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Once you find out you have multiple sclerosis (MS), there’s a major learning curve. According to Dani Darling, one of the most important lessons she’s learned is how to listen to her body. “It’s super important to listen to my body, because the times when I find myself not listening to my body, then it starts to speak louder to me,” she said. “There’s times when, by the end of the day, I just have zero energy left, and I’m running on fumes.”

Dani is a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer who performs with her indie soul band, Dani Darling. She is also an identical triplet, a youth mentor, and a single mother. Dani was diagnosed with MS in the summer of 2021, just after releasing her Detroit Music Award-nominated EP, “The Future,” and succumbing to symptoms onstage. Years later, Dani is still navigating life with MS with treatment, her music, and support from her loved ones and community.

Dani explained why setting boundaries is key. “Learning to set boundaries, to know when to say no or when to say maybe instead of just kind of powering through,” she said. “There’s times when I realize a couple hours into the day that today I should have just taken more time instead of powering through things. Finding out that I had MS was kind of the end of the power-through.”

Lessons as complex as these are ongoing, she pointed out. “I think it’s through trial and error that you realize about listening to your body and taking the steps that are necessary.”

Dani doesn’t claim to have mastered every aspect of her MS care. “I’ve gotten into a level of normalcy, but it’s not completely truthful to say that I’m OK, that I’ve figured it out,” Dani admitted. “I don’t think you ever really do. MS is kind of a series of questions, and not all of them ever get answered. I think it’s just taking it one day at a time and trying to listen to my body and see what I can do in each moment to make myself feel better.”

One more lesson Dani talked about was learning to rely on community and ask for help. “Before I got MS, I wasn’t the type of person to ask for help. I’d try to power through it and do it alone,” she said. “Now there’s more of an incentive to talk about what’s going on and ask for help. If you do ask for it, people are there for you.”

Read tips from MyMSTeam members on how to stay positive and feel connected.

Talk With Others Who Understand

On MyMSTeam, the social network for people with multiple sclerosis and their loved ones, members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with MS.

Have you had to learn to listen to your body since being diagnosed with MS? How has learning to listen benefited you? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.

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