So, What's My Story: A Look at How I Became an Integrative Holistic Wellness Specialist

I get it. The frustration. The sadness. The worry. The fear.

I get it. Being disconnected from your joy. Struggling to be happy.

In 2011, that was me. Living a life completely disconnected from my own joy and happiness. From the outside looking in it may have appeared that I was gracefully flowing through life, but I wasn’t.

A husband, two kids, a stable job, a home and on studying for a new career. Yes I had all of those things and I was grateful.

But I definitely wasn’t flowing gracefully through life.

I had a crazy schedule between commuting to and from work and school four days a week. I relied on my husband to take care of the kids most of the time including weekends. I missed out on lots of events in my kids’ lives during those years. It took a huge toll on my family and my marriage.

During this time, I started suffering from intense migraine headaches, I had no desire for intimacy with my husband, I was experiencing physical aches and pains all over my body, and to boot, my oldest child began a rebellious period in her life.

Before 2011 closed out, I lost my beloved grandmother to Alzheimer’s disease. Although she lived in a nursing home, I was responsible for keeping track of her care and eventually making all the hospice and funerary arrangements.

The grief from this loss and the weight of all the other things that were going wrong in my life broke me. I can recall an evening where the intensity of the migraine I was experiencing had me wailing in tears.

By this time, I had tried every pill, every plan, and even taken every test possible from neurology to orthopedics. Nothing worked. None of my doctors or specialists could explain why I was experiencing such debilitating migraines and all-over body aches. I would be out of commission for four days if I took it easy and rested. If I couldn’t rest, they would last much longer. And the medications made me feel like I had an elephant standing on my chest!

The turning point came when my own orthopedic surgeon—baffled by his own inability to give me a diagnosis—recommended that I try acupuncture, chiropractic care, and massages.

I started looking into holistic methods to treat my ailments since Western medicine was clearly failing me. That’s when energy and vibrational healing fell into my lap after taking yoga classes that included Reiki.

As I learned about holistic wellness practices and their many benefits, I created my own personal holistic wellness practice. I began to feel better, have more energy, reconnect with my family in different ways, and I finally allowed emotional space for my grieving process.

My doctors could not believe how I had improved from this debilitating condition and while they kind of mocked it, I didn’t pay any attention to their opinions about my practice because I had finally found modalities and tools that helped me achieve what Western medicine couldn't figure out.

I continued to learn and experience better health because of my newfound practice in holistic wellness modalities that complimented my life beautifully. I still got migraines occasionally, but I was able to take over-the-counter medications now that did work. I no longer was out-of-pocket for days on end.

While my marriage did end in 2012, I was able to get reconnected with my joy and happiness by taking my health and wellbeing into my own hands, discovering what modalities worked for me, and treating all the layers of my being.

My own personal journey led me to choose holistic wellness not just for my own personal wellbeing but as my career, so that I could share what I learned with others.

Being able to see my clients move beyond their own health issues and find happiness again brings me joy.

I choose joy and happiness every day. How about you?

Wishing you health and wellbeing!

Judy