My Journey to Wellness

Becoming Natural is a vision I have had for some time. As an Occupational Therapist, I was trained in the Medical Model: find the symptom and treat it. Not only have I have battled severe Crohn’s Disease since I was a teen, I was also in Pharmaceutical Sales for a period of time. I love how my experiences have woven together to allow me to have such a broad experience within the medical field as a health care worker, in sales and as a patient. I have the incredible opportunity to hopefully be a beacon of hope for those who want to become more natural, be it through healing products for the body, household products in the home, or healthy habits for living. I am still learning!

I was never a believer in alternative medicine. I trusted my doctors. I took the pills. I did all the tests. Plant medicine was “old school” even though I had never really tried to study its effectiveness. I was a very cooperative, well-trained and educated young girl that followed the doctor’s orders. When I felt bad, I went to the doctor, filled my prescriptions and hoped to improve without side effects. I clung to this method and hope for healing for a very long time throughout serious illness and multiple critical surgeries.  It wasn’t until I was pregnant with my third son that my eyes started to open. I had a friend that was into “those essential oils” that I reluctantly tried in an attempt to avoid medication while I was pregnant.  Surprisingly, they worked. After I had my son, the pain related to my Crohn’s Disease returned and, ultimately, my rheumatologist suggested that with the severity of my disease, I would be on pain medication for the rest of my life.  “You have a very serious, very debilitating, very painful disease and I am so sorry.”  That was my “Go get ‘em girl!” from a doctor I really liked and trusted. The next day I started a massive Candida Diet that was life changing, life giving, and, as my mom still refers to it, my exorcism. Simply by changing my diet, that nagging pain disappeared with many other positive results. No pain medication needed.

After eliminating my discomfort using diet, I started to pay attention. I studied essential oils and how they worked. I wanted to know why that diet caused a massive change in my body and ended in bliss. I wanted to know HOW it worked, HOW essential oils worked and why. I wanted to know why my medication wasn’t serving me well and why those medications gave me an endless list of side effects. It became my full time job to read, investigate, and study. Not only did I love the challenge and the research, but I loved how my natural passion for the human body collided with my education and my personal convictions.

There have been several clarifying steps in writing, speaking and sharing my journey that have lead me to create Becoming Natural. I want to share what I have learned along my long and windy path to achieving good health. But the most important part is that I am not perfect. I am not a super health nut. I am just a mom with Crohn’s with a medical background that is working each day on BECOMING more natural.  I am a process, not an overnight sensation. What I hope to share is not out of reach, but achievable for anyone. Baby steps add up to a big step. Big steps lead to a leap and before you know it, you look back and you have made significant changes in your life. Changes that you can be proud of in working towards Becoming Natural.