“Fibromyalgia: It's like having an orchestra of discomfort playing in various parts of your body.”

In our latest blog we share some of our clients’ experiences of living with this often misunderstood condition.

Navigating work alongside the complexity of Long Covid is an extra burden that needs care and specialist support. Vitality360’s Beverly Knops outlines our approach in this article written for the Society of Occupational Medicine.

She highlights the importance of a personalised and flexible approach, and of using work as part of the rehabilitative process. She also discusses setback planning and not “waiting until someone is 100%” before returning to work.

Known as National Sickie Day in the UK, the first Monday of every February is statistically the day when most workers are likely to call in sick, according to research first conducted by British law firm ELAS in 2011.

Experts attribute this to a combination of gloomy weather, post-holiday blues, and seasonal illnesses. What does one of our team think about this?

We asked one of our specialist clinicians to reflect on how far we have come in the 4 years since the start of the covid pandemic, the challenges we faced, but also the rehabilitation successes in difficult times.

At a recent team event our team discussed the complexities of burnout. What is it exactly? What can employers and individuals do about it? Read more about our clinical opinion in this blog.

Recent studies demonstrate that workplace stress continues to rise and is at record levels, which means that employee burnout with symptoms of fatigue and pain is also on the increase. Here one of our team shares her experience and what signs to look out for.

Data reveals that a majority of employees are seeking out hybrid and remote working as employers are encouraged to offer ‘as much flexibility and choice as possible’. Here, one of our team writes about how working remotely and flexibly is bringing benefits to her in being able to sustain work.

A combination of various factors such as persistent sleep disturbance, living under chronic and sustained stress and having chicken pox as an adult, all meant that one day when I was at work for Hilton Hotels I was suddenly utterly incapacitated by severe pain. On another occasion, I recall standing at the bottom of the stairs, unable to go up them as my whole body felt like lead.

Returning to work following a virus or a period of long term ill health can be a daunting prospect. In this article one of our team utilises a particular model and her personal experiences to explore how it’s possible to sustain working with the support and adjustments from an employer, with a long term condition such as fatigue.

Modern technology has allowed us to stay connected during the pandemic, but it also has a habit of setting up addictive patterns of ‘doing’ and achievement. So how can we switch off in a way that will be restorative for our bodies and minds, and help us to embrace the ongoing challenges of the pressures of the cost of living crisis, for example, with resource and resilience? In this blog we offer some tried and tested approaches and strategies - some simple steps for switching off from work!

Charlie Adler digs a bit deeper in this article about what stress is and how we can cope with it, and shares some tips as part of managing the stress of the festive season on top of everything else going on!

“Tired and wired” - The role of rest in fatigue management

Rest - definitions and challenges when resting with fatiguing health conditions, including exploring what rest means to the individual and how that may have changed with illness. Ways of working with challenges to resting, such as managing a wound up nervous system, pain, as well as finding the time and appropriate techniques to be able to rest.

What is interoception and why is it called the 8th Sensory system? Taking a pause and tuning into our felt sensations in our bodies is one way to tap into this faculty.

Sleep hygiene is a bit of an odd word that conveys how we can manage conditions to support a good sleeping pattern- and apparently certain aromatherapy smells can enhance this process.

Data reveals majority of employees are seeking out hybrid and remote working as employers are encouraged to offer ‘as much flexibility and choice as possible’. Here, one of our team writes about how working remotely and flexibly is bringing benefits to her in being able to sustain work.

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or romantic relationships. Here Katherine writes about her journey from a state of burnout…

It’s that time of year again when I decide that the moment has come to create a list of intentions and resolutions. Once the initial momentum of a shiny, fresh new year has dissolved into the relentless greyness of January and February it can be only a matter of time before the resolutions are pretty much discarded amidst a haze of vague guilt.

Modern technology has allowed us to stay connected during the pandemic, but it also has a habit of setting up addictive patterns of ‘doing’ and achievement. So how can we switch off in a way that will be restorative for our bodies and minds, and help us to embrace the ongoing challenges of the pressures of the cost of living crisis for example with resource and resilience? In this blog we offer some tried and tested approaches and strategies -some simple steps for switching off from work!

I found myself discussing Christmas with a client last week who is already planning for her inevitable setback in January – is this unavoidable? How can you enjoy Christmas but minimise the impact?

In the spring of 2021, I received a phone call from Dr Gerald Coakley, a Consultant Rheumatologist. I assumed he wanted to make a referral to Vitality360, but he was phoning to ask if I wanted to co-author a book. Here I write about how I got on…