
Lourdes Crowley
My Story - Part II
In brief, I will say I was raised in a home with an abusive alcoholic and a paranoid hypochondriac. There was fighting, yelling, beatings, trauma, drama and mental illness. We were poor, moved often and lived on welfare and food stamps.
From early childhood, we had all experienced seeing or being victims of a crime. By age 12 I was suicidal and at some point I even became bulimic. My siblings and I were abused, used and separated from one another. We were bullied, bullies, thieves and liars and cut school. Some of us dropped out of school completely and/or were incarcerated.
​As adults my siblings and I would struggle with addiction, C-PTSD, anxiety, codependence, bipolarism, chronic pain or illness, we had failed relationships and most of us struggled financially.
In my journey to heal I would learn that all of these life and health conditions are directly correlated to our upbringing and the beliefs we create about ourselves and the world - and we have the ability to make peace with all of it, to heal and be truly happy and healthy.
In my work as a practitioner I learned that sometimes it takes only one negative event in life to cause us deep dissatisfaction or disharmony. Events like being in an accident, just witnessing a negative event, being laughed at once or a relationship breakup can affect us in ways we don't expect, causing us to think, feel and act in ways we can't control.
My life is great and sometimes shit happens. I know it's not personal - it's being a human being. I do my best to accept What Is. I observe my body, return to my center and with a deep breath I let go. I love that.
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What started the journey to healing:

The stresses and challenges of life that I so "skillfully" ignored for decades took control and the façade was gone. I was faced, literally, with a condition I could not ignore. I pretended it was not a big deal. I don't think I could admit to myself how horrible I thought my skin looked and how horrified I was about the discoloration.​
I went from one doctor to the next trying to find out what was happening, will it spread, get worse and never go away. Five doctors and five different diagnosis later - all guessing at best - and the best solution was a prescription for an ointment that is so toxic to the blood one can only take it 4 weeks at a time.
​The ointment may not work at all or even make the condition worse. I passed on that and went in search of a natural cure. I joined vitiligo groups, chloasma groups, other skin groups. All the while in denial how desperate and sad I truly felt. ​I juiced, I detoxed, I learned how to mix food coloring and rubbing alcohol to carefully blend in the pale areas on my skin to the darker areas.
Then FINALLY! a breakthrough. I learned that my emotional and mental wellbeing can directly affect my physical health. Say What?? I've spent decades avoiding and denying my negative emotions, people, situations and second guessing my mental state - all for another day of smiles and thank you's. It was time to go within and get some answers.
I learned about started to use processes and techniques that calm down one's nervous system. I befriended my feelings and emotions and I healed some more. The results I achieved in such a short amount of time completely amazed me.
Not only did my skin issue disappear, I no longer suffered from chronic back pain. I also drank less, snacked less, I started to speak up more. I figured out who I was and why, and I loved myself and others so much more. That was only the beginning,
​Take a step today for a better, healthier future. You'll be happy you did.