This week is Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week.
When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2017, I went on a deep dive to work out why and how this could have happened to me.
In my friend group, I was known as ‘fitness Jen’, and everyone (including me) thought I was fit and healthy… What I learned was I was indeed fit but not healthy.
My research led me down a path of understanding that I was living in a chronically inflamed body… And until I learned how to get that under control, I was going to continue having health issues.
Acute inflammation (the redness around a cut or swelling at a sprain) is good, it’s your immune system and healing response.
Chronic inflammation is not good. It’s thought that the immune system is in overdrive and can’t get into a state of healing. Nearly all illnesses and chronic health conditions have an underlying cause of chronic inflammation. My research into menopause indicates that many of the symptoms of menopause are driven by this pesky chronic inflammation, too!
There were many factors that I overlooked, misunderstood, or that science hadn’t yet identified that were driving my inflammation.
Some of these I was navigating and were driving chronic inflammation included trauma, unprocessed grief, over-exercising, irregular eating, not dealing with or recognising stress, distracting myself from emotions which kept me in a stressed state, and poor sleep habits…
Quick bit of biology: your sympathetic nervous system, sometimes called fight or flight (but is also needed for action) keeps us alert and safe. When we are stressed, this side of the nervous system is switched on. Your parasympathetic nervous system, referred to as rest and digest (and in over active creates inaction) is where we calm, soothe and heal. We don’t want to be in one more than the other. We want to be able to dance between the two fluidly to maintain good health.
Thousands of years ago, when we lived outdoors on the land if we met a predator, the sympathetic nervous system would ramp up and get us moving toot-suite to safety. Then, we would regulate and calm down when we were out of danger.
Modern day living sees most of us are stuck in the sympathetic nervous system, we are over stimulated. An alarm wakes you up. You might pick up your phone and start scrolling (which commonly causes us to hold our breath), you might listen to the news, drink a coffee (caffeine is a stimulant), rush about getting yourself and maybe others ready to get out into the day. Then there is traffic, people you don’t know how to deal with, emails, tasks, responsibilities, lunch on the run… and so the day goes on… There is no time to stop, take a moment, regulate, calm. You are all day simmering in that sympathetic state.
And I haven’t even included the stories and nonsense we run in our heads – the criticism, judgements, arguments with the person that pushed in in front of you, the ‘if only I had said this, then they would have said that…’ conversations. And the to-do list that never seems to get shorter…
If you have been holding your breath reading to this point, take an exhale. Let that breath out!
This is why I created The Healing Rebel Mastery. Over the years, I have learned so much that has helped. And it’s simple stuff… It’s not complicated, or expensive, or time-consuming. It’s tweaking the things you already do. Yes, you need to invest a little bit of time into the learning process, but once you know it, you know it and then do it.
Right now, I am offering a founder rate of only £15 per month (that will be your price for as long as you are a member, but you can cancel at any time). Included in that price, you have access to all the online content (12 modules including Values, Love Your Lymph, Nourish Your Body, Move Your Body, master your menopause, women’s Well-being, digestion, emotions, gut health… ). There will be a monthly email asking you for your focus for the month ahead and what improvements/success you have seen, and there is a WhatsApp community, a place where you can ask questions & I will be checking in to see how you are getting on, helping hold you accountable.
I never thought empowering yourself to look after your health would be seen as an act of rebellion… but here we are!
Also, my approach is not dogmatic. You don’t learn about yourself and what works for you by following what worked for someone else. I can tell you from my own experience there is nothing more disheartening than following someone else’s programme to the letter and not getting results.
Join the Rebellion here>>>>> https://iamjenwilson.thrivecart.com/thehealingrebel/
