When I first became extremely ill with a lot of pain, migraines and constant chest infections, I later found out it was Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. At the time I was living a very full life with a lot of busy and no time for myself. Looking back on it, it was actually crazy. Always doing everything for everybody else be it my boss or working for somebody else, punishing exercise and eating routines, emotional roller coasters with friends and family but never working on myself or my own personal relationship. It was a life of chaos and not a lot of meaning.
Being in the grind is almost like living unconsciously. Going through life doing, doing and doing more and for what? We don’t get to know ourselves this way, we simply go along with what we’re told we should do. Then a crisis hits and we have an opportunity to re-evaluate. These times of re-evaluation is where we choose what is actually important to us and we have an opportunity to make a change. No matter how scary it is at the time.
For some that change can simply be some time out, which is exactly what we do at Bliss Sanctuary For Women and it is magical. Especially when our guests actually take the time to rest and recharge and let themselves be looked after and nurtured, massaged and healed.
For others like me, that can be a whole life change. A change of jobs, countries, living somewhere different, new friendship groups etc.
And for the real magic it is inserting it into our everyday lives once we have experienced what creating space actually is even in the short term.
This is different for everybody. For me it was around helping my body deal with pain. For somebody else it may be creating some adult time away from kids, or relationship time, or family time for work, or a change of careers and working from home or living closer to your office.
In dealing with pain I learnt to put my body first. I started listening to her. I started honouring her. I started loving her.
I became aware of the pain and went into it and learnt how to shift it to let it go. I learnt how to heal myself everyday. I found some things that are now a really important part of my daily routine. I have a massage chair that helps shift the pain physically and at the same time I manage stress by listening to podcasts or calming relaxing meditative music. I can’t sit in one spot and simply meditate as the pain is too great. So I found my own way of doing it in Zero G position on a massage chair.
I have an electronic bed that puts me in zero G and also massages which is more of a vibration but it somehow really helps my body relax.
I exercise in the pool and make sure I am in there moving almost everyday. I worked out that magnesium pools are ultra amazing for me and really help me relax and my muscles respond in kind.
I have simplified the food I eat so my IBS can deal with it and mostly always it needs to be cooked. This actually means I let myself eat takeaway quite often too as I don’t have the physical capacity to always cook and clean up. And as long as my body can easily digest the food it is a win.
I work from bed or the couch.
Yes, I often work from bed.
It is comfortable and supportive and I can put it into any position I need.
And I can get so much done in a short amount of time which is the only time I have until the brain fog sets in.
I have minimised my task lists.
I get home deliveries of groceries, scripts, just about anything I need to purchase.
And I create my own peaceful, beautiful, comfortable sanctuaries so I can feel inspired to work and be creative and get the most out of myself and life.
Much of this came after I created Bliss Sanctuary For Women as after creating these beautiful sanctuaries and experiences for other women and helping them feel safe and looked after with everything done for them. I finally realised I needed to do this for myself.
It is then that the business grew. That the everyday tasks became easier. I learned to delegate. I honoured the pain. I rested a lot lot lot more. I changed my life completely.
And it is then that I became much happier. Anyone living with chronic pain or illness knows how it takes over your emotions and life. But I took my life back and balanced my emotions. I learned what was important for me and it is wellness through balance. And now I have dedicated my life to creating this for others with all of the work I do.
I now live a magical life and an amazing one. It is not always easy but I turn towards the struggle and the awareness helps it dissipate. It is not a life of escapism. It is a more simplified, effective and loving life full of amazing experiences. It is full of the magic of creating space for amazing things to happen.
I am very blessed to talk about creating space in a virtual women’s summit with 21 women speaking about ‘becoming me again’. ‘How to move feeling lost, invisible & stuck. How to become who you’ve always wanted to be’. You can sign up for the summit here.
Or listen to my online talk about this here (coming soon).
And if you would like to speak to me personally about this or need help on your own journey, I have limited appointments here. By letting us know you are part of the Becoming Me Seminar you receive 50% OFF any appointments.