What are we doing?

This March, we will be completing a yoga challenge as part of our Choose Your Challenge campaign for Autoimmune Awareness Month. We'll be doing two hours of yoga each week, spread out across the month.

Kate: That might not sound like much, but right now, my body is struggling. I’m living through a lupus flare, with painful breathing and severe joint symptoms. This will genuinely challenge me. Just six months ago, I was running through London completing the Saucony 10km. My reality looks very different now!

Julia: I avoid exercise. I have never done yoga or anything like it. I have never run or swum or anything like it. I have never played tennis or netball or anything like it. I largely ignore my body. Especially when it is screaming at me to let up.

I believe that good leadership is critical. Without it nothing ever changes and talent is wasted. I know that my leadership is not good when I run myself into the ground. So late in life I thought it might be time to do something for my body. Maybe before it’s too late.

Why are we doing this?

Kate: Autoimmune disease — and the damage it causes to the body and mind — still isn’t talked about loudly enough.

For 20 years, I have used exercise as a way to push my body and fight lupus. I would use alcohol to fight the horrors that lupus brought to my mind. This time, I am challenging myself differently. At a moment when my lupus is active and painful, I am committing to gentle exercise. I am committing to hearing my mental health and listening to the sadness that a flare brings.

My biggest challenge now is learning not to push myself to destruction.

Julia: Because kate told me to. I have watched her over the last twenty years face up to, deal with, fight against, be dumbfounded by, rail at, crumple under, rise above, survive despite, triumph against, live with lupus.

I have learnt over time to be with her and listen to her. Learnt not to try to solve her problems.

So of course I said yes to her when she told me. Even though I know deep down that I really don’t want to do any yoga and that it is going to be really horrible.

Who am I doing this with?

Kate: I’m doing this with my mum, because she is the person beside me through every high and low. She holds my hand when things are difficult. She doesn’t tell me what to do — she helps me hear my own voice through the thunder that autoimmune disease can bring.

Julia: I am doing this with kate. The worst times in our lupus journey were when the distance grew between. When we are together the journey feels possible.

Why does this matter?

The Wren Project is that person beside you when you need it most.

The money raised through this challenge will allow The Wren Project to support more people through the painful and lonely reality of autoimmune disease. Every £57 raised supports one more person to receive Wren support.

Please sponsor us — or create a challenge of your own. Together, we can make a tangible and lasting difference for people living with chronic illness.

This campaign isn't about completing a crazy fitness challenge, it's about challenging yourself within your own limits, whatever that looks like for you. We would love to have you with us! If you would like to get involved, contact Greg, our fundraising officer, and he will help you get set up, his details are in the caption below.