Introduction : Lesson-2 : Cathleen King’s Healing Story
I personally received multiple diagnoses and saw multiple practitioners over many years. There was one important aspect to my situation that was missed during that journey- my ability to self-regulate my nervous system stress response was greatly impaired. My overall stress load (aka allostatic load) was very high, and I had a pattern of nervous system dysregulation since birth due to trauma and lack of healthy support.
I share this with you as a story of hope, that even if you have had YEARS of symptoms and complex diagnoses, you can affect your body in a profound way with nervous system healing work. And that’s what this program will teach you.
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In this lesson, I’ll share with you my personal healing story. I’ve been where you are, and I can help lead you through. I struggled with my mental and physical health for many years, and I learned how to overcome these challenges using the tools of nervous system regulation that you’re gonna learn in this program. In addition to my personal experience, I bring a doctor level education as a physical therapist I have advanced training in the field of neuroscience and pain syndromes, somatics, trauma processing, and the mind body connection. I have over 20 years of experience in the health care and healing world working with patients and clients and group training programs.
And as I mentioned before, I’ve been through my own heroines journey, spending close to 2 decades of my life navigating through deep debilitating chronic illness, and frankly, a lifelong history of trauma patterns. So my story is one of hope. I was brought up in an environment of mental illness, substance abuse, and violence. I did not experience healthy nurturing or stability as a child. I quickly developed patterns of nervous system dysregulation and attachment issues.
And even though I developed coping strategies that got me through high school and college, I eventually found myself very stuck in a vicious cycle of chronic illness. You see, I had the classic setup of expected lifelong mental illness and disability as a result of severe childhood trauma, which we’ll learn about in module 1 as that relates to the childhood ACE study. Fortunately, I had a strong will to live and a drive for the truth that was unwavering. I had a determination to break the patterns of trauma and illness in my family line that allowed me to begin to carve the pathway of healing and transformation. And in this program, I hope to give you the understanding and the tools that you need to reclaim the life you want to live.
To give you a little more perspective of what I personally work through, I’m gonna share a list of my diagnoses and issues that I was plagued with for many years. As you can see, this is quite a list. I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, mold toxicity, posture orthostatic tachycardic arthritis syndrome, vision disturbances, sound sensitivity, chronic inflammatory response syndrome, chronic viral and parasite infections, cell danger response, hyperthyroidism, adrenal fatigue, food sensitivity, sebum, methylation issues, had multiple dental issues and hormone imbalances. I also had a host of mental health issues like chronic PTSD, panic anxiety disorder, insomnia. Yep, that’s quite a list.
I was sensitive to everything. I spent much of my day in a dark quiet space because I couldn’t handle outside stimulation, including avoiding my own young children. Even going to a store seemed like a torturous task because of the stimulation yet alone being strong enough to handle walking through the store. Taking a simple shower would deplete my energy for days. For many years, my life was often perceived in a way where I experienced deep suffering.
I was stuck in a trauma base, PTSD type of response a good deal of the time, and my health just continued to decline despite spending 1000 of dollars on multiple doctors and tensive treatments. There seemed to be no clear pathway out, and my body reacted adversely to medications and I just didn’t make sense to my doctors. I also tried alternative treatments, energy work, shamans, counselors, spirituality. You name it. Some things helped a little, but others didn’t do anything.
What I finally discovered was that I had been focusing on the wrong things. First, I was stuck in a fixate mentality, focusing on my diagnosis and symptoms and spending countless hours researching treatments and hoping to find a magic bullet. 2, I was perpetually in unhealthy relationships in unhealthy dynamics and holding on to blame and resentment which fueled attachment trauma and kept me focusing on what was wrong with my personal life. And third, I was avoiding an underlying feeling of, I’m not okay, that constantly played in the background of my unconscious mind. I was in a deep protective pattern towards my body, towards others and towards life itself.
At one point, I reached my wit’s end with these strategies. I realized I had failed. I was mostly bed bound. I had full time care for my 2 young children. I had to be in a dark quiet room most of the day because I couldn’t even tolerate light and sound by that point.
My brain was broken. My nervous system had collapsed. I gave up my fight. I resigned that I was going to have to learn to live with my body the way it was. And in that surrender, A gap of relaxation swept through my nervous system.
I found myself feeling inspired to go outside and try to live. Even if it meant I had to lay down in the grass and look for 4 leaf clovers. I couldn’t stand up for long. My kids wanted to play out side, and it was the best I could do. But here’s the big secret.
I decided, I wanted to go lay in the grass and look for four leaf clovers. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do and not resisting my situation anymore. And I found my first ever four leaf clover that day. And miraculously, over time, I started to feel better. So now you might think my program is about looking for 4 leaf clovers.
Right? No. But there is a point to the story that’s important. I finally chose to look past all of my problems and live anyway. And that is one of the most important lessons of my life.
This experience opened up my mind to see my life differently. And somehow, that caused a whole sequence of serendipitous events to bring me to the realization that I needed to use my strong will, but in a new way. First, by choosing to live and do the things I loved despite being very sick. And second, choose to focus on how I wanted to think and feel rather than focusing on the problems in my life. You see, I came to understand that my nervous system was responsible for much of what I was experiencing, and I began to practice forms of nervous system self regulation and brain retraining that empowered me to began to live the life I wanted even when my physical symptoms or mental health issues were flaring.
I experienced a radical shift in my body function by using the work that I teach in the program. My energy returned, my anxiety vanished, I began to finally sleep, and I was able to eat what I wanted, tolerate chemicals, and be able to take supplements again. I reclaim my life, and I’m helping hundreds of others do the same. The purpose of this program is to empower you so that you can begin to choose the life you want. This program will teach you the awareness you need to overcome the patterning that’s kept you sick.
7:53And will give you the tools to help you establish new ways of thinking, feeling, and living. My hope and my goal for all of you is that this program will give you your life back, that you will be able to live your purpose and find your inner freedom as well.