It is often said that healers experience their own health challenges so they may learn and experience a whole range of human conditions in order to better serve the greater good.

It’s not uncommon for healers to have chronic or severe health conditions, and for many this is what leads them on a path of healing.

When we seek relief for ourselves we begin to discover the great well of knowledge that could benefit so many.

And I can say this is true for me.

Throughout childhood I always had a sensitive tummy (yes, there are many family stories that involve retelling of my digestive woes at the most inopportune moments).

As I grew older, the symptoms worsened and in my early 20’s I found myself sitting across from one of the best gastroenterologists in my area.

By this point I had figured there was something seriously wrong with me – Crohn’s or colitis came to mind – so a colonoscopy was scheduled and I was strangely hopeful.

It wasn’t that I wanted something to be wrong but if there was, that would give me a starting point. Something to heal. Something to work with.

Instead, post-colonoscopy, the doctor informed me that everything looked fine. There was nothing wrong with me.

“But what about my symptoms?” I asked.

“Well it seems like IBS. Keep doing what you’re doing and learn to live with it.”

Right. Ok. Irritable Bowel Syndrome. So. What now?

I left his office in tears and spent the next few months investigating natural healing. There was no way I could keep living as I had been and my faith in western medicine was fading fast.

What kind of advice was “Keep doing what you’re doing and learn to live with it”? There’s got to be more to life than that. I began to realize it was up to me to heal myself.

So I did.

The first step I took towards healing myself of IBS was cutting out coffee. That made a huge difference. Then I opened up to a nutritionist friend about my symptoms and she recommended a few supplements to help heal my digestive tract, rebuild my intestinal flora, and support overall healing.

Within a few weeks I was feeling better. I tweaked my diet to include more healing foods and fewer inflammatory foods, and I noticed more improvements. Eventually I began to have entire days without any IBS symptoms, and soon, it was months without a flare-up.

As my digestion became stronger and more dependable, I experienced less anxiety. I began to understand my body on a level unlike anything I’d known before.

Fuelled by my desire to know more about natural healing, I enrolled in a holistic nutrition program in 2007. I loved it right away.

Having experienced this miraculous self-healing, I now began to understand the science behind my healing success. Those supplements my friend had recommended years earlier, the ones responsible for much of the relief I experienced after years of suffering with IBS? They were the same supplements I ended up recommending to my own clients.

What an interesting cycle of healing.
When I healed, I went on to help others heal.

What I also noticed was that my digestive troubles were intimately connected to my mental health. Anxiety was a huge contributor to my IBS and when I addressed mental health on a nutritional level, my IBS symptoms lessened.

• Why hadn’t any doctor ever told me about this?
• Why hadn’t I been referred to a nutritionist or dietician?
• Why wasn’t this info – easily found on google and within thousands of books – being shared by more health professionals on a regular basis with people who are suffering?

In my second year of nutrition school, I took my first Reiki class. That opened the door to healing like I had never experienced, and I found myself even more interested in all aspects of healing.

Since then I’ve deepened my Reiki practice and continued my training up to Reiki Master/Teacher. I now consider myself healed of IBS and it’s because I took my health into my own hands.

While I don’t have all the answers to healing IBS or anything else, I do have some advice:

When it comes to healing, it is up to YOU. No one else can do this for you, and you need to be your own advocate. It is YOUR health.

Do the research. Inform yourself and align with those who hold views similar to yours. Question what feels like BS. Stop leaving your health up to others and take control of your own life.

I was 22 when the doctor told me to learn to live with my symptoms. As if there were no other options for addressing IBS. As if living with a treatable and even curable condition were no big deal.

If I had taken his advice, where would I be today? Who would I be?

I healed my IBS and now live symptom free. Anxiety doesn’t rule my life (it’s only after healing that I realize how much anxiety played a role in my illness), and my digestion is better than I ever imagined it could be.

I can even drink coffee again.

There was no one simple answer here and it took some trial and error to find what worked for me. Patience was definitely key – as it is for many on their healing journeys.

Find what works for you and stick with it. Get the support you need to keep growing and healing but don’t ever think your health is someone else’s responsibility.

It is up to you, and you can do this.

* Ready to get the ball rolling? Check out this simple technique for self-healing. *