OH, MY ... How the Times ARE a Changin'! Resistance! Time! What to Do?

This has been a GRATE WEEK!  It started with our official announcement that Lumigrate has our FIRST sponsor signed up, Deirdre Rawlings, ND, PhD of Foods for Fibromyalgia fame!  Then our FIRST PODCAST was ready to release, about the fibromyalgia forum for people in Grand Junction that Dr. Chris Young and I co-developed and lead in the past, which we took a sabbatical from when our individual business' needs changed.  I went off to develop Lumigrate, and until we had a website up and running with all the things needed to problem solve the issues that cropped up from our live group, I opted to focus on Lumigrate.  So now we're kind of circling back around to where I'm consulting again with the public or other providers about fibromyalgia and 'what to do about it'.  (There is a Forum called "Mardy's List" which is a list of providers in Grand Junction who I have found to be particularly beneficial for people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue/pain to consult with who I hope will get involved with participating in Lumigrate learning opportunities in the area in person or on Lumigrate through writing, podcast participation and video when appropriate.)

So this morning I exorcised myself from bed particularly early for me there days, to attend the CEU (continuing education unit) at the local regional hospital because it was a GRATE one, it looked to be, and I was glad I went!  David Price, MD, Director of Medical Education, CPMG and the Permanente Federation and Professor of Family Medicine, UC Denver SOM presented "Commitment to Change & Barriers to Change: Why Does it Matter?"  Initially I was having to go back to my days working for projects in the statistics or atmospheric science areas at Colorado State University prior to becoming an occupational therapist, and Dr Price did a wonderful job of presenting a very well put-together PowerPoint.  And then the room settled into what was going to be the common 'take home message' of this hour-long presentation in my opinion, and something which I'd foreseen being an issue for the people I was creating Lumigrate for (which is the medical consumers AND providers alike!): we're all limited by time , and 'resistance to change'.   Two years ago right now I was eagerly anticipating our filming what you now see on Lumigrate.com by Paul King, PhD, Strategies for Lasting Change. 

When I'd asked Dr King to record something related to 'resistance' two years ago, it was after I'd seen the seminars being conducted at the Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado which I was a part of the first year or so, and had selected the ones that were most applicable to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, which was to be Lumigrate's focus.  And that included seminars about supplements, hypothyroidism, detoxification and cleansing, and food allergies, and I knew from personal experience that if a person is to learn how to do so many things differently, DOING it takes commitment and many more people fail than succeed at it!  I knew that from years being an occupational therapist on teams of providers giving people new information that could transform their lives without it being embraced sometimes, and from life-long observation of the people around me.  It was something that came up over and over again in the fibromyalgia forum with Dr Young, even 'taking supplements' was something that those with fibromyalgia shared was something they had difficulty keeping doing for some reason. 

So I was very pleased today to offer up my input to a few of the providers who took some time today to talk afterwards, and I'm PROUD to have such a wonderful video on Lumigrate.com available for anyone to download in the world who has the ability to do so.  And to hopefully be a little bit of a catalyst for change by helping get information like what she and the others on Lumigrate are providing to the medical professionals and consumers alike, all from the convenience of your home and at your scheduling convenience. 

But I was mostly pleased to see that someone in as influential a position as Dr Price is onto strategies for making lasting change within the systems he serves; he even had us take a minute to WRITE on our own notes, which most people agreed go into the recycle bin or are left in a pile never referred to again, what we were going to 'do' differently based on what we learned today.  And then he provided us with ONE PAGE to take with us and suggested we fill out ever time we attend a CEU; very simple, basically when, what, "pearls" gleaned, action statement related to implementation.  We can hope we ALL make lasting changes due to this information today.  I already have done what I wrote I'd do! 

To leave you with links to Lumigrate's content I have referred to:

• Paula King, on the videos tab is: www.lumigrate.com/catalog/seminars [1]
• Dr Young and my podcast about treating the whole person and our experiences past, present and plans for future podcasts are at: www.lumigrate.com/forums/introduction-lumigrate-lg-101/podcasts-listen-computer-or-portable-electronics [2]
• Special thanks to our FIRST sponsor, Dr Dee Rawlings and Foods for Fibromyalgia!  Please check out our Sponsors forum in the forum section -- it's up at the VERY TOP so people will see it when they click on Forums! We can't do this without YOU! www.lumigrate.com/forums/introduction-lumigrate-lg-101/-word-about-our-sponsors [3]

And please remember, sending links or hitting the Print button and giving information to people you think might appreciate what Lumigrate offers can change many lives on down the road if they do the same, particularly if it gets into the hands of providers and policy makers.  We can't do it without YOU!  ~~ Mardy