An avid equestrian and educator, Karen has been a columnist at BioNews — the publisher of this site — since 2019. She was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in 2009 after years of searching for a diagnosis that explained her symptoms. Karen enjoys working with her students, riding and caring for her two horses (Cherry and Spotty), and connecting with others in the rare disease community through her writing.I’ve been back to work at a high school for just over two weeks, and it feels strange. Everyone is wearing masks, keeping far apart, and cleaning everything they touch. I’m lucky to have my own office, where I can close the door and remove my mask for a…
Last week, I returned to work for the first time since late March. It’s been an odd summer, to say the least. I also haven’t been able to get bodywork in months, an essential part of my self-care routine and critical to keeping my pain levels under control. Firstly,…
While the heat of summer unfortunately will continue for weeks to come, summer’s unofficial end is on the horizon as my date for going back to work approaches. As a college counselor in an independent high school, I’m usually off from mid-June to early August. Hence, in coming days, I’ll…
Pretty much anyone who’s read my column knows I work as a college counselor, live on a farm, and have horses. Another thing about me that most might not know, however, is that I love history. I love to read, especially historical fiction, and I was one of…
My horse, Cherry, fractured a bone in her foot in May. She came to me 14 months ago with a variety of physical compensations, which I’ve written about in other columns and have been working to address. Although we’ve made some progress, it’s slow going at times. It’s been…
I wrote last week about how much horseback riding has helped me with body awareness. Another activity that has helped me significantly improve body awareness is Pilates. Pilates also has made me more conscientious while riding, which in turn has had a positive domino effect for me. When I…
Recently, someone mentioned that I seem to have heightened body awareness. I’d never really thought about it, but I guess I do pay attention to how my body moves (or doesn’t), my range of motion, and how different activities affect my pain levels and mobility. I don’t think I…
I rarely wear short-sleeve shirts, but it’s not because of the same reason I often wear pants instead of shorts. Rather, it’s because I sunburn easily. I practically live in sun shirts while working outdoors on the farm. I don’t know how I made it through summer before these…
Some people like summer. Love it even. I’m not one of them. In fact, if I listed the four seasons for their weather attributes, summer would come in a very distant last. I live in the South, where it gets hot, humid, and sticky most of the time from June…
One of the great things about horseback riding is that when done correctly, it requires an enormous amount of body awareness. While many people see a person riding and think the horse is doing all the work while the rider just sits there, it actually couldn’t be further from the…
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