I wanted to be a Doctor for as long as I can remember. I knew I could make a difference to the lives of others and I was fascinated by the human body.

It wasn’t quite how I imagined it would be, though: I was overworked and felt undervalued. There seemed to be no time or energy to care for myself. The basic needs of food, clothing and home were covered, but I lived with the constant doubt that something was wrong… that I was missing out on “something.”

And then I fell seriously ill.

Perhaps my situation sounds familiar: having learned how to push myself and ignore my body’s signals, I eventually spent two months in bed with an unknown virus. What followed was years of poor health and medical specialists shrugging their shoulders with no explanation for my symptoms. They couldn’t even offer me a prognosis, just uncertainty.

Most painful was that all the parts of me that I thought made me worthwhile had disappeared: I could no longer work, exercise, plan for the future or even know if I would have the energy to make it out of bed in the morning.

I won’t deny that it was a very low moment when I found the courage to challenge my life-long belief system. (And how wonderful it is to know that inside each of us this courage resides ready to be put to work.)

In a state of desperation, I accepted that I needed to investigate and experiment with treatments and disciplines that had previously seemed irrelevant.

I became well again with the very therapies and practices I had dismissed in order to achieve success as a Doctor.

I studied nutrition avidly and sought specific training in Coaching, NLP, Reiki and Yoga, and to this day, devote much of my time to furthering my knowledge in these and other techniques. I also read daily on many subjects relating to healing from chronic illness and self-development – there are ongoing breakthroughs in our understanding of the mind and body, and I intend to stay informed of every possible approach for my clients.

In the process of my exploration and application, I learned an important lesson: simply because science cannot definitively prove something does not mean it’s useless mumbo-jumbo.

When I look back on my illness now, I am grateful for this time in my life. It transformed my body and, importantly, my mind. My work is far more gratifying. I know I’m on the right road – that feeling of something missing has evaporated.

My work to cure myself helped me discover the strength and happiness one can have when Science and Soul work together. It is my greatest honour and wish to share this with you.