Healthy Swellness: Lessons in reconnecting with your life

August 10, 2016

A few weeks ago, I had to opportunity to escape to Langdon Hall (where I’ve been absolutely dying to visit — and it did not disappoint) with one of my friends as guests of Depend. Yes, that Depend, as in the bladder leakage products. We were there as Depend has just  launched their new Fit-Flex Underwear, breathable, soft and flexible — which allows men and women who suffer from leakage to reconnect with their lives — getting back to the loved ones and activities they may have been avoiding due to being leaky.

I’d been invited by the brand and encouraged to bring along a friend who suffers from UI (aka urinary incontinence) but I don’t know anyone who does (or maybe I do and just don’t know it…loads of people keep this private since they feel embarrassed about it), so I ended up inviting my friend and running buddy, Shawna. UI is actually pretty common, affecting nearly 10 percent of the Canadian population. Something I learned: there’s not just one type of UI: stress incontinence (when pressure is exerted on the bladder, like when you’re laughing, for example), urge incontinence (the sudden urge to go, followed by leakage), mixed (a mix of stress and urge), overflow (the constant dribble of pee), functional (the inability to make it to the toilet in time), and total (the total and continuous loss of urinary control). 

I can see why many people would be embarrassed to share that they suffer from leakage but I think being more open and upfront about it could make it better. When my friend and I arrived at Langdon Hall, we and all of the other guests at the getaway with Depend were asked to take part in an experiment — putting on cold, wet shoes as we ate lunch — which helped illustrate in a way how uncomfortable and distracting it could be to be suffer from bladder leakage.

Throughout the lunch, Kelowna-based motivational speaker Linda Edgecombe (who was very funny and who I actually found motivational — I can have a low tolerance for a certain style of that motivational-type talk)  spoke to us about reclaiming and reconnecting your life and much of it resonated with many of us. I think it’s a good refresher or eye opener for everyone. The points I thought were most valuable:

Get off the busy train. In this day and age we thrive on being so, so busy. We create this cycle of having so much on the go — I’m super guilty of this — and it doesn’t have to be this way. I’m regularly reminding myself to take a step back and slow it down lately. Being so busy shouldn’t be a badge of honour many of us treat it as.

Ask yourself how old your stories are. And if they’re old, create new ones. When is the last time you tried something new, Linda asked us. If your stories are old, it’s time to get some new ones. As in get out there and live! I’d like to think I’m pretty good at trying new things (you can hardly travel as much as I do and not try new things but I also try to aim to do that while at home, too, even if it’s just trying a new restaurant or workout) so I wasn’t worried about this one for me. Although I perhaps try too many things (see point #1 about our culture of busy-ness — guilty as charged).

Get moving. Fitness activities will help boost you mentally and physically and help make you feel more confident. While at this reconnection getaway, we did an awesome yoga class facing the property’s garden. My friend and I also put this tip in action by riding the fat bikes on the 5k trail, which coincidentally is also trying something new (I’d only ever fat biked before in the snow in Michigan). I couldn’t even get started and was actually pretty scared of hurting myself, but I switched to one with a smaller frame and everything was A-OK. I try to keep active in day to day life, too, of course. It’s hard some days, but I feel too sloth-like and heavy when I don’t, and I always remind myself that running helped me get through one of the toughest times of my life six years ago, so if anything, that’ll always be proof for me personally that it’s worth it.

 

It was enlightening to learn more about how life can be impacted by UI (several people spoke freely about their experience during the session) , and of course, it was incredible to stay at Langdon Hall (Shawna and I lounged by the pool and just enjoyed the gorgeous property as long as we could and were very sad to leave to head back to the city), but we left with inspiration to be more connected with our lives. And that more than anything was the most key thing we took away from this.

Filed under: Healthy Swellness

Tags: bladdercontrol, Depend, fitness, health, langdon hall, life lessons, reconnect, stress urinary incontinence