Exciting times ahead (and the future of Road to Zest)

/
Exciting times ahead (and the future of Road to Zest)

As I published my recent blog post, Dermot and I knew some (or most) of you would understand what I was referring to when I said that the path to reaching one of our long-term goals will be slightly different from the way we initially thought it would be but that we’re so excited that we are eventually going to get there. I’d love to eventually be able to show anyone on similar journeys that they’re not alone. But as exciting as our next steps are, with everything that’s going on, I’ve decided that rather than continuing to publish a blog post every Sunday, I will post as and when the time feels right. Here’s why.

Read More

My reflections as Road to Zest turns 1

/
My reflections as Road to Zest turns 1

Road to Zest turns 1 this weekend. So today I’d really like to thank you for joining me on my journey this year and for your support always. A year ago as I published my first blog post I had no idea what to expect, but I remember thinking that if I could give just one person hope that he/she could recover the way I did, it would make it all worthwhile.So a year later it feels really amazing to have spoken to quite a few people who have started or are planning to start or considering starting DNRS after reading about my recovery. And here’s a look back at the 10 most popular posts this year and why I need your help for the coming year.

Read More

How did I suddenly become able to eat only 8 foods in 2015?

/
How did I suddenly become able to eat only 8 foods in 2015?

A friend recently told me that someone asked her how it’s possible for a person to become able to eat only a handful of foods. And I can totally see where that question’s coming from. Because now that I can eat anything again, even I find it hard to believe that there was a point when I could only eat 8 foods. But having learned about the brain’s ability to adapt and change itself – both for the better or for the worse – how I suddenly became able to eat only 8 foods actually makes “perfect sense”. Here’s how it happened.

Read More

My experience at the life-changing DNRS seminar in the UK

/
My experience at the life-changing DNRS seminar in the UK

I was at the DNRS seminar in the UK two weeks ago when 16 people who had collectively been suffering from debilitating and poorly understood chronic illnesses for a total of 280 years started to believe and understand that recovery is actually possible after all. It might sound too good to be true – but I remember so clearly when it happened to me too. I had accepted the reality of my chronic illness and had stopped dreaming before DNRS. So the fact that I can now travel again with ease and actually get to be at the DNRS seminar as a coach is beyond anything I could ever have dreamt of. And here’s what being at this life-changing seminar meant to me and what it could  mean to anyone suffering from a mysterious, chronic illness.

Read More

Open letter to a survivor

/
Open letter to a survivor

Here's my letter to anyone who has faced a major setback and bounced back. To anyone who can smile despite everything they’ve been through. To anyone who makes the best out of a tough journey. To anyone who can appreciate things they took for granted before things became tough. To anyone who might or might not have beaten the odds, but who is doing everything they possibly can to do so. This is a letter to all survivors.

Read More

9 things I'm grateful for as I celebrate my 3rd birthday since the onset of my chronic illness

/
9 things I'm grateful for as I celebrate my 3rd birthday since the onset of my chronic illness

I wrote this blog post as I was celebrating my 32nd birthday, which was also my 3rd since the onset of my mysterious chronic illness. As it was also my 1st birthday since recovering fully through DNRS, I thought it was a good time to make a list of things I'm grateful for, since the whole journey made me realise how many things I took for granted before my illness started. So here’s my 32nd birthday gratitude list.

Read More

Chronic illness to 13 mile race in 13 months

/
Chronic illness to 13 mile race in 13 months

When I think back to what my life was like just over a year ago when I was chronically ill, I still find it hard to believe that by the time you read this, if all goes well, I’ll have completed a 13 mile race. Before I started DNRS just over a year ago, I would go to sleep wondering whether I would be well enough to get out of bed the next morning. So as I write this today I still can’t quite believe that I’ve prepared all my stuff to get up for a half marathon tomorrow! Here’s all about what this means to me and what it could mean to others suffering from mysterious, chronic illnesses – even if they have no intention of ever running a half marathon down the line (I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea :) ).

Photo by Alan Falzon

Read More

A letter to myself before I became chronically ill

/
A letter to myself before I became chronically ill

Being chronically ill taught me quite a few lessons and more than anything it taught me to slow down and appreciate the little things in life. It also helped me realise that in actual fact the little things are the big things. Now that I’ve recovered fully, I still like to occasionally remind myself of the things my chronic illness taught me, because life can be so rushed that it can be easy to forget. So here’s a letter to my 29-year-old self, to the person who hadn’t yet learned any of these lessons.

Read More

A year ago I hoped to improve by 10%: here’s what happened instead

/
A year ago I hoped to improve by 10%: here’s what happened instead

To say I had hit rock bottom by the start of 2016 was putting it mildly. But exactly a year ago, I sat down to watch the DNRS DVDs for the first time. I still had huge doubts about the whole thing but I remember saying that if it at least helped me improve by 10%, it was worth giving it a try. Little did I know how my life was going to change! Rather than improving by just 10%, here’s what happened in the year since I started neural retraining. 

Read More

How I rediscovered the true magic of Christmas when I was chronically ill

/
How I rediscovered the true magic of Christmas when I was chronically ill

I’ve always loved Christmas and everything that comes with it. But last year somehow when everything got stripped back, sad as it was, that’s when I realised that although there was no Christmas tree in our living room, I had all the essential things and nothing else mattered. There was something about having none of the usual things at Christmas time that showed me just how much I actually had. And here’s how I rediscovered the true magic of Christmas and the 10 lessons I learned when I was chronically ill.

Read More

9 ways to find more time for the things that matter most

/
9 ways to find more time for the things that matter most

I think the most important lesson I learned through being chronically ill was that being too busy and living such a rushed life wasn’t beyond my control.  And as I started recovering, I decided that I was going to do things differently this time round. Most importantly, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t go back to being overly busy. It’s still something I need to work at, but with these 9 strategies, I definitely manage to find much more time than I used to previously for the things that matter most.

Read More

Here's what I wrote when my life had started all over again 6 years ago

/
Here's what I wrote when my life had started all over again 6 years ago

I still remember the day I was first diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome 7 years ago. I also never forgot how good it felt when I managed to overcome it (or so I thought back then) through dietary changes. And yet it was still strange to read what I had written at the time and to realise how similar some things were to the way I feel now. And I thought you might be interested to read what I wrote when my life had started all over again 6 years ago. So here goes.

Read More

Open letter to the woman who saved my life

/
Open letter to the woman who saved my life

How would you thank someone for saving your life? After being diagnosed with a mysterious and chronic illness, I now have my life back in more ways than I could ever even dream of before. This is an open letter to thank Annie Hopper, founder of the Dynamic Neural Retraining System, for saving my life.

Photo by Ian Redd

Read More

When closed roads lead to nicer routes

/
When closed roads lead to nicer routes

Finding closed roads when we're trying to get somewhere tends to lead to frustration but can end up leading us to discover nicer routes. And here's how things changed for me by being made to take a different life path. More than anything, I learned to stop rushing through life but rather to take the time to appreciate how beautiful life is. 

Photo by Rene Rossignaud Photography

Read More

5 things I intend to do differently now that I’ve been given a second chance at life

/
5 things I intend to do differently now that I’ve been given a second chance at life

After a year of being chronically ill, I feel so lucky to have been given a second chance at life. And I’m definitely going to make the most of this second chance. Just by doing these 5 things differently, I now go to sleep happier every day, even on the more challenging days. 

Read More