I often talk about listening to your inner wisdom — that inner voice guiding you toward what feels right, whether you call it intuition or hindsight clarity.
For nearly two decades, I’ve had to be my own health advocate. In the early 2000s, I stopped feeling like myself. After countless doctor visits, dismissals, and years of being undertreated, I realized I needed to learn everything I could about my autoimmune condition and find doctors who not only supported me but also explained things in a way I could truly understand.
It was exhausting at times, but it sparked my mission to help others believe that “we deserve health, we deserve to feel healthy.” And trust me: it’s a process, not a one and done experience.
Fast forward to late January. One Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling okay, but as the day progressed, I became nauseous and disoriented. I’d been fasting for routine bloodwork, something I’ve done countless times without issue. I know how much water to drink without overhydrating and affecting my results. But this day was different.
It got so bad I had to stop teaching — something I’d never done in all my years of teaching or working. I felt so off that I knew I couldn’t be alone, which was very concerning. My husband took me to urgent care to rule out anything too serious. While there, the doctor mentioned that maybe my enzyme levels were low. That reminded me that my sodium had been slightly off in my recent tests.
At home, I drank salt water, ate potassium, and started feeling better. Sure enough, the next day’s blood results confirmed that my sodium levels were still off, which explained the dizziness and nausea. While unsettling, I was happy to have an idea about why I wasn’t feeling well (and knew I’d have lots to discuss at my upcoming appointment!).
I’m the type to “geek out” over bloodwork results — researching what they measure, understanding what they mean, and how they connect to my lifestyle choices, so that when I walk into my doctor’s appointment, I can have a different type of conversation.
Case in point: I love iced coffee, and I drank it a lot this past summer, which turned into me drinking a lot more coffee this past fall and early winter. I started noticing that I don’t tolerate it the way I used to. Coffee dehydrates me too quickly and makes me jittery. So, while I knew that drinking coffee is something that no longer feels right, it took me until this experience and seeing the impact of caffeine on my cortisol levels in my blood results to remind me that I needed to listen to my body and my inner wisdom.
That Wednesday was a reset for me. I’ve switched back to tea and made changes to my diet, ensuring I get enough healthy salts. Moving forward, I’ll continue adjusting what I eat, how I move, and how I plan my days as my body changes with age. Feeling vibrant and healthy is still possible — the path just looks different.
My hope is that this story encourages you to trust your inner wisdom, seek doctors who truly support you, and that when your body is craving a reset, you take it seriously.
In that vein, we are excited to start offering 7 Day Wellness Resets at The Meetinghouse. This exciting new program offers:
- 7 days of unlimited yoga and Pilates classes,
- Healthy eating suggestions and recipes,
- Meditation support, and
- Digital detox encouragement.
We will start with an in-person kick off meeting to those that can attend on March 15th at 10:30 a.m. Click here to register.
Lastly, please help us create the best portfolio of wellness classes and workshops by completing this survey Wellness Survey. The results will help us hone in on the best times, days and types of offerings you’d like to see.
Be Well,
Claire.
