This is a quick note to let you know that I'm taking a short pause with the podcast and my newsletter. In this brief episode, I let you know why and what I'll be up to in the mean time.

While I'm on this pause, I would love to hear from you to know what information you want me to cover here and how I can best help you move forward to a happier and healthier life. Drop me a comment here or email me at talktome@joymuckclub.com. You can also hit me up on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok. Or I’d love to catch up with you on Substack.

And if you'd like to work with me one-on-one to get some help navigating this chronic illness life with more ease and joy, fill out this form.

I hope you have a joyful month and I'll see you in August!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why resilience doesn’t mean doing it alone

• The different types of support your circle can include

• How to identify who’s already in your resilience circle and where there may be gaps

• Ways to call in more support, even if it feels vulnerable

• Reassurance that you’re not a burden and that everyone needs help

Whether you’re just starting to build your support system or you’re reevaluating who’s in your corner, this episode is a reminder that you deserve support that sees you, respects you, and holds space for the fullness of your experience.

Key Info:

The resilience support circle roles

1. The listener: The person who holds space without trying to fix it. They say “That sounds really hard. I’m here.”

2. The problem-solver: The one who helps research treatments, track symptoms, or plan logistics when you ask them to.

3. The grounder: A calming presence. They help you feel steady during upheaval.

4. The joy-bringer: Someone who brings laughter, lightness, or distraction when you need a break from being “the sick one”.

5. The peer: Someone with shared lived experience who “gets it” without explanation.

6. The professional: Therapist, coach, doctor, or healer. Paid help counts as part of your resilience circle, especially if they respect your reality.

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok.

I'm changing my format just a little. I've decided that to lighten my load a bit and to have a little more fun, I'm going to make every other week of this newsletter and every other week of the podcast (opposite weeks) shorter, lighter, and more fun. It might include things like ideas for joy breaks, a joyful moment I experienced and want to share, tips & tricks, or stories from the community.

If you have an idea for a segment you'd like me to include in the newsletter or podcast, especially if it's a community-driven one, please let me know. This community is for you, to help you grow and live your healthiest and happiest lives. So tell me what will brighten you up the most.

Also, if you have bigger topics (like resilience, rediscovering your identity after illness, building boundaries, etc.) that you'd like me to cover, hit reply or shoot me an email. I want to make this content as purposeful and impactful as I can for you.

For today, I'm going to share a recent moment of joy that I thought you all might enjoy too.

Check this out. How gorgeous is this?!

I was having a good day and decided to go for a little hike. This whole area is just magical, but this spot in particular brought me so much peace and joy that I was ready to move there. If you're ever in central Oregon, check out La Pine State Park, I can't recommend it enough.

Now that you've bathed in the beauty of the river, let's talk joy breaks.

I've got a simple, fun one for you to try today. This is actually a warmup activity I used to do when I was teaching theatre. It’s a great one if you’re feeling stagnant, like you need to get your creative juices flowing, or things have just been too heavy lately (and when are they not these days?).

It’s silly walk time!!!

Do this wherever you feel comfortable, whether that’s in your room, your kitchen, or backyard. Bonus points if you do this in public, I will be super impressed! Don’t think, just do the silliest walk that comes to mind. Don’t analyze it or think “Am I doing this right?”. There is no “right” or “wrong” with silly walks. It’s just to get your body moving and shake things up a little. And to have fun!

If you’re body isn’t feeling up to a silly walk, you can do a modified version of this from a chair or even in bed. Move your arms, hands, or feet in a flowing way that feels good, maybe even set it to some fun music.

Having a really bad day and can’t move your body? Close your eyes for a minute and picture yourself in a field or town square leading a parade of silly walks. See how many different styles you can come up with in your imagination. The point is not to judge and just have some fun.

If you give this a try, I want to know how it went for you. Did anything come up? Did you hold yourself back at first, or were you able to dive right into the silliness? You will absolutely make my day if you take a picture or video of yourself doing your silly walk and share it with me.

I hope this joy break brings a smile to your face and a little levity to your day.

Wishing you a joyful day,

Jenn

That’s where body neutrality comes in.

I’m sharing:

• Why body positivity can feel toxic or performative when you're chronically ill

• What body neutrality actually means (it’s not just a buzzword!)

• Simple, realistic ways to start practicing body neutrality in your everyday life

• How this mindset shift has helped me feel less shame and more compassion

This one’s especially for you if:

• You’ve felt like a failure for not loving your body enough

• You’re tired of pretending everything’s okay when your body is falling apart

• You want a more sustainable, compassionate way to exist in your body

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok.

About a decade ago, the body positivity movement really took off on social media and in advertising. And I’ll admit, at first I was all in. I thought it was freaking awesome. At its core, the idea that we should love our bodies just as they are, instead of chasing some narrow, impossible standard of “beauty,” is a powerful message.

At least that’s what I believe…until I got sick.

I still believe in the importance of dismantling the shame we’re taught to feel when we don’t match society’s beauty ideals. And I’m all for more representation in advertising, not as a gimmick, but as a true step towards inclusivity. However, as we tend to do, I think we took it a step too far and the message got distorted.

What started as a liberating idea morphed into something that can feel a lot like a different kind of pressure: If you don’t love your body 100% just the way it is, you’re doing it wrong.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t work for me. And I don’t think that works for many of us in the chronic illness or disability communities.

Here’s where body positivity falls short for us:

• It assumes a baseline of wellness or ability

• It can feel toxic or forced, like you’re failing if you can’t love a body that hurts all the time

• It often centers on aesthetics or celebration, while ignoring survival, adaption, and grief

It’s OK not to love your body.

It is OK to want to things to be different: to lose weight, to want less pain, more strength, more freedom.

You don’t need to feel shame for that.

So what’s the alternative?

Body neutrality.

More terms, I know, but stick with me here for a minute.

Body neutrality is a more pragmatic, realistic, and respectful way to view your body, especially when it’s not what you’d like it to be. Body neutrality says:

“I might not love you right now, but I respect you and I appreciate you”.

And yes, even that can feel hard some days. But body neutrality invites you to meet your body where it is and work with it, not against it.

Your body may be in pain. It may be exhausted. But it’s still trying. Maybe you made it through a flare. Maybe you were able to eat, shower, or just get through the day. That matters. And your body helped you do that.

Body neutrality shifts your focus from how your body looks and feels, to what it is and does. It invites you to detach your worth from your body’s appearance or performance, accept your body without demanding that you love it, and appreciate function over form, even when function is limited.

It offers a more compassionate and sustainable path for those who don’t always feel safe, at home, or even Ok in their bodies. You can be angry, grieving, and exhausted… and still offer your body some grace.

This month, we’ve been focusing on resilience. And I truly believe that body neutrality helps build it. Resilience isn’t about forcing joy, or love, it’s about cultivating stability and respect.

Here’s how body neutrality helps support resilience:

• Reduce shame. You stop punishing your body for being sick or in pain.

• Frees up energy. Instead of spending energy trying to love your body, or convince yourself to, you redirect that energy to care, boundaries, or rest.

• Makes space for complexity. You can feel grief, frustration, acceptance, and pride all at once.

• Strengthens self-trust. You learn to listen to your body’s cues without judgement and respond with compassion.

If you’re curious about how to practice body neutrality in small, doable ways, stay tuned—
Wednesday’s episode of the Joy Muck Club is all about that. It’s short but powerful, and I think you’ll find something in it that makes you exhale a little deeper.

Wishing you a joyful day,

Jenn

You’ll learn:

• Why the mainstream “rise and grind” routine culture often fails people with chronic illness

• What it looks like to build flexible routines that actually support you, not stress you out

• How to create routines with built-in choices and backup plans for flare days

• How adaptive routines can help you feel more grounded, even when your body throws a curveball

Whether you’re brand new to routines or trying to rebuild after a burnout spiral, this episode will help you redefine routine on your terms and maybe even make peace with the idea of structure.

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok.

Last week, we started talking about resilience, and whenever we explore a big concept like that, the first step is figuring out what it actually means. That’s especially true with resilience, because let’s be real: the typical definition doesn’t exactly fit life with chronic illness.

Most of the time, we’re shown images of toughness, “pushing through,” or bouncing back like some kind of superhero. But for those of us living with chronic illness, that version of resilience is not just unhelpful, it’s harmful. Pushing through usually leads straight to a flare. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel particularly tough most days. Nor do I want to be.

I don’t want to fight my body, my illness, or life itself.
I want ease. I want peace. I want joy.
And I believe we can have all of those, and still be deeply, beautifully resilient.

We just need to redefine resilience in a way that actually makes sense for our lives.

Because resilience doesn’t have to be a heroic feat or rapid recovery. With chronic illness, resilience can be about adapting, evolving, and building a life around your reality, not in spite of it.

Here are some reframes of resilience to try on:

• Resilience is flexible: it bends with flare ups and fatigue

• Resilience is soft: it holds space for grief, anger, and slowness, not just triumph

• Resilience is persistent: not in the “push hard” sense, but in the “I keep showing up in whatever way I can” sense

• Resilience is creative: it finds new way to experience joy, purpose, and peace

How do those feel compared to the usual “just be tough” or “push through it” messaging?

That standard narrative—get knocked down, bounce back stronger—is unrealistic, invalidating, and exhausting. People with chronic illness practice a quieter kind of resilience. One that respects limits. One that chooses joy even when there’s pain. One that works.

Examples of what resilience can look like with chronic illness are:

• Saying no to an obligation so you can rest, without guilt

• Creating a routine that works with your energy levels

• Allowing yourself to grieve

• Reaching out for support when you need it

• Finding ways to adapt hobbies, work, or dreams to fit your capacity

Let’s create a definition of resilience that honors our chronic illness reality. One that reminds you how resilient you already are, and helps you build on that in a way that feels empowering and kind.

Try these:

Journaling prompts

1) If resilience didn’t have to mean “getting back to normal” or “being strong”, what could it mean to you?

2) What ways do you show up for yourself every day that show resilience?

3) What forms of resilience do I respect in others?

Fill in the Blanks

1) To me, resilience feels like __________________________________________________________________.

2) Resilience, in my body, looks like __________________________________________________________________.

3) My version of resilience is __________________________________________________________________.

4) Resilience can include crying, resting, or saying “no” because __________________________________________________________________.

Let these guide you toward a version of resilience that feels like you.
Because you’re already doing an amazing job and you deserve to see that.

Wishing you a joyful day,

Jenn

P.S. I’d love to hear your version of resilience. Tell me in the comments (or shoot me a message) what definition you come up with, I’d be honored to read it.

If you’ve ever felt guilty for not “thinking positively enough” or been told to just visualize your way out of a flare-up, this one’s for you. We’ll explore the real overlap between mindset and chronic illness, what resilience can look like without constant pushing, and a simple way to start seeing and building more resilience in your life.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why “mindset work” is helpful—but not a cure

• How toxic positivity gaslights people with chronic illness

• The truth about resilience (it’s not about pushing through)

• What real, sustainable resilience can look like in a sick body

DON’T FORGET: Not mastering mindset tools isn’t a failure of willpower. You’re doing the best you can and that is perfect.

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram, Threads, or TikTok.

Have you ever felt like you were going in circles; revisiting the same lessons, old wounds, or emotional patterns over and over again?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s super rare for anyone to master a life lesson on the first try. That’s why they’re called “life lessons”. Growth and healing aren’t linear.

Mainstream media loves to sell us a neat little formula: work hard > get better > thrive. But that’s not how real healing works, especially when you’re living with chronic illness. In many medical and wellness spaces, there’s a belief that healing follows a straight line: you get sick, you take meds and rest, and you recover. But for those of us with chronic conditions, the journey is anything but straight.

This linear concept is particularly pervasive in the wellness and medical fields, because people without chronic conditions often do experience linear healing. They expect that the process should be that you get sick, you rest and take meds, and you get better. But we all know that’s not how it works with chronic illness.

Instead, growth and healing often feel more like a messy cha-cha: you take a couple steps forward, just to take a step back. Even more accurately, growth and healing aren’t linear, they’re a spiral. You revisit the same feelings, symptoms, and struggles often, which can make you feel like you’re just going in circles. Ideally, you gain wisdom and perspective each time you come back to that same feeling or symptom, and that is progress.

Picture a spiral staircase: the central pilar (core wound) is the same – grief, fatigue, pain, fear, loneliness, etc. – but every time you go around, you ascend to a new level.

You’re not back at the beginning, you’re meeting the same feeling with more tools, more context, more compassion, and more trust in yourself. Repeating yourself in a growth spiral isn’t failure, it’s evolution.

The spiral honors complexity. Healing isn’t one big “aha” moment of clarity, it’s layered and seasonal. You’re allowed to feel joy one moment and rage the next. You’re allowed to dig into an old wound, take a break, and come back to it later.

This reframe helps rewire your inner critic and remove the shame around “setbacks”. If you’ve ever said something like, “I can’t believe I’m depressed again”, try replacing that judgement with curiosity. Try “Hello old wound. What do you need this time around?”.

The growth spiral also invites you to live more gently with your body. With chronic illness, symptoms cycle, energy shits, and your capacity ebbs and flows. The spiral respects your body’s cycles and rhythms without judgement or pressure to push through.

Here are some tips to help you work with the concept of the growth spiral rather than fighting it:

1) Track your cycles with curiosity, not judgement

Notice patterns: do you have flares at certain times of the day, week, month, or year? Do you have certain emotional triggers? What helps, and what makes things worse?

2) Name the layer you’re in

Ask yourself, “Was this a flare of that same pain? Or am I processing it from a new place?”. Naming it helps you see the spiral instead of assuming you’re stuck.

3) Honor the progress you can’t see

Growth is in the quiet ways we honor ourselves, not flashy milestones. Growth can look like setting boundaries faster than the last time, soothing yourself more gently, asking for help before hitting bottom, or saying “no” without guilt.

4) Let your wisdom accumulate

Keep a “growth journal” or “lessons I’ve learned” note. When you feel like you’re back in that tough place again, revisit your journal and ask, “What helped me the last time I was here?” and “What do I know now that I didn’t know then?”. Tracking your lessons learned will help you process and heal faster then next time around the spiral.

Anchor Yourself: The Resilience Compass

When you feel like you’re getting flung through the spiral, having an anchor will help you find direction through the growing pains. Try this quick exercise:

Draw a compass and label the 4 directions:

• North: My anchors (things that ground me)

• East: My sources of light (things that inspire me)

• South: My safe places and people

• West: My boundaries (what protects me)

Resilience helps you navigate the ups and downs of life with compassion. It’s not about “being tough” or snapping back quickly. It’s about honoring your capacity, tending to your needs, and caring for yourself in the most loving way possible.

This month, I’ll be diving deeper into what resilience looks like when you live with chronic illness:

• How to define resilience on your terms

• Building routines for resilience

• Resilience when you don’t love your body

…and more.

Just by being here, you’re showing up for yourself. That is resilience. Even if you don’t always feel it, you’re incredibly resilient already.

Wishing you a joyful day,

Jenn

I’ll also talk through some accessible, low-energy activities designed with chronic illness in mind—things you can try even when you’re stuck in bed or navigating brain fog. This episode is packed with supportive ideas to help you build your own Flare Day Toolkit.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• What a "Flare Day Toolkit" is and how to make one that actually helps

• The role of creativity in healing, processing emotion, and building resilience

• Ways to make art without any pressure or skill

• Simple, spoonie-friendly activities that foster calm (even if you have no energy)

Loved this episode? Subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow spoonie or soul in need of some peace.

Interested in working with an arts therapist? Click here to find one near you

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• What acceptance really means (and what it doesn’t)

• How resisting your reality can keep you stuck

• Why making peace with limitations is a form of empowerment

• How acceptance helps you see options you couldn’t see before

• Ways to embrace acceptance without letting go of hope for healing, change, or joy

Acceptance is the foundation for making aligned choices that support your well-being, your worth, and your joy.

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

P.S. Apologies to anyone who is getting this again. I somehow manage to publish this as a post and not a podcast episode the first time.

Have you ever stopped to think about the rituals that shape your day?

We all have them. Those patterns and habits that fill our mornings, mealtimes, and bedtimes. Some we choose intentionally, while others simply develop over time. The beauty is, with just a little intention, these everyday moments can become powerful tools for creating more peace, mindfulness, and joy.

Instead of letting the day happen to you, what if you designed it in a way that helps you feel healthier, happier, and more grounded?

My Bedtime Wake-Up Call

Recently, I realized that my bedtime routine was... atrocious. Not something I planned, just a habit that formed by default. Picture this: me scrolling endlessly on my phone in bed, battling sleep instead of welcoming it. Not exactly the kind of wind-down my body needs.

Once I became aware of how unintentional (and unhelpful) this routine was, I decided to make a change. I created a simple ritual for the hour before bedtime: just a few calming steps and some new boundaries. Now I make sure to turn the TV off an hour before bed, immediately do my 15 minutes of Duolingo, get in to bed, and finish off the night by reading or doing a breathing exercise to set me up for the best sleep possible.

And wow, what a difference. Within a week, I was sleeping better, feeling more peaceful in the evenings, and honestly, just feeling prouder of myself for showing up with more care.

Rituals Are Everywhere

You don’t need to overhaul your whole day to feel this shift. Start by taking a quick inventory of your existing routines. Are they serving you? Could they be more supportive or soothing?

Bedtime and waking up are great places to begin, but you can create small rituals throughout the day. And they don’t need to be fancy or time-consuming. In fact, I recommend making your rituals very simple and energy friendly. That way you'll set yourself up for success.

Four Simple Steps to Create a Peace Ritual

Below are four easy steps for creating a ritual. Start with just one for now. Once you get the hand of that, you can add more wherever if feels like you need a little more peace and joy.

1. Set an intention.

What do you want to feel? Calm, joy, grounding, playfulness? Let that intention guide you.

2. Create the right setting.

Match your environment to your goal. Want peace? A cozy blanket and candle at home might work better than a bustling café.

3. Add a mindful action.

There's power in pairing action with intention. Pick a simple, calming action. Take three deep breaths, stretch or journal, whatever feels good in your body.

4. Close with intention.

End with a symbolic gesture. If you lit a candle, blow it out. If you said an affirmation, whisper one more. Keep it easy and intentional.

Example: A Peace Ritual

Intention: “I choose calm over chaos.”

Setting: A quiet room, candle lit.

Mindful action: Hold a warm cup of tea and focus on the scent and flavor.

Closing: Whisper, “Peace is already within me.”

See how simple that can be?

You can even turn everyday tasks—like your skincare routine, taking medication, or making your morning coffee—into rituals with just a few mindful touches. When we treat these moments with care, we create a more peaceful rhythm to our day.

If you'd like support crafting your own rituals for more peace and joy, reach out to me, I'd love to help.

Wishing you a joyful day,

Jenn

P.S. I’d love to hear what you come up with! If you try a new ritual, hit reply and let me know how it felt for you.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• What ANTs actually are (no, not the bug kind)

• How they impact your physical and emotional health, especially with chronic illness

• How to start noticing, questioning, and gently shifting those thoughts — without toxic positivity or shame

You’ll walk away with practical ways to start quieting your inner critic, reclaim a little mental space, and give yourself the compassion you actually deserve.

Because your brain doesn’t have to be one more thing you’re fighting against.

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

Nothing shatters my inner peace faster than a flare-up!

One moment I’m doing fine; feeling OK, working towards goals, having some fun, and then – BAM! My body decides it’s had enough and wants to be a total party pooper.

Does this happen to you too? When I crash like that physically, I tend to crash a bit mentally too. Everything feels harder to cope with and I feel out of sync with myself. In those moments, peace used to feel like a pipe dream.

Over time, though, I’ve learned how to find my way back. I’ve built what I call a “peace toolkit”: simple practices that help me reconnect with myself when I feel like I’m unraveling. It’s not magic, but it does help me stay grounded when my symptoms (and emotions) try to take over.

If you don’t already have your own peace toolkit, I recommend starting to build one. Whether it’s due to a flare up, the world going crazy, or someone in your life pushing your buttons, we all lose our peace sometimes. Having easy, go-to tools for calming and recentering ourselves in those moments can be a game changer. Especially when it comes to dealing with the pain and stress of flare ups.

When I have a flare-up of my physical symptoms, my mind tends to go haywire too. I’ll get anxious, depressed, and spiral into a pity party real fast. And while it’s totally valid to feel all of that (because yes, it sucks), staying stuck there just makes everything harder. It stresses your body, clouds your mind, and makes healing even tougher.

Wallowing in anxiety and depression will exacerbate your physical symptoms, the stress will lower your immune system even more, and it will make it hard to think and deal with simple life things clearly.

So have your moment. Feel the feelings. Acknowledge how much it sucks that you are having a flare up AGAIN. But when you’re ready to move forward, having the right tools can help you move through the hard stuff with more ease and self-compassion.

Below are some easy tools from my peace toolkit. Give them a try, tweak them, make them your own I also recommend practicing these when you’re feeling OK, so they’re familiar and easy to use when things get tough.

Peace Toolkit Ideas

1) Five senses check-in: Look around your immediate area and notice one thing you can see, touch, taste, smell, and hear. Say each one out loud to anchor yourself in the moment.

2) Square Breathing: Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 4, and hold again for 4. You can extend the counts if it feels good.

3) Hand on Heart Pause: Place your hand gently over your heart, take three deep breaths, and say (silently or out loud), “I am here. I am safe. I am okay.” Repeat as needed.

4) 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding: Out loud, name 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste.

5) Peace Touchstone: Pick a small object that brings comfort – a stone, worry bead, piece of fabric, feather, etc. When you’re feeling unsettled, hold that object and focus on how it feels in your hand while you breathe deeply. Keep it nearby in your pocket or bag so you have it whenever you need it.

These tools all work by bringing your attention to the present moment – your breath, your senses, your surroundings. That’s where peace lives. When your mind is spiraling, these simple practices can help guide it back home.

There are plenty of other techniques too (like tapping), so feel free to explore and experiment to see what resonates most with you.

Pick the ones that feel easiest and most supportive, and remember: you’re not alone in this.

Have a joyful day,

Jenn

P.S. Do you have a go-to peace tool? Did one of these resonate with you? I’d love to hear what’s in your own peace toolkit. Just hit reply and share!

How’s your sense of inner peace today?

With so much craziness going on in the world, and the ongoing adventure of chronic illness, the idea of inner peace seems tricky, at best. If you’re feeling unsettled, I invite you to explore how well you truly know yourself right now.

Whenever I feel really out of sorts, off my game, or just downright frazzled, it’s usually because I’ve lost connection to my inner compass. It might sound strange—how could we not know ourselves when we’re with ourselves 24/7? But in the rush of daily survival, especially when life throws us major curveballs, we often forget to stop and really connect with ourselves.

And if you’ve recently gone through a major life change, like illness, then you need get to know yourself all over again. Because we change. These experiences reshape us, and unless we take time to meet ourselves anew, we risk drifting out of alignment with who we’ve become.

Being in alignment with your true self is a key to cultivating inner peace.

When the noise of the outside world – media, other people’s opinions, even well-meaning advice – drowns out your own inner voice, it’s easy to forget what really matters to you. And that’s when the misalignment sets in. Just like a car that needs regular alignment checks, we do too. Otherwise, we end up navigating life in a crooked, uncomfortable way, and eventually, things start to break down.

If it’s been a while since you’ve taken time to connect with yourself, or you’ve been feeling like you’re off course, it’s time to give yourself a gentle realignment.

Below, you’ll find journaling prompts that will help you return to yourself and rediscover your inner peace.

Take your time with these. Be honest about where you are. Even if you feel like you are miles away from your center, that’s OK. Awareness is the first step to set a course to get you back on track.

I recommend creating a quiet, comfortable space where you can write freely—without judgment. Let your thoughts flow, stay curious, and remember: there’s no right or wrong here, only your truth.

Journaling Prompts

1) When was the last time I felt truly at ease? What contributed to that moment?

2) What emotions have I been holding back lately? What would it feel like to release them safely?

3) What parts of my illness or limitations have I been fighting against? What would it look like to soften that resistance, just for today?

4) What do I need to forgive myself for in order to feel more peaceful?

5) What can I let go of — emotionally, mentally, or even physically — to make space for calm?

6) What is something my body can still do, however small, that I’m grateful for?

7) What does my inner child need from me right now to feel safe and loved?

8) What boundaries help me protect my inner calm? Are there any I need to reinforce or revise?

Once you’ve completed the prompts, take a step back and look at your answers. Notice any patterns or insights that might point the way back to your peace.

Have a joyful day,

Jenn

P.S. I’d love to hear from you. Did any of these prompts spark an aha moment for you? Hit “reply” and tell me all about it.

In this episode, I talk about:

• What peace really is and why it’s so important for navigating chronic illness

• The lie that is toxic positivity and how it throws us out of alignment

• A visualization exercise to define what peace is for you

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

When I say the phrase “inner peace”, what do you think of?

Do you picture someone meditating in lotus position, totally unbothered, and perfectly connected to the universe?

Do you picture someone like the Dalai Lama, who seems to float through the world on a cloud of Zen?

If that’s your standard for inner peace, no wonder the concept feels foreign or downright impossible. Especially if you're on this chronic illness journey with me—because let’s be real, there’s a lot to be bothered by. (And honestly, even the Dalai Lama probably gets stressed sometimes. He’s still human.)

But that doesn’t mean inner peace isn’t possible, it just means we need to redefine what it is and what it looks like to us in realistic, human terms.

Inner peace does not mean being constantly calm. Who is out here in 2025, fully calm all the time? If they are, they’re either a little off their rocker or they’ve got some really good meds, and they need to share 😉

Pharmaceutical induced happy coma aside, real inner peace isn’t constant. Life happens. Stress happens. Flare-ups, emergency rooms, bad news, rude doctors – they all show up and mess with your calm. That’s normal.

The goal isn't to never lose your peace, it's to know how to restore it when it's been knocked off track. The faster you can restore your peace, the quicker you reduce your stress, the faster your nervous system calms, and the better you will feel physically and emotionally.

Inner peace = healthcare.

The tools for building inner peace are simple, but like most good things, they do require consistent practice. Because there will always be external, or internal, chaos that wants to tear your peace down. Learning these tools doesn’t mean you’ll never feel overwhelmed again, it means you’ll be able to find your way back to center faster when the chaos hits.

And that’s exactly what we’re working on this month: how to build a deeper, more resilient sense of inner peace. So when your body or the world tries to pull you under, you’ve got something solid to stand on.

This month, I’ll be sharing simple tools to help you:

• Define what peace means to you

• Learn what peace feels like in your body

• Restore it when it’s been disrupted

These tools can help you when you’re in the middle of a really bad flare up and kind of freaking out, or you’re in the ER again and the doctors are being shitty and everything just feels like it’s falling apart. I wish I’d had them during my constant-ER-visit era, because that was a time that seriously lacked any sense of peace for me.

My goal this month is to help you build your peace tool kit that you can reach for whenever your world feels like it’s crashing in, so you can navigate the craziness with a bit more ease.

Starting today: Mantras

If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that I did not used to be a fan of mantras. Whenever I tried them, I felt fake and disingenuous. So if you’ve had that reaction too, I totally get it.

But I’ve found they actually do work. Go figure. When your brain is spinning out, having a calming phrase to anchor to can shift things, even just a little.

Try these and see what resonates. Tweak them or write your own if that feels better. The point is to have a few handy for when you’re in those really stressful moments. Repeating these phrases to yourself might just help convince your brain that you’ll be OK even when it feels like you won’t be.

Peace Mantras

1) My body may be hurting, but my spirit is steady.

2) Peace begins with my breath.

3) I am doing the best I can — and that is enough.

4) I honor my limits with love, not judgment.

5) I can hold both pain and peace in the same breath.

6) This is not the life I planned, but I can still create beauty within it.

7) Rest is not weakness — it is wisdom.

8) Even in stillness, I am growing

9) It’s okay to feel what I feel.

10) I am safe in this moment.

And don’t forget to check out this week’s podcast episode, where I’ll walk you through a short creative visualization to help you define exactly what peace looks like for you.

If you come up with your own peace mantra, I’d genuinely love to hear it. Hit reply and share it with me!

And as always, if you’d like one-on-one help with this work, reach out. I’d be honored to support you.

Have a joyful day,

Jenn

I wrote this a while ago and just realized I never sent it out. It probably should have been the very first post I ever sent, that would have made sense. But I find the chronic illness brain rarely makes sense. So, better late than never 😊

Healing is hard. It takes a lot of work, often work that makes us look in and deal with our shit which no one really likes to do. Healing is never a straight line, but instead a drunken, stumbling path full of setbacks and missteps that can be so frustrating and, at times, demoralizing. And healing almost never happens as quickly as we’d like.

I know, I’ve painted such a cheery picture for you.

So why should you stick around instead of crawling into bed and hiding under the covers for the rest of your life? Because staying sick, stuck, and unhappy is far worse. And, I promise, there is light at the end of the tunnel and much greener grass to skip through (or just lay in) on the other side.

Let me tell you a little about my healing journey. I had always been a pretty healthy kid, not particularly athletic or anything, but healthy. Aside from seeming to be a magnet for strep throat, I was never really sick. And that continued through most of my life. I’d get an occasional cold, but that was it. Except that for the entire decade of my 20’s when I had chronic migraines. Looking back on it, I know it was a chronic illness, but I never thought of it that way at the time. I kept going, plowing through life despite the fact that it felt like my head was being sliced open and crushed at the same time most days. The blessing of youth, I suppose.

It wasn’t until I was 39 and I got “really sick”, that I ever thought of myself as having a chronic illness. Of course, that one was quite a doozy. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say that I was in and out of the ER and specialists’ offices so much that it felt like my full-time job the first couple of years. Sadly, I was one of the lucky ones as it only took two years to get a proper diagnosis. I have chronic Lyme disease. That’s a topic I can dive into more later, but if you’re not familiar with chronic Lyme disease, it fucking sucks. And, again, I’m one of the lucky ones because, as sick as I was, I was never debilitated or bedridden long-term by my illness like so many Lyme patients are.

Getting that sick was eye opening for me. Having to admit to myself that I have a chronic illness was hard. And it set me off on a whole new level of a healing journey I never thought I’d be on.

When I was 29, I went to school for holistic health because I was at the point in my with my migraines where I was so frustrated with the typical western approach that I decided there had to be a better way. So, I moved across the country to learn what that might be. I studied nutrition, herbalism, aromatherapy, and more. And I learned how incredibly important it is to heal all parts of the person, mind, body, and soul.

Through the work I did on myself and the amazing work of my herbalist, we managed to all but eliminated migraines from my life. I continued to use the knowledge I gained to help myself grow and heal, as well as helping friends and family on their healing journeys. But I think my real schooling began when I got sick again. All of my knowledge and skills were put to the test, and I learned what it means to have to truly heal the whole person. Because the part that a lot of people don’t talk about, or choose to ignore, when you have a chronic illness, is the emotional and spiritual toll it takes on you, and that you need to heal all of it.

(By the way, I think that all chronic illnesses, mental and physical, are actually physical chronic illnesses. If you have a mental chronic illness, such as depression or bi-polar disorder, it’s a physical chronic illness of the brain. There is physically something unbalanced and in dis-ease in the brain that needs to be healed, just as if you had chronic heart disease and needed to heal the heart. So, when I say, “chronic illness”, I’m referring to all chronic illnesses. Also, when I say, “health” I’m referring to your full health, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Just needed to clear that up.)

The gift my chronic illness gave me was that it pushed me to dive deeper into myself, into my beliefs, and into how I choose to show up in this world. For almost a decade, I had been working on myself spiritually and emotionally, developing my own spiritual practice and growing through my experiences by cultivating awareness and curiosity. I thought I was pretty in tune and with it. Like I was more connected than most, like I was kind of spiritual hot shit. I was an idiot.

Getting sick pushed me to a new level of attunement with my body and my intuition, as well as a much deeper awareness and understanding of myself and my relationship to the world around me. This hasn’t been easy by any stretch, but man it has been worth it. I’m still working with my doctor to continue my physical healing journey. And I still have days that I am angry and frustrated about the state of my health, days where I wish I could go back to who I was before all of this and just be “normal” again. And I think that is normal and healthy, that it’s all part of the journey. But I will be forever grateful for this gift, even if it feels like a huge kick in the ass at times.

I like to be upfront and honest with people. In that spirit, I want to make sure you understand who I am and how I approach my work, so you can decide if I’m the right guide for you.

If you’ve never heard the term “woo woo”, it usually refers to someone who is the supernatural, pseudoscience phenomena, super crunchy granola, not quite anchored on this planet type. I’d consider myself “woo woo light”.

I 100% believe there is some greater power and connection of all living things that we’re not fully privy to but can feel if we allow ourselves. I have a spiritual practice and try to work with the cycles of nature, because it’s what feels good to me. But I also love my science, I love evidence and proof, and I read scientific articles a lot.

Wanting proof and also knowing there are things you just have to have faith and trust in has been a hard balance to strike and something I continue to work on. All of this is to say, that what I will be sharing here will be a mix of things that have “come to me” from my intuition, things I have experienced myself and found to be true, and research I’ve done from credible scientific sources. I like having balance, I think it’s important to stay rooted here on earth while allowing ourselves to float up in the clouds a bit. If that’s not your style, I totally understand and send you off with love to find the right guide for you.

I’m not done healing, I don’t think I ever will be really, because I believe healing and growth is a lifelong journey. But I have learned some beautiful lessons so far on my journey that I realized I needed to share. That’s what this space is all about.

I’m going to share what I’ve learned through experience and research in the hopes that it will help you on your healing journey, so maybe you can avoid some of the missteps I made, so you can amplify your healing and growth using the knowledge and tools I’ve gained, and so you can know that you’re not alone.

I want this space to be about you and your healing journey, which will look different for everyone. So please, take whatever resonates and works for you and ignore the rest. Not everything I share is going to be right for you, and that’s OK. You may even read some of this and think, “bullshit”, and that’s fine too. But my hope is that you’ll find something here that helps you heal and moves you along your journey to a more joy filled life.

I also want to learn from you. Since our journeys are different, we’re all going to learn different lessons in different ways. And we can always learn something from each other. I want this to be a community of sharing, love, and uplifting each other.

This, however, is never a place to impose beliefs, shame anyone, or tear anyone down. That bullshit has no place here and I will not so gently ask you to move on if you show up like that.

Healing is hard, we need to love and support each other, and that’s it, that simple. This community is open to all who are looking to learn, love, support, and heal, regardless of who you are, where you come from, or what you need to heal. If you bring the love, you are welcome.

And with that, I welcome you to the Joy Muck Club.

Have a joyful day,

Jenn

In This Episode, I Cover:

• Why mental blocks hit differently when your body’s already doing the most

• Journaling prompts to discover and move past those blocks

• The art of setting realistic AF goals that still feel exciting and honor where you are

• Why patience is the hardest and most important component in achieving goals with chronic illness

If it’s been a while since you let yourself plan for the future, I invite you to give it a try again. You deserve to still have dreams and goals, and I know we can get you there together!

Send me an email with any questions or comments

Subscribe to my Substack for an archive of all my podcast episodes and newsletters

Subscribe to the Joy Muck Club newsletter for even more great info on how to lead your healthiest and most joyful life

If you’d like to join in the community, connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

In the last two episodes of the Joy Muck Club podcast, we’re diving into how to rediscover the power of dreaming and setting goals, even when you’re living with chronic illness. It’s a unique skill set that doesn’t come naturally to most people, but with a little effort, we can all learn to apply it in our own lives.

If you're listening and thinking, "But I can't do this—I’m too tired, too sick, too overwhelmed," I want you to know, I totally get it. It’s not easy. There will be obstacles, and there will be moments when you just want to quit. But trust me, it’s worth the effort.

In these episodes, I shared a story about how I dreamed of thru-hiking the Arizona Trail for my 40th birthday. It was a huge goal I’d been training for—until illness completely derailed my plans. It was a massive bummer, and for a while, it felt like life was just taking that dream away from me. While I never did the AZT (and probably never will), I still get outside and hike whenever I can, just at a slower pace.

But what I haven’t shared yet is a dream that came to life because of getting sick—and that dream is this business.

I’ve known since I was 23 that I wanted to have my own business. I tried a variety of things along the way: a bakery, beard and face oils, jewelry made from thrift store finds, and more. All of those were fun and I learned a lot from each experience (good and bad), but none of them felt like “the one” until this business. The business of helping my fellow chronic illness survivors learn to rediscover who they are and build a more joyful life.

And I can honestly say, I would not have found this path if I hadn’t gotten sick.

I’m not going to pretend like having a chronic illness is easy or something I’m thankful for—because it’s not. But when I started this journey of rediscovery, I realized I’d spent years avoiding what I truly felt called to do: help people. I even went to school for holistic health, but then, well, ignored that degree for about a decade (face palm moment, right?).

What I’ve learned is this: Sometimes, letting go of old dreams opens up space for new, even more exciting ones. And even though it might take longer than expected, you can still achieve your goals.

Am I grinding 80-hour weeks to grow my business as fast as possible? Hell no! I’m doing this at a pace that feels sustainable for me. And I’ll get there when I get there.

So, I want to encourage you to make space to dream again. Let yourself envision goals that excite the you of now—not the you of the past. And take your time in bringing those dreams to life.

I want to be clear – I’m not saying that you have to be one of those inspirational “I turned my life around after tragedy” people. I hate the implication that anyone facing adversity is obligated to turn it into a triumph that they then share to inspire others to do better. You do NOT owe anyone that, or anything from your experience.

I share my experience because I lived the struggle, I know how hard it can be, and I found a way to make it better. I’m not trying to be a big, inspirational story, I’m just offering a little hope and a bit of guidance for a way to build more joy if you want.

If you don’t ever find the “silver lining”, if you don’t have a new dream that blossoms out of this experience, that is 100% OK. But I encourage you to leave yourself open to the possibilities of what could be ahead for you.

In this week’s podcast episode, I’ve got journaling prompts and tips to help you start this journey of rediscovery and goal-setting. And if you’d like more focused help, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d love to help you create a plan that works for you and your unique journey.

Have a joyful day,

Jenn