Faith and Healing

As many of you know, I have had health challenges due to chronic exposure to mold, topped with an acute exposure 2 years ago. Last year, I found an adequate place to stay (once you've been exposed and gotten ill, your immune system is much more sensitive to things you normally wouldn't react to) and decided to take my own challenge.  Let's just say that I had challenges with the first week of my Challenge.  

I thought I had done enough healing since I was no longer being exposed to mold and had control over my environment. But I was forgetting that mold doesn't just go away. It hides out and, if you have no current environmental exposure, you may think everything is OK. Since mold lies dormant in your body, it causes a chronic inflammation which your immune system reacts to on a continuous, low level. It is typically referred to as CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome).

My story started when my son and I began to have mysterious and frequent respiratory illnesses with fevers which seemed to come out of nowhere. Some lasted and had a typical pattern of a viral infection (and some probably were viral infections since your body's defense is weaker when it is constantly at alert on another front) and others were high fevers with no other symptoms that disappeared just as quickly as they came. Needless to say, coupled with the neurologic disturbances in concentration and thinking, this derailed my life and made it difficult to move forward in many ways.

Several years after the mysterious illnesses began, I saw visible mold (like the fungi you see in the woods on rotting tree trunks) on the sills of the home that I had built with my estranged husband. The builder and window installation company thought nothing of this. I was overwhelmed. My husband was unsupportive and emotionally abusive (thankfully he was out of state 90% of the time making it more tolerable) and didn't think it was an issue. Another year later, I noticed dark brown/black spots on all the windows, with one awful window spot that would actually "weep" when there was a storm that drove from the south. Every window was affected. Every. Single. Window.

To heal, I needed to get into a mold free place, but I was trying to make a losing situation work ~ holding onto a home that had mold; navigating a difficult personal situation where my partner in the home stepped out of his financial obligation, leaving me to hold the bag (trying to force my hand) while he started over; and continually getting sick along with my son. To make matters worse, as he forced my hand, I realized we couldn't sell with mold and I continued to get sick as I navigated the legal system trying to hold onto the house, modify and refinance the loan, and eventually fix the mold. Needless to say, this overwhelmed me.

This difficult and long chapter of my life is now almost 2 years behind me and we have a new place; though I now need a new, mold free vehicle. I was left an old work pickup truck which has been contaminated from transporting far too many moldy belongings from 2 separate moldy houses to even think about being able to use it. It is a gas guzzling truck with a cracked windshield, 245,000 miles and needs so many repairs that it is not worth keeping, even if it didn't have mold. So many things that need to be started over again, but new beginnings are exciting.

​All of this still makes life challenging, but nevertheless, it is time to get my health in order. And to do that, the gut comes first. I knew my wellness coaching and cleanse program was the perfect place to start, but because I had the mold issues and was (and am) very certain that my cells are in need of detoxification, I was not expecting it to be fun. I designed it to be gentle and that is my saving grace. Gentle it is, yet I still had bothersome symptoms during the cleanse portion. During the 3 day cleanse, I was very off base. I was dizzy and foggy. My face was bright red. I looked like a stop light on the second day. I couldn't even complete the mini cleanse without eating (which is OK, it just gives me more information on what level of healing is needed). At the end, I was reminded that the rules of healing apply to all of us, including myself.

So even though I generally feel better and don't look sick, I know that I have a lot more work to do than a 2-week program can address, but this was a great beginning. I am putting a plan together for myself (mirroring my 8-week coaching program) that addresses my unique needs and I hope you join me on my journey. I'm in the process of picking out a healing partner/coach since it is always good to be accountable to someone other than yourself. This also gives you a perspective that you can't possibly give yourself. I'm doing this. I'm moving forward with my health. I trust that the power within my body is sufficient to heal my body.  

During one of the programs I've given, one participant felt her anxiety begin to melt away and improve significantly within 4 days. Your mind and your body are interconnected, so this was was no surprise to me. This story greatly illustrates how your gut truly is your second brain. I am grateful to be able to help people in this fashion and am excited to see how my own health improves now that I can fully move toward healing.  

Since I’ve been limited in how far I could push my health forward until certain circumstances changed (though one still needs to be changed), I anticipate great changes this year. I have a newfound peace since I can finally move faster than circumstances have allowed me to in the past. I’ve also gone deeper into letting things go that do not serve me. Focusing on my faith and truly releasing the fear has been liberating. It is interesting that food was the catalyst for all this.  

If you’d like to join in on the next Take OWNERSHIP 14-Day Challenge to get your health bumped up a notch, reclaim it or just get into summer shape, check it out here. Or if you’d like to go deeper, consider personal coaching or my 8-week focused coaching package to get you into summer and jumpstart the rest of your life.  I can help you find your blocks, identify your road map to navigate them and move your life and your health forward.  Check it out here and stay tuned for more progress!