Q&A with Flic Manning
Flic Manning has lived with Crohn's disease for over two decades. Flic is an Author, Speaker and Entrepreneur. She is the founder of Corethentic, a wellness system created on the back of her experience living with inflammatory bowel disease.
She believes it is her purpose to inspire others to embrace wellness and step into the light to be seen as fully rounded human beings, not just the symptoms of a disease; so that they can go from surviving to thriving.
What inspired you to find your voice and share the inner world of invisible illness?
I found the process of having an invisible illness de-humanising. As I worked on rebuilding my personal humanity, I recognised that for my quality of life to be high I must not shy away from who I am and what I need and that the only way I could prevent someone else being de-humanised was to let them know what I had experienced and share what I had learned.
It actually improved my health the more I shared. I had to create a judgement free world for me to live in and in doing so, it helps someone else have that same world to live in - one where we don't just survive or exist but actually get to live.
How do you juggle having a chronic illness with work, advocacy, exercise, etc...?
I see everything as connected. So I do not see it as things I add together to make a balance. Everything either nourishes me or takes away from me. I make very strategic choices about everything from what I eat, to what I read to how I exercise and work which means all that I do amplifies and nourishes me instead of draining or triggering my illnesses. It has to be this way for me to sustain a quality of life.
For people with IBD it is not about balance - we don't have text book normal bodies and a 'balance' is something more common for those without illness. We have to aim for a sustainable quality of life and that is achieved by becoming self aware and mindful of all aspects of life and acting on what we learn about ourselves without hesitation.
It takes time but it is an empowering way to live and I have found that it has allowed the right people to come into my life to support me.
What self-care tips can you share with people who may be struggling to balance life and Crohn’s and colitis?
It is absolutely worth it to work out what moves you, what triggers you, what calms you, what drains you. In fact it is essential.
It is far better to invest in the time to work out what things are mentally, emotionally and physically going to help you than it is to think it is better the devil you know. It does not matter what anyone else does for their health - only what works for you will work for you.
Avoid comparing your body or mind to anyone else's and become curious and loving towards yourself - that means having the willingness to try things way outside your comfort zone. The only way to do that is to take time to work out how you tick. That is the breeding ground for quality of life with IBD. It is also deeply empowering and self-esteem building!
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