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wakeup call.

Welcome back to another edition of don't wait for your wake up

call. I am Melissa dealey your host and excited to bring you an

incredible guest today to share her story of inspiration because

of course, my theme this month is inspiration. So welcome,

Tanya, I'm so happy to have you here. Thank you for joining me.

Oh, thank you so much, Melissa, it's so great to

be here. And I I think you're a great inspiration to our

community of women as well, to our whole community, whether you

be woman or man and everything in between. So thank you for

having me.

Well, thank you so much. And I'm just going to

share a tiny snippet of your story because I really want the

audience to hear it in your own words. But Tanya is a mother of

five beautiful children and two young granddaughters and looking

her like you would never know that looked at her. They are her

world and she is so grateful to be here with them. And for them

today as she has experienced not one but two horrendous car

crashes. Which that just sounds absolutely horrendous, as you've

said, and but here you are smiling, thriving, don't look

nearly old enough to have you know, two granddaughters. So

you've you've clearly done a lot of healing in that time. And I

would love you to share this story of inspiration with the

audience. So please take us back to where this started and what

you've done.

Thank you. So, to begin, I really would love to

step forward and say that life is a journey. And we're all on

this journey of healing from the day we're born, we learn and we

start in our environment, coming into this world with a blank

slate. And what you know, some people say what doesn't kill you

makes you stronger. So I come from a background of trauma

after trauma from childhood. So in 2012, I had had one previous

accident in 2010, which put me off work for three months. And

you know, that was okay, a little bit life changing. I had

just graduated from university. And I had to walk with a cane go

to the chiropractor. So I learned a little bit of healing

from there. But it wasn't completely devastating. I still

had a job to go back to. But after five and a half years of

university, I did have to use a cane to go across the stage. It

was painful to get to go to convocation with that kind of

injury. But I did it, you know, and I was grateful that I earned

that degree, but I wish I was walking across the stage and

dancing across a bit. You know, just like

wow, and celebrating it right?

to it. I really wanted to fully celebrated it, but I did it in

pain. But you know, life happens. So get over that

hurdle. And I healed from that pretty, pretty good. You know, I

was still experiencing some pain. And then just as I thought

things were getting better in 2012 I was back at work,

thriving, five children, you know, life was going really good

for me. And I was on my way to becoming a lawyer. I had

graduated as a criminologist and and I was like, Wow, I'm going

to go to UBC law, which is in Vancouver, BC. They're a really

prominent law school, not like the ones back I used. I was

still on my way there with five children. I was like, wow, life

is really happening. I was struck by a drunk driver. At

that moment, I died and came back to life with a completely

different trajectory. And so it life changed. I spent 18 days in

the hospital with Multiple musculoskeletal injuries. Pain,

like I never knew it, I became my children's patient instead of

their parent. I didn't know how to maneuver in the world as a

completely broken person, mother, sister, daughter, all of

these things, I didn't know how to operate in the world, as an

educated woman. And now as completely reliant on everyone

around me, I was the one taking care of everyone. And now

everyone around me was taking care of me. I was advised by the

doctors, I'd never walk again, I was in a wheelchair. I never

taught properly again, I had a stutter, I would never return to

university. All of the goals and dreams that I had for myself,

were no longer. So what do you do in that situation? You What

do you do? What does that do to your mindset to

even hear that kind of prognosis?

Yeah. And all my life, I had to fight for everything I

had. I was a single mom before I was married to a man who would

not participate in the family. He refused. He refused to

contribute financially, emotionally parentally. He was

in the house, but he was just a warm body. And the children had

to step up and take care of everything. So as a mother, what

do you do? You're injured, and you're watching the world around

you fall apart. We as women, and I've given this talk before, for

some who might know me might be listening to this, because I

will certainly share it on my page. But we as women, we fight

with every fiber of our being we fight. And when I heard that

prognosis, I'm like, oh, no, you don't know who you're dealing

with. Watch me. Know, I got through five years of

university, five and a half years with five children while

working full time. Nothing can stop me. But this accident

stopped me in my tracks. And I had to reevaluate. So honestly,

your your life changes. And you reevaluate. So that's what I had

to do. I just want to stop there for a second,

though, because I'm hearing you saying, and I'm unstoppable. And

I'm not going to accept this prognosis. And I'm sure that was

part of you being able to be on this podcast and talk to me

without a stutter and not be in a wheelchair anymore. Because

you had a different belief, from what you were being told you

refuse to take on what you're being told.

Absolutely. So my whole life, people told me I couldn't

do this, because I was raised in a trailer park. I couldn't do

that. Because I was a woman. I wasn't allowed to go to

university. No one in my family had graduated. University. It

was all limitation after limitation. I had a baby at 17.

Oh, you're never going to go anywhere. And you're going to

remain on income assistance your whole life because you had a

baby as a teenager. Well, what that did for me, was this power

rose up inside me. When someone says I can't do something. I get

this feeling inside me that says, oh, now I'm going to show

you. And I look for examples of women who have done it before me

and succeeded. To show me proof that it's possible. Yep. And so

I live by that value system. If someone has gone through it, and

succeeded, I too can succeed. So I start looking, it's what we

call the reticular activation system. Yes. If you put your

mind to something, and you look for proof and examples of that,

all of a sudden, you'll start seeing it everywhere, and it'll

become possible for you. Mm hmm. It's just like,

like, you know, as on a really basic level. I'd

never paid attention to Subaru cars before. And then I go and

buy a new car three years ago, and I went to Toyota that I'd

had I went to Honda that I'd had and in the same mall was Subaru,

and I'd never owned a Subaru never paid attention, but I

ended up buying that car. And then of course, every other car

on the road is now a Subaru, right? I just saw them

everywhere. That's exactly what you're talking about here on a

very simplistic level on him or her You know, spiritual level,

what I'm hearing you talk about is you were looking for that

inspiration yourself. And how often is it that we don't think

we can do something ourselves until we seen that someone else

can do it? Right? It even came down to, you know, in the

Olympics and running the mile and whatever it was under

however many minutes and it was, you know, deemed to be humanly

impossible, until someone did it. And then all of a sudden,

everybody else started doing it too, because we saw it was

possible. So I love that you were looking to others for that

validation that it could be done, and then challenging

yourself to say, well, if they can do it, I can do it too. And

again, stepping into that unstoppable mindset.

That is exactly what we need to do. Why I became a

public speaker, because I want to share that with everyone.

Because if we can come into that mindset, at a younger age in our

lives, we will start stepping into our power into our gifts

that were given, thinking of, where's your proof? If you start

to doubt yourself? Where is your proof that that's not possible

for you? And go for look for the proof that it is possible. So,

you know, athletes have it? Do you know when they when they

practice, like you said the Olympics, you know, who says I

can't do that? Who told me I can't? Oh, well, I'm going to

show you that I can.

But it's very funny that you say that, because

you know, even with Olympians as people might be thinking, Well,

I'm not an Olympian. So how is that relevant, but I want to

share a story of my daughter when she was two or three. And

she's the January baby, right. So a lot of her friends were

actually from September, October, November, December the

year before, so just slightly older grade ahead at school. But

when I put my, when I put her into swimming lessons by

herself, she didn't want to jump into the pool from the edge,

right. But then I put her into the same class with her friend

that's literally two months older, and they do swimming

lessons together. And she sees her friend jump in, she just

takes one look at her go and jumps in. Right. And so for

quite a few years, I always put her with one of her friends that

was just slightly older, who was already doing it. And then all

of a sudden, she could do it too. Right. And it's just proof

that even in that little two year old, three year old even

learning to ski, etc. That young, young mind, I think it's

innately there that we can recognize, oh, what if they can

do it, I can do it. And somewhere along the way, you

know, through life, we will beat ourselves up and squash

ourselves down and start to believe that we can't do things

just because others can, that we're not good enough, etc. But

that's all BS. We're all human beings. And we Yes, we all have

our innate special talents. But if someone else can do it, we

can do it might take a little bit more practice to get there.

But we can absolutely do it.

Yeah. And and one thing I stress like, is to clients to

people around me, is that when they say I'm not a good singer?

Well, do you want to be a singer? If they don't want to be

a singer, okay, it's a moot point. But if you want to be a

good singer, take lessons. Mm hmm. It is possible for you to

be a good singer. Do you want to be a singer on stage? Do you

want to be a recording artists? How good of a singer Do you want

to be? Anything's possible with practice with intention, with

dedication. Be the best you can be at anything you put your

efforts into. Nobody has to be something someone else's dream

is it's your dream on your terms, by your standards. seek

out someone who's doing it and follow their example.

And don't listen to someone who tells you that

you can't. So on that story, I am guilty of saying I'm not a

good thing. Because I've heard all of my life. And I love to

sing. And so I don't really care if I'm not a good singer because

I'll sing in the car, I'll sing in the shower, or I'll sing

while I'm doing my workouts because it just brings me joy.

Right? And, you know, I married my husband after we drove all

the way across Canada and he let me sing in the car in the

hallway. He didn't. But but when I was in middle school, every

year, we had our Christmas concert right and you either

were in the play or in the choir. And so I didn't want to

be in in the play I wanted to sing. But the choir teacher

would always tell me you're not a good enough singer to be in

the choir. And so I just kept hearing that I wasn't a good

singer. I didn't want to be a famous singer. But choir was one

way to be a better singer maybe right? And anyway, somehow,

every year, I talked myself into the choir because I wanted that

more than the acting. And so I was in the choir, and I did get

to sing, but I came away with thinking, I'm not a good singer,

to your point. And is it my dream? No. So I don't pursue it.

But how many times have we stopped our dreams, because

somebody told us we're not good at it, or we can't. And that's

hard to overcome as well. So I have experience with that, too.

I do. For example, like when I said, the doctor said, I

wouldn't walk, I wouldn't talk, I wouldn't even be able to fit

because I had a brain injury. And still I deal with post

concussion syndrome, and seizure disorder, and all of these

things that the labels the diagnoses, because someone's

wearing a white coat. And because they're a physician,

it's a prognosis, or a diagnosis of the label of permanent

disability. These can really weigh on us like a cloak, or

like an metal armor that is so heavy that we carry it around

every day. What I challenge people to do is take that armor

off and say, Okay, I'm going to get a second opinion, I might

even look in the mirror and take opinion, and challenge myself to

say, you said I, again, I'm going to do everything I can do

to be my best self. And challenge myself to see how far

I can walk. challenge myself to see how many books I can read,

even if I have to start at watch Jain run it I don't have to own

that diagnosis, or that prognosis. I can take myself as

far as I personally can. With what ever I'm dealing with,

whether it be health, weight, education, occupation, anything

along, like your science has behind you your guided health

journey. It's your journey, your health on your terms. So yes, I

got rid of the wheelchair. I got rid of the walker.

I love that.

I started to talk without a stutter. Because I

practiced every day just like singing. I read my books out

loud. I exercised the neurons in my brain, which is

neuroplasticity, to create new synapses. Yeah, to be able to

challenge myself to get to a point where I could return to

school. I could return to work, but it takes effort and

dedication. It's not an easy journey. No. But I now walk in

heels. I went to Tony Robbins in California to attend Unleash the

Power Within which crushes your belief systems, which is what

we're really talking about here. Is, is really getting to the

heart of why do we believe what we believe in? Who told me that

it wasn't possible? So I like to call it making the impossible

possible. Yes, finding examples of who told me it wasn't

possible. And why should I believe their source? Consider

the source always? And how can I make it possible for me, in my

circumstance, so I walked on fire when I was there, and I

didn't get burned? And I'm like, how is that? For 10,000 people

that have at the same time as me 10,000 People that get burned?

How is that possible? And that you think that that was

phenomenal, but people have been doing it for 1000s of years. It

is not something outrageous to think about because your mind

controls the body.

And your mind is so so powerful. And so I love

all that you're sharing here because when I work with

clients, they might come to me with a diagnosis. I may not even

know what that diagnosis means because I'm not a doctor. And

the reality is, is that diagnosis doesn't actually

matter to me in my work, because what I'm looking for is what's

going on inside the body where the imbalances are so that we

can rebalance the body because at that point it will heal

itself. And what I don't love about diagnosis is so often

people like well, I want a diagnosis. So I finally know

what's wrong with me. But the diagnosis is actually that label

and when we focus on the label, we get more of that label.

Unless we shift our mindset into not taking that diagnosis on

like you did.

Thank you That's so beautiful of a statement.

Refusing to own the diagnosis. How about we talk about what's

right with you? Yes. Do you know when you are balanced,

nutritionally, psychologically, holistic, holistically. You feel

better you feel joy, like you're saying says I am enough. Because

you are enough and health is everything. So when you look at

health, like, I am a pain educator, I teach bio

psychosocial pain management, because we want to tune down the

pain signals that go from your mind to your body. Chronic pain

does not have to control you, you can control your chronic

pain, by looking at things in your environment, that

contribute to what's making your pain scream at you. You don't

necessarily need a pill, you need a purpose. That's my

mantra. So when I'm thinking about when I couldn't walk, yes,

it was painful to walk. But I wanted to walk more than I

wanted to be in pain. Right Movement is not going to hurt

you more movement will ease the pain in the long run. So whether

it be swimming, or going on a bike, or even walking in the

park with your bare feet on getting that nice nature walk

and the grounding, benefiting and ground Yes. Whatever it is,

people think exercising means going to a gym and working out

next to someone who's running on the treadmill at 120. minute or

what? Yeah, that's not it. It's on your terms. Absolutely. By my

business bestie she says there was a lady on the internet, who

movement to her meant just getting out of bed and moving

her hand to start with any movement is good movement. Mm

hmm. When I first had the accident and broke my neck, all

I could move was my eyes. And it hurt the back of my neck soul

that. But the physiotherapist told me just move your eyes side

to side for two minutes at a time. And what it did was it

exercise the muscles of the back of my neck, we'd be surprised at

how gentle specific movements create change. And you got to

start somewhere.

Absolutely. And it's always the baby steps, you

don't want to just start with something massive, because that

can cause further damage or further pain. And then that gets

you stuck again. But if you start with a little baby steps,

even if there's a little bit of pain, that's a baby step that

you can tolerate. That allows you to build strength and build

that muscle so that you can do more.

Absolutely. And that's so beautiful. Like life will

tell us when we're on the right track. Just like you said, with

balancing your health, your body will tell you if you're eating

the wrong, wrong nutritional things for your body. It

actually screams at you as heartburn. If you get

gastrointestinal pain, gallbladder attacks, you listen

to your body say I wonder what my body's trying to tell me. And

actually listen,

I'm always sharing that, right? Because

we're rushing through life. And so often we just don't slow down

to listen just because of societal norms of do more, do

more and these expectations and we're raising families and, you

know, but look at you, you were had five children and going to

university and everything else, right? When we slow down and

listen to what our body's telling us. We can actually hear

it, and then know what to do. And the other thing is to know

that these symptoms are our body asking us to do something

differently. They're not simply just, hey, I'm getting old. Hey,

I've got seasonal allergies, hey, I've got bad genes, and

we'll just ignore it. Right? They're actually our body asking

us to do something differently and take different action.

Absolutely. And that is the benefit of incorporating a

health educator into your life and incorporating other voices

that are going to show you to help you grow. self care is so

important in our lives today that a lot of people go go go,

and then they get that wake up call. You know, and they're

wondering, what happened. I was doing everything right. I don't

know where this is coming from. But if you actually stop and

listen and say, Actually, I do know where this is coming. And

you can see it like a red flag waving over your whole entire

universe. If I was only listening, if I only stopped and

slowed down, when's the last time I sat at my table, and

allowed my body to digest a meal? When is the last time I

dipped my toes in the sand, and spent some time enjoying my own

company? Do you know these things are so important, I'm 53

years old. And people say, Oh, you look like you're in your

early 40s. Or no, I have respect for my body. I have respect for

my environment, I have respect for the relationships I have. I

have respect for the people I choose to associate with.

Because you are who you keep company with you are, who you

feed your mind. You are who you feed your body, you are who you

put into every realm of your environment. And when you pay

attention to that, your body doesn't go into dis ease.

I agree 100%. And I'm also 53 years old. So

there you go. I wouldn't have known that.

Same thing. People say that to me all the

time. And I tell my clients that I feel as good or better than I

did in my 30s or 20s. Because I've learned how to do this,

I've learned how to take care of my body, how to create a body

that's inhospitable to disease. And now that I know that I want

to share it with the world too, because why not? I didn't grow

up learning it. I when I was in the corporate world, I didn't

know it. It wasn't until I had that shift in my life of being

let go. And then figuring out what am I going to do next. And

finding my way into health coaching, that I started to

learn this, and how powerful it is when we choose to take

proactive action in our health, and how quickly the body

responds when we create an environment for it to heal, and

how amazing you feel. And I love to ask my clients, just how good

are you willing to allow yourself to

feel? Will that look for you? Mm hmm. If you can walk

upstairs without running out of breath? Yes, you can stand and

cook a meal and sit and enjoy it. Yes. When when you don't

have to rush to grab a meal on your way. When you get up on the

first alarm of your phone, or better yet, when you get up

without setting an alarm, because your body is so

responsive to the messages, you feed it. Those things are really

important, because then you are in total control of your life.

Things happen that are out of your control. like car

accidents, like Ill like, I think illness A lot of times is

within our control to certain extent of what we can do. I

agree. Yeah. And there are some things that arguably are out of

our control, you know, things going on around the world and

things like that. But things we can't change we should not busy

our minds with exactly,

you know, dress because it's out of our control.

And when we feel out of control that just adds to our stress. So

those are the times when we really need to choose to focus

on what we can control and bring ourselves down to that place so

we can release that stress.

Absolutely. And that is a real, it takes practice. It

really does to unbusy your mind, one of one of my mentors and the

authors that I I have read a lot of his material. Jon Kabat Zinn

is really good with that teaching that the art of doing

nothing. mindfulness strategies that that helped me with because

my mind was always racing, and oh my gosh, I've got to do this.

I've got to do that. I've got it. Who said so? Who said I

choose? Right? Yes, I have to show up at work on time. Yes, I

have to keep my commitments because I have integrity. But

really do a value check with yourself. When I book this, how

important is it to me? Am I overextending myself? Do Am I

surrounding myself with people that I choose to be associating

with, and really book yourself wisely so that you can have the

integrity to be there. Those things are important.

They are and it comes back to two little words

that we so often use the wrong way. And that's yes and no. And

when we ask ourselves those questions, we might feel a whole

lot more comfortable saying no. When we say no to others, we're

saying yes to ourselves. And that's learned too because so

many of us are raised to say yes and help everyone else all the

time. And that was definitely me. And learning to say no To

others allows us to say yes to ourselves and be in integrity,

and be able to find the time to create a self care routine

for ourselves. I agree wholeheartedly, like I go

through this little checklist, why am I doing this? Do do my

values align with the person I'm meeting with? You know, I never

do anything based on money. That's my first response. Yeah.

Am I meeting with this person? Like, I even do this with

clients? Am I meeting with this person, because I truly believe

that my skills, attributes and values align with what they're

seeking, or should I recommend them to another coach,

psychologist or otherwise? Because when we do that, we're

in alignment with our authenticity. And that is so

important to me. And so I really go through a checklist, when I'm

going to make a decision, it's the decision making matrix. Do

you know, and that is part of self care. It's like when I show

up for work every day, because I do work as a financial aid

worker with the Ministry of Social Development during the

day, because I choose to be there for people in a way that I

can assist them during the day. And I do speaking on my days

off, because I have days off as well, I show up for others in

the community, because pain education is important to me. So

that I can maybe offer something that someone hasn't considered

for them to be their best selves, and build their toolbox

to wellness. And so it's important for me to share my

journey to be there for others so that they can see

possibility.

Exactly, I was just gonna say, because you

become their inspiration, just as you sought to find someone

else who done it as your inspiration. You can now do that

for others. And everything happens for a reason. Right? And

the fact that you've been able to go from wheels to heels,

which I absolutely love. And, you know, we hear of these

stories, but there's so few and far between, right, that for

some people, they might feel like, well, you know, there's

only a few people that have ever done that. And that's not me.

But the reality is, is if you're going to have that attitude that

that's not me, then no, you're not going to be able to achieve

that. But if you instead step into really understanding your

story, and being inspired by it, and knowing that, well, if she

can do it, I can do it, too. That's where you can do it.

That's what I hope for others.

I love that you're sharing it, because it is

so so powerful.

I really appreciate that. It is important to show up

for others. That is my purpose. That is my passion. And it's

truly why I started doing what I do rather than becoming a

lawyer. Yeah. Because I thought, hmm, enter into an adversarial

system, where it's whoever can argue better. Or, or teach

people through my journey. Mm hmm. And, you know, what, it

wasn't that hard of a decision.

is truly which is more powerful, right? Yes.

Which serves humanity more, which is more, you know, brings

you more joy, which is more fulfilling for you, right? That

adversarial arguments situation, you know, that can create a lot

of, you know, angst in your body, which can actually lead to

further health issues, right. Whereas sharing something that

you love, and that you're passionate about, in that place

of giving to others. There's no angst that doesn't cause disease

in your body that allows for continued healing and continued

self care and being able to live in that place of love and joy.

Absolutely.

I love that I was able to reach them to work in a

position that I love doing. Mm hmm. I love showing up with

compassion, or people that are considered dispensable. Yeah,

you know, and I feel like I was put in that position for a

reason. Because I've seen what it's like to be discarded. I

grew up in a trailer park in Kamloops. My parents struggled

my whole life. And I wanted to break the generational groups.

So I did. And now I'm on this side of the counter, but I can

relate to the other side. Yes. And I'm blessed to be in that

position. I'm blessed to be a pain educator.

Again in that position you're showing Showing

them, it's possible. And they don't have to accept the way

they were raised as being all they can ever achieve, that

there's so much more, because you've, you're showing them that

every day.

Yes, and thank you. It's, we can go from the

corporate world. But I also understand that when your life

is in the hands of someone else, you can be let go at any time.

Like I said, you know, and then what. So I choose to be an

entrepreneur, and an employee, and volunteer in my community.

Because my children have started their own lives now, my youngest

is 18, they don't need me as much. So I can have good work

business life balance on my terms. So now I get to do the

things that I really, truly love to do in life, enjoy my

grandchildren, enjoy education, enjoy work. And when you're

living in your power, and by your choice on your terms, life

is joyful, life is beautiful. And I can control my pain by

just living in power. Mm hmm.

And when you're living in power, whatever you're

doing as your work, doesn't feel like work in that negative sense

of work, right? It's like, Yay, I get to show up and do this

every day, further, allowing you to live in that place of joy.

But how many people out there today are disengaged in their

work and hate their job and are, you know, counting down the

hours and days and months to retirement? Too many. And you

know, through this pandemic, we're kind of at that place of

the great resignation. And so many people that, you know,

build a life working at home and improve their life as a result

of it, you know, going for walks in the middle of the day with

their husband, or having more time with their children,

because they don't have to commute two hours a day. And now

saying, I don't want to go back to work, and quitting their jobs

to find jobs that allow them to still work from home or starting

businesses, etc, etc. Because people have had that experience

shift forced upon them for long enough that they figured out a

way to make it a better life. And I'm actually really enjoying

seeing that happen. And I'm really proud of the companies

that are adapting to that and recognizing that if they have

happy employees, that their business is going to thrive,

versus the companies that say, Nope, it's over, you have to

come back to work. Right? They're not going to thrive.

I wholeheartedly agree with, you know, Richard Branson,

who runs the Virgin empire? He says employees first, yes, it

should be, and you'll have better customer service, you

will have better retention, you know, if your labor force is

your biggest expense, it makes sense to invest in? Yes. Do you

know I? Oh, my goodness, we could, I could literally talk to

you all day, because I have the same value system.

And that statement that you've just said,

so perfectly relates to our health as well, right? If you

see your health as your greatest asset, it makes sense to invest

in it. Right? You know, our house, people think of their

houses their greatest asset or their car, well, we invest in

our house, we vacuum and clean and fix things when they're

broken and renovate. And we take our car for oil changes and

services on a regular basis, so it doesn't break down. But what

are we doing to be proactive in the same way in our health? Not

enough in most cases, because we don't have a mindset that our

health is our greatest asset yet. Because we've been raised

to believe we don't have to worry about our health. If we

get sick, we'll just go to the doctor and they'll make us

better. And that's their problem, not ours. But our

health truly is our responsibility. And as you've

learned that the decisions we make around our health will

drive our health outcomes.

Most definitely. And, you know, a pan BC, which is

nonprofit organization, and you see the education series that

they're putting out there is really engaging patients to be

their primary caregiver. I love that your house? Yes, exactly.

Take care of your house. You don't know how to repair your

house. Call an expert. Yes, exactly. Oh, an educator. Yes,

yes. specialists call them call the plumber. Follow the roofer

over whatever you need to do but educate yourself. You will save

yourself in the long run. Not necessarily what is

prescriptions are so expensive. But this is why, you know, I

really strongly, strongly suggest to choose purpose over

appeal. Yes. Because when you have a purpose and joy, you

really start to make changes through pursuing that

fulfillment. And you make changes and you start to pay

attention to when you feel your best self. Mm hmm. You know, and

the more that we can get that message out there through your

podcast, through through education through public

speaking through awareness through the Wake Up Calls, one

of my friend calls it the feather the brick the semi.

Yep, that's Jessica. I learned that from

Jessica. And I guess all I use, I use the feather the brick and

the wrecking ball. But yes,

my friend Remar Remar, Rasmus, she, she taught that to

me, and then I taught it to Jessica, and it just spreads

through the, our community. Yeah, the universe will give you

a little feather, you might get a little cough. And then if

you're still not listening to the habits that you have, it'll

give you a break. And then in my case, that hit me with a

LinkedIn.

That's the wrecking wall, right?

It'll tell you, you're on the wrong path. Listen,

listen, listen, your body's gonna tell you you're, it's

screaming at you. Do you know, if you constantly have digestive

issues? I recommend that they call you or call me or call

Jessica, you know, like, seriously, reach out to someone

who has done the research or has the lived experience. If you

don't think it's possible for you reach out to one of us in

your community that has really done the work to show you that

it's possible for you. Yep. Because we made we all have made

the impossible possible. Career wise, health wise, recovery

wise, life wise, when trauma hits you? How long are you going

to drink the poison expecting someone else to die? Yep.

Healing is possible. It doesn't change what happened. You know,

I was hit by a drunk driver. They're like, Oh, my gosh, do

you hate him? Now? I'm like, No. Do you think he got in that car

and then intentionally just grabbed his car and threw it at

me? No, I choose to be joyful. I choose to walk in heels, I

choose to not let my past dictate my present or my future.

I choose to share my story, period.

And choosing to be joyful, allows your body and

cells to be vibrating at a higher level and allows for

health versus choosing to be hateful and bitter. That brings

you down and again keeps that angst inside you that causes

disease down the path. Right? And, you know, on this health

journey, I also want to share exactly what you said at the

very beginning, get a second opinion. Right, you are your you

know, you said primary practice, you know, be your own primary

practitioner, I love to say your own best doctor, because you've

lived in your body your whole life. So if you think

something's wrong, if you're trying to listen to the symptoms

and trying to understand them, and somebody is telling you,

there's nothing wrong with you, where they've given you a

diagnosis that you don't think is right. Again, you don't have

to take that on, you can get a second opinion. You can find

other people that can support you in this journey.

Most definitely. And I love that we're all have the

same mindset. Because like you said, You've lived in your body

your whole life. But I will say if you look for something,

you'll find something.

Yes. And that's where Dr. Google is terrible.

And I tell people to stay off it. Don't self diagnose, because

anybody can self diagnose on Dr. Google that they're going to die

in the next 36 hours. Yes, right. And wake up. I've had

clients call me in a panic, right? Because they've started a

protocol and their bodies, you know, had a reaction to it, and

then they're freaking out. And they're all you know, on on Dr.

Google, and now they're gonna die in 36 hours. And I have to

talk them down and calm them down and ask them not to go

looking on the internet again. And and you know, they're still

here, months, a month later. Right. And all we had to do was

just adjust a few things. Right? And, yeah, so self diagnosis is

never a great idea. Definitely seek help of practitioners and

people that are, you know, trained that can guide you and

help you. But it's a journey and it's in partnership, because you

still are your own best doctor, and you know what's best for

you. When you have the guidance of someone that can kind of show

you this particular path because you haven't been on it before so

you don't know that part. But once you get started, you know

it's best for you.

I will say learn to say no. If you Meet someone that

doesn't resonate with you. Absolutely. Thank you. But no.

If there's no problem in saying no, say yes to you, because it's

your health journey. Yeah, if someone doesn't resonate with

you choose someone else.

Absolutely, I 100% agree. So as we wrap up

here, I've loved this conversation, as you said, we

could talk for hours, we could do a whole other episode. But

you've mentioned this a few times, of course, the episode,

the podcast name is don't wait for your wake up call. So what

does that mean to you here? Now, in this moment,

you don't change what you're doing today. I want you

to think about, for me, I thought about where will I be in

a year, if I stay the same in the wheelchair? Where will I be

where my wherever my children be, more importantly, if I

didn't do the work, so I really had to evaluate. So my wake up

call was, I'm not going to be stuck in this bed. For me, it

was, I'm going to use every thing in my toolbox. And look at

everything possible to prove the doctors wrong. So my wake up

call was the universe, my Creator, didn't want me to be a

lawyer. I was on the wrong trajectory. So I am a healer, in

the sense of, I'm my own healer. And I'm here to guide people

down the path to becoming their own healer. Because I think none

of us are healers in that sense of the word. I don't like the

word, but we are our own healers, when we listen to our

bodies. So my wake up call was, I wasn't supposed to be a

lawyer. And this whole experience I hold nothing better

because it was meant to be. And I am so blessed that I gained

the gifts that I did through it, because it showed me just how

strong I can be and other people will learn from my journey of

wheels to heels. I love it.

And you have a book with that title as well. So

how can people get hold of your book and learn, you know, go

deeper into your story and be further inspired? Because we're

just touching the surface here? And how can they get hold of you

as well? Okay,

so I'm not quite finished writing the book

because I keep revising it. Actually, she didn't want me to

write it because she was very proud. And she thought that my

story would just traumatize people. And so trigger morning

when you read the book, but I do put that in the foreword. So by

the summer, we should have it released on Amazon. And so but

people can get a hold of me on my website, which is www dot

guided path wellness.com. Or you can email me at Tanya teal and

ya at guided path wellness calm. And I am so open to conversation

about pain management, about education, I have been trained

by pain, VC. And I'm also a Tony Robbins Madonna's coach, a lot

of education there, but also lived experience. And I'm always

willing to conversate with people who have chronic pain. So

those two avenues are the best to get a hold of me. We also

have wellness Wednesdays which is tonight where we talk about

chronic pain, joy, how to bring more joy into your life, Jessica

Coulthard and I hold those meetings every Wednesday night,

just to have a conversation with you about your health. So and

what matters to you, and your health journey. So that's about

me and what I do. And if you mentioned this podcast, I will

give you $20 off your session with pain education and pain

management. And I also do personal development consulting.

So if you mentioned that you saw me on Melissa dealies podcast,

you will get $20 off your sessions. So that's the gift I'm

giving to you.

Thank you so much for sharing that gift with

the audience. And I'll make sure all of that is in the show

notes. And you do have a long list of credentials from all of

your ongoing studies, etc, etc. So all of that's in the show

notes for everyone to see as well. And yeah, anybody that's

struggling with chronic pain reach out or if you just want to

be inspired or know someone who's struggling with, you know,

recovery from pain right now, please share this podcast

because it needs to get into the hands of people that need to

hear it. So thank you so much for joining me today. Tanya,

this has been amazing. Just before we leave, please share

one tip with the audience on helping them actually get

started and take action today.

No matter what you're going through, it doesn't

necessarily have to be pain, no matter what you're going

through. If you want to find possibility in your life, seek

out someone who's done it before you and find that it is

possible. I did it, you can do it. Bigger, small, celebrate the

small wins, because they matter to make the impossible possible

for you. Because it was possible for me to achieve small things

and big things by that principle. Anything's possible.

You just have to believe in you. And you matter. I love that.

Well, thank you so much, Tanya, thank you to the

audience for listening. I hope you found this podcast super

inspiring. It is the theme of the month of April 2022. And

thanks for listening and look forward to having you join me

again next time.

Thank you for investing this time with me on the don't wait

for your wake up call Podcast. I'm so glad you joined in. If

you can take two minutes to share this episode with someone

you think can benefit and have a positive impact on their life.

That would be wonderful. Please leave a review by going to your

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or would like to hear more of it will support me in my effort to

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help disrupt the sick care system we have today and make

human health the global priority. Health is your true