Healthy Life Studio

I watched Dana eating carrots and celery for lunch as she talked about her boyfriend.  That was the moment I thought, “YES. If I eat only carrots and celery then I can look like Dana.”  Dana was my friend’s college roommate, and I think she weighed about 100 pounds.  The last time I weighed 100 pounds I was in 5^th grade.  In my early twenties I could have eaten Dana’s weight in pizza and weighed about 40-50 pounds more than I do today.

With great resolve and an irrational urgency to return to my 11-year-old weight, I started my carrot and celery lunches, and what I like to now call, “Angry Walking”.  We’ve all seen the women in the Taebo videos punching and kicking for all they were worth…I’ve been there.  But, I liked to be outside, and I thought walking with arms swinging, kicking at the neighbors’ plant hedges would make me look crazy.  So, instead, I walked at insane speeds and with ferocious intensity (probably still looking a bit crazed).  After about 6 weeks of this regime, I starting dropping weight…but I felt like crap.  I was tired, stressed from school, work…and Angry Walking.  I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I needed to find something that would help me reduce stress where I could still move my body. 

I don’t know where the idea came from, maybe divine intervention, and hopefully not from the same place that inspired Angry Walking, but I needed to do yoga.  I became obsessed with finding a class.  The only person offering yoga classes in my community taught them out of her basement.  In retrospect, that seems a bit shady, but after a diet of anger, carrots, and celery my brain probably wasn’t functioning at peak performance. 

It was through these classes that I learned to slow down and relax.  I learned awareness about my breath and my body and that all of it is inextricably linked.  I never would have believed that stretching and deep breathing could change my life.   It took years for me to refine this awareness, but eventually it has contributed to my mindfulness of food and how I used, and sometimes still use, food to reward or punish my body, control my situations, and sooth my nerves.  It is this mindfulness that enables me to trust that my body knows how to regulate itself if my mind is willing to work with it instead of against it. I have been relatively close to my current weight for close to a decade.  No weird diets, no scheduled workouts.  I do what feels right and that continues to change as I change. 

Many people wonder why I show up to the Weight Loss Wednesday (WLW) Coaching Interactive.  I’m currently in a healthy weight range.  But, I wasn’t for most of my life.  I go because it keeps me accountable to my body, mind, and spirit.  It reminds me of the link between these three parts of myself.  They are all one in the same and when we cut off one part or forget to nourish one aspect, the whole is affected.  The mental aspect of yoga and mind-body coaching remind me that we are never 100% fixed, 100% sad, or 100% happy.  I have created a relationship with a sense of acceptance through these continued practices.  It is this sense of acceptance that allows me to eat pizza, carrots, celery, and chocolate without extreme self-loathing or deprivation.  It is also the same acceptance that lets me off the hook if I decide to walk instead of jog, take the elevator instead of the stairs, or occasionally Angry Walk on the Bridle Trail.

My relationship to food has been a physical manifestation of my relationship to self.  A relationship that is never “fixed”, but through yoga, is one that I have learned, and am still learning, to love and accept.

In last month’s newsletter, we talked about our personal histories with chronic pain and weight gain.  We want you to know what we’ve been through, because then you’ll understand why we opened the Healthy Life Studio.  We want you to benefit from our experience!  This month, we take you a little deeper into our histories with a spotlight on me, Abigail.  (Jess is up next month!)

I first experienced a nagging health condition in college.  Though I didn’t know it at the time, I had what is called Interstitial Cystitis, a bladder condition.  After years of doctors visits, I finally learned this diagnosis – though it wasn’t really good news.  IC is considered chronic, and I’d already been dealing with it for five years.  I also had other pelvic pain that persisted until I decided enough was enough.  I went to a specialist in Washington D.C., desperate to solve the issue.  At that point, I was bedridden and in constant pain.  I had to stop working, as both sitting and walking were nearly unbearable. 

Though the specialist couldn’t really solve my pain issue, he did impart some important wisdom.  He explained that all of my pelvic floor muscles were full of tension, causing pain and loss of proper nerve function.  He estimated that the nerves in that region were only getting 50% of the normal blood supply necessary. 

Armed with this knowledge, I began to hunt outside of Western Medicine for a solution.  Since normal treatments were not helping, I was highly motivated.  It didn’t take long to stumble across the mind-body healing concept, and the more I read, the more excited I grew.  It all made perfect sense – I was holding stress and emotional tension in my body, keeping my body in the fight or flight response day in and day out.  I learned how to relax my muscles on purpose, how to recognize when I was in fight or flight and purposefully breathe my way into rest and digest.  I incorporated guided imagery, thought-work, diaphragmatic breathing, and gentle yoga. 

My body began to respond.  My pain reduced.  I lost weight.  I felt much less panicky.  I began to feel hope.  Before long, I could tell I was truly on the road to health, despite the chronic pain diagnoses.  Now, several years later, I am fantastically healthy.  I have taken my understanding of the mind-body connection to new levels in my life, leading to happiness and a sense of teamwork with my body.  It feels great!  Naturally, I want to share this with you.  Yoga and coaching both accelerate your process to stress relief, pain relief, and weight loss.  Put them together and you have the key to health and happiness.  

To look at us, you might think we have achieved health and happiness effortlessly.

Think again!

Behind every inspiration is a story of personal experience.  Interestingly, our stories have many parallels.  We both struggled with weight, depression, and chronic pain issues.  It was the elements of yoga and coaching we now share with others that brought us physical wellness, mental and emotional well-being, and the lives we have now.

We have a passion for physical, mental, and emotional health because we have been where you are, whether you’re overweight, dealing with pain, overworking yourself, or just plain stressed!  Though we look healthy and happy now, we both spent a great deal of time bedridden with severe chronic pain.  Jess struggled with severe low-back pain that kept her immobilized, and Abigail dealt with severe pelvic pain and low-back pain.  Flummoxed by this medically diagnosed incurable pain, we both sought new avenues to return to health.  We both found the same answer – a new understanding of the mind-body connection.  Surprisingly, this didn’t just bring health and weight loss – it brought a deep sense of well-being, a comfortable and loving relationship with our bodies and selves, and strong tools to deal with life’s ups and downs.

It’s no surprise that these discoveries led us down paths toward sharing with others.  It’s hard to contain passion, and we are thrilled to be able to share with you the amazing power of yoga and coaching – not just as specific practices, but as a potent blend you won’t want to miss.

Coming soon…more about our experiences.  We plan to offer short write-ups that will be available in our studio soon.  We want you to know why we are doing what we’re doing, and what our personal experiences were!

Check back often to read our blog posts!  We’ll be sharing information about mind-body tools, yoga, and anything we can think of to make your Healthy Life Studio experience as complete as possible.