Pacing and M.E / CFS / Long Covid

Living with M.E / CFS, one of the key principles that I had to learn was pacing myself.

But what is pacing, and how do you know if you are doing it right?

Pacing is balancing the level of activity and rest that you take up, ensuring that you carefully ration your energy envelope and try to avoid the classic ‘boom and bust’ cycle that contributes to post-exertional malaise.

It’s a process of intuition, really.

I always say to my clients, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 100% 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 100% 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 

We have to learn a process of understanding our past mistakes of where we have ‘overdone it’ with our body and taper things back in order to find a comfortable baseline which supports a place where energy can flow back into the body’s system again and build up our reserves.

Pacing is one of the key principles that I advise in my clinical practise and in my book when dealing with M.E / CFS, and follows the NICE guidelines used within the NHS.

Do remember that pacing does not just involve what physical activities we do, but also the mental, emotional and cognitive activity that we do in our day-to-day lives.

Consider how much emotional energy you are spending on things, be it relationship difficulties, heightened anxiety, worry and stress, or simply biting off more than you can chew.

Pacing is about adopting a 360-degree holistic approach to the way in which we spend energy throughout our lives.

Who else has found pacing an effective model for dealing with M.E / CFS?