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ME/CFS Pacing – Keeping the Beat

9/11/2012

2 Comments

 
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I was recently playing drums with a small group of inexperienced drummers and what started with a base rhythm devolved into a less than pleasant cacophony of noise.  If you’ve ever sat in on a drum circle, you know exactly what I mean.  To solve this problem, the leader needs to lay down a basic simple beat and hold it.  It gives everyone a point of reference to play off of and to return to and it keeps the group cohesive.  Experienced drummers already know this and learners usually pick it up when the leader points it out.  When you’re struggling with ME/CFS, there’s no leader to set the basic beat.

When a large mother drum is present, several people sit around it and hold down a beat – sometimes it’s a heartbeat.  It sounds like an actual heart beating – boom, boom, pause.  Boom, boom, pause.  Just like the line you’d see scrolling across the screen of a cardiac monitor.  Two peaks followed by a flatter line.  It’s all about the underlying rhythm - the natural pacemaker.

Unfortunately for ME/CFS patients, it’s a challenge to keep the basic beat – the pace that will consistently get us from day to day without being caught up in a push/crash cycle.  It’s a matter of fine tuning.  Collect data, make observations, find successful patterns – Repeat.  Repeat, Repeat, Pause.  Repeat, Repeat, Pause.  And eventually Repeat your way back to health.

How do you pace to a basic beat?  What strategies have worked for you?  Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,

Martha

2 Comments
Deborah
9/11/2012 11:02:52 am

Dear Martha,
I really enjoyed your blog about the drum circle. When I was well I played congas in bands on and off for twenty years. You are so right on about the heartbeat and the laying down of a basic rythmn so that it is a basic pattern and everyone can then add and take off from that timing. I still have both of my drums hoping to one day be able to play again they have quite a history coming from Big Sur where I lived for many years. I also relate to what you are saying about the change of Autumn and that will bring a change to me I know as I will be able to get outdoors again as the heat where I live will subside and I so look forward to that relief as extreme temperatures can really affect those of us with ME. Thank you for responding and for your lovely words of wisdom and hope.

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Deborah
9/11/2012 11:04:40 am

Deborah,
The drums await you :) Thanks!

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    Hello,  I'm
    Martha Kilcoyne

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    After struggling with CFS for four years I am fortunate now to be fully well and making choices about how I want to live my healthy life.  One choice is to be an active part of the CFS community and to offer one voice from the fully recoverd to the dialogue.  I'm glad you're here!   For more about me, here's my Bio.

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