My wellness journey
My Story
Childhood, Teenage years and early Adulthood
My wellness troubles started soon after my family moved to Singapore when I was 9 years old. It was obviously a big change. A few years later, I started having excruciating migraines. And my loved ones around me tried to help me by giving me different medicines, and foods, but nothing seemed to help it. There were a lot of tears and frustration. And it continued for a year or 2. Then one day, it just stopped, and instead I started to sneeze more and had a lot of sinus congestion. Around the same time, I started developing asthma, and was using inhalers and other medicines to keep it under control. My respiratory issues, sinus congestion, sneezing and allergies got progressively worse over the next 10-20 years.
In my teens I also had an injury to my hip area that caused severe pain and put me out of playing sports for a while. This would later manifest as chronic pain that worsened over the next 20 years.
I also started smoking cigarettes in high school. I moved to New York to study philosophy at New York University, and continued smoking till I graduated, ranging from half a pack to a full pack a day. It took a lot of willpower to quit, but at the time I knew I had to as my health was deteriorating quickly.
Adulthood
In my 20s, I put on 50 pounds. My respiratory issues, inflammation, allergies and food sensitivities worsened. I was in the worst health of my life. I did a variety of allergy tests, including skin prick and blood tests. They came back positive for various allergens. I proceeded to eliminate these allergens, but my condition wasn’t improving.
I then started to explore alternative therapies – homeopathy, naturopathy, NAET, immunotherapy, acupuncture, yoga, as well as experimenting with eliminating foods from my diet and environmental allergens from my day-to-day life. Things improved, but my mental state weakened, and I felt very restricted. It felt like the only way I could stay healthy was to be extremely restrictive with food and my lifestyle. I kept feeling like I was missing something.
I moved to a different city as my corporate career was taking off, and my health improved from eliminating environmental allergens. Building a corporate career was rewarding, but also contributed to my high stress levels. My drinking had increased from my teenage years into my 20s, and eventually I woke up one day in the hospital.
Massage, self-care and food restrictions were helping me cope, but things were reaching a breaking point. I became depressed in 2018, and decided I wanted to change my life.
Healing myself
My first glimmer of hope arrived when I did an allergy test for my shellfish allergies and it turned out I was no longer allergic to them! I started to believe that healing myself was possible.
In 2018 I spent hours every day meditating, and it changed my life forever. It changed the way my mind functioned. My awareness deepened. I became deeply aware of my persona and shadow split, as well as the split between my mind and body. I read books, attended seminars, and sought out a variety of therapists, from traditional talk therapy, to relationship therapy, to transpersonal therapists. I also actively started making changes in my life, starting with quitting my job, leaving my relationship, moving to a different city, being more mindful with my diet, and practicing yoga regularly.
It turned out that this was just the beginning of the journey that unfolded in the years to come. In the years since, I’ve spent every single day working on some aspect of my health - from sleep, to diet, breathwork, mental health, energetic health, body conditioning, and fitness.
Some of the things that have happened in the years since 2018 include:
Healing my allergies
Strengthening of my immune system
Healing my chronic pain from my hip injury 25 years ago
Healing my gut issues – now being able to eat the foods I once eliminated
Healing my stress issues
Healing my anxiety issues
Healing my emotional trauma
Deepening my capacity to love
Deepening the relaxation felt in my body
Healing my breath
Healing the flow of energy in my body
Deepening my faith (Note: I’m not religious)
Reaching new levels of athleticism
I have gone through a lot of personal transformation, and explored a variety of healing techniques, which you can read more about in my wellness practices.
Perspectives
Although I've had many health issues in my life, I always wanted to make the most of life. To sample all that life has to offer. That took me to 45 countries, countless adventures and experiences, and led me to different jobs and to start businesses. I feel lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to sample so many ups and downs in life, from physical ailments and illness, to deep joy and love.
I see my whole journey as a gift that has led me to a deeper purpose of helping others. Healing myself awakened this purpose. I realize now that one of my greatest strengths comes from not having been healthy for most of my life, and then healing myself. It comes from indulging in all that life has to offer, and then finding balance with it all. Because this helps me to relate to people better, coming from a place of love and not judgement.
