2021 Year In Review – Featuring a Gratitude Meditation

Thank you for helping to celebrate our nonprofit’s 4th birthday! Last month, many people participated in the empowering virtual activities, which included breathing exercises, learning challenges, and more. We are so grateful to those who contributed to our birthday fundraiser to further support our research and education efforts.

Gratitude was a key theme for us this past year. Here is a simple gratitude practice that you can incorporate into your daily routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOdK2J8qgC0. 

Nithya Shanti’s Lotus of Gratitude meditation encourages everyone to start thinking about the beautiful and supportive things in life. Here are 10 memories from 2021 that we are thinking about and thankful for:

1. Four of our research studies were completed, peer-reviewed, and published. Plus, we have additional research that is ongoing. We’re grateful to be discovering ways to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life for people with PF and for people with post COVID-19 condition. 
2. Our educational content reached readers from over 40 different countries. No matter where you may be, you are not alone. Together, we can fight PF now! 
3. Membership and engagement in our online community forum grew drastically. In fact, it quadrupled. This means awareness about PF is increasing.
4. We led 12 virtual support group meetups and welcomed over 100 participants total. These will continue throughout 2022. Thank you to everyone who came to share their story and support others with or impacted by PF. 
5. Participants bravely opened up about their experiences with PF and shared practical tips for self-advocacy. Their interviews are available here. Please make sure to comment on each post to thank them for their vulnerability. 
6. Health specialists also participated in interviews to share their knowledge about ways to treat PF. Their interviews are also available here. It’s been amazing to hear their ideas and activities for pulmonary rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and more. 
7. Community members hosted over 30 distinct peer-to-peer fundraisers on Facebook, and several others made donations to our programs in honor of their loved ones lost due to PF. The collective advocacy is so inspiring and really makes a difference in the services we strive to provide. 
8. Our community also started an advocacy project to help PF patients find the right care. It is a resource list of patient-recommended specialists. If there’s anyone you’d like to add to the list, please take a moment to complete the quick survey.
9. We started recruiting for an Advisory Board and are finding specialists who can help our community of people with PF. There are so many types of experts to reach out to, such as pulmonologists, transplant surgeons, pulmonary rehab specialists, holistic health professionals, social workers, and more. If you’d like to nominate a specialist to be a board member, please contact us.
10. PF NOW!’s Special Education Weeks continued throughout the year and featured topics like pulmonary rehabilitation, inflammation and PF, and self-advocacy for people with PF. Stay tuned for our upcoming special education week in February, when we’ll teach about health and resilience in the wintertime. 

Thank you all for supporting our mission. In 2022 and for many years to come, we’ll continue using research, interactive learning and self-monitoring to educate the public about all treatments – including natural, supplemental, and alternative therapies – for treating chronic Pulmonary Fibrosis.