Long gravel path with trees lining the path with autumn colored leaves of orange, green and gold. Some dried leaves are on the ground next to the path and a female standing in the middle of the path wearing blue pants, white shirt and black cardigan with arms stretched out to her side up in the air. Blue skies and blue lake surrounded by a tree line in the background.

Questions Clients Ask Me

This month, I’m going to get personal with you.

During the last 13 years, working as a bodyworker and a massage therapist; many people have asked me, “What do you do to stay so healthy?” I also may receive comments like, “You are the most Zen person I know.” or in a question form, “Are you calm ALL the time?”

The truth of the matter is, yes, I do things to keep myself as healthy as humanly possible, and, no, I am not calm ALL the time!

One of the reasons why I professionally got into the world of bodywork and healing was to actually learn how to heal myself from chronic injuries during my previous career as a dancer. Providing manual therapy and teaching others how to take care of themselves, was the other, obvious reason, I went into this field.

This all said, one of the things I’ve learned along the way is that receiving bodywork is not a vehicle to become more peaceful and Zen-like, ALL the time; but rather an opportunity to break the fight & flight response in order to feel into one’s body and help one become more alive in the process!

To me, living fully and being alive in this world is not only about feeling good, it’s about living fully. Living fully covers a whole array of emotions and experiences, not just the peaceful ones.

Think of my practice’s logo. It depicts the human body/being, alive and moving freely with all of the colors of the chakra system represented in the watercolor painting behind and within the body’s image. This represents life and, in my experience, life is not just about arriving to a fully healed destination; but rather it’s a series of ebb and flow events and occurrences, and how we deal with these situations that arise in our world, helps us determine our destinies. When we are healthy, it becomes easier to move through the experiences life brings into our world.

3 1/2 years ago, when I turned 35, something happened in my life, and my body, that I wasn’t expecting. Within a month’s time, my energy levels dwindled to the point where it was a consistent challenge getting out of bed in the morning. I would hit my snooze alarm for up to an hour each day and even then, I had to give myself a talking to, just to get out of bed. Once I got out of bed, I didn’t have the energy to exercise or do much of anything except get ready for work, go to work, come home and sleep. As a result of this lethargy and lack of exercise, I gained 20 pounds and was at the heaviest weight I had ever been.

Being someone who has had healthy eating habits throughout the majority of my life, I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. I wasn’t able read my body’s signals and I knew I needed help, so I saw my doctor for some bloodworm and soon found out that I was developing, hypothyroidism.

Surprised at this revelation, I was at the same time relieved because I knew I could do something about this. I worked closely with my doctor to bring my thyroid functioning back into balance. After a few months, my energy levels started to increase. I was able to get out of bed with more ease and less snooze and exercise was a daily habit again.

It felt good to be living in a body that felt more familiar to me. The one hurdle I couldn’t seem to get over was the fact that I was still carrying the extra 20 pounds I gained, and healthy eating and all, I couldn’t seem to lose those pounds.

I brought this concern up to one of my chiropractors and he suggested doing a cleanse.

Now, I don’t know about you, but anytime I had participated in a cleanse in the past I usually did so feeling quite deprived during the process only to binge on food once the cleanse was completed. Yes, there is a healing crisis that can occur during a cleanse where you feel worse before you get better as the old, toxic build up that is in our systems start to flush through. This is to be expected. I just could never get through the deprivation hump that lead me to gorge on food after all was said and done.

Reluctantly, I decided to follow, the suggestion out of result of having much respect for his professional experience and work he had previously done with me.  One week later I found myself starting a cleanse called; Clean, Burn & Shape.

To my surprise, after a couple of days of feeling funky as things were moving through and out of my system; I found myself actually enjoying the 10 day cleanse as a result of actually feeling nourished and energized throughout. The amount of food that I was able to eat, along with the supplements and shakes seemed to compliment my body’s needs rather than deprive them.

Needless to say, I felt great and lost 7 pounds during those 10 days. Another surprise that followed is that my body was actually craving healthy foods and smaller portions after the cleanse was over. Flash forward 6 months post cleanse, the 20 pounds I gained, once my thyroid started malfunctioning, was now gone due to the healthier and more energized habits I worked so hard to accomplish.

I share this experience with you in response to the numerous questions I receive, like the one I shared earlier in this story. I am also sharing this with you to invite you to join me in on this cleanse at the start of the spring season that’s just around the corner.  Contact me directly and/or check out the shop page to learn more!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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