My Story

There IS hope for you! You deserve to live a Big Vibrant Life. You already have everything in you that you need to heal faster and feel better, now!

How POWERFUL would it be if you were able to transform your symptoms and let go of suffering and struggling?

What if healing faster and feeling better are REALLY a possibility for you, and you just haven’t found the right way to approach your recovery?

In my 35+ year career in nursing as a Nurse Practitioner and Integrative Wellness Coach, I’ve helped thousands of women learn how to live a life of vibrancy in spite of having a chronic illness.

Throughout half of my time on this earth, I have had my own challenges living with chronic illness. In my personal journey to find healing and wellness, I have invested thousands of hours researching how to recover. I’ve tried countless treatments and remedies and “solutions”, some which worked, and some that didn’t. As a result, I have uncovered the real “gems”, the strategies, skills and tools that made a profound improvement in the quality of my life.

As a result of this determination I have in finding wellness, I’ve found answers that serve me. As a result it is my mission to be in service to other women living life with chronic illness. I want to help them find their own solutions to the health challenges they live with on a daily basis.

This is important to me because I KNOW women who are chronically ill have a bigger vision for themselves, yet they feel they can’t meet it because of their illness. I want you to fulfill your vision. And I DON’T want you to have to reinvent the wheel. You are needed out there in the world, and I know you have gifts to bring, if only you feel better.

This is my story –well, the simplified version –If you get to know me, you will hear “Keep it simple” A LOT!

One thing I know for sure: There is always a silver lining to your experience with illness, no matter how challenging your situation is.

I’ve lived with chronic illness for over half of my life. I KNOW what it’s like, the ins and outs of relapses and recovery, and coming out the other side.

I’ve been through the Dark Night of the Soul, the Hero’s Journey, or Rites of Passage, whatever you want to call it, many times in my life. It’s like the story about the phoenix rising from the ashes. I understand the nuances of this process and believe it is of service to my clients to work with their illness using this model for recovery.

It takes someone who has lived with chronic illness to fully grasp the brevity of challenges it involves. What is unique about my qualifications is that I know, both personally AND professionally the nuances of what works for healing.

I believe qualifications ARE important. When it comes to your healing, the alphabet soup letters after the name really DO matter

Who are you really going to trust your health and wellness with? Do you want somebody who just became a health coach last year with no medical experience, or do you want a professional with training, experience and has certifications to back that knowledge up.

I have an extensive background, both personally and professionally, and that qualifies me to help you with your healing. My work with clients is influenced by my education, expertise and experience, as well as a variety of treatment modalities including:

• Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner
• Certified Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Certified Integrative Wellness Coach
• HeartMath™ Licensed Provider
• Mindfulness Based  Stress Reduction

I am a total geek when it comes to searching out cutting edge approaches to healing.

I LOVE and totally get lost in researching and learning the cutting edge integrative and holistic methods of treating illness. Honestly, I can get lost for hours doing research and love every minute of it. I know, it’s weird.

Let me give you some examples of the healing approaches I’m interested in:

Mindfulness is a very powerful technique in healing. It’s all about appreciating the present moment. After all, that’s really all we have. And this perspective can make such a difference in managing physical and emotional pain.

Brain science is fascinating to me. It may not be for you, yet it is a prominent factor in your healing. So I love to learn how to make that information user-friendly so you can put it into action easily. If you can learn to change the grooves that are habits in your brain, you can change your life.

Then there are the studies that have been done on the connections between the heart and the brain. If you start living a heart-based life, you will drastically minimize the amount of stress you have, improve your sleep, and be able to make better decisions, just to mention a few of the benefits.

I devour any new research on stress, its management, and its effects on the body and mind. Stress is, in my opinion, the biggest problem in our time, and is the precursor to all chronic illness. Women with illness that is chronic have MORE than their fair share of stress, and it places them at risk for MORE illness.

There’s a new way of looking at healing called Functional Medicine. The goal of functional medicine is to get to the root of the problem. Our typical western medicine approach is to treat the symptom without addressing the cause of the problem. When you get to the root, you can make profound changes in your symptoms.

I’ll stop with living a non-toxic, anti-inflammatory lifestyle: how this can drastically improve how you feel in a very short period of time.  This includes the use of neutraceuticals (nutritional pharmaceuticals) and simple lifestyle changes.

I believe you need to be seen and treated as a WHOLE person.

So often women with chronic illness are seen as a symptom and their treatment is focused on one problem and not the WHOLE woman. You need to have a voice in your treatment and feel good about the people taking care of you. In order to get the BEST care, YOU need to be in the driver’s seat of making the decisions about your care.

I keep things simple (there’s that simple word again) and appreciate the little things in life. Gratitude goes a long way.

I don’t live a fancy life and I’m very happy. I’ve learned that keeping things simple allows me to live with more ease and grace. I live in the country in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California.

My typical day is comprised of working on my business and coaching clients. Spending time in nature with my two Australian Shepherds is a priority.  They MUST get exercised or they drive me crazy, so they get me out walking two miles a day. I garden, shop at the local farmers market, and drink organic freshly blended juices and green smoothies.  This is part of MY Big Vibrant Life.

I have BIG dreams and visions for my future.

I haven’t stopped living life because I have an illness. I live in the present moment, yet I have goals and aspirations for my future. What I do in the present moment determines what my future will be.

I dream of living in Santa Fe. I have a love and appreciation for New Mexico’s mountains, deserts, culture and arts.  Georgia O’Keeffe is an icon of mine, a woman of true strength and beauty, a woman of the land. This is one of my “why’s” when I get up every day.

I know you can be “healthy” and “well” at the same time as you are experiencing a chronic illness.

I know this is a mind twist, but once I learned the difference between healing and curing, a whole new world opened up for me.  And when I learned what wellness is and what makes me well, I realized it’s so much more than just taking care of my body.

You are needed! My wish for you is that you live a Big Vibrant Life so you can bring your gifts to the world.

I am on a mission to be in service to women with chronic illness. I KNOW life can be better for you.  I want to champion you, hold your hand, and show you step by step how to heal faster and feel better.

If you are ready to…

…take charge of your body and your wellness

…learn the strategies and skills that will catapult your healing

…invest the energy to create the life you really want to live

Let’s talk. Contact me at Linda@HealFasterFeelBetter.com and we can arrange a time to meet for a complimentary Feel Better Now Consultation.

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