down for them, after all I had gone through, as a massive win given where I started. 

My route to building up my time in school was: show up -> do what I could in class -> complete assignments on my own terms with accommodations -> complete what I could at the pace of other students. By the end of the school year, I was in school 4-5 days per week, and I attended all 3 of my classes on my best days. It was difficult all year, especially at the start. But school got just a bit easier day by day, and, by the time the year was over, I was doing so much better than when I started.

2. Get Accommodations

This part is tough. I mentioned it earlier — I had a unique situation and everything came together with my mom and I working with guidance, learning support, and teachers to ensure my academic success. I know every school is different; there were people in my class at Mayo Clinic that couldn’t get much done with their guidance departments at school and they were unable to secure much in the way of accommodations. Accommodations were and are a major part of my academic success, though, so I am going to run you through what my process with accommodations looked like in high school and how it looks today, in college. Hopefully, there are some overlying principles that can be applied to most schools and situations.

In high school, I applied for an individualized education plan with notes from Dr. Boris at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia about the severity of POTS and accommodations that would help best prepare me for succeeding in school. I’m not sure of the exact information of those health documents, but, again, if anyone wants an in-depth view, please let me know. My biggest challenges in school were the amount of work I could get done in a certain time as well as the mental and physical stress that sitting in class for 80 minutes straight would cause me. 

I was able to use extended time to complete certain assignments over multiple days to combat the first challenge. There were no worries for me about pushing myself too hard with school or having to spend any more than an hour at a time on an assignment. I knew those were triggers for symptoms and crashes, so I instead split up my work into smaller chunks, using time and sleep as tools for resting and recharging to help me best attack the next part of my assignment. 

As for sitting in class for 80 minutes straight, that was nearly impossible, especially when I was first getting back into school. My solution to that issue was that I had the ability to leave class at any time to walk around. I was also able to carry snacks and drinks on me at all times. These arrangements fixed a number of major issues, as I kept myself hydrated, fueled, and relaxed throughout all class sections. 

Whenever I wasn’t feeling good, I could get up, walk out of class, and reset. Sometimes I would visit the learning support room and hang out, other times I would walk around then sit down and take deep breaths. If I was doing really poorly, I might’ve gone to the nurse’s office and laid down. The nurses knew my family and me well too, so if I needed to leave school for the day, that was a process that was low-stress.

A key part of my individual plan was maintaining consistent communication with my teachers about my assignments. It wasn’t too easy for my teachers because I was taking tests home and turning homework in late, but communicating with them in person, through email, and through my learning support specialist, Mrs. Kelly, allowed for clarity with regards to due dates and new assignments. Mrs. Kelly was an awesome go-between and would often turn in assignments late after I’d completed them. She would also collect them from my teachers for me when I was absent or out of class. It helped me beyond explanation to have the support of a counselor when dealing with busy teachers who may not have understood my situation at times. 

I have to give my teachers credit too for being understanding and working with me, though. I am incredibly grateful for the compassion shown by my parents, the guidance office, learning support, and my teachers. We all worked as a team to make my experience the best it could be.

In my senior year, when I was back in school full-time, I still used my accommodations, just not to the same degree as I had previously. I took my more challenging tests in a Testing Room where I had, once again, incredible support and individual freedom. I was free to walk around and take breaks as needed, and I was able to finish almost all of my exams and essays the same day I started them. Since I was in class full-time, I was no longer behind on assignments or homework, which, looking back, was a satisfying step of progress from my junior to senior year.

If you can work in any way with your guidance department, administration, or individual teachers, I would encourage you to try. By talking to them, it helped me to explain all of the ways my invisible illness limited me in comparison to other students. The backing of medical records with a doctor’s signature lent credibility to my requests.

Getting accommodations can be extremely difficult, and my situation might be the exception, not the rule, with regards to how cooperative my school was with my situation. However, even getting one teacher to understand and getting her help can make a tremendous difference in the ability to get into school and keep up with assignments and classes.

College has been a bit different for me. I had the same medical records as I did in high school, and all I had to do was go to our Services for Students with Disabilities office and meet with a coordinator. The counselor there listened to my story, asked how my symptoms affected my academic life, and asked how accommodations could help me. After our discussion, I was basically allowed to pick my own accommodations! I opted for starting with time-and-a-half on tests and taking exams in a quiet accommodations room. I was told that in the future, if I needed more accommodations, all I had to do was communicate that to my counselor and I could obtain more time and individual flexibility. 

How have accommodations affected me in college? Well, extra time was tremendously helpful in one of my most challenging classes, as it allowed me to space out my test-taking time so I didn’t absolutely kill my brain in an hour. The exam was still extremely cognitively demanding, and I was pressed for time, but it was a big help nonetheless. On other tests, I was more comfortable with the subject matter and was able to breeze through my exams. The quiet, distraction-free room definitely helped in every situation, but I especially appreciated the ability to stay late on one test and leave early on others — it was the ultimate form of individual academic freedom!

Something I struggled with was the idea that I was giving myself an unfair advantage with my accommodations and I wasn’t truly earning the grades I was getting. Over time, I’ve come around to thinking accommodations shouldn’t be looked at as cheating or as taking the easy way out; rather, they’re a necessary component of leveling the playing field for students with differing limitations. Chronic illness may be invisible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Making the game fair for oneself by individualizing the academic process is a way to make school much more manageable and enjoyable.

3. Use Socialization as a Distraction

The most underrated component of school for my overall health and well-being was how it served as a distraction from my symptoms. After living a fairly isolated life in my junior year, I forgot how great it was to see my friends in class and at lunch. The combination of hanging out, goofing off, learning things together, and feeding off the energy of my peers made my symptoms “disappear” from time to time. When I was able to completely immerse myself in my work or my conversations, I stopped thinking about my pain. Even a few seconds was a big deal for me.

I believe an important part of normalizing life with chronic illness is getting back into social settings. Friends can allow us to escape our own thoughts, and I often find that I smile and laugh much more when I am around my buddies, or even any group of people my age. Additionally, being with other people can help us to develop perspective and remember that other people are fighting silent battles too. Sometimes, I have even found that someone in the room is suffering more than I am, and that thought radically changes the way I view my own circumstances. It helps to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

The diversity of classrooms and academic settings allow for people to have a large group of people to which they can potentially relate. I found the socialization aspect of school to be a fun component that served as a distraction from symptoms, as well as an arena in which I had a newfound appreciation for those around me, especially people who I could relate to through a level of silent suffering. 

4. Pack Salt, Water, and Snacks

I’m sure many people already do this, but I thought it was worth mentioning because of the impact packing nutrients can provide. Every day for school, I would pack a lunch with snacks for every 1-2 hours along with a reusable water bottle that I would fill up about every hour. Additionally, I would sometimes have a Gatorade or Propel sports drink to boost my electrolytes. I’ve since soured on drinking sports drinks, as I’m of the opinion that they are sugar bombs that can contribute to a rush and crash cycle, but I know they can be super helpful to some people.

For good snack ideas, fruit, nuts and nut butters, vegetables, RX Bars, and greek yogurts are always at the top of my list as healthy, energy-sustaining, snacks. I would take 1000 mg salt pills with some water with breakfast and lunch, but if that is tough on your stomach, pack some salty snacks to go along with your meals. Beef jerky is a favorite of mine! This is also something the POTS community does a great job of — check out other blogs, Reddit posts, and Facebook pages for awesome ideas for food, fluids, and ways to carry all of them! What I just mentioned may not suit your dietary tastes or needs, so keep in mind that’s what works for me and something else may work for you!

5. Take Breaks to Walk Around and Breath

Last but not least — we can remember school is a major challenge and a significant stressor on the body. Especially when building back up to a normal schedule, it’s important to take breaks. I found walking around, sitting down in a chair outside of class, taking deep breaths, listening to music, and talking to a counselor all to be useful strategies for dealing with brain fog, fatigue, headaches, and any pain that was brought up by stress. As mentioned earlier, I was fortunate enough to have the freedom to do all of this during normal class time, which was a huge benefit of accommodations. However, even just walking to the bathroom and taking some deep breaths was always an effective tool for me. I sometimes even tried mini-meditations to clear my mind, slow my heart rate, and take control of my autonomic nervous system! 

I would take breaks at school as well as at home when doing any school work. I started very small and built up over time, as I did in many different areas of my life when I was most symptomatic with POTS. Breaks were always a great way to reset my mind and alleviate some of the stress put on my brain and body by work. Today, I am an advocate of using breaks at school and at work, and I typically will use a few minutes every half hour-hour to do some stretching, quick exercise, or browse my phone to find something that interests or entertains me and takes my mind off of my work. Whatever works for you is best, so I encourage you to try some different break strategies wherever you are and see how they help you. Whether you’re in school or not, taking a break is a good decision to make!

Let me know in the comments section: What’s your experience with school been like?

Additionally, please reach out if you want more information on accommodations with high school and college, applying to college, or anything else in this post or past posts!

Thank you for reading, and I’m incredibly grateful for all of the feedback and support I’ve gotten. Please keep it up — support makes my day and puts a smile on my face, and feedback helps to improve the blog for all future readers!

Have a great week, and my thoughts and prayers go out to you wherever you are on your journey.

Win the Morning, Win the Day

Disclaimer: These posts are speaking from my personal experience and I am merely relaying what has been beneficial for me. I know everyone’s situation is different, and I truly respect that and want to say up front that I know my methods may not work for others. By no means am I looking to push my experience as the only way that works, nor am I trying to say that anyone is wrong or weak for not exploring the methods I propose, or for having a varying opinion or experience. I have tremendous respect for everyone fighting through POTS, and I am only looking to extend empathy, offer support, encourage resilience, all while attempting to be as positive as possible! I’m also just looking to share my story and connect with others!


“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.”
– W. H. Auden

For many people with POTS, mornings are the toughest part of the day, and that’s been 100% true in my experience. Whether it’s brain fog, dizziness, muscle soreness, or overwhelming fatigue after waking up, mornings can be a sizable challenge, and we all know a rough morning can lead to a rough day. However, the opposite is also true — a great morning can lead to a great day.

In three years of self-experimentation, I’ve learned that a morning routine has a significant positive impact on my day. Meaning, if I miss a component or two, there’s a noticeable difference in my energy levels and disposition, and skipping all 5 of my post-wake habits makes my day much, much, tougher. 

I use 5 steps every morning to ensure I’ll be in a peak state when tackling the mental and physical challenges of the day. Each component of my routine has concrete scientific benefits, and every step I complete also leads to the feeling of a mental “win” that helps to build my self-esteem and willpower. I’m constantly changing the order and adding and subtracting things, but these 5 have consistently served me well across different times, places, and situations.

The habits of my morning routine have transformed my mornings into a time of day when I feel lively and motivated for the tasks ahead. My habits set me up to perform at my best physically, mentally, and psychologically, and checking things off in the morning makes checking off the day’s more difficult tasks later on much, much, easier.

(For reference, I currently go to bed at 11-11:30 PM on weeknights and wake up with an alarm at 7-7:30 AM on weekdays. Weekend bedtimes range from 11:30 PM-1 AM and wake times are 7:30-9 AM. I’m currently trying to exercise some discipline and align my weekday and weekend bedtime schedules for greater consistency across the board.)

Pop Out of Bed

Quick disclaimer here: If you are at a high risk for fainting, it’s probably best to take your time getting out of bed because rapid movement could bring on dizziness. Having a glass of water near your bed can be a good idea, and sitting up and monitoring how you feel before you get up can help as well. I’m just sharing what’s worked for me, and this is an approach I’ve learned from the Mayo Clinic that’s worked for my siblings as well. It could help some people, and may not be a good fit for others. I’m talking in this section more about not hitting the snooze button on an alarm, and waking up only once during the morning, rather than physically jumping out of bed.

Ever since I’ve set my alarm to wake myself up in the morning, I’ve jumped right out of bed, the second I hear the alarm. I despise the sound of my alarm in the morning, and I want to turn that thing off as soon as I can. Sometimes I wake up in a daze or am confused coming right out of a dream, but I always get up immediately when I come to my senses.

The fact that I jump right out of bed may not seem interesting or important, but I believe popping up is crucial for my morning. When I get up right away, I am starting my day in complete control, and I’m not wasting one second lying comfortably. letting time tick away. Once my day starts, I want to get right into attack mode.

This habit wasn’t an easy one to begin. When I started setting a consistent alarm, it was an attempt to get myself on a schedule, and, at the time, my mornings were rough and I was highly symptomatic. Because of this, I needed an extra boost mentally to help me power through and believe in myself. For about 18 months, I followed the advice of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and his incredible book The Power of Positive Thinking by repeating an affirmation from the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 when I got out of bed in the morning:

“I believe, I believe, I believe, that I can do all things through He who strengthens me, and that if God is on my side, then no one and nothing can oppose me.” 

Usually, after waking, I would feel lightheaded or dizzy, and self-doubt would creep into my mind. I remember thinking, “maybe I can’t do this today, maybe I need to go back to bed.” However, repeating my affirmation strengthened my belief that I could push through the start of the day. It wasn’t just a “mental toughness” aspect, it was the thought that I had God on my side, and I knew He is more powerful than any worldly impediment. I applied the same logic to win the rest of the day, as I convinced myself I had God’s support to carry me through any challenges I would face.

Today, having built up my habit, I find it much easier to get right out of bed. One new addition that also helps is thinking about something that excites me for that day immediately after waking. Keeping a person I love or a dream I’m passionate about in mind can be a fantastic morning motivator.

Funny enough, the first step in my morning routine doesn’t take much more than a second. An important distinction is that I go right into the next part of my routine after getting out of bed.

Once I wake up, no matter how I feel or how tired I am, I follow my routine. I focus on the step-by-step process, and each progressive action gets easier over time. An added bonus? The Silicon Valley-esque notion that I am eliminating decision fatigue, which is the mental exhaustion that accumulates and saps brain energy with every new decision in the morning.

Make my bed

“If all else fails, at least I made my bed.” That’s the thinking behind the habit I picked up after reading the highly inspiring and informational book Make Your Bed by Admiral William H McRaven. Much like my other habits, the utility of making my bed is twofold. As I mentioned earlier, making my bed gives me a sense of control over my morning, my day, and my life. It’s the one thing life cannot take away from me and something I can complete every morning, no matter what.

Making my bed also improves my ability to form habits. Every day, when I’m making my bed, I am reinforcing a positive habit. I find it easier to start and take control of new habits and routines when I’m in the process of practicing already-existing ones, and making my bed is a good reinforcement of habit practice.

By making my bed, I don’t mean doing it flawlessly. I don’t think any home improvement magazines are featuring my sleeping quarters anytime soon, so I don’t feel a need to make it look prim and perfect. Instead, I make sure my sheets are tucked in at the bottom, my covers are evenly pulled to the top of my bed, and any major wrinkles are smoothed out. I place my pillow at the head of the bed, and voilà. I’m finished. On to the next one.

Cold Shower

(Disclaimer: I know some people are highly sensitive to extreme temperature, and even a warm bath or regular shower can make them feel worse. Additionally, some people may react negatively to overwhelming physical stimuli. I understand that and a cold shower is probably a good idea for only a certain subset of people. I encourage you to try one, or even just turn down the temperature on your shower or bath a bit, but I know it is out of the question for certain people, and I completely acknowledge and respect that.)

“Cold shower? Cold shower?! Cold Shower?!?! That sounds like the worst idea ever!!”

That’s usually the reaction I get when I tell people that I take a cold shower every morning. And you might be reading this thinking, why the heck would he take a cold shower in the morning?

First of all, let me preface this by letting you in on a little secret: my morning shower is hot 90% of the time, only it’s topped off with 30-60 seconds of cold at the end. I enjoy basking in a hot shower and I often want to stay in there forever, leading to me occasionally spending a bit too long under the hot water. However, I balance out my pleasure with some discipline. I make sure I always muster up the courage to end my shower with cold. 

The first thing you’ll notice when you take a cold shower is the shock value. A cold shower jolts the Central Nervous System and stimulates blood flow quickly throughout the body to all extremities. This can be a fantastic way to enhance circulation – especially to the legs – in the morning for people with POTS. There’s an added benefit to cold showers for helping with POTS because of the way they stimulate the autonomic nervous system and strengthen the sympathetic nervous system. I talk more about the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems and POTS in my post on meditation, and to sum it up, cold showers can be an essential tool in helping to control your fight-or-flight response and rapid onset breathing. Moreover, according to published studies, cold showers are a common and useful treatment for depression, they can help to burn fat, and they help the body recover to homeostasis quickly.

The science behind cold shower benefits is still small and emerging, so you may elect to dismiss the findings I presented. That’s fine — the biggest benefits I get from cold showers aren’t even scientific, rather they are practical and immediately noticeable. 

A cold shower wakes me up like a cup of coffee and sends an adrenaline rush through my entire body. On a psychological level, cold showers are my first big “win” of the day. It’s a challenge to step into the cold water, and it’s something my body doesn’t exactly want to do. Despite that, standing under the cold water helps me to build my willpower and solidify my hold on a more difficult habit. Once I go in, any fear and anxiety I have is replaced by a mini-mental celebration and, sometimes, a desire to get out as quick as I can. When I turn the water off, though, I come out feeling alert and, quite frankly, that “I AM A BEAST!” 

Mark Twain said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Taking a cold shower helps me to “eat a frog” in the morning. I know if I can stand in that cold, I can face any symptoms or challenges that come my way that day.

If you want to try taking a cold shower, start small. My first few were 3-5 seconds, and I gradually built up my tolerance. Your body will have an initial negative reaction from the CNS shock, but I’ve learned and confirmed that it only takes about 4 days to build up a tolerance. Now, I’m used to the cold, and it actually feels refreshing and calming when I’m under the freezing water. 

I use water that’s about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and I recommend you find a sweet spot that is stimulating but also relatively bearable. Additionally, go easy on your first few, as some people, especially with autonomic dysfunction, could have an unpredictable experience with all of the stress a cold shower can put on the body. I encourage you to look up the benefits and try it out. It can change your morning and your life!

Meditate

Meditation is an integral part of priming myself to be calm, non-reactive, and focused for my day, which is why I’ve covered the benefits of meditation for POTS, as well as techniques and easy ways to get started, in my meditation post I linked to earlier. With regards to how meditation fits into my morning, I have been experimenting with the timing of my practice. It’s usually the second thing I’ll do when I’m out of the shower — the first being drinking a glass of water to rehydrate myself and get fluids into my body. 

If the sun is out and it’s not super cold, I’ll go outside shirtless and sit down on a chair or bench to start my practice. There are many benefits to getting morning sunlight, with the most impactful being increased Vitamin D production and a more natural circadian rhythm, which helps to promote sleepiness and wakefulness at the right times of day. Additionally, getting sun in the morning has been proven to be healthier for the skin than getting sun in other parts of the day, because the infrared light present in the AM helps the body to absorb UV rays more efficiently.

In an article on his blog, famous neurosurgeon Dr. Jack Kruse said “The fact that UV and infrared light in AM sunlight work in unison to create this circumstance says something very deep about sunlight importance… mood will be altered by a chronic lack of AM life.”

The sunlight is important, but the meditation is where the real magic happens. I’ll sit down, load up Soundcloud or Headspace, and focus on diaphragmatic breathing while listening to and acting on the prompts given by my guide. This will go on for about ten minutes. If I’m distracted at all, I do my best to keep my eyes closed and focus on my breathing, getting up only for absolute emergencies. 

Once the ten or so minutes are over, I’ll open my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and get myself set for the next part of my morning, which is movement.

If you want to learn more about meditation or hear more about my experience with a practice, the post I did here is an awesome resource — you can also find it in the sidebar and under the “Posts” header.

Morning Movement

The purpose of my morning movement routine is to get my blood flowing while lengthening my muscles and setting my joints in the right place, which helps me to move well throughout the day. Additionally, moving helps to mitigate the negative effects of sitting.

I start my morning movement practice by going to a room in my house where I have a rug, open floor space, and a foam roller/lacrosse balls. I tend to do everything in my routine in the same rooms and at the same times every day (on weekdays), because I find it’s easier to build my habits by compartmentalizing them and linking them to specific times and places. For example, when I sit down on the bench outside my house in the morning, my mind and body know it is time for meditation, which allows me an easier time getting into a relaxed mental state.

Another act that precedes my morning movement practice is turning on a podcast, an audiobook, or an affirmational/motivational speech. I learn most of what I know from podcasts and audiobooks, and motivational videos can help to quickly get me in a prime state, ready to attack the day. I’ll use Audible for audiobooks, Apple Podcasts for podcasts, and Soundcloud or YouTube for motivational videos. If you’re interested in any of those and want my recommendations on shows and titles, please reach out to me in the comments!

Not only do I enjoy starting my day off with learning and entertainment, but I also find I am more mindful when I am paying attention to auditory content rather than if I am just doing my exercises, letting my thoughts wander. Especially after my meditation practice, where there’s an emphasis on mindfulness – but also not trying too hard or focusing too much –  it’s good to get my brain and body into a state of focus and concentration.

As for my specific morning movement routine, I outline my favorite drills and resources about midway through my guide to exercise with POTS. My outline in this post will be a bit lighter on detail, but if you are interested and want more in-depth content, check out the post I linked to previously.  

I use a combination of yoga poses, YouTube mobility drills, quick exercise, and self-massage in a 5-10 minute span for my movement practice. What I do depends on how I’m feeling and what my plans are for the day. For example, if I wake up with a sore upper back or hip, I’ll use a lacrosse ball to massage the aching area for about a minute. On the other hand, if I plan on doing a leg workout in the following couple hours, I’ll do some air squats or active mobility drills to get my hips and ankles moving. My morning movement routine is the time of day where I listen to my body the most, and I use the short timespan I have to address any nagging pains and nip them in the bud.

Let’s jump into the movement possibilities. For my poses, I like downward and upward dog along with cat/camel pose the most because they involve core and back activation. I find mobilizing those areas allows me to get the biggest bang for my buck with regards to how my entire body feels during the day. Luka Hocevar and Kelly Starrett have awesome YouTube channels and almost all of my mobility drills come from their resources. 

Attempting to describe their routines would not do them justice, so click on those links and you’ll find an abundance of drills and exercises for people of all fitness and skill levels. Even watching just one of their videos can help you eliminate tightness or soreness in an area that might have been bothering you for months, and I only know that because their videos have helped me eliminate nagging pain from all over my body in minutes.  

“Quick exercises” means standard bodyweight movements that most people are familiar with, like push-ups or sit-ups. 5-10 reps of those movements along with others such as air squats, lunges, and any assisted/modified versions of those movements have done wonders for me in clearing brain fog, and they always make my body feel much better. On a biological level, they stimulate the neuromuscular connection to promote easier movement throughout the day. On a psychological level, they can give you a real boost in self-esteem and a feeling of accomplishment. I know people have differing levels of physical fitness and ability, and I want to say even one or two reps of these movements can make a big difference! It’s not about where you are right now, rather, it’s all about how you can get better for tomorrow.

I mentioned self-massage earlier with the lacrosse ball example, and the benefits of a massage practice include decreased muscle soreness, increased flexibility, and greater range of bodily motion. All of these things are important for our body, especially if we are dealing with issues like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, or any other body-related maladies that may tag along with POTS.  Just like the mobility drills, trying to describe how to perform self-massage in this blog would be doing it a disservice, so here’s a video (https://youtu.be/u86d5zV2jKc) that does a fantastic job explaining. 

Once I’m finished with my mobility drills, I’ve concluded the “structured” portion of my morning. This is when I’ll check my phone for the first time, and I find my anxiety is reduced in the morning if I am not flooded with messages or social media stress immediately after waking up. From here, I almost always go right into breakfast, but that can change, and this is the point at which I allow myself leeway for the rest of the day!

Breakfast

I needed to throw breakfast in at the end because I’m a big believer in the first meal of the day. I’m usually a fan of eggs and vegetables with the occasional side of avocado or bacon, and a smoothie with fruits, veggies, and a non-whey based protein powder are options that have also suited me well in the past. Overall, my belief is to eat something and feed your body with some good, real, food in the morning! Of course, different people react in different ways so breakfast may not be the best option for everyone. I just wanted to throw in my two cents as a proponent of healthy breakfast and add in that it’s definitely a part of my morning routine, just not a “habit” that some people might think fits in with the others!

Other Thoughts

I’ve recently started journaling in the morning. I primarily focus on gratitude, getting rid of negative mental chatter, and reviewing my goals for the day. I can’t judge yet whether or not it will make a profound impact in my life, but my journaling habit at night has been good for me, so I’m hoping for the best. I think journaling and self-reflection, along with goal setting in a written form, are highly rewarding habits, so I’m looking to put them into practice as much as I can. 

The only problem with adding journaling to my morning is that it can lead to my routine getting a bit too long, and I often only have a limited amount of time before I have an outside commitment in the morning! Although, as Abe Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe.” Judging from that quote, and my experience, I’m not sure if there’s such a thing as being too overprepared for the day!

I’ve also recently tried the Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps mushroom coffee from Four Sigmatic. It tastes good, is low in caffeine (leading to no afternoon crash), and the mushrooms in it have been scientifically proven to provide benefits in cognitive function and performance. I feel pretty good and can churn out longer periods of work than usual after sipping it in the morning. I know caffeine can be bad for POTS and can lead to symptoms such as anxiety and rapid heartbeat, so I’m careful to monitor how my body is doing before I pour myself a coup. With that being said, on days when I’m feeling good, the coffee makes me feel even better. I’ve been throwing grass-fed ghee butter, MCT oil, and coconut oil in there, and along with my eggs, I’m intaking a ton of healthy fats in the morning, which helps me to feel sated until lunch.

My morning routine is ever expanding, as I’m a fanatic for learning more about morning and evening routines along with habits in general. As a result, I’m sure I’ll make some additions and possibly some subtractions in the near future. If you like this stuff as much as I do, check out Tim Ferriss and Hal Elrod; they’re pioneers in the morning routine game. There’s also content all over the internet about the morning routines of celebrities and top performers that are pretty cool, and that can be another great way to learn about new habits if you so desire.

What I’ve learned from my research and personal practice is there’s no magic morning routine that’ll give you superpowers. Everyone is different, and one person might like to have his first two hours planned out while another can thrive by laying in bed for 30 minutes on her phone and then rolling out of bed, throwing on some clothes, and getting out the door. I encourage you to try some different habits and techniques and see what works for you. Mornings can be tough, but adding some structure and daily habits can really help you start the day strong.

Let me know in the comments: Do you have any specific morning habits or routines that work well for you? I would love to hear from you, and I’m sure I or someone else could benefit from learning about a new strategy that works well for POTS or in general!

Thank you as always for reading and, if you want to be a superhero, please be sure to spread this post and the word of POTS positivity with your family, friends, and social media. I appreciate the feedback and support immensely, and responses can go a long way in improving the content on this blog. You can also reach out to me through the “Contact” section at the top — I am always looking to answer questions or provide support in any way I can. Thank you again for reading.

Let’s keep making POTS a positive!

5 Perks of Having POTS

Disclaimer: These posts are speaking from my personal experience and I am merely relaying what has been beneficial for me. I know everyone’s situation is different, and I truly respect that and want to say up front that I know my methods may not work for others. By no means am I looking to push my experience as the only way that works, nor am I trying to say that anyone is wrong or weak for not exploring the methods I propose, or for having a varying opinion or experience. I have tremendous respect for everyone fighting through POTS, and I am only looking to extend empathy, offer support, encourage resilience, all while attempting to be as positive as possible! I’m also just looking to share my story and connect with others. 


What?!?!? Perks of having POTS? Doesn’t a perk mean a benefit or a positive thing? 

Yes, I am going to talk today about the perks of having POTS. To preface this post, I wouldn’t say living with POTS is the best thing in the world. It can take a dramatic negative toll on people’s health and well-being and limit their ability to do the activities they love, possibly for the rest of their lives. For me, POTS meant I never achieved my dream of playing varsity basketball and I went unranked in my high school class after working so hard to be in the top 5%. I was still able to achieve some of my other goals, but POTS made me fall short of goals I had envisioned for my entire life.

However, that was in 2015 and 2016. Much has changed since then. Today, I am thriving athletically, academically, and personally, and I realize most of my recent success and happiness in my life has stemmed in one way or another from my negative high school experience with POTS. I hit rock bottom in 2015, and so I quite literally had to build myself back up as a new person. I was fortunately able to progress health-wise, becoming less symptomatic and able to do more and more than I could before. Along with that, I built up new personality traits and personal skills that helped me better connect with myself and others. Even though I seemed to have it all before I was diagnosed with POTS, I view myself today as vastly more well-rounded and on a much better path for the future. I still have to be mindful of my limitations, but I think the current impact POTS has on my life is more of a positive one than a negative one. 

If I never experienced POTS, I don’t think I could be the person I am today. I believe living with POTS provides people with a unique skillset that can set us apart from almost anyone else in society. Here are five positive personality developments that have come through living with POTS, and how they impact my life today.

Resilience

I know that if I can live through POTS, I can live through anything. While it sucked for me to lose out on most of the high school experience, I can now say I am grateful, in a way, for all of the struggles I’ve had. Without my challenges, I know I wouldn’t have built up all of the resilience I have today. 

Resilience is described by some psychologists ((https://qz.com/1289236/resilience-is-the-new-happiness/)) as a new-age superpower and the most important skill to cultivate in modern society. The trait of resilience helps me to bounce back from problems quickly, learn and grow from challenges instead of getting discouraged, and quickly adapt to new environments in today’s ever-changing world.  

Resilience is said to be a developed skill and is currently being taught at schools around the country. I am fortunate because I got a real-world crash course in resilience, and I can say I passed with flying colors —I’m extremely happy with how I’ve bounced back from living with POTS and how I’ve adjusted to living with it today. Better yet, resilience isn’t something I’ve just learned and used in the past. It’s a skill that is needed on a daily basis, and I’ll never stop cultivating it. To me, “problems” are not problems at all! Challenges in my life lead to my development of new skills that I need to get past those challenges. I’ve also found it easier and easier to get through roadblocks over time as I keep failing, learning and growing. I’m still very human, and it’s not like I get all happy every time there’s a problem in my life. But, I always know I can get through any problem, and I realize that I’ll be building up myself and my resilience by doing so.

This book (https://www.amazon.com/Resilience-Science-Mastering-Greatest-Challenges/dp/0521195632) was something I read when I was at my most symptomatic, and it was an extremely useful tool. It has practical strategies, backed by science, for building resilience. Check it out!

Perspective

I was always a star student, multi-sport athlete, and leader around my school. It’s funny how most people with autonomic dysfunction seem to be high-achievers, and I think that’s part of the reason why we have such a resilient and amazing community despite our challenges. When I was diagnosed with POTS, though, I nearly lost my identity. I was no longer an athlete, wasn’t doing anything outside of school, and suddenly my reputation was one of a “sick kid” who was chronically absent. I hated when people didn’t understand my situation, and I felt depressed about my new label. Many people either turned a blind eye towards my situation or, even worse, joked about it or made fun of me. The people who stuck by and supported me were there too, though, and I really appreciated them.

Being out of school and losing my identity led to a radical shift in my perspective. Before my diagnosis, I was always chasing what I thought were important goals, such as getting top grades, playing for varsity in sports, and winning awards in extracurricular activities. When I was no longer able to chase those goals, I didn’t really know what my mission and purpose were. For a while, I had none, and those moments were some of the darkest of my life. However, as I built myself and my body back up, I started to chase things that nowadays seem far more meaningful to me. 

My main goal now is to work as hard as I can to constantly improve my life and the lives of those around me, as well as the lives of anyone I can reach through business or media. I feel as if I am now chasing the more important intrinsic goals of growth and contribution rather than extrinsic goals of grades, jobs, sports, and peer approval. Don’t get me wrong, I am probably setting more goals about my grades, athletics, and social life now than I was before POTS. Today though, I have a better perspective and realize that there are more important things in life outside of winning competitions and pleasing people. Coupled with my resilience, my perspective helps me to look at small problems and setbacks and smile and laugh; I used to consider them the end of the world, and now I see them as bumps in the road that could help me on my road of impact and improvement.

Empathy

In gaining a new perspective personally, I was able to better appreciate the perspectives of others. I was always able to relate to the popular crowd, the jocks, and the smart kids, because I was a part of all three of those social circles. However, even though I thought I did a great job of making friends with everyone, there were always some kids who seemed to be invisible. I assumed, with misunderstanding and unawareness, that they were invisible because they were not inherently talented or because they weren’t working hard to achieve their goals. 

Suddenly, though, I could relate to them. I was diagnosed with an invisible illness and I felt a bit invisible. I started noticing more of the kids on the outskirts and relating to them. I no longer took for granted everything I had, and I realized that some kids didn’t have as much as I did or they were going through challenges that no one knew about.

I believe everyone has some sort of struggle; some are external, some are internal. Some are plainly obvious, and some are invisible. It’s easy for everyone to see that the school bully might have an insecurity problem or the kid in the walking boot sprained his ankle. It’s not easy to see, though, that a different kid walks into a broken home on a daily basis or that that girl in math class has to take an insulin shot in the nurse’s office every day before lunch. Some people noticed me taking salt pills at lunch or leaving class to go on a walk, but no one could notice my brain fog, dizziness, or anxiety over walking into class for the first time after being out sick. 

As a result, I started to pick up on cues people gave off that signaled they might be going through something, and I exercised much more caution and understanding in social settings. I had a newfound insight into the lives of everyone, and whether it was the star athlete or the loner in the back of the class, I got better and better at listening to others and relating to them. I focused more and more on providing others with a listening ear and a positive spirit. I know I was able to make a positive impact on people and form deeper relationships based on emotional connection in my senior year of high school — all because of the perspective and empathy I have developed. This past year, in my freshman year of college, I was able to thrive socially in a brand new, extremely diverse, environment, and I know the reason I connected with people of all ages, interests, colors, and creeds all stemmed from my ability to put myself in others’ shoes. I would’ve never had that level of empathy if POTS didn’t make me put on some brand new shoes myself. 

Creativity

I never saw myself as a creative person. To this day, if you ask me to draw a self-portrait, the best I can do is a glorified stick figure. I always associated creativity with being good at art or design. However, I have realized that my personal quest to live better with POTS has sparked a creative fire in me — I am constantly looking to use creativity to innovate and improve my health and well-being. 

Everyone with chronic illness or pain has to be creative in some way just to function on a daily basis. Whether it’s carrying around a POTS pack, trying a unique diet or exercise plan, or finding a new way to incorporate salt into a meal, a quick look at POTS forums shows that POTSies are constantly innovating to improve their health. 

Personally, I was willing to try anything and everything to improve my situation, which led to me researching and trying different habits, strategies, exercise plans, ways of eating, and anything else you can think of. I took what worked, discarded what didn’t, and tried to add anything new that I could. I loved making changes and seeing positive results. Self-improvement continues to be one of the main tenets of my life to this day for that reason.

My daily routine now includes cold showers, which help me with brain fog, body temperature regulation, and anxious thoughts. Meditation helps me control my thoughts and feelings and stay focused. An appreciation journal, allows me to reflect and keeps me focused on the positives in my life. Recently, I’ve also adopted a morning mobility/stretching routine (helps my muscles feel better for the day), a low-carb diet with minimal grain intake and no dairy (limits inflammation and solves lactose and gluten-caused stomach issues), and a planned strength-training workout routine (always makes my body feel better, clears my mind, and give me an endorphin rush, and I like the aesthetic part too!). All of these changes to my lifestyle are a result of my intellectual curiosity and my desire to set my body up for success. My motivation to optimize my health comes from my past handicaps from my health, and I will never again take my health for granted; I’ll always be looking for new ways to better my body. 

This creativity has carried over to my daily habits and has led me to become a student of life. I am now a voracious consumer of podcasts and audiobooks, and I listen to people such as Tim Ferriss, Tony Robbins, and Aubrey Marcus for inspiration and strategies on how I can improve my habits and happiness. Honestly, I just try and read about people I admire or want to emulate, and then I see which of their habits and mindsets I want to adopt.

One podcast I listen to, in particular, The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson, is an invaluable source of health information for me, and I’ve probably applied to my own life something from every episode (I definitely think some episodes there have helped me with POTS. Especially the ones on sleep, diet, and mental models). 

I now view myself as a creative person. I also know I am an innovator and a learner, and I think that’s all because of the initial initiative and creativity I used to help me live a better life with POTS.

Positivity

The last perk of POTS is that I now live with an overwhelming sense of positivity in my life. I think I kind of paid for this positivity by suffering through some of my “prime” and “easiest/happiest” years, but I truly can say that I’ve come out of my unusual high school experience with a much more optimistic attitude. Since I hit such a low point in my life, I have seen myself continually rise above, bettering my health, relationships, habits, and happiness. I am not discouraged or intimidated by much (except for asking a girl on a date :)) because I know that I have the tools to get through challenges and the perspective to learn from failures. I feel that I can relate to almost anyone I meet or know, and I am constantly looking for ways to educate myself and improve myself, especially my health and fitness. I can truly say I believe I’ve been taking steps in a positive direction every day recently, and my drive to get better comes from knowing how it feels to be at my lowest — I want to do everything in my power to never be there again. I also force myself to be optimistic, especially when I don’t want to be. I’ve been through my fair share of tough situations and I’ve reacted to each one in a different way. I know that reacting negatively will often only make it worse, so I feel as if I owe it to myself to be optimistic.

What I love the most about my positivity is when it affects others. Some of my closest friends at Michigan fed off of my optimistic energy, and it was a great feeling to pump them up, help them through tough times, or put a smile on their faces when I saw them. Having a joyful moment with someone truly keeps me going. I want to lead by example, and I know, most of the time, I and the people around me will be better off if I keep up my unbridled positivity. It’s helped me all the way from Mayo to Michigan. 

Let me know in the comments: Are there any perks or positives of your unique situation with POTS or chronic illness? I would love to hear your view, as would everyone else reading this post!

Thank you as always for reading and, if you want to be a superhero, please be sure to spread this post and the word of POTS positivity with your family, friends, and social media. I appreciate the feedback and support immensely, and responses can go a long way in improving the content on this blog. You can also reach out to me through the “Contact” section at the top — I am always looking to answer questions or provide support in any way I can. Thank you again for reading.

Let’s keep making POTS a positive!

5 Things I Learned at Mayo Clinic

Disclaimer: These posts are speaking from my personal experience and I’m trying to outline what has worked for me. I know everyone’s cases are different, so I want to respect that, and say up front that I know my methods my not work for others. By no means am I looking to push my experience as the only way that can work for people, nor am I trying to say that anyone is wrong or weak for not pushing through! I have tremendous respect for everyone fighting through POTS, and I am only looking to inject some more strength, resilience, knowledge, and positivity into an already incredible community. I’m also just looking to share my story and connect with others. So, thank you for reading today, and know that you are amazing, and I wish you the best on your personal journey!

In the summer of 2017, a year after being diagnosed with POTS, I was fortunate enough to attend the 2-day Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program at Mayo Clinic. My brother and sister had already attended the 30-day program, so I knew about Mayo’s principles and approach going into my visit. Even still, those 2 days were life-changing, and I use the lessons I learned two years ago on a daily basis today. Mayo attacks POTS with a non-pharmacological approach and opts to use the power of the mind and body over the power of drugs. It’s worked wonders for me.

Here are five of the most transformative things I learned at Mayo and some practical tips on how you can apply them to your own life.

Fake it Til You Make it

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After a year of POTS controlling my body and mind, I realized I needed to live my life, chase my goals, and be myself, no matter what I was going through. Mayo gave me a science-backed approach to living well despite symptoms: “Fake it til you make it.” This means setting goals and sticking to them. It means committing to events and attending. Holding yourself accountable. It means ignoring your pain and telling yourself that you are healthy and happy, no matter how you feel. And when you keep doing this, for an extended period of time, something incredible happens. The self-fulfilling prophecy begins to work. There is science behind it — when you convince yourself that you are pain-free, your brain literally forms new neural pathways that tell your body you are not in pain anymore. 

If you get your family and friends to support you and stop asking how you are feeling, you can start going through an entire day just living life. Not thinking about POTS. This is not a magical approach, and it won’t make your POTS disappear. But all of the medication and exercise and nutrition in the world will not make a true impact on your life if your mindset is still one of being a “sick person.” If you can start with the right mindset and focus solely on where you want to be and how you’re going to get there, your mind will help you get there. The mind will do all it can. It worked for me. 

Once you establish the right mindset, everything else can fall in to place. You can add in a schedule and exercise and meditation and proper nutrition and socialization and whatever else you want to, and you start getting better day by day. Learning this was tough. At Mayo, they fully acknowledged that people with POTS are in intense pain. However, they said we need to forget that. In the program, we had to attend the social events and be on time for our group sessions, physical training, and anything else we had scheduled. If we didn’t show up, we were kicked out. That’s how important it was in the program’s eyes. The amazing thing: there was almost no one who dropped out, and all of these kids who came in with so many limitations were living without limits by the time they left.

If you can let go of your limits, your mind and body will find a way to do what they need to do to get you to where you need to be.

Set and Stick to a Schedule

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Learning about faking it til I made it was great, but I wondered what I was supposed to do all day when my current daily schedule was based on reacting to how I felt. Mayo’s answer to that dilemma was to set a schedule and stick to it.

How can one do that? Goal setting comes first. Some of my goals were to be back in school full time, exercise 6 days a week, meditate daily, and socialize on weekends. Those might seem ambitious, but my strategy was to go all in on life and take extreme ownership of my reality. It’s not like I was doing anything my body was too unfamiliar with anyway — attending school, exercising, and socializing were all things I had done for most of my life. The way I looked at it, I was going to get back to being a normal person again, with the additions of a meditation practice and a strict exercise routine. 

So, I set a schedule. I went to bed at the same time every night and woke up at the same time every morning. I would go to school, put on a smile, and focus on seeing my friends and getting my work done. After school, I grabbed a snack and went right to the gym, six days a week. It became easy for me — I didn’t even have time to think about my pain or my problems because I was too busy following the plan on my schedule. I was able to “automate” the first 10 or so hours of my day, which led to me focusing on getting one thing done at a time. Then I would move on to what was next up.

I made plans to hang out with people well in advance, so when the time came, I always left the house and went out no matter how I was feeling. My family held me accountable too. I went to church, watched my siblings play in their sporting events, and attended family gatherings. I made my focus external, on my goals, instead of internal, on my problems. By setting my schedule ahead of time and always sticking to it, I ensured myself that I would live out my goals no matter what, and my life became easier and easier over time.

Keep a Healthy Balance

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Now, you might be thinking, no matter what you tell your brain, it’s really difficult to live your life normally if you are fainting or vomiting while you are trying to stick to your schedule. You might be saying, “that’s what happens to me, and so there’s no way I can do everything he’s talking about.”  I understand that feeling, and I know applying these principles may seem monumental or insurmountable.

I know people who came into Mayo’s program fainting and vomiting dozens of times per day. However, I know those same people were able to live unaffected by their symptoms in just days after starting the program.

It seems crazy, but here’s how they did it: they applied a fake it til you make it attitude, and pushed themselves to follow a schedule, while always being mindful of not pushing their body too far.

The key here is keeping a healthy balance. Personally, I knew that pushing my body too far physically could trigger a crash or an intense bout of symptoms. Spending too much time on academic work or in an intense social setting could do that too. When talking about “too far”, I’m not talking about being uncomfortable. As Mayo said, you have to push yourself outside your comfort zone to make a change. But pushing yourself too far is not a good plan either. You have to find that balance.

My way of doing that was through planning breaks ahead of time around long or strenuous events in my schedule. For example, in school, I would periodically leave class to take a walk through the hallway and I would sit down to clear my mind. Going further, if my friends wanted to play one more sports game or wanted me to stay out an hour longer, I often had to say no to ensure I kept my body in a healthy balance.

Over time, I looked at balance as a principle for not only limiting my time in activities but also to hold me accountable so that I was spending enough time doing them. Balance was a foundational belief that kept me exercising, socializing, and working through problems. Too little and too much were both bad for my overall wellness — I realized it is best to use moderation and balance for everything in life, and making sure I do what I want and love without overextending myself has been a key to thriving with POTS.

Sleep is the Foundation of a Healthy Life

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Sleep can be both a major issue and a major refuge for people with POTS. So many POTSies are tired, and this can is often due to poor sleep hygiene; either too little or too much. At Mayo, we learned sleep is the foundation of our health. If we don’t get sleep right, they said, it doesn’t matter what else we do — there won’t be much positive change in our health and well-being.

It’s like trying to build a house. It doesn’t matter how hard you work or what materials you have — if you don’t have a proper foundation, you can’t build a house. Or, you’ll be can build a house, but it will probably fall apart rather quickly.

To build the best night’s sleep, you can start with going to bed and waking up at the same time, every day. It’s that simple. If you have trouble falling asleep, you should still turn your lights out at the same time every night. Over time, your body’s circadian rhythm will adapt to this new sleep schedule and you’ll have an easier time falling asleep. Better yet, you’ll start to feel refreshed and ready to attack the day after waking up.

Again, Mayo’s recommendation was to sleep at the same time, every day. We were strictly forbidden from sleepovers for six months after the program. I was completely against this at first but was later grateful because I realized how I never lost control of my sleep schedule.

At times, it meant leaving social events early or going to bed when I didn’t want to. Sometimes it meant waking up with an alarm on a day when I really wanted to sleep in. But a consistent sleep schedule helps to set a consistent overall schedule, and waking up and going right into a morning routine on a daily basis transformed the way I attacked my days — with more energy, positivity, and discipline.

For anyone who has difficulty sleeping, there is a wealth of information online about how to get better sleep. For starters, Mayo forbade devices in the bedroom and said no to naps. I am in favor of cutting out naps because I believe one shouldn’t have time for naps if they’re following a schedule, and naps are often something someone does when they feel tired or don’t have anything to do.

Tell your body who the boss is and keep it on a strict schedule. Work yourself hard during the day and you’ll sleep well at night. Apart from those tips, keeping your room dark, getting more sunlight during the day, exercising in the morning, and cutting out caffeine can all make big differences in the quality of your sleep. If you want to read from what’s currently considered the Bible of improving sleep quality, the book Sleep Smarter is the best out there right now.

Mayo preached the power of sleep at the program, and my personal experience and research have only led me to confirm my belief. Sleep is the most important thing for your health and it is the foundational piece for building a healthier mind, body, and spirit.

Socialization is Key for Thriving with POTS

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Mayo emphasized the importance of socialization for living a healthy and happy life. Everything we did on a daily basis was done in groups. It was inspiring for me to meet other people my age who were going through the same things I was, and we all held each other accountable and pushed through our pain together. We didn’t talk about our pain at all, or how we were struggling, and it was refreshing. It was normal. It was joyful.

Just like exercise or sleep, Mayo highlighted the importance of scheduling in socialization ahead of time and then sticking to your plan. While getting out can seem like too much effort at times, it is often one of the best ways to distract you from your pain. Making an effort to spend time with people you love can be one of the best investments you can make.

Get out and do it. If there’s one takeaway you get from this article, I hope it’s that it is possible and also important to do the things you love with the people you love. Do the best you can to take a little more control of your body every day. Eventually, with the right mindset, schedule, balance, and habits, you’ll look back and be amazed at how far you’ve come.

Let me know in the comments: what principles have you learned or picked up that have improved your quality of life? I would love to hear about what’s helped you, as would everyone else reading this post!

Thank you as always for reading and, if you want to be a superhero, please be sure to spread this post and the word of POTS positivity with your family, friends, and social media. I appreciate the feedback and support immensely, and you never know who you can help when you share a story! You can also reach out to me through the “Contact” section at the top — I am always looking to answer questions or provide support in any way I can. Thank you again for reading.

Let’s keep making POTS a positive!

A Complete Guide to Exercise with POTS

Disclaimer: These posts are speaking from my personal experience and I’m trying to outline what has worked for me. I know everyone’s cases are different, so I want to respect that, and say up front that I know my methods my not work for others. By no means am I looking to push my experience as the only way that can work for people, nor am I trying to say that anyone is wrong or weak for not pushing through! I have tremendous respect for everyone fighting through POTS, and I am only looking to inject some more strength, resilience, knowledge, and positivity into an already incredible community. I’m also just looking to share my story and connect with others. So, thank you for reading today, and know that you are amazing, and I wish you the best on your personal journey!

In my last post (click on these links for more information about them), I talked about how meditation has had incredible benefits for my mind, body, and spirit, and how it has had a profound positive impact on my health and well-being. Despite all of those benefits, I do not believe my meditation practice has had the most significant impact on me in the last two years. That distinction belongs to exercise.

From shortly after the time I was diagnosed with POTS up until today, I have had a consistent exercise routine of some form. Exercise brings me a dopamine rush and gives me a great bodily feeling. It gives me unbeatable confidence in myself as I continue to better myself through how I feel and how I look, and it’s a motivator that helps me blow past my goals. Exercise is a constant rock in my life. I know I can always go to the gym, almost no matter how I am feeling, and I will come out feeling great. I journal every night, and I start out with an overall “grade” or feeling of the day. If I exercised earlier that day, I am almost guaranteed to write that it was a great one — even if most of the day itself wasn’t good!

So, today I am excited to share with you something that changed the course of the way I lived. I am going to give a comprehensive review and how-to with regards to the Levine Protocol, which is an exercise program designed specifically for those with POTS. I’ve gone through the entire Levine Protocol and I can assure you from experience that it works. How do I know? In late 2015, I was struggling to make it through a session on the exercise bike, and I would get dizzy when I stood up and walked around. 2 years later, I was competing for the top men’s club rowing team in the country at the University of Michigan, symptom-free after grueling hour-long workouts. Let me tell you how exercise and the Levine Protocol can change your life.

I was the third person in my family diagnosed with POTS. From watching my brother and sister go through it before me, I knew consistent exercise was an essential step on the road to getting better. I was interested in specifics on how I could improve my health and happiness, and I always loved scientific research. My parents introduced me to a study done by Dr. Benjamin Levine, a cardiologist in Dallas, Texas. The study, titled “Exercise in the Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome” stated there are currently no proven drug-based treatments for POTS, but physical training has been shown to increase exercise performance and decrease tachycardia in POTSies. On a deeper level, 

“Short-term (i.e., 3 months) exercise training increases cardiac size and mass, blood volume, and VO2 peak in POTS patients. Exercise performance is improved after training. Specifically, stroke volume is greater and heart rate is lower at any given VO2 during exercise after training versus before training. Heart rate recovery from peak exercise is significantly faster after training, indicating an improvement in autonomic circulatory control. These results suggest that patients with POTS have no intrinsic abnormality of heart rate regulation during exercise. The tachycardia in POTS is due to a reduced stroke volume. Cardiac remodeling and blood volume expansion associated with exercise training increase physical fitness and improve exercise performance in these patients.”

Basically, this study says that exercise can help all parts of your heart function and autonomic regulation and that it is possible for people with POTS to exercise and condition themselves over time. 

Dr. Levine didn’t want to just prove that exercise is an effective treatment for POTS. He decided to develop an exercise program specifically for POTS patients that had research-backed benefits. The program he developed, called the Levine Protocol, is a combination of recumbent cardio days and weight training days. Every week, you increase the difficulty of the workout slightly, through slightly longer exercise session or a higher resistance level. After only 4 months following the program, you are expected to start using a treadmill or elliptical for your exercise. As someone who followed the entire protocol, I can tell you it was extremely rewarding to power through the first four months and work my way up to running. Even though you may not think it is possible, it really is, and you just have to believe and keep pushing through! 

Dysautonomia International has a full guide on their website to the Levine Protocol, with a calendar that outlines the full 8-month program and a specific exercise plan. Specific stretches are also featured in the plan. It is available here, and I highly recommend you download and read through it. You can even print it out and give it a shot! I’m going to talk about some of the key points in the Protocol, tell you what changes I recommend, and also relate it to my exercise experience over the last two years.   

First off, in terms of setting yourself up for success with this program, you’ll have to do a bit of work before you even start in the gym. The program talks about getting committed and getting your family to read through the program before you start. This is an essential step — it will be much easier for you to be disciplined and follow your plan when you have positive support and understanding from your family. For example, if you are really not feeling a workout one day, a family member can give you that extra push that you need to get to the gym. Actually going to a gym is a huge part too. If you can join a gym, you’ll have easy access to all the equipment you’ll need for your program. The other benefit, which might be even better, is the motivation you get from people around you. When you are in an environment where everyone else is working hard and pushing through, you’ll be motivated to finish that set and push through the pain! Making friends with trainers or other people at the gym can also help, as they can help you when you don’t know how to do an exercise, and then also provide you with motivation and support. Find a gym take that next step to integrate yourself into a community!

On the topic of the program itself: If you’ve looked at the schedule for the Levine Protocol, you’ll notice that it has you working out Monday-Friday and then taking Saturday and Sunday off. The most important thing is to make sure you get your five days a week in, no matter what days you’re doing each exercise. The program even mentions that you can combine your strength days with two cardio days, and if you really need to, that is okay to do. However, exercise is one of the most important components of getting back to full health with POTS, and it should be a priority before most other things in your life. Additionally, especially when just starting out, it is often too much on your body to do two modes of training in one day. Spread it out!

My personal recommendation is to do cardio on Monday, strength training on Tuesday, cardio on Wednesday, off on Thursday, strength training on Friday, cardio on Saturday, and off on Sunday. This way, your schedule is much more balanced. Your body gets much-deserved rest days on Thursday and Sunday to recover from a few days of exercise. Additionally, if you take Saturday and Sunday off, you may get a bit deconditioned and struggle in your cardio workout on Monday. I am all about moderation and balance with POTS, especially with exercise, and I think splitting up your workout blocks with rest days in between is the best way to go about it. But, as I’ve said before, whatever works for you is the best way for sure! Keeping on schedule and just showing up for the workouts is absolutely the most important step in establishing a consistent exercise routine.

Looking at the cardio component, I recommend trying out the rowing machine if you can. Most gyms will have a rower and having rowed for the first time this past fall myself, I can tell you rowing is a fantastic workout for your legs and core. A how-to link is listed on the Levine Protocol document, but I think this video also does a great job explaining — it’s from a 5-time Olympian! On the other hand, using the exercise bike was my preference when starting on Levine, and the bike is definitely a great way to build up your stamina and leg muscles. Some people think an added bonus is that you can bike while watching your favorite show on TV or your phone. That may work for certain people, but I always noticed I was not keeping up with my target heart rate when I was paying too much attention to something on the TV in front of me. So, from personal experience, I recommend putting on some of your favorite songs or some pump-up music and giving that quick cardio session all of your focus. After you’re done, you can always treat yourself with an episode of that show! 

One thing that’s not on the Levine Protocol is a movement or mobility practice. The warm-up they prescribe definitely helps prepare the muscles for a workout, but there is no focus on preparing the muscles and joints to move properly. I currently have a movement practice I perform daily, and I like to spend 10-15 minutes before every one of my workouts doing some mobility drills to warm my muscles up, set my joints in the right positions, and increase my range of motion.

There is an abundance of mobility drills out there, but a few that I think are most essential are the thoracic bridge, the cat-camel stretch, and the downward facing dog. All three of these movements activate the core in some way and help to stretch the upper and lower body.

If you want to learn from the world’s foremost expert on mobility, check out Kelly Starrett and his website mobilitywod.com for resources and tutorials on mobility and massage sequences. Here are six drills he recommends doing daily. Another resource I like to use is the YouTube channel of Luka Hocevar, a strength and performance coach based in Seattle, WA. He has all sorts of mobility exercises you can use for specific parts of your body that may be tight or sore, and you can pick and choose what you want to use. Using any of his movements for a warm-up or a daily mobility practice can make a definite impact on your body function.

A different part of functional movement and overall physical health lies in your the health of your muscles, otherwise known as soft tissue. The best way to repair soft tissues is through foam rolling or self-myofascial release, which can be done with a foam roller or lacrosse ball. I won’t get too far into the details on this one, as there is a lot to cover and this article does a fantastic job explaining how the science and how-to. I use a lacrosse ball on my deltoids (big muscle below you back shoulder blades), pectorals (your chest), hip flexors (right below your hips on the side of your body) and under the arch on my foot on a daily basis. This video gives a visual of all of those areas, as well as a tutorial on using the lacrosse ball for massage. I can tell you one of my biggest pain points has always been in the tightness of my muscles, but foam rolling and lacrosse ball massages have made a tremendous difference in how my muscles feel and perform.

You’ll notice I just placed a lot of emphasis on mobility, but for those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (which I have a form of), maintaining proper body movement and function is essential to better exercise performance as well as injury and pain prevention in everyday life. So many people with POTS have other stuff going on too, and taking care of your body through mobility and massage will make you feel better overall — I guarantee it.

We just discussed preparation, cardio, and mobility, so now we can talk about my favorite part of exercise — strength training! 

The exercises suggested by the Levine Protocol are the seated leg press, leg curl, leg extension, calf raise, chest press, and seated row. They all involve some sort of lifting, and lifting for POTSies keeps your heart healthy and your legs strong! Let’s check out the exercises in the program.

The seated leg press works your quadriceps, your butt, your thighs, and leg stabilizers, and is a great way for beginners to build leg strength without much pressure on the back or spine. If laying down with your feet above you while performing the leg press makes you symptomatic, a great alternative to try is the hack squat, which can be found in most gyms. 

The leg curl works the hamstrings in isolation but has some issues that are detailed here. It’s not the worst thing to do in the world, but there are definitely healthier alternatives. The bridges exercise shown in the Levine Protocol is an overall better exercise, and you can find even more alternatives online if you want to keep exploring. 

The leg extension is the one exercise I highly recommend you don’t do. It can reduce muscle activity, increase the chance of a torn ACL, and reduce functional movement in the legs. Here’s the science. The good news is, there are some great alternatives: Bulgarian split squats and then bodyweight lunges and squats. The latter two are tougher for people with POTS because they’re standing exercises, but they are definitely possible to build up to. Also, Bulgarian split squats are difficult to start with, but don’t get discouraged. You can always do 3 sets of 1 rep, 3×3 reps, or 3×5 reps, building your way up to a 3×8 or 3×10. 

I have no problem with calf raises, chest press, or seated rows; in fact, these are all exercises I perform in my current routine. The last two are great for building the upper body! 

If you deal with tightness in your neck, back, or shoulders, or a forward tilted head posture, you can also add face pulls into your routine. These are more difficult than the other exercises but are great for opening up the upper back and getting your shoulders back into position. You can also perform them kneeling if standing makes you symptomatic. 

For the abs component of the program, I disagree with the program’s suggestion of sit-ups and back extensions — here’s an article from Harvard Medical School on why planks are the new best way to work the core. This is a how-to on planks if you’re not familiar. Another exercise mentioned in that previous article is the bird-dog, which works the abs and the back. If you can stick to bird dogs and planks, and build up core strength to be able to do a side plank, I think that’s more than enough. 

Here are other exercises to work the core if you’re looking for variety or easier exercises than a plank. As to the recommendation for pilates, I’ve done pilates once in my life and I felt great after the session. I’ve only heard great things about pilates and recommend you give a class with a certified trainer a try if you want.

Mayo says in their program you should record the weights that you lift, and I am a big fan of keeping track of your progress. Not only will you know how much you’ll be able to lift every time you come into the gym, it’s also motivating to see you make progress with your weight over time. Here’s a template I made for the program, and you can use this to track your progress over time. If you’re going to use this template, please make a copy of it first by going to File -> Make a Copy. If one person edits the original, it will result in no one else being able to use the blank template, so it’s very important to make that copy!

For anyone who feels they are past the Levine protocol or want a higher-level lifting program to start, this program is the beginner program I used when I wanted to move on from Levine. It is a great full-body program for both strength and aesthetics, and I recommend everyone take a look at the introduction of the post for valuable information about the basics of strength training. When I was on this program, I would go three days on, one day off, and would do about twenty minutes on the treadmill to start out every day. I ended up spending over 2 hours at the gym for all of these workouts, and have since realized I don’t need to spend all that time to get good results. However, I know the time I invested in my workouts immediately after my visit to the Mayo Clinic was crucial to my success in getting back to school, activities, and living healthily and happily again. It was definitely all worth it.

To put my journey with exercise in perspective, I am only 3 years removed from completing the Levine Protocol and exercise is one of the cornerstones of my life right now. I recently deadlifted 435 lbs, which puts me in the top 5% of people in the world for that exercise, and I’ve been able to build up to that in only about 30 months of training. My most satisfying experience with exercise has definitely been when I tried out for and made the Rowing team in the country this past fall at Michigan. To have done that after my heart wasn’t strong enough to support me doing any exercise at all a few years back proved to me anything is possible. I’ve weathered the storm and come out much stronger through exercise, and I know you can too.

I definitely struggled to complete sessions from the Levine Protocol, but it is true that if you just keep pushing and try and progress a little bit each day, what you can accomplish in weeks, months, and years is unthinkable. As former US Army General Creighton Abrams said, “When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.” 

The Levine Protocol recommends taping your goals to your bathroom mirror and reading them every day. I say do that, and then also tell your friends and family that you are going to use exercise to change your life. The commitment and motivation you will draw from yourself and their support will be enough to carry you through the tough days. It may not always be easy, but living with POTS is hard enough on its own. If you can do that, I know you have the power to change your life through exercise. Just think about how much better you’ll feel and look, how much confidence you’ll have gained, and how much more motivated you’ll be to chase other goals in the future after you’ve been killing it at the gym!

Best of luck, and reach out to me if you have any questions at all about the program, my exercise routine, or anything else mentioned in this post. I would also love to hear your exercise story and support you on your journey! I’ll let Venus Williams have the last word. “Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do, and at some point, you will.”

Thank you so much for your reading and support! If you want to be a superhero and spread the word about this blog, please share this post with your friends, family, and on your social media channels! You never know who you can help! Please let me know in the comments section what you think of this post, if you have any questions, and if there is anything you would like me to talk about in the future. I would also love to hear from you personally in the “Contact Me” section above. Thank you again and let’s keep building a community of positivity around POTS!

How Meditation Can Transform Your Life and Your Relationship to Pain

Disclaimer: These posts are speaking from my personal experience and I’m trying to outline what has worked for me. I know everyone’s cases are different, so I want to respect that, and say up front that I know my methods my not work for others. By no means am I looking to push my experience as the only way that can work for people, nor am I trying to say that anyone is wrong or weak for not pushing through! I have tremendous respect for everyone fighting through POTS, and I am only looking to inject some more strength, resilience, knowledge, and positivity into an already incredible community. I’m also just looking to share my story and connect with others. So, thank you for reading today, and know that you are amazing, and I wish you the best on your personal journey!

When I visited the Mayo Clinic’s Pain Rehabilitation Center (PRC) about two years ago, I was looking for something practical to help me live my life fully with POTS. Medicine, compression socks, and salt could only go so far for me — I wanted something that could fundamentally change the way I was living in a positive way, without any negative side effects. The Mayo Clinic offered countless strategies, on physical, mental, and emotional levels, to help me deal with pain. I’ll be sharing everything I learned at Mayo, and what I’ve learned outside of it, through this blog. But first, I want to talk about my most powerful daily practice, something that changes me on a physical, mental, and emotional level. It is something I learned at Mayo, and something I have practiced every day since my completion of their PRC program. What is it? Meditation! Meditation has decreased my stress and anxiety levels, improved my concentration, helped my heart to stabilize its activity, assisted with my digestive problems, and helped my body in countless other ways. Most importantly, though, meditation has dramatically changed my worldview and the acceptance and appreciation I have for my circumstances.

Meditation, and specifically a practice with a focus on diaphragmatic breathing, is the most important thing I do to deal with stress, pain, and life. For the last two years, I have practiced meditation every morning for about ten minutes, and I notice a substantial difference in my overall disposition and ability to deal with stress from my practice. If I ever miss a day, I am much more likely to overthink things and stress myself out, leading to silly arguments and a bad mood. Meditation not only has incredible benefits for anyone who practices, but there are a number of benefits that can help directly with POTS symptoms. I’ll be diving into some of the fascinating research into how meditation can help the body with POTS and then I’ll share my meditation story and offer some practical ways to implement meditation into your daily life!

As most of you probably know, with POTS, there is a major dysfunction with the autonomic, or involuntary, nervous system (ANS). Within the ANS, there are two divisions: the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is known as the “rest and digest” system and it stimulates digestion, activates various metabolic processes and helps us to relax. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), on the other hand, is known as the “fight or flight” system and it makes your heart beat faster and stronger, opens up your airways so you can breathe more easily, and inhibits digestion.

People with POTS tend to have a high-activity sympathetic nervous system and a low-activity parasympathetic nervous system. This is why, as shown by this study,  a dominant SNS can result in heart rates getting out of control, major digestion problems, and a constant, reactionary, body state of fight-or-flight. However, diaphragmatic breathing can help to level out the systems and establish a better autonomic balance. An article published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research shows a breathing practice can reduce sympathetic nervous system activity and increase parasympathetic nervous system activity.

Additionally, studies have linked dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system with anxiety, and we all know anxiety and stress can make our POTS symptoms worse. However, here’s some good news: a breathing practice can help to calm anxiety and stress. According to a review published in the Frontiers in Psychology Journal,

“Physiological evidence has indicated that even a single breathing practice significantly reduces blood pressure, increases heart rate variability (HRV) and oxygenation, enhances pulmonary function, and improves cardiorespiratory fitness and respiratory muscle strength.”

For POTSies who struggle with heart function,  blood flow to certain parts of the body, and physical fitness levels, diaphragmatic breathing is an essential tool in overall health and well being. Sounds awesome, right?

Diaphragmatic breathing is an essential tool for living to the fullest with POTS. I even use it to help me lift more weight when strength training, and taking big, deep, breaths will always promote positive change in your body, whether you immediately feel it or not.  The best part is, practicing diaphragmatic breathing is not at all difficult, and you can train your body to change your breathing pattern to one that mimics diaphragmatic breathing more over time.

To practice diaphragmatic breathing, you can lie down on the ground, put your hand on your stomach, and breathe in through your nose, focusing on pushing your stomach out. Then, let your stomach muscles fall inward as you breathe out through pursed lips. I’ll let the Cleveland Clinic explain it to you in better detail here. If that doesn’t work for you, a Google or YouTube search is another great way to learn how to train your breath.

Though you can perform a breathing practice on its own, or with yoga or exercise, I recommend integrating diaphragmatic breathing into a meditation practice. Meditation was a key focus at Mayo Clinic — they had us meditate during the day and we were told to use a diaphragmatic breathing practice at night before bed. They recommended a twenty minute session daily, but, as mentioned earlier, I find ten minutes in the morning does the best for me. The key is to find what works for you. In meditation, there is no wrong or right way to do it. The focus is about being present and allowing time for your mind to be on its own, without a specific focus or judgment on present emotions or happenings.

Meditation has its own treasure chest of health benefits to speak about. A Forbes article titled, “7 Ways Meditation can Actively Change the Brain” states that meditation can be as effective as antidepressants for treating depression and anxiety, can lead to size changes in areas of the brain that affect mood and well-being, and can improve concentration and attention span — after only a few days of training!

Meditation can also help to change perspective. I know I can take time every day to let my thoughts go and calm my body down, no matter where I am or what is going on. It is extremely reassuring to know that I am working on my brain and my overall health on a daily basis by meditating, and nothing can stress me out too much because I find serenity and solace in my practice.

For my personal meditation practice, there are three main resources I use. I like to be guided, and the Headspace app has been invaluable to me in helping me through my mornings. Headspace gives users a ten-day intro pack for free. Using those ten days alone, on repeat, is more than enough as a guide — I used the ten-day pack for about three months after starting. If you buy the yearly “pro” pack (about $60), you gain access to ten to thirty-day packs on topics such as getting to sleep, dealing with pain, and increasing happiness. There are options for ten, fifteen, and twenty-minute sessions, and there are “mini-packs” that are one, two, and three minutes that can help during a panic attack or a high-stress time. Another neat feature is that you can track your meditation stats through Headspace. For example, my Headspace stats show I have meditated for over 46 hours, with 285 sessions and an average duration of 10 minutes. How cool is that?

Soundcloud, the music streaming platform, is another free way to access guided meditations. Big names in meditation such as Tara Brach, Sam Harris, and Dr. Alejandro Junger all have guided meditations on Soundcloud that I use often. Additionally, tarere is all kinds of meditation music on Soundcloud that can be used as a background for a diaphragmatic breathing practice. Whether you like a calming nature sound, or prefer something more techno that can stimulate brain waves, you’ll be sure to find whatever suits your needs on Soundcloud. I recommend trying out some different background structures (music, guiding, a combination) and seeing what works best for you!

The other way I have found guided meditations is something we all use on a daily basis – Google! Just a simple Google search of “meditation for stress” or “breathing to calm down” can yield hundreds of thousands of results. Often, YouTube videos with a high number of views or websites of people who have some kind of credential are the best options to start. Calm.com is also something I’ve seen that is similar to Headspace and has free resources to help people start their practice. Give it a shot — the resources for meditation are literally endless.

It is also important to mention guided meditation is not the only way to go. Vipassana meditation and Transcendental meditation (TM) are extremely popular around the world and they use different techniques than the guided method. Both methods are taught through courses and retreats, so you can connect with other beginners to find a community for your meditation practice. Transcendental meditation has quite the community; it has been found to have evidence-based health benefits, and famous people such as Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, Ray Dalio, Tom Hanks, and Jerry Seinfeld all practice TM and have said it’s an essential part of their lives. Furthermore, if neither of those sounds good to you, there are dozens of other ways to practice meditation from around the world, so you may fall in love with a practice that I haven’t even heard of! Again, finding what works for you is most important.

Meditation is an integral part of my day, and I have recently started to practice under the sun, outside, to get some morning sunlight and reset my circadian rhythm. The ten minutes I spend before eating or looking at my phone is the perfect way to start my day right and make sure my mind is primed to attack the day without letting stressors get in the way. In addition to meditation, I also take daily cold showers, have another breathing practice for my VO2 max capacity, and do a set of morning mobility exercises to warm up my body and work towards injury prevention. If anyone is interested, I’ll have a post about my full morning routine coming soon (it’s here).

I urge you to consider adding meditation or a breathing practice of some form into your life — the benefits are abundant! It can be a lifesaver for dealing with POTS, but the practical benefits for anyone means starting a practice is a no-brainer. As the narrator on Headspace, Andy Puddicombe, says, you should “treat” your mind daily — it’s the most important muscle in your body!

Thank you so much for your reading and support! Please let me know in the comments section what you think of this post, if you have any questions, and if there is anything you would like me to talk about in the future. I would also love to hear from you personally in the “Contact Me” section above. Thank you again and please share this post so we can help to build a community of positivity around POTS!