Did you know your power lies in your brain?

This week I’m bringing a very different lens to my normal posts, I’m sharing a little bit about my mum's journey. 

If you’ve been with me for a while then you will know that my dad died during lockdown in September 2021, and that I couldn’t be there which was tough for many reasons. One of those was our concern for mum, because Dad was Mum's carer. He did pretty much everything, and had done since she suffered a brain injury in 2009.

15 years ago mum ended up in hospital, at the time the doctors thought she was having a stroke, which she wasn’t. Maybe it was the onset of MS, but it wasn’t. No diagnosis ever really came, except mum had a demyelination in her brain, which they couldn’t explain and she just needed to “learn to live with it”. Mum has had a number of follow up appointments, and she’s tried all sorts of remedies but it never changed.

The demyelination affects her balance and vision. Essentially mum gets vertigo whenever she’s in the car, walking too far, looking around quickly, if she’s near strobing lights and so on. She uses a walking stick for balance. She stopped driving a car. She struggles to go shopping, she can go slowly and sit regularly, but it’s very taxing on her. 

So, when dad died the question was what about mum? 

If life had been ‘normal’, I would have flown in and taken control of everything. I would have basically replaced dad and made sure everything was done for mum. But as we know, there are silver linings to every situation. I couldn’t do my normal. I had to sit afar and support mum on the phone only. 

Mum had to get on with her life, by herself. She focused on her fitness, riding her stationary cycle and eating well. She had to set up her own systems, shopping, banking etc. Essentially mum had to find her own way. And she has, Dad would be proud!

However I noticed when she was visiting early this year, she wasn’t as physically able as she had been 2 years earlier. What changed? Well her dizziness was getting worse, it seemed to be more frequent and her fitness and strength was depleting. 

Some tough love was shared “you know mum, this isn’t OK. You’re not doing as well as you think”. 

Mid 2023 I listened to a podcast interview with Dr Vicky, a dizzy coach, and I suggested mum reach out to her. Maybe she could help? Maybe she couldn’t? But if mum didn’t ask we would never know.

“Ok” she said “but I’ll only talk to her while I’m here with you” Mum was leaving in 5 days time! I jumped onto Dr Vicky’s IG page and messaged her, and a call was set up for the following day. 

In a 30 minute zoom call, Dr Vicky understood mum’s situation, and not only could she help mum, but she felt confident she could give mum back a lot of what she’d lost. The next week mum started an 8 week program - a mix of online modules, one on one coaching and group coaching. 

Fast forward to the end of the program, mum is no longer debilitated with dizziness. But what we didn’t know was the added benefits. Dr Vicky works with neuroplasticity, essentially your ability to change your brian. The initial work mum did was visualisation and meditation, focusing on thinking about her brain being healed, neurons flowing easily and no challenges.  

A few weeks into the program, mum called me “I was in the shower, I can feel the water on my feet!” 9 years ago, mum had breast cancer. At the end of her treatment they had to stop the chemo because she lost feeling in her feet and hands. Without realising it, the work mum was doing with Dr Vicky was affecting her whole nervous system, and after 9 years that feeling came back! 

The program included a session where mum was hypnotised, and subsequently she practises self hypnosis on a daily basis. As a result, things just keep improving for mum. She has self worth again. Her faith has got her through a lot of these tough times, but it is now literally glowing in her.

Today Mum is walking freely, she can stand on tip toes and has much better balance. She only gets dizzy when she’s super tired and when I visited in April, she decided to get her driver licence again! Not only because the dizziness is gone, but because she can feel her feet she can use the pedals in the car again.

Why am I sharing this? 

Because the more people I talk to, the more I realise how common dizziness is. If you know someone who suffers from dizziness, I highly recommend Dr Vicky - https://www.dizzyresolve.com/ 

But also because I see mum’s journey as a beacon of hope. If mum can achieve these incredible physical changes, and overcome debilitation… imagine what you can do! Imagine what you can manifest for yourself! Imagine what your future might hold! Just the simple process of visioning things being different for you, will start to shift things for you. The more you practise meditation, visualisation and manifestation the easier these practices become and the greater your world can be. 

I continue to find it amazing, every day I talk with mum she is achieving new things. We share our gratitude for Dr Vicky. We share our gratitude for the belief that mum now has in herself. We share excitement for what might come next.

So while off topic a little today, I want to leave you with this thought… Your power is in your brain!