“My medical condition leaves me in a mental fog.”
Katherine writes:
I have a medical condition that leaves me feeling in a mental fog – it’s like being on cold meds or looking at the world from behind a foggy shower door. At such times I have a hard time doing Focusing, especially when I’m really not feeling well. Do you have any tips for people facing health issues who have times of mental fogginess related to health problems or challenging physical issues?
Dear Katherine:
Focusing is really simple. Really.
It starts with just feeling how you feel, and being present there. Not changing anything. Just being there.
So you might turn toward your present experience and realize, “I’m having a hard time. It’s foggy in here.” And that is already the beginning of Focusing.
You shared that vivid metaphor: “Like looking at the world from behind a foggy shower door.” You had to be doing some inner sensing to get that!
It sounds like you are seeing the fogginess as being in the way of Focusing. But what if you see it as something in you that needs your gentle attention?
This is a way to approach any chronic condition, whether it’s pain, fogginess, or something else. Make a simple turn toward what you are feeling, and say Hello to it. And then sense it as it is. Maybe on a day when you are struggling there won’t be more than that. But that alone is HUGE… and you might be surprised at how things shift.
