Decades of unselfishly putting others’ needs ahead of your own is a recipe for disaster. Eventually the cocktail of toxic emotions living in your body puts you in perfect alignment for a health crisis to come knocking on your door. If you’ve already gotten that warning from your body saying that something is not right, it’s time to start paying attention by taking steps to put yourself first.

Just like my mother, I’ve always had a space between my 2nd and 3rd toe on my right foot. And I inherited my tubby toes from my dad. For years both of those physical traits made me feel tremendous shame and insecurity.

I also have a space between my two front teeth, but when I was growing up I saw Elton John, Madonna and Lauren Hutton with the same space in between their teeth. They made it look cool so I felt really good about the space between my teeth.

Over the past couple years, as I’ve learned to make peace with both of my parents, I’ve grown to feel more comfortable with my toes, all of them.

Ouch! It hurts!

On Monday, I accidentally banged my left foot on the back of an office chair my husband was sitting on. Rather than just asking him to move, I pranced behind him as I was still moving, my foot caught on the wheel of the chair, causing one toe to go too far to the right and the other too far over to the left.

I was in agony. I saw stars. The pain made me feel so nauseous. As soon as I could think clearly again, knew I had to start tapping to begin the healing and recovery process.

Back in 2012 I met Stacey Vornbrock Stacey is a psychotherapist who uses Emotional Freedom Techniques among other methods to help her coaching clients. Through her company, Stacey Vornbrock Breakthrough Performance she teaches pro and amateur athletes how to use tapping to boost their performance.

Tapping for Pain-relief

When my mother fell down in 2013, Stacey Vornbrock gave me her Injury Recovery book. As I tapped with my mother on the phone, and confronted many of my own issues around fear, I saw amazing changes occur for both of us.

Within 30 minutes of the accident, I instantly reached for Stacey’s book because I remembered how powerful the tapping was for pain relief. As I went through each of the tapping scripts, I was reminded of all the ways I felt so vulnerable and had so many mixed emotions around this injury. I cried, moaned, and tapped, tapped, tapped.

I could feel the shift of the energy in my foot. With the tapping, along with intermittent use of an ice pack, I was aware of long periods where there was no pain or discomfort. But once I started walking I felt a lot of pain.

That night my husband, Angel took me to a local Urgent Care facility. Prior to seeing the doctor, my blood pressure was taken. I’ve never had a problem with high blood pressure. My pressure has always been 120/80. But it’s been a few years since I’ve seen a doctor.

Denial Isn’t Just a River

When the nurse announced that my blood pressure was 141/96, I protested, and claimed that I didn’t have high blood pressure. She promised she would return later to do another reading. The second reading was higher, 154/96.

My stress level during that appointment was on overload. As the practitioner was tightly wrapping my toes together, my emotions were in a swirl. Other than when I fractured an elbow back in 2004, I’ve never had much experience with feeling physical pain. But that night, I felt completely out of control feeling the pain ripping through my body. I was angry, sad, frustrated, and frightened.

When the taping was first done and I got up to walk out of the doctor’s office, I nearly cried from the piercing and burning sensation and pressure of the tightness in my toes. I knew that so much of the pain was as a result of all my mixed emotions.

High Blood Pressure: My Blessing in Disguise

After I got home, and began to think about what was happening, I realized it was a waste of my precious energy to continue to feel resentment for anyone I encountered or my situation.

I had to accept this new information about my health so I could start to make changes and move forward. I had to shift my thinking in order to regain my strength and further improve my health.

As much as I hated that appointment and everyone there, I realized that learning about my elevated blood pressure was a gift in disguise. I’ve made tremendous changes over the past year with my eating. I’m now ready to make more health changes to lower my blood pressure without medication.

I realized that by not recording my progress, I have been sabotaging myself. Ignorance is not bliss.

So this morning I started using a blood pressure monitor and I’ll be keeping a record of the changes as my blood pressure shifts.

But last night my only goal was to get back on my feet again. I knew I needed to re-learn how to walk to accommodate the added obstacle of having two of my toes taped together.

After thinking about all the subtle differences mentioned in Stacey’s scripts, I realized it wasn’t actually pain that I had been feeling. It was more of the discomfort you feel when you wear an extremely tight shoe for too long.

Now after focusing on the subtle differences in pressure, temperature and pain, I can readjust my walking so that I can walk with both feet instead of limply dragging my left foot behind with each right stride forward. I’m still limping, but not as much.

Thanks to the new awarenesses that I learned from reading and tapping to Stacey Vornbrock Injury Recovery book, I’ve been able to stretch the limits and move beyond my comfort zones. It feels so good to get back a feeling of being in control of my body again. Can you relate?

Literally I was able to walk down the stairs to my office today.

It feels so good to reclaim a sense of being in control of my body again. Even accepting the humble truth knowing that there’s so much more to go on my journey to gaining better health. It just feels so much better knowing that I’ve become my own health advocate. After so many years of ignoring other people’s warnings to get healthier, I’m finally doing it for myself.

Best yet, is that now because I’m putting myself first on my own list of priorities, I have the clarity, courage, confidence, commitment and creativity necessary to take steps to get healthier my way. Want to know more about how I am changing my eating habits, getting healthier and losing weight without dieting?

If you’d like an invitation to my FB LIve tomorrow at 3 p.m., click on the join link below:

30 Days to Lovin’ the Skin You’re In FB group

Hope to see you there.

Much love,
Andrea