My Wellness journey

Why did I decide to change my lifestyle?

The most common question I get is where to even begin. With all the health trends on the market, everyone is confused as to how and where to start. Before I get into the nitty gritty of the ins and outs of transitioning to a healthy lifestyle, I’ll give you a brief background about my wellness journey, and the steps I took to recover from autoimmune disease.

It all started 16 years ago. I was 14, finally reaching teenage status and couldn’t be more excited to become a woman. I remember being little and imagining what I would look like at 16. Would I have boobs, a boyfriend, would I be pretty? We’ve all been there, right? But as we all know, life never turns out as you expect it to.

It started with 1 dry red spot on my right wrist (which ironically is where I got my first tattoo – more on that later). My mother, afraid to worry me, dismissed it as a little scar. Turns out the 1 spot turned into hundreds until 75% of my body was covered with psoriasis.

At the time, our family dynamics were heading south, my father left my mother in the midst of moving to a new house. Coincidence? I think not. As a teen, you already have to deal with pear pressure, puberty, boys and then some. Add a little divorce, a skin condition that itches and burns like the chicken pox and makes you look like a leprous – lets just say as I teen, I started on the wrong foot. I thought my world was OVER – like any teenager, dramatizing every little thing – but looking back, it was just the beginning, those itchy bastards were a divine lesson, one that led to pursuing my dream to become a healer. 

When I got my diagnosis from the dermatologist, my parents brought me to see EVERY kind of medical practitioner that existed. From dermatologists, homeopaths, energy healers, hydro therapists, psychologists, to iridologists, acupuncturists – you name it.  The dermatologists prescribed medications such as topical steroids, ultra-violet light treatments and immune suppressing injections, all of which only made it worse. The only treatment which, although temporary, brought me great relief was sun and sea bathing in the Dead Sea of Israel, but again this was a TEMPORARY solution. Every winter, after the summer passed or/and as soon as I got stressed, my skin would get worse again.

It was only until I met a little angel who introduced me to a naturopath that everything changed. I was desperate. My sister had just passed away suddenly and my skin was taking the hit. I was willing to make a change, a BIG ONE. This is how you heal. when YOU and ONLY YOU are willing to do the work, take the responsibility out of the doctors’ hands, and take the driver’s seat of your life.

The naturopath named Nancy introduced me to a whole new world. Meeting her shifted my perspective on health completely. I used to believe that if you treated the symptom, you were treating the disease. For instance, with a headache or pms cramps, pop an ibuprofen or a naproxen. Eczema or psoriasis, put a topical steroid cream or take some pills. The pain goes away so the problem goes away, right?

WRONG!

This could NOT be FURTHER from the TRUTH. Your body is made up of intricate organ systems, muscles, tissues, ligaments, bacteria, molecules, which all work SYMBIOTICALLY to ensure proper functioning. See it like a sports team or an army, if one team player is sick, another team member catches and like a wave the whole team is affected. Since your organs each work hand and hand to make you healthy, fixing one symptom will not necessarily fix the problem. One organ, like the skin, can show symptoms of what another organ is suffering, i.e. the gut, or the liver. Also, your emotions play a huge role in the development of disease. You gotta dig deep, pinpoint the moment when your health went downhill.

15 years later, this is how I connected my dots.

A First emotional stress: my parents get divorced = fear of loss, loss of stability and security, fear of being abandonned.   

B Diet was high in sugar, processed food and animal products. 

A Unresolved Emotional Stress + B Diet & Lifestyle = C immune system reacts, inflammation develops into Celiac’s disease and Psoriasis. 

SO, once I figured this out, which by the way took YEARS, this is what I did to get my health back:

 What did I do to heal?

In short (long version is here)

• incorporate healthy habits – took out toxic ingredients, chemicals, toxic people, toxic foods and added healthy foods, drank more water, exercise and meditate daily, practiced yoga, the long version describes more specifically the changes I’ve made to my diet.

• strive for balance never perfection – almost never beat myself up for enjoying treats/drinking/missing a work out, instead do better the next day! Also a negative thought can have a detrimental impact on your immune system whereas a happy one will do the opposite, never underestimate the power of the mind.

• quality sleep – develop a zen sleep routine, sleep at least 8 hours per night, 9 is optimal for healing. try to get to bed at 10 or before.

• nature – whatever floats your boat, swim in a lake, in the ocean, walk/run/hike in a park, jungle, forest, next to your house. Just. Go. Outside. I swear, 100% of the time when I feel like crap and I go outside for at least 10-15 min, I feel better.

• vitamin D – don’t be afraid of the sun! Vitamin D has such an important role in the functioning of vital mechanisms in the body., especially for those suffering from skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis and the like. the most bioavailable form of Vitamin D is through getting 20 minutes of daily sun exposure (with little or no clothes lol).

• ocean – of course we are not all fortunate to live by the ocean but having access to regular swims in the ocean is so beneficial for your body and mind as the minerals in the salt water including magnesium have soothing effects and help with scarring lesions quicker.

• do what makes you happy – this is pretty self explanatory. don’t listen to anyone else but yourself when it comes to your life. picture a life where you’d be the most full-filled and happy, and make it happen. this is a big part of healing. feeling stuck in a situation will keep you from reaching optimal health.

• always choose happiness over guilt – surround yourself with positive and uplifting people and energy (as much as possible)

REMEMBER, I DID THIS ALL IN A SPAND OF 7 YEARS, IT DIDN’T HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE. SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME. 

I slowly switched things up, removing and replacing one product at a time, becoming more conscious of what I was putting in and on my body and continuously GROWING my knowledge. I devoured all the information I could get, whether online or in books. *This is the goal of adopting a natural lifestyle, not to do it all at once as it can seriously be overwhelming and darn EXPENSIVE, but if you do it in small steps, it is much more attainable and sustainable.*

Of course, the journey to healing, which I am still going through, is a long learning process that is always evolving and growing. It requires effort and willpower. It is not a little pill that will make everything go away overnight. 

Anywho, all this to say that my psoriasis was not gone after a few months on a healthy diet. For the last 6 years, I have been using myself as a guinea pig to test out the best methods which kept the symptoms at bay. What i found worked for me personally was adopting a whole food plant based diet which I follow 90-10, trying to cut out sweets and caffeine as much as possible, not drinking or smoking with the occasional glass of wine, cause balance, am I right?

Also as important as the nutritional aspect is, emotional healing is necessary to attaining optimal wellness. That’s where my love affair with YOGA and exercising came into play. Practicing yoga almost daily really helped me with mental clarity, focus, calm and with maintaining healthy joints (cause ya know when you feel sore or stiff, you just don’t feel good). 

It wasn’t one particular thing that helped me but a mix of it all. Dealing with emotional and physical stress through speaking openly about my emotions, eating a whole food plant based diet, daily yoga practice, exercise and avoiding environmental toxins is what really helped me heal. Even though, I am still not 100% healed, I hope that my experiences will help you in your wellness journey.