Project Description
Stephanie, BC, Canada
“I’ve learned while I’m here at Fresh Start, that my emotions really manifest physically. All of my physical pain that I attribute to emotional pain has improved massively and I even noticed, particularly in my back, I used to have horrible posture and one of the therapists here remarked recently that my back looks completely different from the first week. The first week it kind of arched a lot, and now it doesn’t have this kind of arch. I can stand up straight naturally, which is something I’ve never been able to do. No chest pain, and I haven’t even thought about my physical pain that much while I’m here, because it just hasn’t been a factor. The sciatica has not been a factor since I’ve been here either.”
Improvements with: Anxiety, Body Image/ Self-Worth Issues, Chest Pain, Depression, Headaches/ Migraines, Heart Healing, Digestive Health, Emotional Trauma, Intense Sadness, Insomnia/ Sleep Issues, Major Life Changes, Lack of Appetite, Wandering Muscle and Joint Pain, Nausea, Poor Posture, Self-Identity Redefining, Sciatica, Shoulder Pain, Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Depression Score: 48 (extreme) | Depression Score: 4 (no depression) |
| Anxiety Score: 43 (high) | Anxiety Score: 8 (low) |
| Depression and Anxiety The person who arrived here was very sad, very lost, looking for connection, looking to heal and really had, yeah, just a very sad person who needed help. There used to always just be this kind of dark cloud over my head. | There's a lightness to me now that there wasn't before… Life Coaching was crucial for me. Just to be able to come up with strategies to deal with life stressors and kind of the emotional uncertainty that I feel sometimes. Those are strategies that I really will bring with me throughout my life. Everything that we do here, I feel like helps has helped me get the depression and anxiety to a more manageable level. I realized that eating nutritional food is so essential. In order to feed your mind, you really have to feed your body and take care of your body. The daily practices that we do, the yoga and the meditation and all the other activities that we do here, the different forms of therapy. I know that if something difficult comes up, I have the tools to help me deal with it. |
| Low Self-Worth. For the past few months I've my self-worth has been pretty low. | Definitely, my self-confidence has grown, for sure. The mental clarity has been something that has been crucial for me. My self-worth: knowing that I'm worthy and I am capable and I'm worthy of being treated well. It's been kind of the revolution that have come to me and that I'm a good person that is really just trying my best. |
| Non-Existent Self-Motivation. My motivation to do anything basically non-existent, getting out of bed, extremely challenging, no appetite and yeah, basically just extremely difficult to do day-to-day tasks to the point where I really couldn't do anything. | I'm definitely motivated to get out of bed while also acknowledging that there's going to be hard days. But that's OK. I have the tools to deal with it. |
| Body Pains and Aches: although I don't have any injuries or any illness that's being diagnosed, I’ve got a lot of various pains, particularly back pain and some pretty severe chest pain, to the point where I thought I should go to the hospital. Shoulder pain, really poor posture, sciatic pain. My back, my neck and shoulders were always very tense, All very connected. And I'm still pretty young, so all of those were kind of a mystery why I was experiencing them… Chest Pain: It was scary to have chest pain at 30 years old. That was a kind of a wake up call. | I've learned while I'm here at Fresh Start, that my emotions really manifest physically. All of my physical pain that I attribute to emotional pain has improved massively and I even noticed, particularly in my back, I used to have horrible posture and one of the therapists here remarked recently that my back looks completely different from the first week. The first week it kind of arched a lot, and now it doesn't have this kind of arch. I can stand up straight naturally, which is something I've never been able to do. No chest pain, and I haven't even thought about my physical pain that much while I'm here, because it just hasn't been a factor. The sciatica has not been a factor since I've been here either. |
| Digestive Issues/ Daily Nausea. When I'm my emotions were heightened in a negative way my digestion just kind of shut down and was really inconsistent. So there was really no regularity, which is really hard on the body. the nausea that I experienced every day was pretty extreme. I couldn't get out of bed unless I took something to help with the nausea. So I had to keep that at my bedside in order to actually get up in the morning. Or during the days I had to take something to get up. | The nausea happens only occasionally, but I can usually attribute that to psychological kind of hurdles that I've put up for myself. My digestion has definitely improved, and I believe this is due to proper eating. Before, that was not something I've ever done. So I attribute my improved digestion to eating regularly and very nutritiously… I'd never really thought a lot about my digestion. I just always assumed, oh, everybody has these issues but no, it's really important to have a regulated digestive system. |
| Headaches/ Migraines: I experienced those regularly, at least weekly. | Migraines have been non-existent and that has improved over the course of the past three weeks. |
| Insomnia. I've struggled with sleep pretty much all of my adult life. When my emotions were heightened in a negative way, my sleep really suffered. Especially the past year or so, I’d try to go to bed at 11:00 and would have all kind of rituals to get to sleep. Even that wouldn't help. I would maybe fall asleep at like four AM and maybe wake up at eight am, not really feeling rested. It got to a point where I had to take some sort of medication every night in order to go to sleep at a decent hour. Sometimes I'd be awake until three or four in the morning, and that was not OK. Just whatever I did, I could not fall asleep. | The first night I got here, I fell asleep, and I've slept every night since getting here, and even the past week or so I haven't had to take anything to sleep, so that says a lot because I went from having to take just whatever I could to get to. Not having to take anything and falling asleep on my own not waking up in the middle of the night and then getting up at a normal time. So I never thought that would be possible. Being able to sleep 8 hours has been really good for me. |
| Poor Appetite and Unhealthy Food. For the past year or so, my appetite has been very inconsistent, usually non-existent. So I would just eat whatever I felt like when the feeling struck, didn't matter what it was, as long as I was eating something and although I wasn't gaining weight, the way I was eating was probably going to kill me eventually. | Here just seeing then nourishing foods and makes me want to eat 3 meals a day that are healthy and nourishing and they don't make me nauseous, I was really worried that oh that's a lot of food we're fed really, that I was going to get nauseous and not able to eat but I tell myself, it's really important to eat all of the healthy, nourishing foods. Lost 4 lbs. |
Experience Highlights:
- First and foremost for me was the connection with the other participants, that was life-changing and so unexpected.
- All the activities, yoga, meditation, walks.
- It’s probably one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I’ve seen many places in the world. It is just indescribable. There are whales and seals, and it’s just, wow, stunning.
- Wonderful meals together.
- Sauna
- Having tea together with the group
The information above is based on the following resources:
- Unedited Video Testimonial Materials
- Before and After Self-Assessment
- Program Participation and Progress Sheet
- Emotional Wellness Test
Disclaimer: Results of participants differ and the Fresh Start cannot guarantee that you will experience your improvements in the same way as in this testimonial. The Fresh Start is not an allopathic medical facility and does not claim to either diagnose or treat any disease. The Fresh Start does not guarantee a recovery from any specific disease or a health symptom.
