*AI Transcribed*

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free audio post-production  by alphonic.com

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Hello and welcome to Navigating Joy Together. My name is Lauren and I'm here with my family.  Mark.  Addison.  Hunter and our dog Onix.  Each episode you will hear about our experiences with Navigating Joy Together in our family  as well as tips you can bring back to your family.  Thanks for spending time with us.  Now let's get to it.

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Hello everybody and welcome back to Navigating Joy Together. Before we get to this week's episode, I just wanted to give you a couple of reminders.  If you are looking for a research-based strategy to encourage meaningful conversations with your children, I want you to check out Drive-A-Log. The mission of Drive-A-Log is to provide a vehicle for families across the country to have meaningful and brave conversations. You can order these decks of cars online.

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and they come in different grade levels. There's one for grades two through five, six through eight, nine through 12.  And the benefits of these, kids are more likely to have honest conversations when they're not forced to have direct eye contact. You can make this a day-to-day conversation that's easier and provides a higher percent that your kids will talk to you when they are having challenges.

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The cards have questions about real life things that kids deal with. And sometimes those things are very difficult for parents to ask and start a conversation. They also build connection and  they are engaging and that conversation is proactive and they're definitely age appropriate. So you just decide which deck you want. Go ahead and look on the show notes. The link is in the show notes and you can get your set of cards today. We love them.

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We've used them  and it's just created wonderful conversations while we were driving.  You can also get a 20 % discount if you put in  NJT in the coupon code box. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are about them and how it works for you. The other thing I wanted to just remind you,  if you haven't checked out my book that I wrote, it's on Amazon. It's a memoir called My Dad.

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died of ALS and how I found joy 30 years later. And it's just my story about my dad being diagnosed with ALS when I was in eighth grade  and the four years that followed up until his death and even how life transpired since his death, which has been over 30 years. It's affected me in many ways.  And one thing I did learn is that we can still find joy in suffering and in grief.  And it took me a while to really

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find that true joy and I talk about that in the book. So  go and get it, share it with one person, just one person you know who might be struggling with something or has a family member who may have an illness or terminal illness. There is some value in there  and I would love and be grateful if you checked it out  and you shared it with one person. I know that it will impact other people and give them some hope. The link to the book you can also find in the show notes as well.

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All right, now we will head over to this week's episode. Hello and welcome back to Navigating Joy Together. This week,  I am interviewing  a dear friend of mine, Becky Johnson.  In 1997, Becky had to make the heart-wrenching decision to quit her senior year as a college swimmer due to a debilitating condition that caused her neck to involuntarily pull to the right.

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Despite intensive therapy and support from trainers, her performance declined and she ultimately left the sport. This issue persisted even after transitioning to triathlons where she continued to struggle. In August, 2022, after starting a role as a social emotional teacher, she faced a severe migraine that led her to the ER where she learned she had cervical dystonia, a condition that runs in her family. Following a series of treatments,

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including Botox and consultations with specialists, she prioritized her mental health and began exploring cognitive therapies and nutrition, which significantly improved her well-being. The support from her current medical team of holistic and medical doctors has been invaluable in managing her condition. Now she's preparing for an Olympic distance swim by duathlon in July to raise awareness for dystonia. Motivated by her desire to connect with others,

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and support those facing similar challenges. She's collaborating with Beat Dystonia, a nonprofit organization to gather donations and share her journey aiming to foster understanding and compassion for those living with this condition. I think that bio says enough and I could say so much, but we're just gonna get to the episode. So here we go.

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Becky Johnson, welcome to Navigating Joy Together. I have the biggest smile on my face because you are here and our listeners don't know why, but just to let everybody know, I have known Becky, oh my gosh, 25 years probably, right? Yeah. It's so crazy we taught together for years. You were a young one when we met. We just probably got out of school and...

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You brought so much joy to our staff. I'm actually gonna get emotional because of your such joyful spirit and humor. Gosh, the laughs that we've had for so many years when we taught together was incredible. And then when you met Quinn, I'll never forget when you guys started dating and he's like exactly like you, like you too.

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The amount of times I would witness you just do fun, different things and make everybody laugh and make yourselves laugh, just bringing so much joy to people.  And  I do cherish those memories. I do think about them. And  I'm just so grateful that you came into my life so many years ago. I know, Lauren, and it's very reciprocal. And I was equally thinking back to like that group of teacher friends we had.

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became my family before we all had families.  so just  in school, you guys were such a great support, but out of school, how much fun we had, how many hikes we took, how many games we played. Um, it was just amazing. And then a few years later, I was thinking through the snowshoe race. Pop into your place beforehand and squeeze on her.

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alligator feed and tell her to snow. Those are some of my, like when I do some meditation work, which is one of the tools I use for finding joy in the midst of the I'm going through, I often go back to the snowshoe races and who is with me. Oh, those were fun. Yes. I'm glad that you brought that up because they were a good time. There's several of them.

07:37
Yes, there were. Well, I'm so glad you're here and I am so glad I saw your post about you wanting to get on a podcast and anything else that you could do to get your story out to other people and share what you're going, what you've been going through. And I know that's probably difficult to do, but I commend you. And this is why I love doing this is because I have

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talk to so many incredible people who find ways to navigate joy when they're going through something. And I know you have some specific things you want to get out to others. And I'm just so excited that I saw that post and that you're here today. So we'll get started. Thank you. It really truly is an honor first that you are brave enough to start this podcast and spread joy to the world and

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And that you invited me. thank you. Yes. Okay. You ready? Okay. Well, just start telling us a little bit about you. Yes. Well, as we were talking about earlier, I started teaching in 2000 and knew this awesome girl named Lauren. I met a bunch of amazing people that started off my 23 career in teaching.

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And  gosh,  teaching is a game  and  a ball of  joy  and  all sorts of emotions wrapped in one. So  I don't know if I'll ever return  to the world of full-time teaching, but  it has been a great career full of a lot of joy. And maybe I'll get to a little bit  more of the specifics later with that, but.

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I met Quinn, I think three years into teaching and that was really fun as you already talked about just my support system of ladies, just kind of watching the dating process and many people still say our wedding was the best ever. We put on all the glasses, we were so crazy. just that.

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In my  20s, having all of you guys was so much joy.  I got married to a man named Quinn,  you know, marriage is a beautiful and hard thing, but it has been amazing  going through what I have and just some of our struggles coming out  now,  just truly.

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being able to say he still is one of the best friends I've ever known.  I that support  and joy  and  looking at who he is as a father is actually very against the odds  about what research has said. just the gratitude in that is unbelievable to me.

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Um, I have a 18 year old girl who is about to finish her first year of college. We're picking her up in Arizona and like a week. It's so hard to believe. Can't imagine. My goodness. I know, I know. And, um, a 17 year old boy who just went to prom last night and had a great time and, um, is a great athlete and.

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We also have our beloved Golden Doodle who we  fell  in love with during COVID  and she's a very entitled little pooch.  She  pretty much has never been left a day in her life because my husband works from home.  But it was crazy because we had never had a pet as a family and how

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Willow just bonded us together and it was,  was.  That's so awesome. Oh, I know the pets are incredible.  Talk about bringing joy right into a family's life for sure.  Okay. I have to go back to the glasses. I forgot about those and  those glasses traveled with us for a long time and they were so much fun. I actually missed them. I don't know. I'm sure they're probably in the trash or something. It's been so long ago, but gosh, they went to a lot of events, but I think your wedding was.

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The first big thing that we used those glasses in and they were hilarious.  And all the wigs and the Willie Nelson braids.  Such a blast. Okay, so before we kind of get into your story, just what are some things just, I mean, if you have any, mean, you kind of already said this in your intro a little bit about what brings you joy.

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But is there anything else that you can think of just through life, you know, the last 25 plus years that just bring you joy on a daily basis or  every now and then? Yeah, I mentioned,  and you mentioned my husband and the confirmation that we were supposed to be together.  And so just  finding him, I think of how we met.  was no makeup.

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Um,  and  just athletic gear, playing pickup volleyball. And then we ended up climbing a tree. I mean, it was like  a Hallmark movie scene.  It was ridiculous. um,  and, and here we are, we just celebrated our 22nd anniversary.  And so  he just really does bring me joy. He's very quiet until you get to know him. And then he is.

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the funniest, most supportive, most loyal person you'll ever meet. So, a lot of joy in the day-to-day with him. Oh, I mean, I'm sure there's lots of laughs in your household, so that's great. It's so important. Oh gosh, Hallmark, maybe that's hilarious. Almost three years ago, you experienced a hardship, and so share it with us.

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I started a new job at a new school after working  at  a school in my community for nine years, which  has been so special watching those kids grow up. And I had the opportunity to be with my kids throughout elementary. And it was  so special to be a teacher in the school where my kids went.  But I started a new job.

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And I made it about two weeks in.  And then  the first week was a teacher training week. And then  the second week was with kids. And on that Friday, I ended up in the emergency room. And funny not funny story is my daughter got her  driver's license that day. And I refuse  to have them call 911 and get an ambulance.

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So here my daughter comes on her solo drive, pulling up to my school and bringing me to the hospital. So  that's a fun memory for her.  At the ER, I  was going in because I had just a horrendous migraine because I was trying to hold my head up straight basically for two weeks and it was just really scary. And I wasn't sure what was going on. My head was having involuntary movements to the right.

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looking  at people I had never met before  and my head all of a sudden would be to the right and my eye contact couldn't stay on them, which  was socially, I mean, I just, thrive  on those social interactions and those connections, especially when meeting new people. So it was just really hard. So  I was just doing my best using my hand the whole time, holding my head up.

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and I just kept going into migraines that first week until I had  one where I couldn't function. then after that, thankfully,  the neurologist, I was able to get into a neurologist quickly  and I was diagnosed with cervical dystonia, which I've learned is very rare  because  many neurologists still don't know what dystonia is and

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What it is  is a neurological movement disorder.  It's in the Parkinson's family and mimics some Parkinson's symptoms  and  is in same part of the brain. It's in the basal ganglia, which is the first part of the brain that we develop  as we're growing in the womb. So just a little tidbit, I've learned so, so much brain research. It's kind of phenomenal and cool to learn about, but.

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Um,  but yeah, I, I thought I would be able to go back to work in a couple of months and then a couple of months turned into a year and I'm almost three years in. So, um, just a lot  of  wonky,  unexpected things that come  with dystonia happened along the way.  Um, I ended up having a pretty severe case. And so.

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My current neurologist who I had seen, I had been seeing for quite a while, sent me to a more specialized neurologist. And that was a really bad experience. And so I just want to say to anybody with a chronic illness or dealing with anything in the medical industry to be your own advocate. And when you can't be your own advocate to truly

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find somebody who can help you to find who will  truly have your best wellbeing in mind and believe you. there are a lot of doctors and even holistic professionals who  don't have your best interests in mind. So that'd be just some advice I'd like to offer listeners who are going through something.

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something hard medically. That's such great advice  and makes me think of a story, just a quick thing I read, but before I get back to that, what was it like for those  couple years? mean, socially, like I can't imagine you were in your house for that  only. Like I would assume you were out and about and what was life like like that when you're...

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your eye contact changed and  your neck went a different direction and  all that for you. What was that like?  Yeah,  that first year was really, really hard.  I  did end up, I was in bed more than I was out of bed. And  from day one, I knew I needed to work on my mental health more than anything else. And so thankfully,

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And even a few years before that,  it was so interesting. I  took  a deep dive really into healing from my past and just finding more joy in my present.  so coming off that two years was such a primer and a foundation for knowing  how much  mental health would  help me in the long run.

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So I would try to walk Willow every day, but that was the hardest because by that point, my chin and my clavicle were kind of glued down together. And I have pictures on  a neurological journey website,  which I'll talk about in the end about how if any listeners are curious about my story a little bit more, they're welcome to request access to that. And I'd love to give access to them to read that.

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and contact me through that if they would like to. But so when I would walk, first of all, I would like kind of tip over a little bit. So my alignment was off and it was just, it was embarrassing walking by people and not being able to look into their eyes. And it was very painful to raise my head even a little bit. And so

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And Botox at that point in my neck and my trapezoids was the big thing I was getting for treatment to kind of freeze the nerves, which was helping a little bit,  but not a whole lot. And they were trying to figure out what medications would be  good for me. And so that was a long process of finding just the right dosages. It was  a hard first. Yeah, it sounds.

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Oh gosh, so difficult. And I love that you can laugh a little bit about it. It probably took a little bit of time, but just to kind of, you know, it probably still hurts too.  But I think also to just kind of give yourself some grace too in that situation. And oh, Becky,  and I'm sure there was some physical pain. did you, were you in pain as well? You know, that's interesting. The first year it was more just

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awkward and painful when I would push myself and knowing who I am, I do push myself quite a bit. So it was then that the pain would come and then I would just have to, I would sleep a lot and try to recuperate and do what I could and just.

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financially in the whole process of being on short-term disability and then getting on long-term disability  was truly a full-time job. So in between the sleeping and the many doctors I was seeing and  the fighting of insurance and being on the phone constantly  trying to figure out financially,  we just took such a big hit  that was

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and still is  one of the hardest things to navigate. And at this point, I do want to mention the nonprofit, it's called Beat Dystonia.  It's run by Rogers Hartman, who has recently, or not recently, who has become a friend of mine.  She, when I was at my most sick that first year trying to get on long-term disability, I was about to be denied and she just stepped in and helped so much. And so just,

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I literally, when I look back, I cannot believe the people that fell in my lap at the last minute to help in logical ways, in financial ways, in just supportive ways. It truly miracles  happened when  I truly reflect on.  Well, and I can tell you're so grateful for that. And hence you now are trying to do what you can for others.

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That's what life's about, right? Yes. And real quick, before we get to our next question, when you were talking about really advocating for yourself, I read this article in ARP Magazine, because I get it now. It was about this gal who kept having this like leg pain. And she went for a couple years, knowing she went to so many doctors, some really tried to figure out what was going on, some were terrible to her.  And just guessing and not even doing anything.  she finally found, I mean, after two years of

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like she got to a point where she couldn't walk. She finally found a doctor, I think maybe in Texas or something  that had seen similar  symptoms. And it was like a nerve thing. It was really just a nerve deal. But like she went through this whole thing for two years where she  couldn't get the support. And I'm not saying anything terrible. I'm not trying to be negative about the medical field, but it's like you said, you just have to, as hard as it is,

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just have to do, you just have to keep searching and keep searching. And, you she was constantly researching stuff just for, you know, like I said, years and finally was able to find somebody who found the situation and the issue and basically was able to navigate,  you know, healing.  Oh, well, and I'm so glad that articles are being written about that because

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this whole thing, you know, I just I barely ever went to the doctor and when I did if they were good if  they were not so good, I just go and get what I need done. It was a big deal. But  I'm glad that that  advocacy is getting into the world and that you just read about that. That's a very fascinating within that first year. I gained so much weight and so  I  then additional health

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problems were coming upon with that and just not being active.  so I found a nutritionist that didn't work out for me.  And  so I kept pressing in that area and now  I have the most incredible nutritionist who has helped me  like not only lose weight, but just in health in general and truly as kind of an emotional support when I have me. So.

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So when you find your people,  it's amazing. It's not just what they're doing. There's some emotional support there, as well as my physical therapist. I do want to mention his name. His name is Kevin MacOmar,  and he's from Above It All Physical Therapy.  I  lost the ability to walk at one point, and he has helped me learn to walk.

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I'm off my walker currently. It's about a year that I've had to be on a walker.  again, he just,  believes in me, he,  as a whole person.  And  so enforcing what you just said, just the importance of that is vital. Yeah. So the people are out there to support you. It's just a matter of  how you find them, right? That's right.  Okay. So you talked about the importance of your mental health.

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Um, are there any other tools that you use to help you manage this knowing that, you know, it'll be with you for your life? Yes. Well, recently with the use, I feel like Forrest Gump's like winning runs out of his places.  In fact,  I had a physical therapy appointment the other day and he's like,  I am going to have to get you another.

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liability form, like a special one for you because  I was doing things I wasn't supposed to, but I like when he turned around, I would do a cartwheel  and like things  that  I couldn't  do before. And so I am just so excited to my  next stuff. Like I  am two weeks out of my next Botox treatment and so I am in.

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a lot of pain with my neck. probably at about an eight, but because my legs feel so much better and I can do so much more again, the forward jump scene comes to me. I'm just, I'm running. And those braces just fly off. I just can picture and I can picture the walker flying and the.

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So that's,  I call her  Colorado Ranger, not Texas Ranger. I'm  going to hide her into the dumpster, but he told me not to quite yet.  But  anyway,  saying that one of the largest tools my whole life that is.

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helped me with so much stress release is just activity with my body. And so I signed up for a duathlon where I'm swimming for a mile in Boulder Reservoir and biking almost 25 miles, which  that's what got this whole thing started about raising awareness for dystonia. And I'm trying to  go a lot of different avenues of how to get my story out there.

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with the premise that I will  hopefully finish this race.  I had a few cute friends say they will carry me from the swim  transition place to and put me directly on my bike. Cause that honestly is the part I'm most worried about is  I can walk better, but it's still,  I don't know how long the transition will be. And so just.

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crawling to the bike all the time. Hopefully make the times. So  that's a huge tool that recently has come into play that I can be active and get my heart rate up and I'm gaining strength. And I found a gym called Hot Works, which is an infrared  studio. They have yoga, Pilates, HIIT workouts, all sorts of stuff.  just being able to use my body again has been

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instrumental in thriving and moving forward  because I'm learning I have a progressive form of dystonia. Some dystonia can go into remission, but  mine most likely won't. So that was a hard reality to learn when I learned it, but  doing what I can  with my limitations probably for the rest of my life is kind of a goal of mine.

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So inspiring.  Oh, I love it. You're gonna,  first of all, you're gonna do incredible. I know you will in that two-athlon and just the inspiration, regardless of a chronic illness that people have, we can do things and we can get out there. It's just, you know, probably having the support and doing it and a lot of mental health. And so thanks for being such an inspiration. I can't wait to hear how it goes.  And you should come out. We're gonna write.

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posters and all my friends are going to hold them up during or to raise awareness for the stone. Yeah.  would love to. I think that would be phenomenal. Oh, I can't wait to hear about that. Well, there's definitely something to be said. I think those two aspects of mental health and being active as much as you can are so important. We're not made to be sedentary. Is that the word? Sedentary. Yeah. Sedentary, know, humans. And so

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as hard as it is making sure even if it's just walking or you know, whatever, just, you know, moving I think is huge. So  you've come a long way. I can tell from your story. So good job.  Okay. So you just mentioned this, that it's, you know, with you for your life and it's probably, it's progressive for you.  I know being active  is something that probably brings you joy, but  how do you find joy? I mean, I'm sure you have some ups and downs in,

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You might have some anger and frustration knowing that this is  part of a hand you were dealt. And so how do you incorporate joy now into what you're going through, what you know your life will be like in the future and the  days where maybe you're not feeling as great or you're a little bit more pain or you can't do as much as you want and so forth? Yeah, my whole life people have really commented on my joy and my smile.

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And ironically,  many of these times  I  didn't even really know it until I started doing some work on myself, but I had pretty severe anxiety due to  some trauma earlier in life.  But I  think my coping mechanism was to appear happy and  smiley on the outside so  I wouldn't have to reveal what was truly going on on the inside.  But because of

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truly amazing helpers. I  see a  therapist every week who he has been instrumental in.  Some days we just talk about how the day is going and sometimes we take the deep dive and sometimes he's just a friend.  But that it's just been a constant guide the past. I think I've been with him three years now,  which  are more.

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I grew up in a family that therapy was kind of a crutch and it wasn't  good to reach out. again, just saying to anybody listening,  if you also grew up that way or, it's nerve wracking, I still remember sitting in the office waiting to go in to see him, like almost breaking out in a sweat.  Like  it takes courage to take kind of that first step to talk to somebody and takes.

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vulnerability and  all sorts of  hard things to get to that point. But I would encourage anybody who just feels a little bit even like they want somebody to talk to to do that.  But because of amazing helpers,  I and I mentioned my nutritionist, I mentioned my whole team of  health care providers who have really

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helped me to understand  that internal joy a little more.  It's been kind of cool because of being a teacher, I think I am a lifelong learner for life. So  I would experience modalities of healing that have helped my life so much. And then  I would go and get certified  in these modalities. And so

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I went for two years and was certified in a modality called Heart Sync, which  is based on internal family system psychological theory. And that has changed my life so much. And the first part of that is  just kind of  meditating  on a good memory without splinters, without negativity or...

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or your favorite food or your favorite color just to get your endorphins flowing.  And  there's more to it than that.  But that alone, when I'm able to just close my eyes and go to a meadow or go to an ocean and smell flowers and that sensory imagery we use to teach and teachers, mean, it really has improved my mental health and changed my neural pathways.

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I believe,  and restored memories.  so that was an incredible modality that I'm now certified in. And then  EFT tapping,  I don't know if anybody's heard of that, but that  helped me both mentally and physically. When I felt a bad headache coming on, I would start tapping and within five, I mean, this was, it took a while for my body to respond, but

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over the course of about a year, I can just kind of start tapping and within five minutes my headache is gone. And so then I got,  I was so excited and I went through a year and a half certification and got certified in that too.  And it was so in depth. I thought I was going to do the certification in last three months. I'd be good. It was awesome because it was so much more.

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than just a tapping. was  teaching us  various ways to heal the emotional centers as well as physical centers.  And then in offshoot of that,  there's an incredible woman named Heather Silva who has  developed a modality called  transformative art healing.

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And that has probably been the most powerful yet. And again, it involves meditation, thematic work, art, and I am not an artist and I'm still really successful.  But it's exciting because I do have a business called 813 Therapies. so  hopefully in the near future, I can get that business up and running again.

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and be able to help and heal people like people have helped and heal me.  Oh, Becky, I'm gonna cry.  Everything that you're doing first for yourself and then  what you wanna do to give back to others is so incredible. I just wanna comment on a couple of things you mentioned a lot, but the therapy is so important and it's so interesting about your past experience growing up and...

38:00
I do hear people talk more freely about therapy now, which is so good. Like you're right, people used to never talk about it as taboo or if you were going to a sericologist, you must be messed up or you know, that kind of stuff. so it's nice that people are starting to talk about it.  And  yeah, if you weren't used to that, like going is probably really hard at first, but does it do, you know, some  work for sure. So thanks for putting that out there. I'm glad that you have that.

38:30
Um,  and I get you girl when I did this, don't do, symbol. Yeah, me too. Right.  You don't have to say me too, just do this. We're like doing this back and forth thing with our hand. We do this in the classroom anyways,  I is the same way that my book, that's what I write about is how you, like, I would just hold that, that  sadness and you know, upsetness, suffering inside and you would never know, you know, like.

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And it's not good for you. Like I'll just everything and I talked about that in the book is it's Such a joy crusher and it really blocks your joy when you actually don't allow yourself to feel those You know those feelings and so forth. So I get that 100 % The tapping I've played around with it a little bit, but I just haven't Got I haven't done it very consistently. Oh the visualization I love that because Meditating right you're so used to keeping your mind like still

39:28
But what a great thing to do to kind of get you back into that place of joy. And actually when I coach some parents away in the past on joy, parenting and joy, I would have them do that. I'd have them, we would do this little visualization about thinking of a time in life that brought you joy and then we'd bring all the sensory items in, everything and get them really to feel that again, it makes such a difference. It really can shift.

39:57
you and your feelings and where you're at, you know, for what you need. It's awesome. Yeah. Well, I love all those certifications you're doing. I might reach out to you for some of them at some point. I have to have a few guinea pigs before I get my final certification in this last one. So I'll be a guinea pig. I would love to.

40:25
I would love to. We could talk about which one. I love it. Well,  you definitely have  found some things that I think are going to be really successful for you to get you through this as you live with this. So good job. And I just love your drive to  pass it forward.  OK, so we kind of talked a little bit about why you're here and you're trying to reach out as  much as possible. I'm going move to the next question. But if there's anything else you want to say about that, you are more than welcome to.

40:54
Well, and I  knew this  could happen and I see that we're  over time. It's okay. could do this for another two hours. So  I don't really have anything more to say other than  reach out to me. think  Lauren will put my email in the show notes. again, as I mentioned earlier, I'm on Facebook.

41:21
It's a private page called Becky's neurological journey and  Just  requests to be accepted and then  you can message me privately or post publicly any questions you have for me and I'll just  if you're okay, we could just put kind of how people can find it in the show notes. So Great. Yeah, we can click on links and whatever Okay, but I do want to know  before we sign off

41:49
your hopes and dreams for the future and anything else you want to leave with the listeners. Yeah. Or anyone who hears this.  My hopes and dreams are that I can get 813 therapies off and running  as  a career, not just as a dabbling. And I may not, like I said, be able to work full time.

42:17
for the rest of my life, which was a little bit of a hard thing to hear. And also I think this might be my path. So I'm really excited that despite all these hardships, so much joy and so much learning and a new path has been paved for me. And so that would be one dream I have. Another dream I have would be that this duathlon would go really well and I could

42:46
keep that up and with the use of my legs that I could maybe get strong enough to do triathlons again.  One of our mutual friends  wants to do, we live in Colorado, the Manitou Incline. So I would love, I've done that twice and it is real hard.  I'd  love to do that again. just a bunch of physical things that I didn't.

43:13
know if I could ever do again, I think I might be able to.  And just leaving the listeners with,  yeah, don't stop fighting the good fight.  And again, I believe like you were saying with the visualization  and bringing all the sensory tools in and being supported by  people that you want to be around  and

43:43
choosing to  put some space between  people who maybe don't give you energy or don't bring you joy in a kind way, in a gentle way.  But those are some  of the tools that have really helped me  to create some boundaries and to find the ultimate joy that I have in this place, which is kind of crazy, Lauren, that I have more joy now.

44:11
in the midst of this than I have ever experienced in life. And part of that maybe comes with age, but it's pretty cool. So. Oh, Becky, that's incredible. mean, so no matter what we're going through, we can find that joy and we can have it. And for you to realize that you have more than you did prior to all of this is incredible. And you've done a lot of work to create that, right? Like I always say, I don't,

44:41
I think there are some things that can just bring you joy, but I do think we have to work out it. We have to be conscious in it with it, you know?  Oh  gosh, that was so lovely. Thank you so much. I am so blessed. I'm getting emotional. I loved having this conversation with you and we'll do what we can to just get it out to as many people as we can. It's amazing. I would love that. It was so fun to see your beautiful face and yes.

45:08
We'll text and chat a little more after  we're done. Okay. Thank you so much for being here, You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Well, I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Becky. There was so much that was very impactful for me. I really got emotional in so many parts of it.  I'm going to pull out just a couple of things that really stood out. Of course, the whole conversation did, but the one thing I love that she said is how her path

45:37
She's been a teacher since I've known her, right, when she was pretty much out of college. And when we go into a profession, we don't always realize what else is out there. We think maybe that's the profession we're going to be in for, you know, the next several decades. And sometimes when a situation happens in our life that maybe pulls us out of that profession or throws a wrench in it,

46:04
doors open and we find a different passion. And I know Becky has found that and I'm so excited for her to  not only continue focusing on herself  as she continues through life with the Sonia, but also impacting other people's lives for the better and giving back. I know that that is something dear to our heart. Becky is such a wonderful, sweet soul.

46:30
The other thing that I loved, she talked about is the things that she really does to make sure she's still living in joy. And I love how she said she feels like she is more in joy now than she was before she knew what was going on and before she was diagnosed with this, which I think says a lot, right? It's very easy to get caught up in the negative of our situation and  not  really find that joy. And Becky,

46:59
has done incredible things to help herself find that joy, as she had mentioned in the episode, her mental health, doing the visualization of places and experiences, the tapping and all the other things she mentioned. So if she can do it, anybody can do it, no matter the situation that we have going on in our life, I really believe that we can still find joy.

47:26
So  I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you want to get in touch with Becky in the show notes, I have the link to that private Facebook group that she mentioned. She also can be reached at this email  813therapiesllc at gmail.com. And if anyone is looking for care from a chronic illness or anxiety from a high school or collegiate sport,  she has a website you can check out 813therapies.com.

47:55
She would love to have a brief conversation with you and I'll have those links in the show notes as well. I would love to hear what value you took from this or any takeaway. My email is laurenatdailyjoy.us. You can find me on Instagram, Lauren's Daily Joy or Facebook, Lauren Goldman-Reyman. Thank you so much for being with us today with this incredible conversation.  I am outta here.  Did you enjoy your time with us today?

48:25
If you did, please give us a review on Apple Podcasts. Your review will make navigating joy together much more fun and we would be truly grateful if you would share this with others who you know would gain value from our podcast. Thank you again and we look forward to sharing our next episode with you in two weeks.

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