Health & Healing
If everyone did Journeywork we could heal the world
How to put into writing healing stories using Journeywork to share about the marvelous, wonderful, unique tool that is The Journey? Where do I begin? How do I start to share what for me is a daily occurrence? Everyday in my office I witness deep, lasting transformation.I see people freeing themselves from bouts of depression, allergies, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, debilitating mood disorders and physical ailments, such as blood pressure, IBS, migraines, even cancer!
How do I describe the ‘indescribable’? Should I talk about the one who cleared herself of breast cancer in just two processes? Or the one that suffered from sexual impotence for as long as he could remember, and could resume having a normal sex life again after just two sessions? Or should I talk about the one who was suffering from panic attacks and couldn’t sleep, that felt an instant relief and change after the first session? Or maybe I could talk about the lady who was totally unable to let go of a past heartbreak to the point of becoming obsessive, and was able to forgive and move on? Or about the lady that was unable to attend to her dying mother in her last days of her life, and was able to surmount her fears in one session and was then able to let her go in peace while holding her hand? Or about the ones who were suffering from fybromyalgia to the point of being in constant pain and who are now pain free? Or do I talk about myself, finally released from the relentless, harsh, subtle, critical voice that kept me feeling never ‘good enough’ and unworthy, no matter what I did or how much I succeeded?
As you can see I am in awe of what I witness and am very, very humbled by it.
” How can I tell about others’ success stories? Which one would I choose? Why not start with mine?” I was always a firm believer in the saying ‘walk the talk’ and I sure found an echo to this motto in The Journey. I thought to a certain degree, that I had already cleared my ‘shit’. Being a fervent believer that it starts with you, to be the change you want people to be, I had over the years been doing extensive, continuous training in related fields and psychological treatment. I had sat in the client chair many times and was constantly willing to look at myself and deepen the knowledge that I had acquired over the years. But somehow I knew there was more.
When three people, in two days, talked to me about this workshop coming to Ottawa just two days later, I ‘got’ the message and registered. Already I felt a pull, a little voice inside saying it is going to change my life. I heard the whisper and I put it aside. Little did I know. It did just that! The weekend was a revelation. I went with no expectations, had no time for it, hadn’t even read the book. Nevertheless I felt and lived the magic, like so many! I remembered initially being a little overwhelmed by the intensity of the love there, even in the way I was welcomed. My ever-protective mind, my fear came up, ” Is this a cult? After all, I have seen many different things in my 20 years of practice working in hospitals, schools, giving and attending workshops.” The weekend was amazing! I finally made contact with this free part of me that I had felt before, used before, but never knew how to access systematically. This is a tool, not a random experience. And this tool was so powerful that it did its magic on me as well as so many other people around me.
I then decided to do the entire training to become a Journey Accredited Practitioner and in the meantime, started to integrate these tools into my practice, because ‘you don’t need to be a doctor to use it’. And again the magic happened! People touched ‘source’, a deep, free part of themselves and they started to heal and were able to free themselves, forgiving themselves and others. Some had spontaneous healings, some gradual healings, all healing themselves if they gave themselves a chance. I myself am freer and freer, becoming who I truly am in my essence as I share and guide people on their own path of transformation. As I was away a lot this fall, my daughter who is now 18 took my messages on my voice mail. She was dumbfounded by the countless messages of gratitude I received and said to me with her unique enthusiasm, mixed with a little scepticism and curiosity, “Are you God or what? People love you so much.” In reality, people are in love with freedom and simply grateful to have been gently introduced or awakened to their infinite potential, and feel empowered by their own ability to change and grow. Finally there is a tool that fully grasps and uses the unlimited potential that exists in all of us – a tool that is vast enough, wide enough, to include all possible human experin ience and restore meaning and dignity even in the most “damaged” ones. I am sharing all this with the pure intention of simply spreading the word about the fact that there is a way, there is a tool. There is a path for healing, the requirement is simply that you want to take it.
Marie-Sylvie Roy, Jorney Practitioner
Anton W., Österreich
“Ich dachte immer Selbsterfahrungsseminare wären nichts für Realisten wie ich es bin. In diesen zwei Tagen habe ich mit Freude erfahren, dass es wohl nichts “Realeres” gibt als das eigene Ich. Die Selbsterfahrungen haben mich zutiefst betroffen und der Weg “The Journey” hat mir gezeigt, wo das eigentliche Ich sitzt. Nicht im Kopf, sondern in der Seele. Ich danke von Herzen”
Anton W., Tirol, JI Wien 2011
This is the Most Cutting Edge Healing and Freeing Process Available that I Have Found
This is the most cutting edge healing and freeing process available that I have found. I’ve taken seminars and have been a healer myself for many years but this is a gift of astronomic proportions. If you are ready for it, the freedom you have been seeking is here. In my opinion – and it’s only my opinion based on my actual experience – it is the most important work being done for individuals in pain on the planet at this time.
Janice R, Healer
Candace Pert, Internationally Recognized Pharmacologist and Author on The Journey Method
The Journey will inspire millions, not only those with physical challenges in their lives, but those seeking spiritual understanding.
Candace Pert, Author of Molecules of Emotion
Very Powerful and Deeply Moving
A very powerful and deeply moving book. I couldn’t put it down. It has been the beginning of my own spiritual journey. I’ve encouraged all my friends and loved ones to read it. It moved me to tears and gave me courage and a sense of calm. I wish I had seen Brandon in person when she came to Australia.
Tania Wood, Australia
Erika, Salzburg
„Ich bin verängstigt und verzweifelt angekommen, befreit und erleichtert nach Hause gegangen. Ich fühlte mich bestens aufgehoben, behütet und getragen.”
Erika
Marina, Bayern
„Kein Psychologe hat das geschafft, was ich mit eurer Hilfe aufdecken durfte. In Dankbarkeit und Frieden “
Marina
The Journey has Helped Me Improve My Health and Well-being Beyond Recognition
It is very simple really: I have a pre Journey life and a post Journey life. The Journey has helped me improve my health and well being beyond recognition. It is the core to everything for me. I have learnt that unless I am connected to my Source, nothing outside of me will ever feel right. If I had only known when I was growing up that all emotions were not only a healthy response to life but also gateways to a profound inner peace, I know I would have experienced my life very differently. I use the Journey tools every day and the deep peace they bring continue to seep into and suffuse everything that I do’.
Marion Howells, United Kingdom
Now He Will be Able to Deal With Any Anxieties He May Have in the Future
My youngest son (8yrs) was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2005 and is undergoing treatment while doing ‘The Journey’. I have been overwhelmed at the change in my son/s attitude, towards the huge life changing illness. He is now able to find tools and strategies within himself to help him cope/deal with his treatment and tumour. Before he started the journey he was often feeling sick, had headaches and dizzy spells with chemo, then when starting the journey we noticed a significant improvement in his physical symptoms, and now after a series of journey sessions theses symptoms have subsided substantially. All we are seeing at the moment are the side effects straight after chemo.
On seeing the amazing difference this has had on our youngest son we chose to introduce ‘The Journey’ to our oldest son (11 yrs). He was finding it difficult to deal with his brother’s illness and the change in the family, that he developed separation anxieties.
After just one session of ‘The Journey’ he had to go on a school camp, this was a big ask for him. He knew he really wanted to go, but the anxiety was much bigger. With only having had one session at the time he felt confident on taking himself on his own journey. We experienced this and were touched at how he was able to process all his thoughts and feelings and give himself the tools and courage to achieve camp.
The confidence and self esteem that we have seen in him is encouraging to see. We know that now he will be able to deal with any anxieties he may have in the future.
The boys continue to do ‘The Journey’ and enjoy each session. I have asked each boy how they feel after a ‘Journey’ with their answers being relaxed, tired, courage, happy, safe and fun. This gentle process of healing has given them everlasting tools that they can use all the time and also giving my husband and myself peace of mind.
T.F., Christchurch
Much of Viet Nam’s Trauma, Along With Many Other Issues, Were Being Healed
My name is Joe Doyle. I served six years in the United States Marine Corps, and I am a Viet Nam Veteran. The after effects of that war held me captive in a shell of my own creation for forty years. Four years ago, my wife, Nancy, lead me to The Journey, and both of us have completed the Practitioner Program. As I travelled along The Journey’s path, I became aware that much of Viet Nam’s trauma, along with many other issues, were being healed, and that I had opened into a freedom within myself that completely changed my entire life. From that change, a dream has arisen, to bring The Journey, and its beautiful healing processes to veterans and their families.
Joe Doyle, Viet Nam Veteran
This Experience Was Amazing and Cleansing
This experience was amazing and cleansing. I have seen the positive effects through my father… and how he changed. The peace within my soul resonates through the cells and overwhelms me. All I have is thankfulness and gratitude in my body, so thank you and I thank myself and I thank grace.
Medolyn Rogers, Prestons Daughter, Austin, TX
Trainers Sincerity and Love Was Abundant, and Filled the Room With Peace and Joy
Thank you so much for having me be a part of the Journey Intensive. I am not sure of How or What I received, and truthfully I finally felt that my Spirit was at place to finally be receptive to the Love that eminates from the Universe. Regardless, I felt my Soul was truly touched in a “Positive” manner for the first time in 40 years by someone from outside my family. The only other times I can think of is when my children were born.
As I said to you, I am not sure that I found SOURCE or Release. I do know that I was so Honored to have been with others and experienced their release. That in and of itself was so wonderful. I could actually “Feel” them which gave me such Gratification.
I would also like to expand my love and gratitude to all the Trainers. Their sincerity and Love was abundant, and filled the room with Peace and Joy. I wish I could have done more for them all, and maybe next time.
Which brings me to the other reason I am writing this message. I was looking on the website for the different workshops and also the items I might need to be a Practitioner. I saw the one on abundance but I did not see a price. I am not going to let anything be a block to something I feel is needed for my Spirit. The Journey came about and the perfect time and even though I am pretty uptight about allowing things to move me, I HAVE BEEN MOVED!
I have always wanted to help people just for the sake of helping. I am feeling strongly that I want to become a Practitoner. It makes me feel that my life has some meaning and gives me positive things to reflect on when the darkness comes. I believe that this Process may actually be a way for me to see the light that has been hidden.
Again, my abundant gratitude to all of the Trainers, the Staff for the Love and Joy all of ya’ll so openly gave to me (us) as we Begin Our Journey.
Preston Rogers, Austin Texas
I Knew that There Was Something I Was Not Feeling
I wanted to share a story with you that happened to me. I was leaving Denver to go home to Jacksonville, and I woke up in a funk. I had really weird dreams all night, and hadn’t slept well. I was feeling very tired and kind of out of it. I left the hotel and on the way to the airport and I started feeling anxious, and by the time I got to the airport I was in a full blown panic attack. One of the beautiful things that I have learned through the Journey Process is that anxiety and panic are my coping mechanisms for not feeling, (bizarre as that sounds.) So, I knew that there was something I was not feeling.
As, I started through the Security gates, and I was so panicked, I thought, I need to get to a calmer place. So I went into the bathroom chose a stall in the back, started down the layers, and was just really sobbing, I did however get to a semi-peaceful state, enough so that I could get through security. After all, I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss my flight. As I got through security, I still had this gnawing in my stomach, so, when I got to my gate, having plenty of time now, I said. “Ok, there is more, here I go into the bathroom again.” So I found a stall in the back, hung my coat and purse on the back of the stainless steel door and sat on the toilet in my clothes. I went down 2 layers, and a memory popped. So, I thought with limited time, I will just build my campfire right here, and process. Turns out I was mad at God. I was able to empty out, and we had a nice conversation, forgave each other, and I really felt the shift this time. So when I opened my eyes I looked up to get my coat, and to the right of my coat, someone had scraped GOD in the stainless door. I sat there with my mouth open staring. Then I looked further and there were three crosses below it. And shaking my head, I went, “Oh my god!!!!!”, then I just burst into laughter. Who knows was it there before?, probably, maybe not, I don’t know. But how synchronistic if it was there before, out of ALL the bathrooms in the airport, and that was the 2nd time I went into to process, I would pick that bathroom, and that stall. YES, we are truly NEVER alone. Thank you for this work.
Lisa
25 Years of Medical\\Psychiatric Therapy Could Not Un-Earth As Much As This Intensive Workshop Did in Two Days
I wanted to send a “FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART” thank you to ALL the people at the Journey, for helping me attend this event. Twenty-five years of Medical\Psychiatric therapy along with anti-depressant medication could not un-earth as much as this intensive workshop did in two days. I’m not saying that I am completely cured and totally healed. I can say, in complete and utter truth, that I have never felt such a deep sense of accomplishment and hope. What a feeling!!!!!!!! With your help, I feel as though I’m on my way. Back to my healing path. TRUTH. Thank GOD and YOU for showing me the way. MERCI. THANK YOU.
Helene Mayer-Naud
Freedom from the Old “Story”
I had lived with no awareness of life inside of me. I stuffed my emotions often not knowing what I was feeling. There was lots of anxiety and depression and little self-esteem or confidence. I spent much time reading self-help books to understand and analyze it – yet there was little change that occurred for me and it kept me attached to the same old “story” that continued to run my life.
Then after experiencing a major loss I became very depressed and felt that there was no longer anything meaningful in my life. At the same time I was also facing the emotional pain I was holding onto around my relationship with my mother. I did not want to see her or even think about her for a year and a half! I got in touch with a part of me that knew there must be a way to bring about real healing. I was ready.
In my first Journey Session I experienced true forgiveness. In this powerful step-by-step process I moved through emotions, released the stored pain and naturally came to a place of peace. It was like a miracle for me! I felt an enormous shift and the depression lifted. From this healing that had taken place within me, I was filled with compassion and love for my mother and went to see her – as I hugged her I could truly say “I love you”. Our relationship was renewed and it is so amazing that I no longer feel “triggered” by her! I just feel love and compassion naturally – free from the old “story”. My perception about it has changed and it has brought me peace in the deepest part of my being. This is enormous – that one journey process did more for me than the many years I previously spent in support groups!
Because that was the most profound and lasting inner work I have ever tried, I attended the Journey Intensive Weekend Workshop in Ottawa, Ontario in August 2006. I learned how to do journey work and I continue to use these practical tools in my daily life. My friends have noticed a change in me and have told me that I am more confident and free. I experience more joy and peace than I ever have and I am becoming more empowered and free to be who I am! Transformation continues to take place in many areas of my life.
I had a desire to become a practitioner to continue deepening in my own healing and facilitate others in their healing. While doing the 45 case studies I gained experience working with adults of all ages and with various issues relating to depression, unworthiness, abuse, fears, and phobias. I received accreditation as a Journey™ Practitioner in March, 2008 and have set up a practice in Perth, Ontario (Canada).
Having experienced moving beyond the old “story” that I had, it is particularly meaningful for me to work with those who want freedom from specific anxiety/fears/phobias, abuse, depression as well as self-confidence and self-esteem issues. I feel honored in guiding others with gentleness and compassion to open into the wholeness that is already inside them and find their own inner wisdom. No matter what else you have tried there are possibilities – somehow something takes place on a level deeper than our minds can comprehend allowing real change and healing to take place. I am so blessed to have found this Journey work.
Marie Bonselaar, Accredited Journey™ Practitioner Perth, Ontario (Canada)
When I Thought I Was Being Strong… I Really Wasn’t
I didn’t know what to expect coming into this weekend so I feared even being here. I recently have survived the death of my significant other and the journey has made me realize that throughout that experience of death when I thought I was being strong… I really wasn’t. All I did was set myself up for more failure. The Journey has taught me that by shoving your feelings or emotions down that it will only hurt me worse instead of just letting them go and not having physical problems like pain and anxiety.
Heather Woodall, OH
Everyone, Whether Healthy, Ailing, Depressed, Addicted Whoever and Whatsoever Should Read This Book
We read, we saw, we recommended. Such an easy read, yet full of understanding and help. Everyone, whether healthy, ailing, depressed, addicted whoever and whatsoever should read this book and listen to their inner self. Brandon Bays shares her experiences both good and bad and helps you to tackle yours. I have recommended many people to read and keep giving my copy away. One day I hope that my partner and I can see and meet Brandon in person and attend her meetings.
Susan, from London
John Gray, Author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus on The Journey Method
Brandon’s inspiring story is proof of the healing power that exists within every individual.
John Gray, Author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
Entrepreneur and Best-Selling Author Anthony Robbins on The Journey
Brandon Bays is a remarkable soul, and her story of healing and reconciliation is a testament to the capabilities of human beings. Read this book and be inspired to take your own journey of healing!
Anthony Robbins, Entrepreneur, Author & Peak Performance Strategist
Best-Selling Author Dr Deepak Chopra on The Journey Method
Brandon Bays takes her reader on a journey of astounding inspiration.
Dr. Deepak Chopra, Best-selling author of Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
Chronic Depression – Healed
I would also like to tell you about the moment in which I was doing a Journey process on myself in the presence of another, and was HEALED — not just pieces, but the whole, chronic depression thing!!! It was AMAZING.
Heather Mallett
Lifting Depression After Five Years
In 1997, my husband, Russell, of 19 years died of cancer after 4 long years of living with it. It had taken a tremendous toll of time and energy to keep him in physical form that long. We have two beautiful children and the two of us were happy. Russell so wanted to stay around longer in physical form and yet his body was riddled with cancer. He was so weak.
He died September 9th, it was a Sunday and a beautiful fall day…his favorite season and favorite day of the week.
After his death, I was exhausted, worn out from all of the trying and worry that I had engaged in (I did not know about the Law of Attraction then). I was vulnerable and completely disoriented. It actually had never occurred to me that he would die.
It was within a very short period of time that I was catapulted into a depression that I could not shake. I was a trained counselor/psychologist at the time and was led to a counselor for help. I saw this counselor for over 4 years each week. She had no idea why this depression was not lifting and neither did I. I was looking for help everywhere I could. I knew that something was wrong and I did not know what it was that kept this depression hanging on.
At a time, when I was constantly in bed, trying to drown out the never-ending suicidal thoughts, I began to pray for help or relief in the form of death from the way I was thinking and feeling.
It was felt like “a time from hell”…and as it happens, when we ask we get led to our healing…someone recommended Brandon Bays book to me…and as soon as I read it, I knew that this would be what would help me. I immediately found someone in my home town who was accredited in this work…she had time to see me, almost immediately, and in this one session, I felt the depression lift. And three sessions later, sessions that I processed by myself, I was able to let go of my medication.
After the first session, I looked at the practitioner and I said “this is amazing” I felt the trauma of this time leave my body. I thought and said outloud “if I can clear a memory that is in the womb (which mine was) then there is so much hope for the healing of the entire planet.”
I was working with troubled teens at that time and I began to do Journey work with each one who came into my office with the similar amazing results.
Since this time, I have stayed faithful to this work on a regular basis for myself and I keep clearing more and more as things come up. It is the most empowering set of skills I know and I teach it whenever I can, to whomever asks.
Joanie McMahon
The Journey process Has Worked for Me Where Other Processes Have Completely Failed
I am completely off all antidepressants, I am happy and I feel like I have a life for the first time in over 30 years. Some antidepressants are almost narcotic in the way they make your body dependent on them so I had to gradually stop taking them rather than stop all at once, that is why it has taken me a while to get off them. This has worked for me where hypnotherapy, professional counselors, self-help, and numerous other processes have completely failed for me.
Craig Stevenson (Nachtrag einige Monate nach dem ersten Journey Prozess), Spanish Fork, Utah (follow-up several months after The Journey Process)
I Have Uncovered Two Major Life-Changing Experiences I Had Buried Deep in My Subconscious
I have recently had the opportunity to take 3 emotional journeys with a wonderful lady studying to become a practitioner of your life-changing course. What I have undergone is nothing short of phenomenal. I have uncovered two major life-changing experiences I had buried deep in my subconscious and I have learned to deal with feelings and emotions in a way that has completely changed my life.
I am 50 years old and I have been manic-depressive and bi-polar all my life. I was until recently taking three different antidepressant medications (Lamictal, Prozac, Adderall) at the same time just to function in my daily life. I have been gradually cutting back on the meds until one is completely eliminated from my life and the other two are at a quarter of what I was taking soon to be gone also.
I feel better than I have ever felt and I am better able to deal with life in general than I ever imagined possible. I still have a long way to go to be completely healed but in one short month I have come farther than I could have ever hoped for. My last journey created such cellular cleansing that I have been physically feeling the effects for the past week. Today I feel clear and like a new man. My story is like so many you have probably heard so I won’t go into all the long details, but I would like to say that what you have done for me this past month is absolutely miraculous. I just wanted to write to say thank you for saving my life. I actually see my future bright and happy for the first time in more years than I can even remember.
Craig Stevenson, Spanish Fork, Utah
Twelve Important Core Lessons I Have Learned
1. It is okay to cry.
2. Healing is a process and a journey of self and spiritual discovery.
3. Healing my physical body of breast cancer is just one third of the healing process; my mind and spirit need healing too.
4. I have to address my fears, they can’t be ignored. When fears show up in my life, I know they have specific lessons to teach me, to show me something greater within myself or in my life than the fear.
5. I could not have healed without the people in my life, the medical teams, work teams, and my family and friends and community members. I share these thoughts with you as an invitation to explore your fears and to become empowered and strengthened as a result of working with teams of individuals that care about your well-being.
6. Laughter, proper nutrition, proper breathing, and sound sleep are vital for my body to heal.
7. Being grateful for everything and everyone in my life always moves me another step forward in my healing journey.
8. I am not complete in my healing cycles until I can give freely and compassionately to others along the way.
9. Even in the death processes, special healing can occur.
10. The first step begins with honesty and asking myself if I am willing to be part of the solution and asking for help on the days that I need an extra hand, an extra hug, or a caring voice to hear my pain, or a good cry, and when I know I need others to teach me the way forward.
11. The power of prayer and the power of my faith are my greatest resources.
12. I am enough just as I am.
Beverly Vote
I Could No Longer Feel the Lump in My Breast
Two days later after The Journey Intensive weekend, I could no longer feel my lump in my breast. My next mammogram confirmed it had gone… I feel the Journey saved my life.
Karen G., Daily Express Newspaper
I Feel as if I have Been Given My Life Back
Before I did The Journey I was in a pit of depression, drinking and smoking heavily. I had lost the loving, happy go lucky girl I knew I was inside. I went to psychologists, tried help lines and did everything I knew how to get me out of the depression. Through the Journey I was able to get to the core of what put the depression in place, and free myself from the rape I had experienced one year earlier. I feel as if I have been given my live back and I now I live the life of my dreams, happily married and expecting a family.
Laurie Collins
The Journey Became an Integral Part of the Completion of My Healing
The essence of truth sits at the edge of every story and the story is what connects us and allows us to help each other to heal – and to find freedom.
I could not believe what I was being told. There was no doubt in my mind – until this moment – that it wasn’t cancer. The surgeon went on to tell me when my surgery would take place and all I could hear was someone in the far distance talking, saying things I couldn’t hear because my heart was beating so loudly in my ears.
I lay down on the operating table seemingly without choice and allowed a piece of me to be carved from my body. Afterwards, numb, staring at the stitches that held my breast together, my eyes stung with tears at the full realization of how weak and violated I felt.
My perfect breasts had been reduced to less than perfect. I was full of doubt. Had surgery been the right choice? Had it been my decision? I hated how my breast looked; it didn’t feel like a part of me anymore. Worse, I hated how I felt and hated that I didn’t have a clue how to not feel this way.
My husband’s friend told me breast cancer on the right side meant anger and resentment. Who was he to tell me that and what did he mean? He couldn’t have known how anger lived at the center of my being; the demon inside I tried so hard to keep secret. It lashed out at my husband and it kept me constantly irritable.
It was a hot Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer and I lay in bed crying – waiting for the doom of chemotherapy and radiation. Fear at the thought of these treatments sucked the energy from me and terrorized my mind. I didn’t want to be sick… to lose my hair… to have poison injected into my veins. I was terrified it would kill me and I didn’t know what to do. The phone rang. It was a friend of a friendwho had undergone natural therapy for something similar. She talked of alternative therapies and told me to get passionate about life. I honestly didn’t know how to get passionate about life but I did know I wanted to live! Relief spread through my body at the realization that I could make choices to help myself. I hung up the phone, bound out of bed, and headed straight to the organic farm for some fresh vegetables to juice.
Mainstream or alternative, a decision had to be made. Sitting alone in our family room – engulfed by mind numbing indecision – fear pulled at my insides. How do I decide what to do? What if I make the wrong choice? There was a subtle recognition that my body felt strong when I thought of alternative therapies but weak when I thought of chemo and radiation. And a strange inner knowing came over me that if I listened to my body it would guide me. It felt right. I felt that trusting my body’s wisdom could be the best thing that I ever did. That is the decision I made; to build my immune system instead of destroying it. I struggled initially to find someone willing to help me in my condition but I remained determined. Eventually I did find a naturopath to work with and I also discovered some other healing options that resonated with me. I found my healing path!
Through cancer I learned how to live in my body and how to trust my body’s wisdom. I also learned how to love myself and how to live an authentic life. Exhaustion was a constant companion as I finished my treatments (high doses of Vitamin C dripping into my veins by intravenous). And knowing I was going back to work in a couple of months didn’t help any and caused me a great deal of anxiety. The truth was I hadn’t liked my job for a good many mainyears. After reading a few books on the law of attraction I began to realize that maybe I could have the life I always wanted. Although, in truth, I didn’t have a clue what that life would be like because I hadn’t dreamed or wished for anything in such a long time. I decided to quit my job. I didn’t know if it was the right decision but it was my decision.
Doubt came visiting again, and with it depression. Was I really healed? Many days I just sat and did nothing while my mind raced with thoughts of all the things I should be doing. Some days I cried but mostly I just sat feeling nothing; trying desperately to feel something… anything. I was so empty inside. Friends called almost daily but I felt utter loneliness. Then the rage came. It started to erupt through my body like a volcano and I couldn’t keep the lid on. I felt like I was losing my mind. My body would shake violently as a huge energy would surge up through me. I was completely out of control and after each of these episodes, I would cry, feeling lost, confused and ashamed.
After some weeks the force of this rage seemed to lessen in intensity and I just surrendered to it. I would sit and stare into space, arms limp at my sides, not saying or doing anything. I didn’t even answer the phone. I gave up the fight. One day I woke up feeling good. Nothing had changed, I just felt happy. The feeling stayed and every morning I woke up ready to face the day. I started going for long walks and would imagine how I wanted my life to be and how I wanted to feel. I didn’t know how or why this shift had happened but I was ready to begin to live my life, not just exist in it.
It was in this state of openness and inquiry that I heard about a book called The Journey by Brandon Bays. I was listening to a tele-seminar over the internet about cellular healing and the story of a woman -Brandon- who had healed herself from a serious illness. I had to know more and immediately picked up her book.
Her story, in so many ways, mirrored my own. She told of the huge energy that shook through her body and, how it was through the opening and surrender to these powerful emotions that she found release and healing. It touched me at my core. My experience over the last year and a half had been exactly this. She went on to say that this emotional journey of healing was available to everyone and could be undertaken in a matter of hours through guided processes that had been developed. I eagerly awaited my first Journey Intensive workshop and was not disappointed. It was to be the first step on my path to becoming a Journey practitioner.
Through my Journey work, I learned how my time of torment and grief helped heal my body. The fear and doubts were scary because I thought they were the illness. In my Journey processes I discovered how to open to these emotions and to welcome them as a part of who I am and, in that, to find my own forgiveness and release. I have been able to release the rage that was exploding to get out and today I wake up happy and free from the chains that kept me bound in my life.
The Journey became an integral part of the completion of my healing and I no longer have any doubt that I am completely healed. I have turned toward growth and today find myself living from a level of authenticity that I could only have imagined before. And I have the tools to look inside myself for even deeper awareness.
It is through The Journey that I have also discovered my life’s purpose: to share my story and Journey work so that I can spread healing and hope to others. I have learned to love all parts of me, my slightly smaller breast, my scar, my anger, my fears, and I have been able to embrace the feeling of love I have for myself. It isn’t selfish or arrogant to love oneself, it is imperative. It is my deepest prayer that we all find the freedom and healing available to all of us and can live from this amazing place of awareness. Through cancer I learned how to live in my body and how to trust my body’s wisdom. I also learned how to love myself and how to live an authentic life. I am grateful everyday for the learning that continues to unfold.
Susan D'Agostino
Thanks For Getting My Health and Fitness Back on Track
Thanks for getting my health and fitness back on track… I had begun to think that my knee was going to give me constant pain for the rest of my life.
It all began when I had the bright idea that running a marathon was a great challenge for a 52 year old and I am pretty proud of how in 10 months I went from gasping at 100meters to completing a 50km run – HOWEVER… In the big push to cover the last 10km I noticed my right knee had developed a stabbing pain on the inside of the kneecap. In typical male fashion I figured it would come right after a rest so I cut back on running and waited for it to heal.
Unfortunately the pain didn’t go away and over the next 18 months got worse to the point that a short 4km run meant it hurt for hours and also when I lay in bed or crossed my legs there wasa nagging pain that just didn’t go away. Finally I realized that I had to DO something and your massage had been highly recommended so I figured it was worth a shot.
Well what a difference in just 5 sessions – I am now running up to 9km three times a week with only a tiny hint of pain afterward– a 95% improvement on what I used to feel after only one run – I’m a very happy man – and heading back to full fitness.
What I didn’t know was that for my knee to recover you needed to work on the all the major muscles in both my legs and back and groin and that what I thought was the problem was just a symptom of more that could be healed.
I also learnt that your therapeutic massage in a 1½ hour session relaxed my muscles more completely than a shorter session so that meant you could get into the underlying tension. At the same time you (Karoline, Journey Practitioner) also talked me through some of the emotions locked in my muscles (something completely new to me). I believe that your unique combination of treatment is why we have made such amazing progress in so few sessions.
B.W, Christchurch
The Journey Helped Find the Source of This Pain and Heal It
Our son (now 10) was diagnosed with Leukaemia. His treatment plan is for 3 and a quarter years. The first 3-6 months of treatment were intense. Two weeks into his chemotherapy he suffered a major brain hemorrhage. The family was divided as we lived away from the hospital. So initially we were in Christchurch for 2 months and after lots of anxiety and separations our family unit was re-united.
As our life would never be the same I welcomed any kind of assistance for our son and our daughter (now 7 years) whose lives had been upturned. Now just over two years into our journey with Cancer we find a new meaning to the word Journey.
The journey has given them both an opportunity to look inside themselves and find a way of dealing with and coping with situations and feelings. They have both benefited greatly, this is evident in their attitude towards life, their ability to use this technique with anything that arises, school issues, peer pressure, fears etc not just Cancer or illness.
Our son had abdominal pain, doctors performed tests, scans etc to determine where his pain was coming from but to no avail. The journey helped find the source of this pain and heal it, which has had a huge impact on our son’s current well being who is still undergoing treatments.
Our daughter has now found a way to handle the separation and abandonment issues she had, her demeanor is calmer and we have reconnected in a way that I don’t think would have been possible without the Journey and its fabulous ways.
We know we are on this road for a long while yet, thankfully we now all have ways in which to improve our quality of life.
P.R., Canterbury
My Body Has Returned to Normal
Thank you is too insignificant a word to express how I feel about what you have done for me, through the journey process you took me on. It begins in the morning when I wake and I actually feel well rested and can’t wait to get up and begin my day, I feel so happy, hopeful that my life is exactly as it should be, otherwise stressful situations and hurtful events are all things that just wash over me now in a very surreal way, acknowledged but hardly affecting my peace of mind.
The changes are so subtle but so profound, my memory is a hundred times better, no more big lists of to dos), even my hand writing is different, there’s a certain continuity to mundane things, I have begun to do crosswords not something I would have attempted before, can’t spell and too busy, not now life’s a breeze and I get more productive things done. Even the colours in my wardrobe has changed, I used to wear reds and purples (bright loud colours) now there are greens and blues and yellow, a colour I would never have even contemplated wearing a few months ago.
I feel brand new, honestly all these things are amazing, but the most profound change has been in a medical condition that has been progressively getting worse for twenty years, three years ago my Doctor put me on medication to control an out of control bladder, five months ago I had to give up the medication because it was causing other problems, so I had resigned myself to having a over active bladder. Embarrassment and annoyance were my constant companions.
A week after my last process I found myself out without my usual pads, a situation that caused me to immediately return home for some security, as going without wasn’t an option, then I thought, I hadn’t needed to use the toilet all morning, unheard of for me, so for the rest of the day I waited and watched, at first I thought maybe I hadn’t been drinking enough, but no that wasn’t the case, so the next day I tested not daring to hope that this horrible condition had been cured, drank all day and had normal bladder function, that was a little over a month ago and I have not sprung a leak once, and that’s a miracle to my way of thinking, no amount of medical intervention or alternative treatments have worked but something has, so long may it last and I didn’t have to do any anything my body has returned to normal.
M. B., Christchurch
Today is My First Totally Pain Free Day
Having been ill on and off for 27 years, and in pain every day for the last seven years with chronic fatigue syndrome, today is my first totally pain free day!!! I feel wonderful, alive and full of energy. Thank you, thank you.
Mandy Plimley, Journey Participant
A Remarkable and Innovative Approach
The Journey offers a remarkable and innovative approach to accessing important inner resources which can powerfully support the healing of body and mind.
Walter Jaros, MD. MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Natural HealthLink Director of Professional Training, Green Medicine Company
From That Day to This I Have Had Not One Moment’s Pain in That Area of the Body
In the spring of 2003 I and my therapy practice were both in the doldrums, and I was upset with myself. After all, I was certainly helping people to come out of past trauma and live functional, reasonably happy lives; why wasn’t that enough? Out of answers, I issued a wild call to the Universe: “Help!”
Help arrived. A week later a client dropped a book into my lap: The Journey, by Brandon Bays. Ten days after that I went to the Boulder Journey Intensive weekend in equal parts hope and doubt: Is this a cult?
Made cult-savvy by painful experience, I was delighted to hear Skip Lackey, Senior Journey Practitioner for North America, tell us immediately to “take out our BS detectors.” (Mine was already out.) We were never told what to believe; facts were presented to our minds, experiences to our hearts and bodies. The conclusions were up to us.
By Sunday morning I knew this was truly extraordinary work, and my next step as a therapist. But why? The format isn’t that different from what I’ve been doing with clients for over a decade as a hypnotherapist and EMDR clinician. Yet these simple processes bring unprecedented results – freedom from the tyranny of “my story” and its devastating effects on the body, and a sense of coming Home to one Self.
The difference lies in who is running the process – and my own experience provides a sterling example. By 2003 my ulcerative colitis, a painful and sometimes lethal condition of the intestinal lining, had defied all inner and outer healing modalities for about 20 years. The hypnotherapist and I would agree to “go into” the colon to see what was going on there and ask the colon how to heal it. Or, the EMDR clinician and I would list and desensitize traumatic events which might have impacted this area of the body. But there was never anything there but a vague anxiety… and no results, over and over and over again.
In that Journey weekend, though, I was guided first to open into the vast Consciousness within – what Brandon calls Source – and then under the direction of this infinite wisdom, to my great surprise I went not to my colon, but to my heart. And there was a memory which, even more surprisingly, would never have figured on any trauma list. I was 12, spending a beautiful afternoon helping my adored father in his rose garden. Far beneath the surface, however, in that moment of oneness between us my soul tuned in to his and knew that he planned to die young. Unbeknownst to my conscious mind, my loving heart decided, “If he goes early I have to do that too.”
And so with every beat of my heart this message was being sent out to my body – and especially to the “second brain” in the gut: “Your days are numbered. There’s a sword hanging over your head. You never know when your time will come…” At my Source-fed campfire the cells opened and I poured out the grief and fear, finally separating my destiny from my father’s. Then the infinite wisdom of my Source reprogrammed the heartbeat with much a healthier message to my body. And from that day to this I have had not one moment’s pain in that area of the body.
Never could I have tracked down the deep cause of all that pain using the “my mind’s-best-guess-plus-the-therapist’s-best-guess” method. After all, I spent 20 fruitless years trying to do just that! Nor do I have any idea how, after not having worked on it at any conscious level, the anxiety that prevented me from meditating for 40 – yes, 40! – years magically left; or how an addiction to reading fiction that had kept me out of my life for over half a century quietly disappeared, no fuss, no bother. I do know, though, that my Journey clients are experiencing similar – dare I call them miracles? Except that these “miracles” are repeatable, based both on solid science and on the infinitely reliable, infinitely wise Presence in each of us.
I continue to be amazed at the physical, emotional and deep soul healing I and my clients are receiving. And I am deeply happy, seeing my world through the eyes of the Light and Oneness I now know myself to be. My greatest prayer is that you’ll join me in letting the infinite wisdom of your True Self bring you into wholeness and freedom.
Pat Kendall, Accredited Journey Practitioner
I Have Not Experienced Another Migraine Headache
For as long as I can remember I suffered from migraine headaches. From about the age of 15 or 16 years old I would get regular debilitating headaches that would sometimes last up to two or three days long. Around the age of 20 I found a medication that helped relieve the pain and I was so excited and thankful for that.
I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of relying on prescription medication to help me but it was much needed relief. As life continued I became more and more frustrated with the fact that I had no real control over this plaguing issue. I could start to see the triggers of the headaches but I also knew there had to be some much deeper reason for the migraines. I knew that spending three days exerting myself at a high altitude or that it was simply my monthly cycle wasn’t the only reason I was having these insane headaches.
So I finally approached an acquaintance that happened to be a Practitioner of The Journey and asked for help. I surrendered to the unknown… if I could have “figured it out”, certainly I would have done so by now. So we sat down for probably an hour and a half together doing this process called The Journey. I was gently guided into my own body, accessing my own infinite body wisdom, to a place where I had unknowingly stored the block that was creating these migraines.
In an instant, I was shown an old cellular memory that had created a fear so deep inside of me, which as life unfolded, played itself out as debilitating migraine headaches. The Practitioner that I was working with led me through a process of deep and true forgiveness finally freeing me of this blocked cell pattern. I could not know the depth of the work done that day until the weeks and months would pass.
You don’t wake up one day and know that you are free from migraine headaches. So I left my process that day in November 2006, feeling a deep peace in what had taken place but not really sure if anything “happened”. Months passed….my normal triggers happened….migraines did NOT. All I can say is that since that day in November of 2006, I have not experienced another migraine headache. It is the miracle I was hoping for my entire adult life.
I am still in so much gratitude for this healing, this freedom. I’m not sure if someone who’s never had a migraine before can truly know the immensity of what has happened for me and my life and for those who have watched me suffer, but I will tell you it is nothing short of a miracle. Thank you for letting me tell my story. It is good to be reminded of the gifts the Universe has for us and I am humbled by the power to heal ourselves! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Valerie Stillman, Journey Practitioner
My Transformational Journey from a Breast Cancer Survivor Into a Thriver
In the fall of 2005, as the date of an impending elective surgery to remove my ovaries slowly neared, I acquired a severe case of hives ALL OVER my body. Not just ordinary run of the mill hives, but loud hives, flaming hives, out-of-control burning hives. My doctor followed the traditional western model for helping me by first prescribing steroid cream, which was only marginally effective. Next, she upped the ante by giving me oral steroids for eight days, which seemed to calm the symptoms. Once off the drug however, the hives returned with a vengeance, and my doctor resorted to injecting my rump with a brutally painful steroid shot that temporarily solved the problem, this time for about two weeks. Shortly thereafter, the hives reappeared, seemingly victorious against the steroidal invasion.
In the midst of this battle, feeling extremely frustrated with the vicious cycle of hives and steroids, my ears vibrated as I listened to a CD by Dr. Andrew Weil discussing skin problems. The wise Doc Weil declared that in his experience, skin problems always contain an emotional issue at the core. Thus, he recommended that his patients try to resolve their skin issues with hypnotherapy. Willing to try ANYTHING at this point, I called my doctor and shared Dr. Weil’s advice. Enthusiastically she concurred with Dr. Weil’s idea, which left me wondering why she hadn’t suggested something like this before. My doctor gave me the name of a hypnotherapist and two days later I arrived for the appointment.
A graceful (grace-full!) woman greeted me warmly and explained that she was a certified hypnotherapist, but that she had found an even more effective modality called “The Journey” . She asked if I might be interested in trying a Journey process instead of hypnotherapy. Little did I know then that my “YES” reply was not only a response to her question, “YES” was also the answer to a whole new direction in my life and more importantly to LIFE itself. “YES!!!!” my body, mind, and spirit shouted. “YES! YES! YES!”
I learned the true source of my symptoms: RAGE!! One Journey session quelled the screaming hives and by the end of the week, after two more sessions, my hives disappeared FOREVER! More significantly than that – and believe me, the significance of being hive-free cannot be understated – I learned the true source of my symptoms: RAGE!!
At the (much too young) age of 33, I received a breast cancer diagnosis and underwent a modified radical mastectomy with a TRAM flap reconstruction. Reconstruction is actually a bit of a misnomer; my entire being felt utterly violated! Yet as I coped with the difficulties that go along with cancer diagnosis and traditional medical treatment, outwardly I projected a calm and courageous veneer, while unbeknownst to me, deep in the interior of my soul, I was seething with rage. Still, my optimistic nature carried me through the rough spots and covered up my deeper emotions and after five years my oncologist declared that I was cured! (Yep, he actually used the “cure” word). On top of that fabulous news I became pregnant with my first child at the ripe (almost too old) age of 38. Life seemed to be back on track and full of blessings.
Three speedy years later at my 16th routine oncology check up, and only several days after deciding to try for one more child at age 41 (definitely pushing the envelope for conceiving, but what did I care, I simply adored being a Mom!), I again received a diagnosis of a new primary breast cancer in my other breast. This time the news shattered my world! Not only was the cancer more invasive than the first one, but more importantly I was a Mommy! I was a Mommy!!!! I felt like an enormous tornado had swept me up and just tossed me asunder. I couldn’t breathe or think or sleep. My whole world spun out of control. Though my psychological/spiritual toolbox contained many appropriate tools, I couldn’t even manage to locate it, much less open it. At the time, I had no clue that what was really transpiring in the depths of my being was an ominous, explosive rage trying to make its way into my consciousness. My extreme anxiety was a huge cover up job. I had no reference point for feeling rage much less expressing it; no women in my family or community raged (or so it appeared!). The only women that I had observed rage were labeled bitches by the world. Oh no, raging was not an option and so with all my might I kept it hidden and the energy this choice required created unbelievable fear and fatigue. My oncologist put me on an anti-depressant which abated the power of the rage and dissipated the fear. My school district gave me a year leave-of-absence and I managed to make it through three more surgeries, chemotherapy, and mothering a three-year-old.
Cancer was merely a physical process of cells running amok. It was not a personal attack after all. I understood that my experiences weren’t about good vs. evil or any other misconceptions I harbored A year later, as I faced the hive-causing ovary surgery, I realized that my body had done me a tremendous favor by bringing my buried rage to the surface. The hives raged in unison with my soul! After healing from the hives and going through several additional Journey processes with my hypnotherapist/journey practitioner, I attended my first Journey Intensive where I received two more processes, learned how and why they work, practiced how to give them, and discovered how to truly forgive. That weekend the physical Journey process I went through turned out to be the key to unlocking all that I had buried so deep inside. In that process, I sat at a campfire with Cancer. Cancer showed up as a large, pink, blobby mass covered with mouths all over. I spoke first and painfully emptied out a myriad range of emotions, thoughts, and feelings about having undergone cancer treatment twice, inheriting the BRCA 2 gene, watching cancer eat away my father’s face and then his life force, discovering how cancer had maimed my grandmother, and witnessing cancer kill two aunts, an uncle, my favorite cousin, and several friends. At the campfire, I really let Cancer have it with both barrels. I cussed, I sobbed, I stomped my feet, I raged, I grieved, I pleaded, and I moaned “why?” until finally, I was empty. Then Cancer had its turn to reply. It simply responded, “That’s what I do. I eat things. I’m an overactive cell that eats things, reproduces more cells and keeps eating things.” That was all! This response left me stunned and pierced through all the torrid emotions, leaving me in a strangely peaceful state of being. In that moment I realized that I had unwittingly given cancer a sinister personality with malevolent intentions. This realization enabled me to begin a process of unhooking from the drama I had created around cancer. Cancer was merely a physical process of cells running amok. It was not a personal attack after all. I understood that my experiences weren’t about good vs. evil or any other misconceptions I harbored, and that I had openly given my power away to an accursed phantom. After that Journey Intensive, the question of “why?” began slipping from my vocabulary, being replaced with the invitation, “Tell me more. What would you like me to learn?”
As alarming as it might sound to WILLINGLY spend time cussing, sobbing, stomping my feet, raging, grieving, pleading, and moaning, I LOVE doing Journey processes because they are enormously creative, deeply empowering, and truly transformative. The Journey has given me unbelievable gifts! I have learned how to access and express all my emotions (some that I didn’t even know I had). By opening up a wide, expansive door to my soul, The Journey has enabled me to look deeply, see, and embrace “the good, the bad, and the ugly” in all parts of myself. During Journey processes I have uncovered numerous blocks (illusions, miscon
Kerry Geary
I Got My Voice Back
I had the most incredible Journey. My mind was taking me to one place, but source told me to relax and guided me to the place that I needed to be. All my life I wanted to know why I could not express my thoughts out loud? Why my self esteem was so low? Having two parents who gave me as much unconditional love as two human beings possibly could, I had no idea where it came from.
My source took me to the place when I was three years old in the hospital. The doctor who had to perform surgery (removing the tonsils) asked me to open my mouth and when I refused, he hit me on my face 5 or 6 times. It was a very dramatic event for a three year old child …this event influenced my life tremendously: my grades, my marriage. On the energetic level, every time I was planning to talk I had a horrendous fear that something terrible would happen…(through the process) I GOT MY VOICE BACK.
Bertha M
I’m Fully Recovered and Self-Supportive
I have known seven and a half years of pain and torment with M.E., including paralysis and renal failure. Thanks to The Journey I’m fully recovered, self-supportive and working full-time. I’m free!
Caroline Gardner, Administrator
Migraine Headaches… Completely Stopped! I Feel Great
I had suffered for 25 years with serious migraine headaches. After undergoing Journey processing the headaches have completely stopped! I feel great!
Nicki H., Pharmacist
Medically Clear and Pain Free
I was diagnosed as needing a hysterectomy and back surgery. I also had a breast lump. Within three months of starting Journey work I was medically clear and pain free!
Noreen C., Personal Growth Teacher
Every Time I See My Baby Girl, I Feel So Grateful for All of You
I am the mexican who took the Journey seminar in Houston and got pregnant immediately after the workshop! I am so glad to get in touch again! Every time I see my baby girl, I feel so grateful for all of you!
After what I LIVED with the journey, I want to help not only my baby girl but a lot of people around me. (actually, I have been doing some journey work with my family and a couple of friends. One of them got rid of breast cancer!!!) But I know I need more knowledge to be able to help more. I´d love to complete the practitioners program!
Thank you all!
Teri, (follow-up year after The Journey Process)
It’s Not About the Tumour…My Journey Home
My name is Jean Brazeau and I am a seven year breast cancer survivor. I am a survivor of brain and spinal cord tumors. I am also a survivor of violent physical, emotional, and sexual childhood abuse that had left me filled with fear, shame, anger, self hatred, guilt, and an endless number of self limiting beliefs about who I was in the world.
My life as I knew it started crumbling around me on March 11, 2000 when my oldest sister died unexpectedly. My strength to go on with my life as it was came from a daily dose of Wellbutrin.
Eleven months later, a routine mammogram revealed that I had breast cancer. At this moment in time, from somewhere deep within me, I knew this diagnosis would somehow free me from the life I was living which was not providing me with personal fulfillment or joy. Because I believed I had no control over cancer and because I had spent my entire life looking outside of myself to cope with the challenges of living and surviving, I numbly and mindlessly turned my body over to the medical community with the hopes that soon I would be having an opportunity for a new beginning to my life. As customary I parked the emotions somewhere deep inside where I would not have to face or feel them.
Motivational tapes in hand, I engaged in daily physical exercise and healthier eating habits, I ran for the cause, offered advise to others and was cited by the medical community as a model example of how to deal with cancer positively. As my treatment that included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation progressed, the battle became more difficult. The side effects of treatment took me to a new low and another anti-depressant was added to my repertoire to off-set the effects of the chemotherapy-induced menopause.
I vividly recall 9/11/2001, the day terrorists attacked America and the Twin Towers. The day started as any another day in my life which was then being defined by the cancer. Having just completed my final chemotherapy treatment, I sat in the family room glued to the television. The effects of chemotherapy and menopause were taking their toll. I was bloated, bald, weary to the bone, alone, afraid and seriously depressed. The world trauma of 9/11 added to my personally deep fears of what was going on in my life. Both my outer world and my personal world were falling apart, and it felt as though the world was coming to an end. I could feel myself slipping deeper into that black hole of depression and despair.
I was unable any longer to hide behind makeup and highlights or the shell that I had created and believed was me. I attempted to look inward and tried to convince myself I liked what I saw. In retrospect I realize looking inward for me was very superficial as I had no idea how to go very deep, nor did I have any idea of who I was. For the next two years, life presented me with more countless painful experiences including the deaths of my best friend’s son, my brother-in-law, my step-father and my mother. It didn’t seem to matter which corner I turned, there was always a hammer waiting to come down and validate my belief that life was hard. It was just nineteen months after completing treatment for breast cancer,another devastating blow came. A series of routine tests ordered by my oncologist uncovered “something unknown” in my brain and spinal cord. It was five short days after my mother’s memorial service at a long awaited appointment with the NeuroSurgeon when he spoke the words of possible outcomes of “paraplegic”, “irreversible damage”, and “prioritized spinal cord surgery”. Words that left me more in shock than I can ever verbalize.
But it was also in that moment that my new future became very clear to me, a future filled with a cycle of serious illnesses, more drugs to offset side affects, paralysis, death. It was on this day I got very angry and made a declaration of Enough already! No Way! No More! Somewhere deep inside I knew this was not how life was supposed to be. A series of synchronistic events followed this proclamation that introduced me to a totally new life paradigm. This paradigm invited me to explore different alternative and complementary healing modalities and offered a completely new and empowering perspective on the root of illness. Every cell in my being knew truth was being spoken when first exposed to the scientifically based teaching that the root of dis-ease, be it physical, emotional or spiritual, is repressed emotional trauma at the cellular level. This level of healing had not been explained to me by any of my medical team and certainly was BIG news to me!
I certainly had to acknowledge that I had life-long repressed emotions. I had lived a life that included breast cancer, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, severe migraines, allergies so bad I would vomit on a moment’s notice, a back so wracked with pain I could hardly walk, a brain tumor, spinal cord tumor, a diagnosis of depression, disassociate disorder and post traumatic stress disorder all of which threatened my very livelihood…WHEW !! That was a heavy load to carry.
Thus began my personal healing journey. I was spiritually dead, emotionally exhausted and my body was consumed with pain when I was guided to “The Journey”. The Journey is both a book and a set of processes that Brandon Bays created after healing herself of a basketball sized tumor in 6½ weeks without chemotherapy, surgery, or pharmaceuticals. Since my initial introduction to the work of “The Journey”, it has now became an integral part of my own personal healing, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It provided me with the love, safety, support and tools I needed to venture inward and to reclaim myself.
Over the course of the next year and a half while completing “The Journey” Accreditation Program, I bore witness to the most incredible metamorphosis taking place inside of me as I learned to shed the pain, grief, sadness, guilt, fear and anger that was ravishing my body, mind and spirit.
There is so much less of me here now, less ego, less anger, less fear, less envy, less desire, less attachment. At the same time there is so much more of me, more love, more joy, more compassion, more inner peace, more Gratitude.
In retrospect I realize I never knew who I was, I never even gave it a thought. I know who I am now, I stand proudly and comfortably in my own skin and everything about my life has changed. I am independent now, after having spent my whole life dependent on others, introspective after having spent my life analyzing others. Loving and compassionate in a way that no longer enables others in their self destructive behaviors. The worry which consumed my every thought in the past is gone and replaced with a great faith and knowing that all things will unfold exactly as they should….and it’s all good! My health is great and I have more energy than I have had in a very long time. I am now unwilling to ingest anything that interferes with the flow of my energy or inhibits my ability to feel alive. The use of all prescription medication including those intended to minimize the recurrence of cancer fell away quite naturally at the onset of my personal journey into this complementary and alternative field. Around every corner is a new exciting adventure waiting for me. For the most part, life has become easy, effortless and so much more fun. There is no longer any question in my mind, we truly can and do affect our own experiences, What a blast!
I have also come to know for sure we are not the “labels” allopathic medicine has given us, we are not our illness or dis-ease. They are simply our bodies way of communicating with us. It is time for us to get still, go inside, start listening to what our bodies are trying so desperately to tell us. This is where true healing really begins.
Jean Brazeau
