It’s been one of those six years of my life. And my life has never been of the particularly smooth, first-world-problem variety. In the last six years, I’ve experienced what might gently termed as a ‘complex’ bereavement, the enforced isolation of the covid years, two cancer scares and the myriad tests involved in each, and family conflict and alienation. I embarked upon a challenging course of study with all the stresses and strains involved in passing assignments, exams and practical clinics. I very recently moved homes, town, and am now setting up practice in a new career.

Plus, and I am almost reluctant to type this, I am female and at an age when hormonal stuff tends to go a bit ker-pluey, especially if you add chronic stress to the mix. No matter what you do, you cannot outrun basic biological facts, and I am subject to the same biological processes as any woman.

All this to the backdrop of real social change, and tumult, where there have been some truly bizarre, head-spinning developments in both virtual and real-life spaces that are at odds with our instinctive knowing about ourselves and each other. It’s enough to turn one’s hair grey or fall out, as mine did. It’s growing back now, thank goodness, but things are still not right.

And so, I must turn my attentions inward. I can no longer ignore or minimise the very real impacts on my body’s systems. I tend to be very hard on myself and think incredibly unhelpful thoughts that only serve to create conditions for my ‘dis-ease’ to thrive. But there may be physiological reasons for them, rather than an innate quality of my character. As such, I am striving to understand the root cause of my ill health, though it is sometimes difficult to see the wood for the trees, particularly when some of those symptoms tend to fog the brain up somewhat.

Without going into graphic detail, I know that some of my symptoms are rooted in the gut, but I’m also experiencing joint pain, fatigue, mood swings that would put the Hulk to shame, etc. It’s tempting to put all of these into one big pot labelled ‘perimenopause’, and I’m sure that’s in the mix, but my intuition, my ‘gut’ if you like, tells me there’s more to it.

In recent weeks, I have started to put myself a bit higher up the priority list and take my health more seriously. These have included all the staples of a good naturopathic nutritional protocol – diet, lifestyle, supplements etc. I have seen changes for the better, here and there, but they have been piecemeal and inconsistent, as my efforts have been. I am a human after all, and get distracted easily, especially these days. The boxes and screens call for my attention. It is hard to switch off.

Others have great faith in me and my abilities to sort out this knotty, thorny, complex problem of ‘what the heck is going wrong with my body’. I catch glimpses of what they see in me from time to time, but self-doubt is a daily feature for me right now. Perhaps it is the unrooting and replanting of myself in new soil? Or perhaps I should just give myself some grace for everything my body, mind and spirit have been through lately. I should listen to the deeper wisdom of my body. It knows.

And so, I am treating myself. Literally. Literally. I am going to be my own client for a while. I will fill in my own forms, take my own case history, look at all the antecedents, triggers and mediators of my condition, as I’ve been taught to do. Highlight the systems under stress. Come up with some therapeutic aims. Then draw up a proper plan – and follow it as if I were someone else’s client. I will approach it with the same forensic, analytical attention to detail that I give to any client, but I will let my intuition guide me too.

Here’s the tricky bit. Accountability. As much as I am sure I can come up with a half-way decent plan, not least because I know my own limits to compliance, will I actually follow it? Hmm. Possibly, but maybe not. And so, at this point I will involve someone else, a fellow therapist, to cast their eye over things, give me their insights, and then hold me to it! This is one of the most obvious but vital ingredients in any therapeutic relationship. To involve another person is to take things seriously.

Watch this space.

In the meantime, you can be assured that I do understand what it is like to have lots of weird and unpleasant things happening to your body. And I do know what it is like to be ill-served by an overstretched health service that treats symptoms, not causes, and when their preferred testing yields no results, state there is ‘nothing’ wrong with you.

I also understand that bodies are complicated things, but there are often some surprisingly simple things you can do to turn things around for the better. I have seen at first hand how impactful naturopathic Nutritional Therapy can be. Every time I’ve followed a plan, I’ve seen real improvements. I’ve seen it work in a matter of weeks for other people too. And so, finally, I will be treating myself as seriously as I’ve treated others.

Centring yourself and your health is the first step towards healing. It’s a cliché because it’s true. We all deserve to get the best out of life, for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for everyone else too. Our energies, our abilities to contribute positively, have an essential ripple effect outwards into the world.

On that final note, if any of this resonates with you, please comment – I’d love to hear from you. Or if you would like to know more about how I can help you on your own journey back to optimum health, there is still time to take me up on my springtime offer of 40% for a package that includes:

• A 15-20-minute discovery call
• 90–minute online initial consultation where a full case history will be taken
• A 6-8 week food, supplements and lifestyle plan with FREE handouts and recipe ideas delivered to your inbox
• A check-in at the two-week mark to offer encouragement, tweaks and support
• 45–minute online follow-up to check-in and offer further support
• EXCLUSIVE 10% discounted access to further support packages for ONE YEAR from date of initial consultation

Contact me at jop.naturalnutrition@gmail.com for more information.

All the best to you all, whatever path to healing you choose.