Chronic Health Warrior

I'd like to introduce you all to Ren, a young man with complex health needs who has channelled his experience into song writing and music. I've not been blown away by new music for a while. Ren has released a song called "Hi Ren", which details his inner conflict over living with chronic health and the psychological impact of chronic health. As someone who lives with chronic health, the emotion and rawness of his battle portrayed through his song writing and performance have really touched me deeply. This song is a modern masterpiece and brings light to a topic that many want to shy away from. His music reminds me of a mixture of poetry, Shakespeare and Taoism. What a refreshing talent. He is old and wise beyond his years. Please support him across his youtube channel and all social media.

Ren talks about his own journey through pain, fatigue and the medical system in the next video. What he describes as accepting the body he is in and not fighting with himself, is what I call the 'absence of resistance'.  It is a process I have been through myself, over and over again. The more anger and hate you have for your health and the impact on your life, the more you suffer. Yet 'acceptance' is a difficult word for people to open up to, as it infers giving up and accepting a life of misery, pain, fatigue, loneliness, isolation etc. This is why I teach acceptance as the absence of resistance, the wording is really important, as it's easy to trigger people with preconceptions. Relaxing into your current baseline does not mean giving up, it's a way to empower and support yourself with kindness and compassion. Whilst our bodies may continue to be a battle field, how we react and respond makes the difference.

Listen to Ren's message and hear his words. For such beauty to come from such a deep place of pain and hurt, Ren's creativity has brought a much needed lightness to the darkness.