I am truly excited about 2016! This past year has been
quite an experience for me. Early last year, I began to have bouts of lightheadedness,
like my blood sugar was dropping. Just prior to that, as I’d go about town, I
kept passing a Naturopath’s office – my gaze was always drawn to her signage: Partners in Health Care, Naturally. One
day, as I saw the doctor entering her office, she turned, looked up at the sky
and gave a really big smile – I knew that was a sign, so I made an appointment.
Dr. Godman was able to determine immediately that I was
in severe adrenal fatigue. She explained that there were too many “big” life
stressors that had occurred in my life without any respite in between (I moved
and then lost my mother and my twin brother, all back to back). When I asked
her how she knew so quickly, she told me “I see this all the time – it’s also
due to the society we live in.”
The adrenal fatigue I experienced was so severe that I
often felt like I was going to drop on the floor and that was going to be the
end of me. I literally felt very close to death; after researching this, I
realized I had been very near death. My body was literally depleted. What I
needed was protein and lots of it, every hour or so. I hardly left my home for
the first four months – a two-minute phone call swallowed up my energy, as did
a 15-minute trip to the grocery store. In order to make the trip to the store,
I had to eat 60 grams of protein; once in the store, I typically felt like I
was going to drop on the floor. I always had almonds with me – that was what
the doctor recommended – and I kept a bag of almonds next to my bed. It took
everything in me to fix a breakfast of eggs and veggies, which was what was
recommended, because eggs seem to be what our body processes most quickly to
replenish us.
I’m writing this because adrenal fatigue is becoming very
prevalent in our society. We’ve all
heard of the “fight or flight” mode of stress. If we have a near-miss accident
or we have to run quickly to get out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, our
fight or flight response kicks in. Our body was designed to give us an
adrenaline rush in order to meet the demand of what used to be a fight-or-flight
situation (an animal chasing us). Today, due to such a fast pace and the
constancy of everything, so many things demand our attention that our body is always
“on.” Believe it or not – one day, we just run out. I didn’t feel any advanced
notice until I began to feel lightheaded. I had no idea it was related to
stress. Our body is so amazing that it keeps putting out until it has no more
to give. When Dr. Godman told me “Your body is trying to keep you alive,” I
realized how serious this was.
Having to experience such limitations gave me an
opportunity to reflect – I had always gone at warp speed all my life and
expected a great deal from my body. Amazingly though, when my body was at such
a low point, I was able to experience a moment with my twin brother and my mom,
a closure. I’ve also felt strongly that God “reset my defaults!” My pace in
life has been a survival pace, always worrying about how I was going to support
myself. I truly feel God has given me this beautiful chance to rebuild myself
and to start anew. This new life requires leaning on faith and trust as opposed
to allowing the ego to worry all the time! Now it is time to seek joy and
wonderment, to relax and play!
So, please remember to pace yourself, eat well, sleep
well, exercise, create quiet time, pay attention to how you’re expending energy
– let go of any worries or grudges – reach deeply inside to find your connection
to Spirit where faith, trust and God’s deepest love exists.
I wish you a beautiful 2016 filled with
vibrancy and good health, peace and tranquility!
