Well, maybe not races, but I’m back in the running.

Many people ask me how I found my way to becoming a natural health care practitioner. It is a long journey back in time to get clear on how the doors first opened for me.

I spent almost twenty-five years working for a Fortune 500 corporation. During that time I held a number of different positions, eventually working my way “up the ladder.” I had the opportunity not only to experience first hand the joys and stresses of the workplace, I unfortunately was one of the people that had to deliver too many of those downsizing messages. That ultimately took its toll on me. Let’s go back to where I think my journey began.

I divorced early in my corporate career and even though that was a good thing for both of us, I still felt something was missing in my life. My sister encouraged me to attend an intense, personal growth seminar. Of course, I had all the usual reasons why I couldn’t or shouldn’t attend. I finally “let go and let God” and attended.

I learned many valuable life lessons, the most significant of which was when the facilitator asked some one in the group to tell a story about a time when they were completely victimized. I couldn’t wait to be called upon to share my story. I told a great story, ever so proud of myself for convincing the other trainees how victimized I was. After some laughs, I was asked to tell the same story only this time taking full responsibility for every choice I made along the way. I gasped! After all that drama, how could I claim responsibility? Much to my amazement, I was able to do so.

That was a life changing experience. Through a simple shift in storytelling, I learned how much power we have in our daily lives through each of the simple, seemingly meaningless choices we make every single moment. I began an insatiable quest for information on spiritual growth, alternative health, virtually anything out of the “ordinary” as I knew it. I was driving the people around me crazy with my new found discovery and beliefs.

You would think after a such a powerful lesson I would have learned the importance of listening to my inner voice. I didn’t. I spent the next several years ignoring my heart and spirit. I eventually developed a severe case of osteoarthritis and needed to wear orthopedic braces on my legs. I blamed my condition on years of sports and wearing high heels on a concrete factory floor. As I dug further into new age thinking, I recalled that knee problems represent stubborn ego and pride, inflexibility and not giving in, according to Louise Hay in You Can Heal Your Life. Joints represent changes in direction in your life and the ease of making these movements. Stuck with making my current situation work, I am a fighter and survivor; I didn’t want to give up, even though it was really taking its toll on me. I knew I needed to change directions, but was too fearful to make the change.

I have always been intuitive, although I’ve tried to hide, discount, and ignore that skill because it didn’t seem “normal” to other people. So, for the majority of my life, I repressedmy intuition because the approval and acceptance of others seemed much more important than being who I really am. After considerable reflection, I now know that the real cause of my knee problems was not listening to my inner voice. Had I been paying attention along the way and not denying my intuitive capability and my desires, my body wouldn’t have had to do something so drastic to get my attention.

I got to the point where pain became the focus of my life. All I was able to do was get to work each day and come home and cry. The pain became unbearable. I was close to suicidal. I wasn’t willing to spend time with my friends and virtually gave up my love of boating, partially because of the pain, but mainly because of the attention. When people would see the braces they would want to ask all kinds of questions. I know that people weren’t being malicious or cruel; I just DID NOT want to be reminded of my “condition.” I finally returned to see my orthopedist and was told that the only option was to have a total knee replacement. I was reluctant to have this extremely invasive surgery, because I had enough difficulty recovering from my two previous “simple” arthroscopies and somehow, my inner voice was telling me the procedure would be a big mistake.

I wholeheartedly believed my inner voice (intuition) was speaking to me even though I wasn’t sure what it was saying. I eventually found my way to a Naturopath who practiced bio-energetic medicine. I learned through the screening process that my adrenal glands, pancreas and thyroid glands showed signs of extreme energetic weakness.

According to the work of Louise Hay, on the emotional level, these glands and organ represent
– Defeatism, no longer caring for the self, anxiety
– Sweetness in life
– “When will it be my turn?”

As I reflected on this information, I realized that I was quite anxious and not taking very good care of myself. I had come to the point where I felt defeated in my life because I couldn’t affect any change. I was truly feeling like the joy or sweetness in my life was gone, I just wasn’t having fun anymore. I also had been a service provider my entire career, looking out for other people and, at times, I felt resentful because there was never enough left for me. My body managed to tell me that story! With Sue’s (Naturopath) direction, after three short months, I was no longer in need of wearing my braces – or surgery! Each day the pain subsided and I am still regaining my strength.

Sue is a true healer, not because she “cured” me, but because she took the time to listen to me and my body, and then helped facilitate my improvement by providing me with the tools and information I needed to get better. I am the one that chose improvement. She helped me to “re-member” who I really am. She is a bit of a mystic and started asking me questions about when things in my life started changing. She was able to help me raise memories of childhood, those before I learned to conform and hide my true identity! I must have cried most of the first appointment at the realization that someone recognized me. She encouraged and urged me to rediscover my dream and pursue it. She has become my mentor and friend.

After extensive exploration and reflection, I “discovered” it was time to change careers. With Sue’s guidance and my determination, I left the “comforts” of a corporate career’s steady paycheck, earned a Doctorate in Natural Health, received training on the Bio-Energetic Screening equipment and technique, interned with my mentor and opened my own alternative health care business.

Because of my experience in the training profession and several years in a people leadership position, it has been a natural transition to alternative health care consulting because so much of what I do involves providing information to people so they can make informed decisions. For me, there couldn’t have been a better change than to be able to help people develop their own divine potential. I am committed to helping people finding balance in their lives by teaching them how to listen to their inner voice and align their body, mind and spirit through a holistic approach to health and well being. I am grateful every day for the opportunity to help people see their own gifts, strengths and share the gift of healing with others.

Through my journey I have continued to realize the importance of listening to my mind, body and/or spirit. When my inner voice speaks, I listen. I was recently talking with a group of people about listening to these messages and what happens when we don’t pay attention. We all laughed and remembered how important it is to listen or eventually “pay the price.” There are times when I may shake my head and say, “I can’t do that. That’s silly, give it up.” But now I know it makes much more sense to say, “Hey, wait a minute, I better listen to that message.”

I have come to recognize the power of gratitude and abundance. I have learned, and continue to learn, the power of choice. We can make things difficult, or we can make them easy. The choice is in our hands – in our every day actions or reactions. If I make a choice that doesn’t seem to fit, I know I can choose again.

Today I choose not to wear leg braces. It is that simple.

I was asked to provide a local paper with a picture of me in braces. I searched all of my photo albums and wasn’t able to find any pictures of me in braces (big surprise). So, I put the braces back on for my husband to take pictures. I immediately had an extremely interesting experience with cellular memory. My knees almost instantly went back to feeling like they did when I wore the braces! My emotions were soon to follow. I became more and more miserable as time went on and got so frustrated that I couldn’t continue with the picture session.

My knees actually hurt for the remainder of the day! I suddenly realized the reality and power of cellular memory and that I am TRULY committed to never having to wear the braces again.