My First Real Breakthrough
“Breakthroughs rarely look like what you expect.
They don’t arrive with trumpets or lightning bolts.
They slip in quietly — between routines, between breaths —
after months of discipline, frustration, and surrender.”
Storytelling: Surviving vs. Living
My first real breakthrough came after I’d done everything.
A dozen water fasts.
Half a dozen juice fasts.
A thousand hot yoga classes.
Fifty saunas.
Maybe a hundred swims in the freshwater springs of the Blue Mountains.
I’d even tried a dry fast — for anyone who’s done one, let’s just say it’s the kind of thing you only do once out of desperation.
At that point, I was following every protocol perfectly: detoxes, supplements, breathwork, green juices. And yet… I realized I had no life.
If you’ve ever seen the Wheel of Life, you know what I mean. The circle divided into all the areas that make a life whole — career, relationships, health, fun, personal growth, finances, spirituality, hobbies.
When I looked at my wheel, only one slice was lit up: healing. Everything else was empty.
Then it hit me — I hadn’t even been drinking beer. Not that beer is medicine, but I’d cut out everything that made me me. Fermented foods, laughter, dinner with friends, mustard on a steak, pickles on a cheese sandwich — all gone.
Somewhere between my last juice fast and my fiftieth sauna, I realized: I was surviving, not living.
So I did something radical: I cracked open a cold beer. I watched a trashy TV show instead of another wellness documentary. I let myself be… normal.
And strangely, my body responded.
My nervous system exhaled. Digestion improved. Energy felt grounded, human. It was as if my body had been waiting for permission to live again.
Coaching Insight
Balance is medicine.
Healing isn’t perfect control — it’s rhythm. You can meditate, detox, and visualize all you want, but if you cut out joy, connection, and the small pleasures of life, you’re still starving — just in a different way.
The body doesn’t just need nutrients. It needs:
Stories
Laughter
Music
Love
The taste of life
Sometimes the most healing thing you can do is loosen your grip and let yourself live again.
Mini Hypnosis / Reflection
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath.
Imagine your mind as a Wheel of Life.
See each section lighting up — health, relationships, creativity, fun, purpose.
Breathe energy into each one, balancing effort with ease, healing with joy.
Whisper to yourself:
“I give myself permission to live fully. To heal and to enjoy. To grow and to play.”
Let that balance settle into your nervous system — a quiet, steady harmony.
Closing / Teaser
“Tomorrow, I’ll share how I coached myself out of despair — using the same tools I used to teach others — and how self-compassion became the missing piece in my recovery.”