In case you missed it, last week I announced the release of my new online course: Stress-Less, Balance and Heal with powerful tools to help cultivate a healing environment in your body.
I wish I knew a decade ago how damaging chronic stress is. I wish I had the tools I have now, back then, before I burnt out my adrenal glands.
This course came about after I pulled myself out of a severe energy crisis, nearly three years ago, that left me absolutely exhausted. Burnt out. Completely.
This crisis came about by a collision of stress in my mind, body and environment.
The Workings of an Energy Crisis
The story starts in June 2010. That’s when I got married. Wedding planning was super stressful and the event stirred up much bigger emotional and spiritual issues in my life.
At the time my husband and I were living in a toxic condo that faced a major highway, across the street from a landfill.
Inside, our home environment was stressful most of the time. This was due to an abusive neighbor who lived below us.
He was violent. Angry. Crazy. And looking to share this energy with us.
He had a super LOUD stereo system that would shake the pictures off our walls. He used this as a communication mechanism when he was upset along with a broom stick to the ceiling. Violent banging. Randomly.
This was around the time that the housing market crashed in the U.S. and property values were low. If we sold, we would be upside down on the mortgage, owing thousands of dollars.
To make matter worse, when I purchased the property, I utilized a down payment assistance program and part of the agreement to receive the money was that I could not rent out the unit. They did random checks to ensure we were still living there.
In short, we were stuck living in an abusive, stressful environment.
In April 2011, a little less than a year after we got married, I was officially diagnosed with endometriosis and the added stress of infertility.
I was further diagnosed with Hashimoto’s – an autoimmune condition where your body attacks your thyroid.
There was stress in my body from these chronic diseases. I was surrounded by toxins and fear of a violent outburst from our neighbor. I was working full time in a stressful sales job and going to school to get my second master’s degree.
I was fueled with artificial energy from caffeine and sugar.
Stress was my middle name.
Forces of Synchronicity Saved Me
In the spring of 2013, property values finally started to climb. Interest rates were at a historic low, which stimulated people to buy. Suddenly, it looked like we could have a way out of our stressful environment.
In the span of a couple of weeks we got the condo ready for sale. This meant we had to find a new place to live. Housing inventory was low and they were selling quickly.
There wasn’t much time to ponder such a big investment. If you hesitated, you were at the mercy of the buyers coming in behind you.
After seeing four or five homes we walked into one that had a good feeling. It was older and surrounded by mature trees in a large yard for our boxers to run in.
Should we put an offer on it?
There were some quirks that made me second guess that decision, but I knew that there wasn’t much time to decide. Homes were selling in as little as 24 hours after they went on the market. We were the first ones to see the house so we needed to act fast.
As we drove away to look at more homes in another neighborhood, we got word that there was an offer on our condo. The first woman that walked in, wanted it. This came in perfect timing with that strong feeling in my gut about the home we had just looked at.
A couple of hours later we put an offer on that house and it was accepted.
We sold and bought on the same day.
I think the synchronicity of the situation was assisted by greater outside forces that pulled us out of an incredibly stressful situation.
The Aftermath of Chronic Stress
But all the years of chronic stress wore me down. I was exhausted. All. The. Time.
It was as if the collision of stress exploded and my body could take no more. My adrenals were fatigued. Bad.
Shortly after moving into our new home in the summer of 2013, I started school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). A school that changed my life.
I dove further into the world of health and wellness and became inspired with true belief that I could heal my body.
As part of the program, I worked with other student health coaches. As I talked with them I shared a common complaint: I was exhausted. Burnt out. I had too much to do, but little energy to do it. I never felt rested.
I took advantage of this community of like-minded coaches who helped me dig deeper into what I needed to do to feel better.
The process really helped me to see how big of a role STRESS played in my energy crisis.
Stress comes in many forms. For me it came from a toxic, abusive environment, endometriosis and chronic pain and a lifestyle of achievement that left little space for rest and restoration.
Your body can only handle so much before it breaks down.
I reached a point where I had to rest. I had no choice. My body could take no more.
Investment Into Myself
It was time to re-build. Address the stress.
I had to manage my energy levels.
This frustrated me.
But it forced me to SLOW down and SUPPORT my body with nourishment that encompassed mind, body and spirit.
I recognized that I was addicted to stimulation. I was looking to outside sources to fuel this, instead of looking within.
As I worked through the program at IIN, I finally began to see that I DESERVED to take care of me.
And I HAD to if I was going to get better.
This meant investment into myself.
This prompted a re-evaluation of my own values and where I was spending my money.
Instead of buying new clothes all the time, I shifted funds to eating organic and into appointments with alternative practitioners. I opted for monthly couple massages instead of a night out eating unhealthy, overpriced food.
My values shifted to investment into ME and what I NEEDED to heal.
I became my first health coaching client and along the way I became inspired to share all that I learned with others.
It is possible to FEEL BETTER.
I received my health coaching certification in March 2014 and have been coaching ladies with endometriosis manage pain through natural methods ever since.
And there continues to be a common theme that I see: STRESS.
It’s everywhere, in many forms and it’s impacting us all in a BIG way.
How do we get through it?
I think that it starts with self-love and self-care. Once these are in place then it becomes easier to figure out what you need to get better.
This is what pulls you though when times get rough. When they get dark.
LOVE is the answer.
Finding True Love
As the weather warms here and I sit outside in the sun, I must express gratitude for my peaceful environment.
I built a meditation practice in the space among the trees and re-connected to a beautiful place inside.
I became a witness to the pain and I found true LOVE that was missing for most of my life.
One way to reduce stress in your mind and body is to re-connect to this space – everyday. If only for a couple of minutes.
Why not take a couple minutes NOW?
Here’s a guided exercise to help re-connect to that source of LOVE inside. That source that has the true power to HEAL.
On the Positive Side?
I believe it was outside forces that helped us to get out of that toxic condo to a place where I could finally heal.
I could finally rest.
Now that I’ve emerged to the other side of that energy crisis, I’m ready to share the lessons I learned with you.
Are you feeling burnt out? Exhausted? Stressed Out? Tired of the pain and ready for a change?
Check out my new online course with tools to help you stress-less, balance and heal.
Registration closes April 17th!
