Based on what most doctors told me after receiving my diagnosis, I never thought I could cure my autoimmune disease, let alone learn how to cope with chronic illnesses. I was only twenty-seven, had a two-year-old, and had to quit the job I adored as a Colorado elopement wedding photographer. But something in me didn’t give up. Something in me couldn’t believe the reality I was told.
Seven years later, I’m so thankful I never quit believing, “This really cannot be my life sentence.” Hope is a peculiar thing. It’s crazy powerful as it is where we give our attention. With our attention, we create and destroy; with it, I wish you to realize you don’t have to stay stuck. You can cure your autoimmune disease and learn to cope with chronic illnesses while you heal. I really believe it, but do you?
Here is a little snippet of my journey of how I cured my autoimmune disease and the lessons I learned along the way. To give you a full story you’d have to be my partner. I’m working on a memoir about my stories, so I know that all I can share in a five-minute read is a piece of what I learned. Join me, Lumalia, connection architect here at Celebrate Again, as I reflect on the power of self-discovery, holistic healing, and the resilience of the human spirit.
The Truth That Cured My Autoimmune Disease: Our bodies never lie
My poetry teacher’s (Chelsie Diane) simple yet profound statement, “Our bodies never lie,” struck a chord deep within me during one of her classes. I have experienced the truth behind these words throughout my battle with chronic illnesses. From being hospitalized at a young age to facing autoimmune diseases with many disabilities after a life full of high activity, my body constantly communicated its needs and struggles. But I hadn’t learned how to listen yet.
The conventional approach:
Doctors told me that my body was attacking itself, and managing symptoms through medication was the only option. However, I was determined not to be controlled by potentially harmful drugs or confined to hospital beds. I longed for a life of freedom and fulfillment, where I could enjoy simple pleasures like walking on the beach, dancing in the rain, and spending quality time with loved ones.
Seeking alternative paths to healing:
Driven by the desire for a better quality of life, I embarked on a journey to explore holistic healing methods. I tried various approaches, including candida diets, autoimmune paleo diets, herbalism, acupuncture, chiropractic work, and more. While these methods provided some relief, I still was searching for a more profound solution.
Discovering the medical medium:
My breakthrough came when I stumbled upon a person called the Medical Medium. This approach focused on real, natural healing rather than simply managing symptoms. Despite the challenges of transitioning to a low-fat, high-sugar diet, I witnessed remarkable improvements in my health. Inspired by the success stories shared by others, I became determined to pursue healing at any cost.
Adjusting my diet from eating a lot of processed food to home making most of my meals from fruits and veggies instead of jars and boxes helped me cure some of the basic issues with my autoimmune diseases. Sadly a lot of our food is contaminated. The more I eat from a local garden or from farmers who don’t use pesticides and regenerative farming practices, the more my body responds to healing.
You can find some of the recipes I made here at Celebrate Again Yoga Wellness!
Embracing Yoga, meditation, and Self-reflection:
As I delved deeper into my healing journey, unable to do the activities I once loved, like rocking climbing, snowboarding, and dancing, I discovered the transformative power of yoga and meditation. Becoming a meditation and yoga teacher of both, these practices opened up channels of self-discovery. They helped me uncover repressed memories of past trauma. I realized that my chronic illnesses were rooted in unresolved emotional pain, including childhood sexual abuse. Understanding these underlying factors allowed me to gain a deeper sense of compassion and empathy for myself. Not only that resolving these deep traumas is ultimately what lead to my healing.
Moving beyond labels:
With the Medical Medium approach, I applied labels to my conditions, seeking to eradicate each. However, I soon realized that my body didn’t need to be treated like a weed to be destroyed. It needed nurturing and care, much like a garden. I shifted my focus from eliminating labels to cultivating a holistic and loving approach to my well-being. With deep self-awareness and listening while also focusing on nourishing my body through fresh garden plants and herbs, I finally healed quickly.
Learning to cope with chronic illness:
Through this journey, I discovered the importance of finding coping mechanisms for living with chronic illness by actually listening to my body instead of trying to manage it. By acknowledging the unique emotional needs that were unmet to me throughout my childhood and early adult life, I began to find true healing. It no longer became a game of playing wack-a-mole with each symptom but a dedicated journey into understanding the full scope of my life experience and how it expressed itself through different chronic illness symptoms.
My rashes were my body expressing its deep fear of motherhood when my daughter was born and the trauma we experienced in her labor and delivery due to medical intervention that made our natural birthing process more painful than if I didn’t have to follow protocols. Being told how I had to do things made me feel like I couldn’t care for my own child in my innate wisdom. So my body expressed itself through rashes. Which then flared up again as I became a stepmom, and I had to continue to address the emotional wounds so that I could be a mother in the way I truly desired intuitively.
My adrenal fatigue and POTS were tied to my childhood abuse, always being forced to do things I didn’t want. I perpetuated this in myself, pushing myself past my limits and not learning boundaries. No, saying No, and setting boundaries, honoring my body’s needs and requests, I don’t face the crashes.
The womb issues were tied to all the abuse, in not feeling empowered to be my own person. Restabilizing my life, owning my power as a woman, and my right to be and have a voice healed so many of my issues.
These are just the beginning. Ultimately the greatest lesson I learned in the journey to curing my autoimmune disease and learning to cope with chronic illness has been that our bodies are never lying to us. They are always speaking, and I hope you’ll give it the voice it’s been so desperately asking you for.
I’ve been in your shoes and am horrifically sorry you’re here. But I believe there is light for you.
This is why I created Celebrate Again. I’m so glad you’re here, if you aren’t already working through your own journey take the self-awareness quiz to begin.
After you take the quiz, you’ll be given a specific road map that will equip you to learn how to listen to your beautiful body. Make sure to come back to your Dashboard to select the Member Map verse the free one.
You deserve to be heard and speak your truth so your body doesn’t have to so loudly. You deserve to be heard and whole. Cheering you on with all I have.
-Lumalia
