Health is a gift of life; it is something you receive and continue to receive, each day. Are you grateful for that gift? Read my BLOG to find out the SECRET could be you too!

As I’m writing this, I am sitting on a beach sun lounger at a beautiful hotel in Mauritius. It is absolutely breathtaking. Even more breathtaking than the photos promised. Really, I couldn’t believe we made it. It’s to celebrate our 25th anniversary!

I felt myself tear up. I never thought I’d be there. Just 5 years before, we were in the Cancer ward of GOSH, London, with our 5-year-old daughter who had just been diagnosed with ALL Leukaemia! It was not what we had planned for our 20th anniversary!

Yet, there we were, our lives turned upside down! Having to watch our beloved daughter endure the awful chemotherapy medication that the medical professionals said would cure her. It was an abhorrently horrendous period in our lives but, we had to get through those 2.5 years of gruelling chemotherapy somehow!

During this time, I fell into a deep Depression & suffered with Severe & debilitating Anxiety. I experienced things I did not understand even as a Counsellor! I thought & completely believed I’d never get better. I felt so isolated, lost & so alone & as well both helpless & totally hopeless. I thought about committing suicide because of the awful dread I felt daily. I figured – at the time – with the trauma I had to endure on a daily basis it would be the easiest solution! But of course, it would not have been!

My psychological condition had progressed rapidly and instead of dreaming about my future, I started living in a nightmare. My Psychiatrists told me the severe daily emotional pain was “normal” with my condition. Eventually, I had to voluntarily section myself in a secure mental hospital. That was one of the worst times of my life!

After 8 long days, my husband managed to get me out from the hospital, which was not easy to do. I was hugely grateful to him because had he not, I would most definitely have got worse & probably ended up totally insane! I wasn’t mad, just in a bad way mentally.

I didn’t realize it then, but those 8 days were a gift. That period helped me get a different perspective of mental health & what a lot of people experience at some point in their life. That awful period also helped me become ‘the Therapist’ I am today. Bizarrely, or rather incredibly, I am able to help so many more clients better than I ever would have, had I not endured this awful chapter in our lives.

Thankfully, our daughter is in remission & is doing well. I recovered from my mental illness & my amazing husband stood by me during the long awful testing process.

During my recovery period, I began to refocus all of my attention on my goal(s). I watched inspirational speeches, read motivational blogs and watched transformational instagrams until I believed in my heart that the “impossible” was in fact, very possible. I became my own teammate, saying to myself, “Nadia, people do amazing things. Why not you? If Bear Grylls can get better after breaking his back & being told he will ever walk again then so can I! I’m not, after all, from another planet & neither is he!’ A hugely positive mantra. I feel like it’s become an automatic reaction to any challenge I now face.

I started designing my future. I thought about what kind of life I wanted, how it looked and felt. I spent day after day, focusing on deep breathing, and manifesting healing throughout my body. I read lots of books & had my inspirational quotes, affirmations & mantras. I restarted exercising & eating healthier. It’s important that I work on my mind, body & soul.

Above all, I used the power of my mind to refocus all my energies to re-design a life that I loved and to heal my body & mind.

Now that I feel so much better, I changed my mission so that I’m able to help other people on their journey. I guide people through their stressful periods by using all the techniques & various approaches – as a Counsellor, Hypnotherapist, Life Coach & EMDR Therapist.

I know it’s possible because if I can get here, anyone else can too. You just have to ask and tell yourself that “People do amazing things every single day, so why not you?”.