The Chronically Courageous with Bonni Howard

Join Bonni as she gets personal about all things EDS, with filmmaker and EDS warrior Jen Kain. They discuss Jen's upcoming documentary, "Exhausted Existence: An EDS Story”, which explores living with chronic illness through a therapeutic lens.Bonni and Jen share tears and laughs as they discuss their common struggles, coping strategies, and what keeps them going through it all. They talk about mental health, dynamic disability, living with unpredictability, societal judgments, and other tribulations of living with a chronic, invisible illness.One needn't have EDS or HSD to appreciate this conversation or the film's premise, as it’s relatable to anyone living with chronic illness or who knows someone with a chronic health condition.Film Website: https://www.goodstuff-story.co/exhuas...Film Trailer: https://vimeo.com/897950041Contribute to the film: https://www.goodstuff-story.co/donateFollow Bonni on IG:   / thechronicallycourageous  Click below to listen to The Chronically Courageous Podcast onSpotifyAppleand most other podcast platforms.You can now watch The Chronically Courageous on YouTube by clicking here.Follow Bonni on social:InstagramFacebookYouTube

Having a chronic illness can bring about so many challenges, not only physical but also social, emotional, and psychological. We deserve to have certain rights to thrive despite these challenges!  This is where the  "Chronic Illness Warriors' Bill of Rights" comes in.  Last week, Bonni talked about the first five of the eleven principles that she believes people with chronic illness should embrace to live more happy and full lives.  This week, Bonni continues that discussion, revealing the last six principles.  She learned each principle through much trial and error and now wants to share them with you so that you can live life more fully despite your chronic illness.  This is part two of a two-part episode.  If you missed part one, you can find it on audio or video at the links below. YouTubeSpotifyAppleBonni loves hearing from her audience, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to her on her socials below: :InstagramFacebookYouTube

Over a lifetime of living with chronic illness, Bonni has learned that people with chronic illnesses have many physical, social, emotional, and psychological challenges. They deserve to have certain rights so they can better manage and navigate all their challenges. This "Chronic Illness Warriors' Bill of Rights", lays out eleven principles that Bonni tries to live by. She learned each of these through a lot of trial and error and now she wants to share them with you to make your lives more full, happy, peaceful, and equitable. This is part one of a two-part episode, so please set your notifications to be alerted when part two is released. Connect with Bonni:InstagramFacebookYouTube

This week Bonni returns to the mic after a long hiatus and much self-reflection.  In honor of May being EDS Awareness Month, she sits down with Samantha Brechner to talk about the raw and real ways that having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome has affected each of their lives.  You’ll hear the following and more: How having EDS has changed our livesThe long journey to diagnosisThings that help us improve our quality of lifeWhat we wish more people understood about EDS Our stages of denial and trying everything to cure ourselvesThe most challenging symptoms Dealing with the darkness of our most challenging timesThe importance of community #EhlersDanlosAwareness #MedicalPTSD #Gaslighting #Dysautonomia #MastCellActivationDisorder #SmallFiberPeripheralNeuropathy #InvisibleIllness #Disability #YouDontLookSick #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #ADHD #Dyspraxia #Subluxations #LongCovid #Anxiety #Depression #ToxicPositivity #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain 

This week Bonni continues to celebrates one year of podcasting with a look back at the most life changing lessons of the past year. Listen to hear some of the most profound teachings from the last year of The Chronically Courageous podcast. Please listen to the end for an important announcement about where the podcast is headed and follow Bonni on social media using the links below for updates of what is to come. Connect with Bonni:InstagramFacebookEmail

This week Bonni celebrates one year of podcasting with a look back at the most life changing lessons of the past year. Listen to hear some of the most profound teachings from the last year of The Chronically Courageous podcast. Things You’ll Hear About in this Episode: The ways that Bonni’s life has changed because of everything she’s learned through the podcast The correlation between chronic illness and certain common qualities that people with chronic illness possess (6:52)Yvette McCue’s advice that she would give herself younger self (7:52)The link between trauma and chronic illness (9:41)Cathleen Elle shares statistics and correlations between chronic illness and emotional issues (10:13)The importance of releasing emotions (12:09)Snead Cracknell shares about her experience with trauma and physical illness (12:52)The ways that neuroplasticity can impact our healing ()4:32)Rachel Barber’s thoughts on the power of brain rewiring (15:05)The role that removing toxicity plays in our lives discussed by Dr Avanti Kumar-Singh (20:39)How life can change when we change our perspective discussed with Sidney DeCamilla  (29:06)The things we can accomplish when we take our power back discussed with Christina Rice (34:00)How all we can do is our best and that is enough discussed Lara Bloom, CEO of The Ehlers Danlos Society. (41:15)Connect with Bonni:InstagramFacebookEmail

This week Bonni answers listeners’ questions about how to navigate the healing journey. Tune in to find out how Bonni answers the following listener questions: What is the best way to advocate for oneself? What do you think are the top three lifestyle changes a person should implement when trying to heal from or deal with chronic illness?How do you handle people who respond with “but you look fine”?How do you get your “traditional “ or Western physician to work with your other alternative practitioners and modalities? Connect with Bonni:InstagramFacebookEmail

This week Bonni is joined by her fiancé, David Pinkus to talk about the importance of recognizing and celebrating progress over perfection throughout the healing journey.  With some recent health challenges resurfacing, they discuss how to recognize and identify progress from a 50,000 foot level vs. focusing on the day-to-day ups and downs. Bonni and David hone in on their recent travels, acknowledging the very real challenges that can arise when traveling with chronic illness,  but the very tangible wins that they both recognized in Bonni’s ability to travel now vs. before she embarked on her healing journey. Join Bonni and David as they celebrate Bonni's progress and share tips on how to track and recognize your own progress as you continue to strive for greater health. Connect with Bonni:InstagramFacebookEmail