In the midst of a multitude of severe health challenges last year, starting a business that champions wellness practitioners and coaches was far from my mind. Little did I know that over the next several months my wellness journey would lead me towards a new approach to life and a new purpose.
In October 2022 I was 22 years into my career, 15 of which were focused on improving people’s physical and financial health. Fulfilled by strengthening the health of individuals and communities, I planned to be in that field until retirement. Then everything came screeching to a halt.
After a few years of worsening health and thousands of dollars spent trying to find answers, my system stopped functioning. My large team of various health practitioners that I’d worked with for many years was stumped. I could only lie in bed, my health completely bankrupt. I wasn’t allowed to drive and could barely shower before collapsing for the day. My world was so small.
Everything I’d worked so hard to achieve felt unbelievably far out of reach. I was less than a shadow of myself with no idea how to regain my life as a mother, friend, professional, creative…
I had extremely limited energy, strength and mental capacity. And a list of allergies, symptoms and diagnoses that was overwhelming. Family, friends and multiple wellness providers all did what they could to help – rest, prayer, new health protocols, the list was exhaustive. But I wasn’t getting better.
It felt like my body had betrayed me. Really, it had been sending me signals for years that I had ignored. I was known for pushing through, overcoming, going above and beyond and making things happen through sheer determination. I wore these like badges of honor, not understanding they were siphoning my strength, my health, my SELF on a daily basis.
In February 2023 my symptoms were worsening again and I was losing hope. I tried a last-ditch effort prescribed by my doctor because there wasn’t anything else she could think of that could be the cause. At the same time, I began brain rewiring through an online program thinking it may not work but that I had nothing else to lose. An allergic reaction to the meds caused me to stop taking them but I continued the neural rewiring.
To my amazement, just three weeks after starting to rewire my neural pathways, I was able to eat anything I wanted. Every single thing I had been tested for and shown to be allergic to. Every food that had caused me issues over the past several years.
I learned that my nervous system was locked in hypervigilance and had been extremely dysregulated for years. It was being reset through my daily rewiring practice. For months I invested what little energy I had into following my program. My eyes were whiter. My pain was diminishing. My skin glowed. Slowly but surely my system began to heal and operate as intended.
The day I was well enough to drop my son off at school again felt like Christmas. I cried tears of relief and gratitude, finally believing it was possible to heal (then I laid down in the back of the car and rested for six hours until it was time to pick him up). Several weeks later I was well enough to take him to school two days a week. Wary, afraid my health gains might vanish in an instant, I kept going.
I learned about somatic practices and added them to release trauma from my body, feeling an enormous mental and emotional weight lift. I visualized going to my cousin’s out of state wedding and then actually attended, enjoying every moment with my extended family. With every milestone I regained pieces of myself. As my health returned, so did my hope.
As much as my tired brain would allow me to (rewiring on top dealing with symptoms is exhausting), I read, listened to podcasts, used a gratitude journal and explored new health concepts. As I learned from my wellness providers and coaches both in person and virtually, I began to realize what circumstances and choices had contributed to my poor health. I started seeking new approaches, leaving the old toxic badges of honor behind. I still prided myself in my work but not at the expense of my health. I trained mentally and physically until I could finally do household admin, clean, cook, walk and play again.
This process of healing has been challenging. Many days I haven’t wanted to do my practice and it can be easy to slip into decades-old patterns. It’s been difficult to rewire, remember, cultivate new habits, examine systems that poorly impacted my health and realize that if I’d had this knowledge before I probably wouldn’t have gotten so incredibly ill. But it’s also been rewarding and empowering. I know exactly who I am, what kind of parent/wife/friend I want to be, how I will choose to live and who I will spend time with.
As I continue my wellness journey, I’m grateful for the opportunity to expand my knowledge and experiences of wellness. I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for wellness providers and coaches, without whom I would almost certainly still be bedbound. Throughout this journey I realized that supporting wellness practitioners and connecting them to the people they empower was extremely important to me. I wanted to help pay forward the wellness benefits that gave me my life back.
And so my husband and I launched Burson Creative to provide communications and marketing to wellness professionals so they can focus on their clients. We channel our combined 40+ years of communication experience into creating content for social media, managing email marketing, generating strategy and messaging and editing existing content for alignment – all with the goal of helping wellness professionals reclaim their time to focus on what they love most.
This work keeps me connected to my desire to help people in a way that improves my health. It allows me the flexibility to maintain my wellness practices. And it renews my spirit.
Thank you, wellness champions, for the meaningful ways you encourage and uplift your clients! Your valuable work has a transformative impact, creating a positive ripple effect that they and their loved ones can benefit from now and long into the future.
With Gratitude,
Jessica
Jessica Burson, CEO
Reclaim your time! Let us manage your communications, freeing you up to work in your zone of genius and fully focus on your clients’ wellness journeys.
