I’m extra grateful today as I write this post. 12 years ago my hellish year-long Ulcerative Colitis “flare of all flares” was finally wrapping up, and my journey of regaining and reclaiming my health through natural healing, and then learning how to STAY healed, was really just beginning. Here I am all these years later, having not had a single flare since, and having not been on any medications for U.C. in 11 years.
Autoimmune diseases are labeled as chronic and incurable, meaning while remission may occur for a time, it is fully expected that the condition will flare up repeatedly. What this past 12 years has taught me is that maybe curing the incurable, is not such a far-fetched idea when the right tools are in place, along with a deep commitment, and intense passion for healing the way nature intended.
Making it all this time flare-free is truly a gift, as well as the result of lots of hard work, lots of trial and error, and lots of persistence.
When it comes to things I credit, it’s a long list, but over all these years I’ve had plenty of time to really figure some stuff out. And so in celebration of this 12 year flare-free anniversary, here are 12 of the many things that have greatly contributed to my healing and staying healed.
- DIET - DIET HAS TO BE #1, as what we put into our bodies is THE most important, most essential part of healing and staying healed. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Adopting a diet of mostly real, whole, nutrient-dense, organic foods, cutting out gluten entirely and limiting dairy, eating mostly low processed, low sugar, and non-GMO foods, and incorporating the power of herbs and spices, has made all the difference in the world for me. What I’ve found is that it’s really fairly simple - Eating nurturing, nourishing foods = healing and health. Eating highly processed junk = sickness and disease.
- EXERCISE - Moving my body on a regular basis, particularly through yoga and lots of walking, really helped me in the early post-flare years to regain my strength, confidence, and sense of self. Now I still do those two things regularly as well as hiking, body weight exercises, and some resistance weight training to keep myself strong and agile as I age. Exercise is vital for health as it flushes out toxins that can lead to disease, strengthens the immune system thereby preventing disease, improves sleep which comes with endless benefits, and also improves mental health, among many other things. I am certain it’s contributed greatly to my healing and staying healed, and this Pubmed article really backs that up.
- SLEEP - When I was recovering from my massive flare, I slept for about 10 hours a night for many months, and I know that this not only gave my body the required time to heal, but it helped me heal much faster than I would have otherwise. I continue to make sleep a huge priority as I understand more how the body undergoes vital processes while we’re fast asleep, including cleansing, regenerating, and defending us from inflammation, infections, and disease. I sometimes get made fun of for how early I go to bed now, not to mention my regimen of a sleep mask, noise machine, ear plugs, and blackout curtains – but feel free to laugh all you want!
- MY NATUROPATH - I am so grateful for my naturopath and her seemingly endless wisdom when it comes to natural medicine. I can’t give her enough credit for all that she has done to get me and keep me on the right track. In our very first appointment many years ago when I was still pretty fresh out of my flare, she tested me for food sensitivities which found multiple foods that I had been consuming on a regular basis that were contributing to the inflammation in my body. She also tested me for vitamin and nutrient deficiencies that were holding my body back. These two things were imperative in allowing my body to have the support it needed to continue healing and staying healed. I HIGHLY recommend that anyone with any health issue look into seeing a naturopath or functional medicine provider, stat!
- THERAPY - I have been going to therapy ever since my flare. In the beginning it helped me recover from the trauma of the horrible flare experience itself, and then helped me start digging into all the other “stuff” that was already there and likely contributed to me getting sick in the first place. Now that I've been with the same therapist who I love for many years, our sessions are more of a sounding board situation where, every two weeks, I can get things off my chest and hear her unbiased, wisdom-based advice and perspective. I truly feel most everyone should go to therapy if they can, especially Type-A, prone to anxiety and over-intensity folks like myself. I’m extremely fortunate that my therapist accepts my insurance, which makes regular sessions financially possible, so when on the therapist hunt, check first with your insurance company to get a list of providers that are in your network.
- MEDITATION - Meditation is a tool that I’ve recently come to embrace, and I now know what I’ve been missing out on. This practice, even for just 10’ish minutes a day, has reduced my anxiety and stress levels, has helped me have more mental clarity and mindfulness throughout the day, and has helped me think more before reacting - something I’ve been working on for years! Hilarious side note: When typing “Meditation” just now, it somehow auto-corrected to “Medication” - uhhh Siri, it’s actually the opposite of medication!
- VISUALIZATION - This is another mental health tool that has been super effective for my healing ever since my therapist introduced me to it years ago. A great example of how I use visualization is whenever I’m feeling health anxiety about something in my body, I close my eyes and visualize a healing light/energy coming in through the top of my head and slowly moving down through my whole body, healing, repairing, and restoring as it goes. This sounds incredibly simple but it has done wonders for my mental health, thus contributing to my physical health success. Visualization can be used in many ways for many different things. This article from Better Help provides a good introduction to it.
- MINIMALISM/SIMPLICITY - Keeping my life as simple and uncomplicated as I reasonably can has been huge for my health. The less I have, the less I have to deal with. When it’s imperative to keep stress as low as possible, this is key. My family of three lives in an 1,100 square foot condo, has one car that gets limited use, and a small amount of possessions compared to your average American household. We also try very hard to keep our schedules from getting too full, leaving lots of time for rest, exercise, hobbies, and fun. Living in this counter-cultural way has greatly reduced the pressure and stress in my life. There are still plenty of bumps in the road of course, but certainly less than there would be otherwise. Becoming Minimalist is an incredible resource to check out if you are interested in pursuing a simpler life.
- SUPPLEMENTS - Working with my naturopath, I know what extremely important extra boosts my body needs when it comes to vitamins such as folate, B12, and vitamin D, as well as herbal support. Another example of what I regularly take is a clean turmeric supplement (in addition to eating/drinking it as food), as turmeric is massively anti-inflammatory and health promoting. Fun fact: Turmeric has been studied specifically to treat Ulcerative Colitis and was found to be very effective in preventing relapse! This doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, but I’m thrilled this is being looked at. Probiotics and omega-3’s are two others that I’ve taken consistently for years and have surely helped a bunch.
- MINDSET - Changing major things about your life is not easy, and if you don’t have the right mindset, it’s going to be even harder. There will be lots of trial and error, and some paths will be easier/harder than others, just like some days will, but a mindset of perseverance, positive self-talk, and optimism are all a must. I’m a recovering pessimist when it comes to life in general, but when it comes to my healing and staying healed, I have consistently been a fervent optimist in believing that I WILL do whatever it takes to remain flare-free. Allowing myself to fall back into a mindset that leads to falling back into habits that will open the door to getting sick again, is simply not an option.
- SUPPORT NETWORK - Getting support from family and friends, especially those who are like-minded or open-minded, is invaluable. This goes hand in hand with “Mindset”, because when others believe in you, it’s much easier to believe in yourself. Having openness and vulnerability with my family and trusted friends has given me the strength to stay the course many times. My husband in particular has given me his complete support and joined me on this journey from the get-go, and that has made a world of difference.
- MY WHY - My “Why” is the motivating factor behind why I am doing the work I am doing, and it’s always on my mind. My “Why” is that I want to do whatever is in my power to prevent ever again being helplessly taken down by a terrible disease, and want to be as healthy as I can be in order to live life to the fullest and give back as much as possible. Without it constantly reminding me to do my best to make good choices each and every day, it would be much harder to remain focused. I’ve found that when times get tough, returning to your why can be all the encouragement and motivation needed to press on.
There's so much more I could include on this list, but it would make for the longest blog post ever. I’d be remiss not to say again that, despite all of the work and all that I've learned and put into practice, there is still no way to describe being completely flare-free all these years after nearly dying from this disease, other than to say there is definitely a miracle to be found here. And for that I am eternally grateful.
I hope this list is helpful for you as you travel your own path. Let me know what’s not on this list that has worked for you!
Remember, our bodies want to and know how to heal! Let’s do whatever it takes to give them the support they need. It is so worth it.
.svg)
.svg)
