If you a get an email from me this week, it will probably be short, there may very well be typos, and capital letters? Forget it, that’s way beyond me at the moment.

Why? Because I have a new friend/enemy – the computer mitten.

You want to know the story? Here we go…Since I first became ill, I’ve had issues with my right side. It always hurt more and it didn’t feel as strong. Both my arm and leg, it was all on the right side. But when I found a new massage therapist recently, her work astounded me. After a massage I had so much more movement and less pain, I could do things like open doors or lift a glass of water that I hadn’t been able to do before – amazing!

Naturally, I wanted more of this. My masseur trained Linus to do the massage and physio on my arm. And I started thinking. What happens if we massage very day? How much can we reduce the pain? We tried it for a week – success! But as soon as I checked emails, scrolled through Instagram or sent a text – Arrgh, fizzing, itchy, awful pain.

Clearly we need to pace my computer use. But what happens if we treat the situation with my arm as a mini-version of just what we do in the Phoenix Fire Academy. If we set up the environment to give my body the best possible chance to heal. So I’ve got device stands and ergonomic mice on the way – stay tuned for my favourites.

But for now, we want to give my arm an opportunity to heal and that means rest. But how can I not use the computer? Linus came up with the answer – the computer mitten.

He got one of my mittens (hand knitted in vegan yarn, thanks Mum) and popped it on my right hand. With a mitten on, I can’t use any of my devices! No typing is possible. If I want to use it I have to stop and take the mitten off and that moment and decision is a mindful reminder to pause. To stop and consider what I really want. And I want to heal so the mitten (mostly) stays on.

What’s your computer mitten? 

What can you do to be mindful of your body, needs and healing?
(Click to Tweet!)

Conduct a safe self-experiment. Try it for a week and see.

Let me know how it goes in the comments below or on twitter.