My Story
I am here to offer you cutting edge insight into how to become your own best therapist, holistic healer and spiritual guide. I invite you to join me as we explore your journey to better health. Together we will connect the dots to discover the roadblocks to healing which keep you existing on auto-pilot rather than feeling alive in your body.
This was where my journey began.....
My parents suffered with arthritis for many years, long before I knew the true meaning of pain. I had little understanding when my father would stretch his back and let out a painful cry, or when my mother would refuse to come with me to the nail salon or to the mall because her hands and feet hurt so much. Fast forward thirty years and I emerged as a young mother, six months postpartum, who woke up one day to realize that my new normal was living with chronic pain. It began in my fingers - they felt stiff when changing the baby's diaper; I couldn't get up and down from the floor so easily - first my knees, then my ankles, then my wrists. Before I knew it I could no longer make a fist - my hands became puffy and began to resemble claws. Seemingly overnight I could no longer lift my arms to brush my hair, walk on my own, hold my head up or chew my food. I thought, "I must be dying."
This was the beginning of what would become many flare-ups, visits to the doctor and to the hospital, along with prescriptions for medication, after medication, after medication. This became the new landscape of my life and I began to feel terribly depressed. Someone suggested that I attend a support group, but I refused. Although I had been a family therapist and had led many support groups, I knew in my gut it was just not for me. If I was ever going to pull through this I felt that I needed to surround myself with those who were well - happy and healthy people.
I became a master at deflection. I went on to have three more children despite discouragement from most of the medical community. It was always very complicated - needing to go off of my meds long enough to be safe for the baby, but not too long as to incite a flare-up. Followed by several months of bliss teasing me back into the life without pain that I formerly knew. Then, childbirth, and BOOM! - three weeks postpartum and I felt like I had been hit by a train once again! The fatigue greater than I had last remembered. But I pushed on.
I became very involved in my children's schools when they were younger, and as they got older my attention turned to the community we lived in and to the greater good. I bought a ring that screamed my calling "Be the change you wish to see in the world!" I felt I was on the cusp of doing just that - I started a non-profit organization whose mission was to promote environmental and social sustainability and addressed food justice issues. We had attained funding to start community gardens and egg co-ops. It was cutting edge. No one in our microcosm of the world was doing this. We were building community with a grass roots effort. I was definitely talking the talk - but I knew in my heart that I was not truly walking the walk.... quite literally.... on some days I could barely walk at all. My hands hands hurt too much to garden, and most mornings I was in so much pain that I could barely get out of bed let alone commit to going out to feed the chickens. So, while I administrated these vibrant community projects, I was not personally involved in any of them.
From the time I was a child, Shakespeare's quote, "This above all: to thine own self be true" resonated with me. This had been a continuous tune streaming in the back of my mind for the better part of my life. How had I lost touch with it? I was no longer true to myself. The truth finally hit me - if I was going to make a difference in this world I needed to be authentic. That meant both talking the talk and walking the walk.
I chose to take charge of my own life. I decided to fully commit to life which meant committing to change. I began listening to my own intuition - trusting my gut. Rather than being blindly led through the hoops of Western medicine, I opened my eyes to alternative thinking. I began to question. While my doctors may have gotten me through the eye of the storm (one that lasted 23 years!) did it need to consume the rest of my life? What choices could I make that might bring about positive changes?
This was the beginning of what would become many flare-ups, visits to the doctor and to the hospital, along with prescriptions for medication, after medication, after medication. This became the new landscape of my life and I began to feel terribly depressed. Someone suggested that I attend a support group, but I refused. Although I had been a family therapist and had led many support groups, I knew in my gut it was just not for me. If I was ever going to pull through this I felt that I needed to surround myself with those who were well - happy and healthy people.
I became a master at deflection. I went on to have three more children despite discouragement from most of the medical community. It was always very complicated - needing to go off of my meds long enough to be safe for the baby, but not too long as to incite a flare-up. Followed by several months of bliss teasing me back into the life without pain that I formerly knew. Then, childbirth, and BOOM! - three weeks postpartum and I felt like I had been hit by a train once again! The fatigue greater than I had last remembered. But I pushed on.
I became very involved in my children's schools when they were younger, and as they got older my attention turned to the community we lived in and to the greater good. I bought a ring that screamed my calling "Be the change you wish to see in the world!" I felt I was on the cusp of doing just that - I started a non-profit organization whose mission was to promote environmental and social sustainability and addressed food justice issues. We had attained funding to start community gardens and egg co-ops. It was cutting edge. No one in our microcosm of the world was doing this. We were building community with a grass roots effort. I was definitely talking the talk - but I knew in my heart that I was not truly walking the walk.... quite literally.... on some days I could barely walk at all. My hands hands hurt too much to garden, and most mornings I was in so much pain that I could barely get out of bed let alone commit to going out to feed the chickens. So, while I administrated these vibrant community projects, I was not personally involved in any of them.
From the time I was a child, Shakespeare's quote, "This above all: to thine own self be true" resonated with me. This had been a continuous tune streaming in the back of my mind for the better part of my life. How had I lost touch with it? I was no longer true to myself. The truth finally hit me - if I was going to make a difference in this world I needed to be authentic. That meant both talking the talk and walking the walk.
I chose to take charge of my own life. I decided to fully commit to life which meant committing to change. I began listening to my own intuition - trusting my gut. Rather than being blindly led through the hoops of Western medicine, I opened my eyes to alternative thinking. I began to question. While my doctors may have gotten me through the eye of the storm (one that lasted 23 years!) did it need to consume the rest of my life? What choices could I make that might bring about positive changes?
I was more conscious of which gas I put in my car
than which fuel I put into my body.
than which fuel I put into my body.
I was consuming multiple medications - much of it masking my body's "dis-ease" - but not curing it. Often creating more problems. I began seeing more doctors, receiving more diagnoses and ultimately more medications. My blood study results were coming back funky - do I have RA? Lupus? Fatty liver disease? IBS? IBD? No one seemed to know for sure, but all were more than willing to prescribe new medications. I asked one of my doctors if he thought that food could be affecting the way I was feeling. His response: "If food could cure what you have then I would be out of business." He wasn't lying - I just wasn't listening. More recently I asked another doctor who had diagnosed me with an unspecified autoimmune disease - and agreed that more than 70% of our immune function resides in our gut - if he thought that the problems I was dealing with could be originating in my gut. He said, "No, I don't think so."
That was my final wake up call.
I looked to nature's medicine cabinet for healing. I made the decision to become more intentional about my food choices, my medical choices, my life choices, and my spiritual choices. In doing so I am in the process of reclaiming my life. It took me 23 years to get to where I am and since life is a process I have chosen to be patient and embrace the process of healing.
This is not a quick fix.
If you are ready, if you are brave, if you are a warrior - come work with me. The prescriptions I offer are side effect free. It is a program that is designed with your individual health needs, your life goals, and your taste buds in mind.
It is a lifestyle choice.
It is time to own your life experience.
Take my hand and let's ride out this storm together!
As a coach, I put the power back in YOUR hands.
I cannot promise a cure, but I can promise that if you commit to this change,
at the end of six months you WILL feel better than you feel today!
at the end of six months you WILL feel better than you feel today!
Learn more about my training and my unique approach to health coaching.
Are you curious about how health coaching can help you? Let’s talk.
Schedule a wellness consultation with me today.