In Day 8 of my 31 Days To A Better CFS Life blog series, I’m going to explore how podcasts can be of value to you in improving your quality of life while living with CFS / ME and how you go about finding and listening to good podcasts.
As you know if you’ve read many of my blogs, I love podcasts and I bang on about them a fair bit.
I’ve already mentioned podcasts a number of times in this blog series as great ways to both distract ourselves from negative, overwhelming thinking, and to lift our spirits.
But I thought it was time to dedicate one day specifically to podcasts.
I’ve given you a number of suggestions of my favorite podcasts and the podcasts that lift my spirits in a previous post The Joy Of Podcasts. So I won’t repeat them here.
What I will do here is give you 5 steps to finding and listening to good podcasts, but firstly I’m going to reiterate the benefits I see in podcasts and how you can use them to help manage your CFS
Why Podcasts Are A Useful Tool In CFS Management
- As I’ve mentioned before, I listen to podcasts often when I’m laying in bed and my body is telling me I need to rest, but my mind has other ideas. Listening to something like a podcast, audio book, or even the radio, helps to focus my attention outwards and away from the often-negative thoughts that seem to reign when I’m totally exhausted, yet can’t get to sleep.
- Getting out of my head and anchoring my thoughts on something interesting or educational keeps my mood up way more than if I just layed there and listened to my thoughts, getting ever-more frustrated with not being able to sleep – or wanting to just get up and do things despite knowing my body needs to rest!
- If I have something to focus on, that I can do with my eyes closed, I am more inclined to allow my body the rest it needs. I am a very Type A personality, and I continually have to fight with myself to rest when my body is telling me to do so. Yes, even after 21 years. I’m getting better at it, but I’m still a work in progress! 🙂
- I can learn, laugh and grow while I’m resting in bed, on the couch or in the bath (or if I’m more energetic, doing the housework or driving). Podcasts and audiobooks are amazing tools in this respect.
Whatever your interests are, you will find a podcast to suit your tastes.
My interests are internet business, mind-body topics, personal development and spirituality (to name but a few!).
For pure leisure, I love any podcast that makes me laugh, like Hamish and Andy.
Never Discovered Podcasts? It’s Time!
I know some of you may have never listened to a podcast before, and the following section of this blog post is for you.
Some of it may seem pretty obvious, but sometimes you assume something is obvious, only to find out it isn’t to somebody who’s new to the topic you’re talking about.
I’ve decided to go by the K.I.S.S theory – Keep It Simple Stupid! (I’d be the stupid one if I didn’t keep it simple, NOT you 😉
For the people who already listen to podcasts, maybe you’ll get a tip or two out of this, maybe not, but if you don’t know about my post on The Joy of Podcasts you can have look at that.
5 steps to finding and listening to good podcasts
1. Do a search for topics you enjoy
Search in Google, iTunes (in the podcasts section) or search in Stitcher. If you use an Android device the Stitcher app is great. You can access thousands of podcasts, plus also 20,000+ radio shows from around the world. Plus you can also listen online.
iTunes is by far the most popular way to access podcasts if you have an iPhone, but as I have an Android phone I haven’t used the app.
There are apps that sync iTunes to Android, but the one I tried didn’t work, so I usually just download them straight from the website (see next step to hear how I do that).
To find these podcasts, Google is as simple as anything. I just Googled “podcasts about chronic illness” and it gave me heaps of options.
So, first of all, do a search for topics that you like and find 1 – 5 that catch your eye or that are highly rated on iTunes or Stitcher (have 4-5 stars).
2. Listen to one or 2 or them!
Pick a few of the podcasts that look good and listen to some of the episodes.
You can either do this by listening directly on iTunes or Stitcher, or you can go to the website of the podcast, go into their podcast tab, and usually there’s the ability to download the episode as an mp3 or listen right there on the page.
I often use the mp3 download method because it allows me to put all the podcasts of a certain show into a folder on my computer, then transfer it to my mp3 player or Android phone (in the Music section).
Having it available in this way means that if I don’t have internet service, I can still listen to my podcasts.
I can also easily transfer them between devices or take them with me on a usb stick. I also sometimes share them with friends via Dropbox or Google Drive (but mostly I just refer them to the site or give them the link).
3. Subscribe To The Podcast/s That You Like
When y0u decide you really like a podcast, then you can subscribe to it on iTunes or Stitcher, and you will automatically get new episodes downloaded to your device/iTunes.
If you’d prefer not to subscribe (not sure why, but you might not want to), then you can find out when your favourite podcasters generally publish new episodes. It might be weekly on a Friday (like my fave podcaster Pat Flynn does!)
4. Catch up on the previous episodes of the new podcasts that you found
Quite often there are many previous episodes of a podcast you have only just discovered. For me, this is like discovering a little treasure chest if I really love the podcast. It’s kind of like when you see an episode of a TV show that’s been around for years, but you’ve never managed to find time to watch it. When you fall in love with it, you have the option of going out and buying the DVD set.
The bonus – and it’s a big bonus – with podcasts is that they are free. You can get some incredibly valuable, high quality information via podcasts that you would usually have to pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for in a course. But if you find the right podcast, you can get it all for free.
When I first discovered my favorite podcast – Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income (I was just learning about online business and a friend referred me to it), I was about to go away on a holiday to the beach because it was summer. So I went to the website and I downloaded all the previous episodes (up to that stage I think it was about 30 or so), and on my holiday I was able to listen to them all.
And that’s when I got really excited about the opportunities of online business and how to use my passions like blogging and interviewing to eventually become financially independent.
Listen to previous episodes of YOUR favourite podcast and you will probably get many, many free hours of entertainment there. Bargain! AND you might find a passion like mine that you didn’t know you had – and that might earn you some dollars down the track (or educate you in some way – whatever your goals are in life!)
5. Share The Love
If you find a podcasting that’s really uplifting and really inspiring and you think that other people will find it that way too, share it in some way.
Just copy the url if it’s on a website and pop it into a tweet or on Facebook.
On the actual websites there’s also options for all the usual ways to share immediately on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ – whatever you choose to use. So you can also share that way.
And by sharing it, not only will you benefit from it, but a lot of other people will get a chance to benefit from it too.
Another thing that you can do if you love a particular podcast is to leave them a review on iTunes or Stitcher and tell them how much you appreciate their podcasts.
This is something that they’ve given you for free and taken quite a lot of time to provide for you, so it’s a nice gesture to go back and thank them.
I can tell you that they will really appreciate it, especially because that’s how they get further up the ladder on the iTunes and Stitcher lists in different categories.
Today’s Action Step
Find any podcast and listen to one episode, or listen to a new episode of a podcast you already like. Then tell us what it is in the comment section or on Facebook or Twitter. For example, your comment only needs to be: “A podcast I love is … (fill in the gaps)” OR you can tweet it with the hashtag #GuruCrewPodcasts – eg. “A podcast I love is Smart Passive Income by @PatFlynn #GuruCrewPodcasts” It’s as simple as that!
So enjoy your podcasts! They are one of the joys of my life – if you haven’t worked that out by now. 😉 May they also become one of yours – and another tool in your CFS management toolbox!
עד מחר (Until tomorrow in Hebrew)
Keep Smiling 🙂
Louise
Related Posts
Day 1: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 3 Myths of Acceptance That Hold Us Back
Day 2: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – It Is As It Is. Choose It!
Day 3: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 5 Ways To Control Our Thoughts When In Overwhelm & Despair
Day 4: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 6 Things You Can ALWAYS Do Despite CFS / ME
Day 5: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 7 Ways To Focus Your Thoughts On Something Uplifting
Day 6: 31 Day To A Better CFS Life – Being Present – 7 Simple Mindfulness Techniques To Help Manage CFS
Day 7: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – Learning To Ask For Help – 5 Simple Tasks You Can ‘Outsource’ To Help Manage CFS
Day 9: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – Listen To Your Body. I Am Today!
Day 10: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 10 Ways To Nurture Yourself & Fill Your Bucket
Day 11: 31 Day To A Better CFS Life – 5 Ways To Combat Spoonie Mother Guilt on Mother’s Day!
Day 12: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – My 5 Fave Ways To Connect With The Online CFS / ME Community
Day 13: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – How & Why Audiobooks Are A Great Illness-Management Tool
Day 14: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life -10 Top Audiobooks I Recommend
Day 15: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life: 5 Tips For Getting Tasks Done When You Have CFS / ME
Day 16: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – What Are You Struggling With Most Right Now?
Day 17: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life: What Are You Doing WELL In Managing CFS / ME / Fibro? What Are You NOT Struggling With?
Day 18: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 3 Things I Struggle With At The Moment & How I Manage Them
Day 19: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 101 Ways I Manage CFS / ME & Electrosensitivity Pain
Day 20: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 5 Benefits Of Writing To Help Manage CFS / ME
Day 21: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – Gratitude is Healing – 5 Ways To Practise Gratitude
Day 22: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – A Letter To Partners Of People With CFS / ME
Day 23: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – 7 Healthy, Safe Ways To Release Emotions
Day 24: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – Letter To The General Public From Those With CFS / ME / FM – Part 1
Day 25: 31 Days To A Better CFS Life – Letter To The General Public Pt 2 – How You Can Support Someone Who Has CFS / ME / FM
Jenny Horner says
I’m going to install stitcher. Btw can you get bbc radio 4? I’ve been addicted for years. We can also get free audio books through online library services here in uk, but often I fall asleep and find it hard to keep track of the story.
Are there any ME recovery podcasts people would recommend or alternative health ones?
Louise Bibby says
Hi Jenny,
I just did a search in Stitcher and it showed that BBC Radio 4 has lots of shows available. Just do a search in the search bar & they all pop up. Some of them look interesting. Might check them out too.
I don’t know any ME recovery podcasts or alternative health ones, but I’d love to hear from other people if they know of them. I know Toby Morrison of CFS Health Centre did start one, but it only has one episode. He is a Melbourne guy who recovered from CFS and now has a book and a recovery centre in Melbourne. He seems to be having some success. I’m yet to fully investigate his methods, but he is a definite success story.
I’m actually starting a podcast very soon where I’ll be interviewing people with ME/CFS who are living their passions and purpose online. It won’t be a recovery-based podcast, but will hopefully encourage others with the illness to continue to follow their passions, despite the limitations ME/CFS puts on their lives. Blogging has certainly been a great way for me to follow one of my many passions!
Re the audio books, we can also get many of them free online via our library. I’m going to write a blog soon about audiobooks, which will include that info. Sorry to hear you fall asleep and find it hard to keep track of the story. I don’t tend to listen to fiction audiobooks, so usually mine have distinct chapters and are easier to follow. Also, with Audible it’s easy to just go back to where you fell asleep (I do that too sometimes!).
Thanks for the comment, and I’m glad you got something out of the blog.
Keep Smiling 🙂
Louise
PS. To all those reading this, check out Jenny’s great #ThisIsME post here