One woman’s journey from dis-ease to optimal health
Always being a healthful-minded, go-getter type of person, my career and family life have always been extremely busy. As an entrepreneur and mother of three, everything was scheduled down to the minute, yet there was always time for exercise, nutritious meals, and maintaining what would be considered a healthy body weight. So, when I started experiencing chronic back pain followed by anxiety and depression, it felt as though my body was betraying me.
I did everything ‘right’ according to health magazines and nutritional guides, so why was this happening to me? There was no accident to explain the pain. No falls or mishaps and no previous health conditions to explain why my body was now seemingly falling apart.
Feeling terrified as there must be an underlying disease that is the perpetrator of all these symptoms, my mind was expecting and planning for the worst. Was it cancer? Lyme disease? Was my body destined to become useless? The more I focused solely on the possible causes of my constant pain the more I fell into severe depression and began losing myself.
The thought of even getting out of bed to start my day was full of fear as to how everything that needed to be done would be completed when the pain never subsided. With children and a husband who counted on me being there, as well as a successful company to manage, my list of responsibilities seemed never-ending, but the pain had become my entire being and what once brought me joy…now brought me anxiety.
Life as I knew it felt like it was over.
After over 6 weeks of my health and wellbeing continuing to decline, my husband finally convinced me to go see our family doctor as there must be a logical explanation and treatment for the pain. Reluctantly I set up an appointment knowing that the doctor would most likely discover my body riddled with cancer or another potentially fatal disease, but I could no longer live in agony.
Upon arriving, the doctor performed a full check-up, ordered bloodwork, X-rays, an ultrasound, and more. He then referred me to a back specialist who also performed a barrage of testing and after waiting for what seemed like forever to hear the results, the tests finally came back and showed…nothing.
No cancer. No degenerative disease. No herniated discs…nothing. My blood pressure was normal, my cholesterol was low, and in fact, on paper, I was the epitome of health. But how? How was I in this much constant agony with no explanation?
The only solution I was offered…pain medications.
Now I am not one who likes pills. I have rarely even taken an aspirin, yet my entire future was now scheduled to be full of a continuous pain-pill cycle. Pills that often made me nauseous and left me feeling out of sorts. I felt myself losing control of my mind, body, and spirit and knew this was not the life I wanted or worked so hard for.
As I lay in bed, in pain, dreading the thought of consuming another pill I slowly placed my hand along the edge of my spine. It was excruciatingly painful.
Calm yourself. Breathe.
I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly pulled my fingers away from my body. My mind calmed, my heart rate slowed, and I began to do what I should have done from the beginning…listen. Listen to the rhythm of my body. My heartbeat, my muscles, my organs. I focused on hearing what my body was trying to tell me through all this pain.
Suddenly I was taken to a place in my mind that I had not been since I was a teen. I was fourteen again with all the feelings of insecurity, anxiety, fear, and self-doubt that I thought I had overcome. I could feel the loneliness. The constant pressure to keep everyone around me happy and content so that they would notice I was there and would appreciate me.
As emotions from years gone by took over my mind, I began to see similarities between my present and my past. I unknowingly was still trying to please everyone around me. Still trying to be accepted by my peers and despite my success as a wife, mother, and entrepreneur…I was still insecure. Still, that fourteen-year-old girl struggling to be seen.
I began to understand that although I was hugely successful in my life, I was not living my life lovingly to myself. I had been masking my doubts, my fears, and my insecurities. Relinquishing my health, happiness, and wellbeing to those around me. With this understanding came something I had not expected…pain relief.
As I lay there with my eyes still closed, for the first time in months I was not in pain. It was a fleeting moment as the pain soon returned, however, by listening to my body for the first time in my life, I was able to dive deeper into my symptoms and discovered my body wasn’t betraying me. It was telling me to pay attention to my inner self the only way it knew how…through pain. My body knew I was not in alignment even though I could not see it for myself, and the pain medications were only masking my body’s language.
Enough was enough. That brief moment of pain relief taught me that my symptoms were not the problem. The continued neglect of my personal well-being and not addressing the underlying causes of my anxiety were causing my body to scream out in pain. I had to learn how to fully listen to discover optimal health.
From that day forward, I chose to consciously approach situations from a point of love. I stopped blaming my body, began to inquire deep into my core values, and engaged my newfound insight while using it to discover true optimal health.
Like millions of others, I was trapped in my pain due to my past. By listening to my body, I was able to free myself of the negative thoughts and move from dis-ease to optimal health which allows me to now live a pain-free life. No more pills. No more agonizing over my symptoms, and no more thinking my body was failing me. It is possible to discover the meaning behind your symptoms if you only learn how to listen.
For anyone out there who is feeling they have become their diagnosis, is trapped in chronic pain, or is struggling with day-to-day life due to symptoms… there is hope and it begins with you!
Learn how to move from dis-ease to optimal health and STOP the Symptom-Pill Cycle by discovering how to LISTEN to your body so that you can REBOOT for optimal health by joining the Your Body Mind Reboot Program.
Your body is not your enemy. Discover your optimal health today!
