On September 16, 2012 I hit publish on my first blog post. It was called Serotonin in the Menstrual Cycle. I remember how nervous I was to let my words out into the world wide web.
It took me forever to post a picture of myself or to reveal my last name. I had to get comfortable letting my thoughts out so publicly. I felt very vulnerable.
But by opening up and sharing in this space, I created connection with beautiful Endo Sisters around the world. And I found that my vibe attracted my tribe.
I appreciate this most of all. You 🙂
Learning Along the Way…
Looking back over these past three years and the posts that I’ve written almost every week, I’m reminded of how much I’ve learned and how much I’ve grown.
Three years ago my bookshelf began to fill with books on health and wellness. As I completed them, I shared much of this information with you.
I started to keep track of the books I was reading that influenced my posts here. Over three years this amounted to 49 books!
I am a student at heart. I don’t think that I will ever stop learning. This is propelled by my love of reading and writing. Writing helps to sort my thoughts.
I love that I have this space to share my journey and findings along the way. It feeds my inner student and my greater desire to teach 🙂
In recognition of this three year mark, I’ve gotten a bit reminiscent about Peace With Endo and all that it’s brought to me and you in the last three years.
Here are three… of three recollections…
Top Three Viewed Posts
After a little analytics review I found out that the following three posts have been viewed the most in Peace with Endo’s three years.
1.) Fasting and Menstruation
This article reviews the benefits of fasting during menstruation for pain management.
I still water fast on the first day of my period, dependent on pain and nausea levels. I usually fast anywhere from 20 – 24 hours on the first day of flow.
Have you tried fasting? Does it help with your pain?
Seems that by the traffic to this most viewed post that most ladies are, or are interested in doing so 🙂
2.) Castor Oil Packs for Endometriosis
This post reviews the benefits of castor oil and how to do a castor oil pack.
Castor oil packs are an effective natural solution to help clear your lymphatic system, which is essential to healing.
Castor oil packs are also a great way to naturally reduce ovarian cysts.
Tried them? Find them helpful?
3.) Your Thyroid, Fatigue & Endometriosis
Seems that I am not the only one with endometriosis also struggling with thyroid issues.
This post goes into the importance of your thyroid for hormonal balance and symptoms of an under active thyroid, which includes fatigue.
Do you have thyroid issues too?
Three of My Favorites
Here are three of my favorite posts from the past three years.
1.) Re-framing Our Associations With Endo
This post remains one of my favorites as it was a big lesson presented to me by the editor of my book and how I use words to describe my life with endometriosis.
She pointed out the use of the words “my endometriosis”.
When I defined this dis-ease as “mine”, this ultimately made it harder to become truly free of it.
Later I recognized the use of the words “fighting endometriosis.”
With fighting comes resistance. With fighting comes pain. In truth… with love and acceptance comes peace.
Wow. Still so true. Love.
2.) Color More. Stress Less.
My life changed when I dropped into the world of adult coloring books. I’m hooked.
I think coloring is a wonderful active meditation, which has helped with stress and stirring my creative juices.
I’ve also found that the colors that I chose on any given day coincides with how I am feeling and related chakra colors. Interesting, indeed 🙂
A little color therapy always helps.
Do you like to color too?
3.) Oxytocin (The Love Hormone) Conquers All
This post goes into the benefits of the hormone oxytocin and how to get more of it in your life.
Learning about oxytocin was a pretty big deal. It proves that love really does conquer all 🙂
Three Lessons Learned
I’ve experimented with a lot of things on this journey to naturally healing endometriosis. Here are three important lessons that I’ve learned in the past three years.
1.) Detoxing wears on your adrenals.
My primary motivation behind starting this blog was to capture my experiences in doing a series of Liver and Gallbladder cleanses to help heal endometriosis.
When all was said and done I did 11 of them. Yup. 11.
I was doing them every month or two. Towards the end I started to notice signs of adrenal fatigue, including pigment changes on my face.
I learned later that all that detoxing was very hard on my adrenals and and living in a stressful environment during the time made things much worse.
So I slowed down on the detoxing.
I do believe that the cleanses helped, but I wouldn’t recommend going overboard if you have adrenal issues, or lots of stress in your life.
2.) Find Something to Believe In.
I’ve written about so many different things on this blog, and there were times along the way where I felt really overwhelmed with it all.
I was throwing a lot of things in the mix, hoping that something would work.
What I learned… find something to believe in.
One of the biggest factors in healing is believing it is possible. Pick something to try and believe that you will get better from it.
Visualize your success. Then release it and let it take its course. Don’t stress over everything. Do what you can.
3.) Diet plays a big role, but joy is bigger.
I’ve written many posts on Peace With Endo about the importance of diet & endometriosis. Plenty of times I’ve regretted falling off course with my food choices as I found myself in a lot of pain.
Food plays a big role in the health of your gut — the pathway to healing.
But I think a bigger route to healing is through your heart. Find your passion, find your purpose, find yourself.
If you’re unsure how to get there, or get lost along the way try out morning pages or meditation to gain clarity from your true self.
When in doubt, choose what brings you joy.
What’s Next?
I am in the process of putting together an online group healing program that incorporates the lessons that I’ve learned along the way. If this intrigues you, then be sure to sign up for email updates.
My hubby and I are also in the process of writing an endo friendly cookbook and there have been talks of doing a musical album with songs related to Peace With Endo.
Yay 🙂
On the Positive Side?
Looking back, a lot has changed.
In three years time I bought my first house, started a new job in web design, got certified to be a health coach, and published my first book!
Thank you for being here along the way and for sharing this journey with me.
To celebrate this three year mark I’m giving away three autographed copies of my book, From Pain to Peace with Endo to three lucky winners!
I’m also gifting out autographed copies to those who referred the winners.
So the more people you share this with, the more chances you have to win 🙂
Find out more about this awesome giveaway here.
And as always, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below or via social media.
Onwards with Love & Peace,
Aubree.
