Virtual sessions for people with MCAS

We host regular exercise, creative and community Zoom sessions, as well as stand-alone, topical sessions.  If you have any questions, you can contact us here. You can view and book all of our virtual sessions here.  

Our virtual sessions are hosted through Zoom and are free to anyone with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome or for those supporting someone living with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Our sessions are only suitable to those living in the U.K, this is due to our funding and due to the differences in medical systems, benefits, treatment and medications around the world. If you live abroad you are more than welcome to explore our free resources on our website or view our videos on YouTube.

Any donations received go towards us being able to provide more virtual sessions to those in need within our community. If you are able to donate, no matter how small, it will be gratefully received. You can donate here.

Accessibility

We host our sessions through Zoom, if you haven't used Zoom before and would like to learn then watch this tutorial video here. Our goal is to create an inclusive environment where everyone can fully engage with our content and discussions. If you have any questions/suggestions regarding accessibility, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Your feedback helps us continually improve our efforts to ensure that all participants feel welcome and supported.

We are committed to making our virtual sessions accessible to all and we understand that some individuals experience electromagnetic sensitivity (EMF) or prefer hard copies of materials for various reasons. For individuals who prefer/require hard copies of materials, we are happy to provide alternative formats whenever possible. Please reach out to us here. We will do our utmost to assist you and ensure your experience is as comfortable as possible.

Virtual self-massage session with lymph drainage introduction

Due to it's popular demand, we are thrilled to announce that Ellen from Flexback will be returning to run a monthly Virtual Massage session for us. The next session will be on Wednesday 9th April and you can book your place here.  

Come along, meet Ellen, and learn some self-massage techniques to help you relax and spend some time thinking about self-care. This session will also feature an introduction to lymph drainage. All techniques will be optional, so feel free to join in with the movements that you feel comfortable with.

Ellen is a qualified Level 5 BTEC Clinical Sports and Remedial Massage Therapist and specialises in the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and pain – both sport and work-related.

You can read more and book your place here. 

Diet and MCAS: Q&A Session

Due to popular demand, we are pleased to announce a further Q&A session on Diet and MCAS on Monday 12th May from 7-8pm. 

Join us for an informative and engaging Q&A session with Chloe Hall and Nishti Uddeh, two leading dietitians and experts on Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). 

Chloe and Nishti will be answering your questions on topics such as reintroducing foods after trial diets, urinary symptoms and food, losing weight/gaining weight and much more.

As this is a Q&A event, please feel free to submit your questions in advance to faye@mastcellaction.org.

Find out more and book your place here. 

Retrain Your Mast Cells, Retrain Your Brain

Join us on Wednesday 14th May from 5:30-6:30pm for a session on improving your brain resilience hosted By Roselle O'Brien. Find out more about Roselle here.  

We don't often think of our body's cells or our physical brain when we think of the word resilience. Typically, we think of resilience in terms of our emotional ability to bounce back after a jarring event. Resilience, however, can also be applied to our physical body and its ability to adjust to challenges and changes that we may experience. Our brains continue to develop throughout our lifespan. Join us as we explore what retraining our cells, especially mast cells, and retraining our brains might mean when it comes to mast cell activation reactions and our strategies to support brain health and body health when managing mast cell activation reactions.

Find out more and book your place here. 

Low Histamine Diet

Join us on Wednesday, 21st May from 1-2pm for a session hosted by dietician and gut health specialist, Chloe Hall and Claire Garbett from Through the Fibro Fog. 

Enjoying food on a low histamine diet. Living with chronic illness and food intolerances can often make meal times feel rather challenging and it’s easy to get stuck in a rut of eating the same foods over and over. Eating a varied diet is really important for supporting our bodies, gut health and helping us feel as well as we can do.

This session focuses on ways to bring diversity into our diets, and different ways to cook up lower histamine recipes that are bright, colorful and definitely not boring!

Find out more and book your place here. 

Understanding Lyme Disease: A general Introduction to Lyme

Join us on Wednesday, May 21st from 7-8:30pm for a session hosted by Deborah Bircham exploring Lyme disease. Do you know what Lyme Disease is? Are you aware that ticks carrying Lyme Disease are now present in all areas of the UK? If you were bitten by a tick, would you know what to do to reduce the likelihood of Lyme infection? All of these questions will be answered in this talk.

Join Deborah Bircham, from Live Well with Chronic Illness. As someone with lived-experience of Lyme Disease causing MCAS, I am now really passionate about helping others to identify whether Lyme might be a factor in their symptoms.  Come along to this talk and find out how to be Lyme Aware.

Find out more and book your place here. 

Gratitude

Join us on Wednesday, June 18th from 7-8:30pm for a session hosted by Deborah Bircham exploring gratitude and how it can help us. We often hear mainstream media and celebrities talking about gratitude practice, and how good it is for us. But gratitude can feel really inaccessible for us when we live with difficult conditions and daily illnesses, like MCAS.

Join Deborah Bircham, from Live Well with Chronic Illness. In this talk, we will explore what gratitude practice is, and the evidence for how it affects us. We will be looking at what this means in reality for us when we live with pain or illness, and how we can find gratitude practices that work for us, and which can support us with our health and wellbeing. This session includes a practical Gratitude practice experience.

Find out more and book your place here. 

Seated Pilates

Join our weekly Seated Pilates sessions hosted by Leanne English from Mobilates. Join us Mondays from 10-10:30am and Thursdays from 5-5:30pm. These sessions will be gentle, accessible seated movement classes that focus on the key principles of Pilates including alignment, breathing, focus and moving with control.

The classes will aim to help you strengthen your joints, ease your aches and pains, enable you to move more freely, and give you the confidence to show you what you can do and how you can exercise safely.  Leanne will adapt to your needs, so if you need to join us from your bed, your wheelchair or need to stand, you will be supported and encouraged to listen to your body and find a movement that works for you. 

These sessions have been made possible due to funding from Sports England. Find out more and book your place here. 

Mindfulness Drop In

Join us on Wednesdays from 1-1:30pm for a half hour session of you time to relaxed and friendly mindfulness session hosted by Ann Garratt. These sessions will be running every Wednesday till the 30th April with breaks on the 9th and 16th April. 

Bring along a cuppa and get yourself comfortable, as you completely unwind, restore and feel supported. Included will be a short guided meditation, mindfulness practice or breathwork practice each week.   

Each week, Anna Garratt will guide you through a wellbeing practice. Subjects covered will include mindful awareness of the body, self-compassion, forgiveness and breathwork. 

Find out more and book your place here. 

Weekly Qigong sessions 

We are delighted to share our weekly Qigong sessions with you! These sessions are open to anyone with MCAS or caring for someone with MCAS (or suspected MCAS).

Qigong (sometimes alternatively spelled Chi Gong or Chi Kung) is an ancient practice that makes up one of the branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, alongside acupuncture. Check out our YouTube video for more information about Qigong.

Come along and meet Duncan and enjoy a session of deep breathing, mindfulness, and removing energetic blockages, to help energy flow more smoothly throughout the body and create an overall sense of well-being. 

You can find out more about Duncan and Qigong here or book your place here. Please book a place for each session you would like to attend. 

Unleash Your Creative Spark!

Are you someone with a passion for creativity or perhaps you've been wanting to ignite that creative spark within you? Mast Cell Action are excited to share our Creatives with MCAS sessions, which on the second Tuesday of each month at11am-12pm. 

This is your chance to express your artistic talents, whether it's through the magic of poetry, the strokes of a paintbrush, the moulding of pottery or any other form of creation that stirs your soul. Come along and share your creations with a like-minded community, whether you're a seasoned artist or someone just starting on their artistic journey. There will of course be an opportunity for lots of chat, MCAS or otherwise while we get crafty! You can read more and book your place here.

Theme for May: Create something for Spring. also describe what you can see out your window real or imaginary.

Weekly community zoom sessions

We are delighted to launch our weekly community zoom sessions for those living in the UK. The sessions will run every Thursday from 7-8:30pm.

Our Community Champion volunteers Roselle, Amie and Alice will be hosting these weekly sessions, along with our Community Engagement Coordinator, Charise and Community Support Coordinator Deborah Bircham. The sessions will be informal meetings that create an opportunity for people living with MCAS to connect with others, share stories and experiences and seek support from each other. We will be running this session virtually through zoom, so feel free to join us to chat about all things MCAS! Find out more here and book your place here.

Join our WhatsApp Group to connect with other members of our Community Zoom Sessions. The WhatsApp group is a space to continue conversations from the sessions, speak to others who attend and seek/give support. Please note, this WhatsApp group is not moderated. Please report any issues by email.