The short answer is yes! You’ll read a lot about reclaiming your life from chronic illness on the Wellness Clusters website. When we use the word recovery, we do not mean a cure for your chronic illness. What we mean is there is a way to minimize your symptoms and regain control of your life.

When we talk about chronic illness, we’re not talking about diseases caused by poor diet and lifestyle choices, like heart disease and diabetes. We’re talking about:

- Autoimmune disorders like Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus

- Multi System Disorders like ME/CFS and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

- Genetic conditions like Crohn’s and Celiac Disease

- Central nervous system disorders like Fibromyalgia

- Food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities

Though none of these conditions are caused by our diet and lifestyle choices, making healthier decisions can make the difference between dysfunction and misery or living life to the fullest despite your chronic condition. So what do you need to reclaim your life?

You need Primary and Secondary Food

The Essential Elements of recovery. that Wellness Clusters promotes are based on the transformative concept of Integrative Nutrition which recognizes the importance of primary and secondary food. Primary foods are things like our relationships, home environment, careers, spirituality, and exercise. Secondary foods are what we eat. Though there is rightly much focus on secondary foods and the importance of eating for energy and healing, a truck load of broccoli cannot rescue anyone from a joyless, disconnected life.

Wellness Clusters groups all twelve Primary and Secondary Foods into four Essential Elements; Food, Movement, Detox, and TLC. Food gives us energy and heals us. Movement gives us strength and balance. Detoxing our lives improves function and efficiency. TLC reduces stress and helps us last the course. This makes it much easier to know at any given time what we need to feel better.

I use the four Essential Elements myself as a quick way to reset my health and recover from flares and setbacks. A quick check-in to gauge my level of energy, strength, function and stress tells me where I need to focus my attention. They also enable me to function at a level that was not possible even before I became sick. That’s the silver lining to my chronic illness. I don’t expect to eradicate all my symptoms, but I do expect to minimize their impact and live a full and happy life despite my health condition. So should you.

Condensing primary and secondary foods into the four Essential Elements makes it easier to know at any given time what we need to feel better. Instead of talking about specific diets, we focus on the energy and healing properties certain foods contain. Instead of prescribing specific exercises, we focus on the strength and balance that different ways of moving can provide. Rather than telling you how to make better lifestyle choices, we teach you TLC techniques that ease stress, create better relationships, and improve your endurance. Then we create a personal plan for you to reclaim your life.

You Need a Plan

Knowing what you need is the first step. The second is a plan that connects you to the support and resources that make reclaiming your life possible. There is no one size fits all, not even for people with the same chronic health condition. This is why you need your own custom plan to address your unique challenges and circumstances. That’s why we offer a free assessment of where you are and a free consultation so we can craft your personal plan for recovery. Whether you become a member of the Wellness Clusters Community or not, having a plan and support to put it into action is crucial.

You Need Support

The quickest way to reclaim your life is to connect with people who have already done it and who can offer you help and support as you go through your own process of recovery. When I was sick, all I wanted was to find someone who could help me. Someone who understood my challenges and symptoms and who could help me figure out how in the world I could feel better. I never did find that person and it took me years of trial and error to get my life back.

Fortunately, you can find such people in the Wellness Clusters Community. Trained and licensed Health Coaches who have reclaimed their lives from chronic illness are waiting to share their knowledge and experience with you so you can do the same. Whether you need a plan, help managing symptoms and challenges, or have a question that you need answered, our mission is to support you and connect you with the resources you need.

You Need Resources

When you know what you need and have found someone to support you in reclaiming your life, the final step is to tap into resources that help. Whether it’s tools and techniques that provide relief, videos that teach new skills, consultations that give you valuable insights and direction, or knowing where to buy pure supplements that don’t aggravate your condition, access to reliable and quality resources is essential. Wellness Clusters has intentionally gathered all those resources together so you can access everything in one place.

If you want to experience what it’s like to connect with a group of passionate health coaches who have reclaimed their lives from chronic illness and who can’t wait to show you how you can do the same, sign up for a free trial of Wellness Clusters. You will be able to assess your condition, connect with us for a consultation, receive your personal plan of recovery, and access our resources. There is no obligation to become a member and your personal plan for recovery is yours to keep.

We have walked in your shoes and experienced the misery of chronic illness first hand. We know what it’s like to struggle with out of control symptoms and flare ups that ruin plans and make life stressful and exhausting. We also know there is a way for you to reclaim your life just like we did. We do not promise you a cure. But we do promise that you can regain control of your life, minimize your symptoms, and reconnect your dreams and passions with a body and mind finally up to the task of accomplishing them!