Poetry and MS with Nurse Educator Josie Crawley | S7E21

Living Well with Multiple Sclerosis

In this episode of Living Well with MS, we’re excited to welcome Josie Crawley – poet, professor of nursing, and Overcoming MS community member. Josie has been living with MS for over 20 years, and she shares how poetry, exercise, honesty and joy help her navigate life with resilience and humour.

From the challenges of walking to the meditative calm of swimming, from embracing “JOYMO” (the joy of missing out) to choosing self-kindness over comparison, Josie’s reflections are moving, practical and full of wisdom for anyone on their own MS journey.

If you’d like to read any of Josie’s poems mentioned in this episode, you can find them here: A collection of poems by Josie Crawley

You can watch this episode on YouTube here.

Topics and timestamps

00:00 Meet Josie Crawley and discover her journey with MS

05:42 The healing role of poetry in life with MS

09:09 Family, career and adapting to life with MS

16:03 How Josie discovered the Overcoming MS Program

18:46 Ageing with MS: acceptance and challenges

21:25 Why swimming and walking are Josie’s meditations

25:24 Finding joy and (challenge) in walking

28:15 Finding balance in life with MS

31:22 Navigating medication and treatment options

35:10 Balancing privacy and disclosure in work

More info and links

• Read Josie’s scientific research on Research Gate or by using her Orchid ID 0000-0003-1011-3335
• This PDF contains a selection of Josie’s poetry referred to or about content discussed in this episode. You are welcome to share these poems, but please acknowledge Josie as the author, and the source if published.
• New to Overcoming MS? Visit our introductory page 
• Connect with others following Overcoming MS on the Live Well Hub
• Visit the Overcoming MS website

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