Below are 7 tips to help you through a chronic illness flare up. Sometimes a flare up of symptoms can occur a while after the initial stressor happens. This is a normal part of the nervous system response. When in fight or flight, the nervous system and brain are in a protective pattern. Until the system feels safe, it may not be able to “process” that which came up/the flare. Therefore when some people begin to feel safe again, that can be the time when a flare starts. Viewing these flares as a release from the nervous system goes a long way for healing.
Note: This was written in 2025 when I was going through a stressful time with a loved one in the hospital who needed a lot of assistance managing their care with the hospital staff. Long hours at the hospital, little sleep, a lot of stress, it was a culmination of too much for me. Shortly after things stabilized for them in the hospital was when I experienced a big flare up/dip. It took a few weeks to be completely back to my baseline but each day I sat and did the practices mentioned below, I felt a bit better as time went on. It was helpful for me to reflect and I feel there are many great pieces of wisdom in this post so I decided to share it now, in 2026.
Like many others, I recently found myself in a situation that was extremely stressful and it caused symptoms to flare up. At the time, I thought I was handling the stress OK but I basically did the opposite of what I normally do. I ignored my mind and body and needs for an extended period of time. Once the threat was over and I decided to rest, symptoms that were long gone flared up again and brought friends. I consider myself about 80% healed and I usually do whatever I want… so this was shocking at first. Even though I already know healing is not linear, this was my 1st time feeling absolutely amazing and then immediately not great.
At first, I was in shock and denial: “How can this be? I’m healed! I help others through health challenges… How is it possible I’m having THESE symptoms?” Then came the negative thoughts… “What if I wasn’t ever really healed and I was kind of hobbling along thinking I was?” “Did I catch a weird virus?” “How can I get through this as quickly as possible? I have things to do!” “This sucks!!” “What if I don’t end up fully recovered and can’t do the things I want to?” “I have a trip coming up soon, what if I can’t go?” “Why is this happening to me after I did all the work?” “This is too hard.” Then the desperation and bargaining… “I’ll get back into my brain training and meditation and hypnosis and qi gong and acupuncture and sunlight and walks and eat better… I’ll do anything to be back at my old baseline!”
But then something happened as I sat still and quieted my mind…I noticed shifts. Not the symptoms at first (haha, I WISH)… but something within me just moved right into acceptance and knowing. And I truly believe this was because of all of the hard work I had put in up to this day to change myself. The deeper inner knowings that started to come through were:
• I will get better… and I know I’ll be even better than I was before this dip.
• I’m going through a new healing phase and this part might look different from other times, and that’s OK.
• Even though I’m having symptoms, I am OK right now in this moment.
• It’s understandable that anyone faced with a huge amount of stress could have a reaction. My body is not different or “special”. Sometimes I get physical symptoms because my body and my emotions are still healing.
• Even though I am experiencing this now, this doesn’t mean it will be forever. These symptoms were a message from my brain that the experience I had was maybe a bit too much and that’s ok. This is an opportunity to show myself that I am safe and I care about me.
• In the past, my nervous system and brain were so reactive that the thought of anything out of my comfort zone was enough to put me in a flare that lasted weeks or months. Now, I’ve navigated something that would be stressful for anyone and I’m here with a few annoying symptoms. My resilience has grown so much and I’m so grateful for all of it.
• I’m not stuck, I’m patiently getting out of a stress response and allowing my body to take care of the rest.
Here are 7 things that helped me navigate the flare up:
• Resting. Yeah, I probably could have been doing this prior to the flare up however the situation presented in a way that I felt it was important to push myself at the time to help my loved one in need. If I could do it again, I would. I also feel like all of this is for my growth.
• Showing myself compassion. Instead of pushing myself to get back to work right away or to attend social gatherings, I’m showing myself compassion. What I experienced was tough and I’m getting through it the best way I know how. And I celebrate that I’m able to show myself care and love during this time.
• Avoiding negativity. I’m usually not one to “avoid” things these days however since my energy was super depleted from the stressful event, I had to set a boundary with negativity. That means, no doom scrolling, no news, no complaining from others or myself, etc. My gift to myself is lifting up my energy and my spirits so that I can create a healing environment for my cells to proliferate and grow and overcome the temporary injury from the stress chemistry.
• Surrounding my mind with uplifting content. This is helpful all the time, really, and especially now. Showing myself positive and uplifting stories has been so soothing and I feel so much better after doing it. Also checking out healing stories and knowing that is, was, and will be me. And most of the healings were non-linear… so I joined the club of non-linear healers.
• Introspection: At first, it felt like I was trying to dig around and find out what emotion caused the flare so I could “avoid” it in the future. But then, as I brought in care and compassion, it was more about letting go… As the saying goes: Every tear cleanses the soul. So I looked inside to see what I needed more of… and what I needed to let go… and not just letting go of attachment to symptoms, but what emotions and feelings I felt stuck with after the situation and what I needed to do to let go of them. I’ve been doing a lot of journaling, meditating, hypnosis, and more and it’s been really helpful. Not to fix the symptoms but to help nourish myself. As things lift, I’m also doing visualizations again.
• Practicing gratitude and REALLY feeling it. Digging deep into how amazing it is to be alive on this planet. Thinking about how cool it is that flowers exist and are pretty and smell good. Gratitude for the beautiful songs the birds sing. Gratitude for the delicious breakfast I made this morning. Gratitude for the refrigerator that stores all the food until I’m ready to eat it. Gratitude for knowing that there’s so much better for me in store on the other side of this blip.
• Tuning into all the healing love and light that’s available to us anytime on this planet. Funny enough, I learned Reiki right before this all happened so I’ve been practicing on myself and it’s been wonderful.
And it’s all helping. I definitely feel a lot better than just a few days ago and am getting back into the regular swing of things as the days go by. I hope this was helpful and if anyone has any questions I’m happy to answer. Sending love to all who are navigating the wild ride of healing!
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