In the early 1990’s I was, what I thought to be, the top of my game. I was an executive in a top fortune 500 international company, I was compensated very well for it. I was married to a professional and living in a fabulous house on a hill. So what was wrong with this picture? I was sick all the time.
As I became very successful in the business world it became very apparent that I was not in a supportive marriage. In fact, it was very toxic. My then husband was in the mental health profession and was a master at disguising mental and verbal abuse where I was the object. As an example, I would come home from very successful business meetings where the client thought I walked on water. Soon I would find myself plunged into despair by criticism, verbal and mental abuse. The final straw was when I was publicly humiliated in front of my peers by the antics of my former husband. I left that marriage and began my long journey of transition. I heard somewhere that it you want to make a lilac bush bloom beautifully, you have to beat it with chains the year before. That is the thing about transformation and transitions-often it is painful but always fruitful.
Being on my own gave me great satisfaction and immense stress reduction. However, I was still sick. I got pneumonia five times in a two year span. Something was still very out of balance. I was very run down and on the verge of a complete physical breakdown.
Traditional medicine kept giving my antibiotics and telling me to rest. I began to explore alternative health options. I found an acupuncturist that diagnosed me with severe adrenal deficiencies, and borderline auto-immune disorder. His method of treatment was based on the a five element theory. I use this theory in my practice today. He treated me twice weekly for a couple months and weekly for over a year. He also encouraged me to radically change my diet, which I did. He along with a wonderful mental health therapist who introduced me to the value of meditation. It is amazing what you can find within when you are centered. I sought out a physician who practiced alternative health options, and I found that all of these changes together led me back down the path to my truest, healthiest self.
It became clear that there was still an obstacle in the way of optimal health-my job. In the beginning the job was satisfying because I was making a difference in our clients business structure. Due to many management and philosophical changes within the company the job became about inter-company politics. The betrayal of colleagues, traveling schedule and being put in a position that was not conducive to my nature contributed to my heath issues. It was not work that was fulfilling my soul or feeding my creative passion. I was unable to be an authentic individual in my work.
Finally. the opportune moment came; my company was merging with another company. I was able to negotiate a very generous financial package and left. This was the next step in my transition towards my true self.
I had been interested in “healing” work for many years and began to explore ways I could work in this field. I began to take night classes in massage therapy. I blossomed more and more in each class. I soon committed to full time courses and became a licensed massage therapist. I knew deep in my soul that this was a foundation for the work I was supposed to do. I discovered what I knew intuitively all along, I could feel client’s energy. Deep relaxation was key to healing. Using massage modalities, I could see immediate results in clients health. I was doing work that satisfied my nature. I was a care-giver.
All things come to where they started, and it is the same with my path. I feel like I should mention something: before you see me as an executive woman who flipped her beliefs completely, you should know that I began my Reiki journey in the late 70’s when I attended a Reiki workshop. The class was a group largely made up of mental health professionals and at that time they did not take kindly to this new idea. However, I was drawn to Reiki instinctually. It resonated with me. It felt like my truth. This was the work that I was intended to do, however I followed the path of the business world. There are many philosophers who talk about coming to the fork in the road and which way to travel. I took the business fork based on my needs and desires at the time. Sometimes that road takes you back to the original fork and you get to travel you true path as I have.
Today, I have been involved with the healing arts in some form or another for over twenty years. My primary focus at present is Reiki through groups and workshops. I also teach Chakra balancing and my favorite, women in transition.
My need for transition showed up in my body to get my attention since I was not listening on an emotional or spiritual level. I think the Women In Transition groups have become my passion because of my personal transition. I can be a guide because of my experience. It is rewarding for me to know that I have been a facilitator to their transition and healing. It is a beautiful and heartwarming thing to watch a rose bloom.
The women who now show up in my practice are women who take responsibility for their health in body, mind and spirit. They want to be shown a path and walk that path on an authentic level. I saw clients for years that wanted to be “fixed”. It became very apparent that yes, they could be “fixed” for a while, however they had to participate fully for their healing. Two examples come to mind. Two of my clients had cancer. They both went through successful treatments. I treated both of them with massage, healing touch, Reiki and guided imagery. Through the treatments they were able to see what was imbalanced in their lives. Self-care including diet. exercise, work, family dynamics were all issues for both of them. One of the women drastically changed her life. She changed her work, set boundaries with her family and took care of herself through diet, exercise and creative outlets. The other woman went back to her life as it was before the cancer. The “woman in transition” is healthy and cancer free. The other woman’s cancer has returned.
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I knew that there was more to this healing story for me, so the next chapter of my transition began. I studied many modalities, such as five element theory, healing touch and energy medicine, as I practiced massage therapy and continued with Reiki. To me, these modalities are like a sequel to a book that you just can’t wait to be released; there is always another story to learn and something else to digest. I could not have fathomed what came next for me and it make me look again at my own healing capacity.
Just when I thought I had settled into a very comfortable life, my mother died in a tragic auto accident. This very vibrant women who had courageously healed from breast cancer, was gone. She was in her early 70‘s, she was an avid horsewoman who was still riding competition trail rides at her death. When she found out she had breast cancer, she went forward as if it was just another obstacle to hurdle in her trail. She continued to exercise and became even truer to her first love; horses. Her death brought me back to New Mexico to care for my surviving father who had major heart conditions and was torn apart with a broken heart.
One of my spiritual teachers told me, “Your authentic spiritual path is not any easy one, it is one of true self.” Coming back home in New Mexico meant that I had to face all that prompted me leave in the first place. I stayed true to my authentic self sometimes against very challenging odds. Healing family issues, adolescent issues, past relationships plus grieving the death of my mother was a lot to take on. It became quite the challenge to integrate who I had become as an adult into the family who still saw me as a teenager.
I knew I was being authentic and true to myself because not once during this long and difficult period did I get sick. I practiced all the “healing” modalities I knew & taught others. I practiced what I taught the women with cancer. I set boundaries with my family, I tried to meditated daily, I exercised and continued a healthy diet and tried to live in the moment.
My Peruvian teacher said two things that I keep in my minds eye; “you will always have problems, you will be able to solve them at a higher level” and “your body does not lie.” I believe and have seen this in my practice, that if you are out of balance on any level in your life that it will show up in your body.
My favorite inspirational writer is Louise Hay. She was a pioneer in mind body connection. To paraphrase something she wrote; “how you start your day is how you live your day, how you live your day is how you live your life.” Find your authentic truth and live it.
Vicki Strom-Medly’s web site is http://www.healingheartenergybalancing.com/
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