More About Us – Abigail’s Story
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.