Chronic illness isn’t a ‘life sentence’ to feeling trapped and controlled by your symptoms

The doctors tell you it will only get worse with time. That’s a story! And it’s not a story that serves us. It’s not even a story that has to be true for us. So whether you’ve been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (like me), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, arthritis, or pain that doesn’t come with an easy diagnosis (or comes with 50 conflicting diagnoses), I want you to know that you have control over your story.

I didn’t always feel like that was true.

When I was diagnosed with MS, just after birthing my baby girl, and it felt like a death sentence. The doctor had no solutions to offer, only pressured me into taking medications which did not resonate with me at all. I always knew that our bodies are designed to heal and I wanted to take the situation in my own hands and facilitate this healing process.

I felt like I was fighting for my life, desperate to find a shred of hope. I read all the books, combed through all of the MS forums, and tried all of these things:

• 21 days of juicing

• Master cleanse

• Gnarly detoxes

• Raw Vegan Vegan

• Pescatarian

• Paleo

• Vegan

• Straight Keto

• Intermittent fasting

• Ayurvedic diets

• Oxygenated water

• All kinds of supplements and superfoods

I stopped just short of only eating bananas for the rest of my life - and if someone had told me that was the cure, I would have done that too.

Some of these changes did help me feel better, especially Paleo and Keto. And at the same time I was making other changes, like increasing meditation and taking better care of myself. But what made the most impact was a session with a BodyTalk intuitive healer.

But let me give you some backstory before I get into that:

I’d recently been under a lot of stress - not from MS, as it wasn’t part of my reality yet, but from chronic financial stress and the stress I’ve put on myself from planning an extravagant wedding that my fiance and I could not afford. Why would I do that? Good question! I, like many others, were trying to fit “the norms” and to please others. It left me feeling so drained, completely stressed and so out of balance in my life!

Additionally, my lifestyle wasn’t too healthy either. Over the years of some traumatic childhood experiences, difficult upbringing, and continuous life challenges, I’ve adapted a “victim mindset” and I found unhealthy ways to deal with my deep emotional traumas and life stressors. I was suffering from alcohol and nicotine addictions for years starting in my teens. It was my way of dealing with stress and numbing the pain.

In my BodyTalk session, I saw how my upbringing, past trauma and culture were affecting me - and I heard these truths from my BodyTalk practitioner, who was getting them from ‘speaking’ with my body. My body was talking back, making suggestions for things to try. I was blown away by the level of connection someone could have with my body, when it was MY body, and I wasn’t even that connected with it!

I wanted to tap into that too! I wanted to open up communication with my physical, mental, emotional being and get those insights straight from the source.

At the same time, I’d been becoming more aware of my patterns, habits, stories and traumas, and I did a lot of “shadow work.” While I was going through a divorce (I know what you’re thinking: Hey didn’t you just get married and have a baby? Yep - and was diagnosed with MS, let’s not forget that!).

Everything was crashing down at once, or at least it felt that way.

But the one thing that was getting better was me. My body. My mind. BodyTalk gave me a real, tangible way to strengthen both, and that’s what got me through.

And I’ve been feeling better and better ever since. So much so that I became a BodyTalk practitioner myself so I can help other chronic illness sufferers stop suffering.

• I’ve stopped the crazy diets. (I listen to my body now, using mindful eating, and noticing what foods make me feel better or worse)

• I don’t have to try everything every expert suggests anymore (my body is my expert - it tells me what I need)

• I freed myself from feeling like a victim of my diagnosis (and feel empowered to take my health into my own hands)

• I understand how my beliefs and stories can fuel my symptoms, or take away the fuel (there’s a strong connection between mind and inflammation)

• I choose love over fear, daily (this is the power of choosing the lens through which you perceive the world, yourself, and your diagnosis).

And I have been asymptomatic for the last 4 years now! But I still take it day by day.

I wake up and feel great - that’s the expectation I’ve built for myself.

And I am more loving and less judging about what my body can do - it’s doing the best it can (and that’s much better than the doctors would have had me believe!).

Most importantly, I’ve taken ownership of my life and my well-being.

And my body and I have a constant dialogue. In many ways, my body is my best friend - and that’s a significant change from how most of us with chronic illness diagnoses feel about our bodies! 

In a nutshell, BodyTalk has:

• Empowered me massively to be my own health advocate, because I’ve got my own body telling me what is and isn’t good for it. 

• Made me aware of what doesn’t serve me, which traumas I don’t need to identify with, and which emotions I do not need to carry.

• Made me aware of what my body needs and how to make the healthy choices that work for me.

I believe that …

Health is our birthright!

If your goals include:

• Getting off the medication and finding alternate ways to feel better…

• Becoming a stronger advocate for your own health…

• Cultivating an intuitive relationship with your body, mind and spirit…

• Uncovering the emotional, mental, energetic sources of your symptoms (that doctors aren’t trained to consider)...

• Shifting your pain and feeling an unshakable sense of wellbeing, balance and alignment…

• Decreasing anxiety, improving sleep, decreasing symptoms…

• And creating healthier relationships with yourself, your environment, stress and trauma triggers…

Then BodyTalk may be able to help you in ways no other method can. It’s certainly been true for me.

I’m not in “denial” about my MS. In fact, I’ve forged a new relationship with it. It doesn’t define me, it’s not part of who I am. But it’s also not the confines of some cage that I’m doomed to be trapped in - I’m not trapped. There is no cage. If anything, my MS diagnosis was a way for my body to start a two-way dialogue with me - a dialogue that’s evolved into a beautiful partnership.

FAQ: What BodyTalk Is and Isn’t

BodyTalk isn’t about “fixing” symptoms. It’s about putting you in tune with yourself and working on your mindset, your stories, and the lenses through which you see yourself and your life. It works best for people who are open-minded about more spiritual, energetic modes of healing.

The way it works is that the BodyTalk practitioner, through an intuitive connection with your body, observes your “bodymind” (the healing wisdom within you), and can see what you need for better health.

It’s not like other energy healing modalities. As a practitioner, my role is to be a neutral observer and communicator - your body does the healing. It’s my job to get to the root causes of your health issues, so we can then work on what your body needs and wants in order to return to its natural state of health.

If you’re curious about how BodyTalk can help you feel like your best self again, book a discovery call with me. I’m happy to answer your questions!