22. What does spirituality have to do with chronic illness?

What does spirituality have to do with chronic illness?

In this episode of Wellbeing Interrupted, Teisha Rose delves into her personal experiences with chronic illness and spirituality. She shares her journey of embracing authenticity, opening her mind to new ways of thinking, and the final thoughts on how illness and spirituality are interconnected. Through her story, Teisha highlights the importance of working on mind, body, and spirit to achieve healing.

If you LOVED the episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @hurdle2hope.com

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Embracing Authenticity with a Personal Story: Teisha discusses her thoughts on spirituality and the significance of the number 22 in her journey.
• Opening Your Mind to New Ways of Thinking: Healing and living well with an illness involves considering the mind, body, and spirit. The Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap emphasises the importance of continually challenging your thinking.
• Final Thoughts: Illness and Spirituality: This week, challenge yourself to be open to new ways of thinking as a key to living well.

Show Resources:

• Angels in My Hair by Lorna Byrne
• Podcast Website: Wellbeing Interrupted
• Follow me on Instagram: @hurdle2hope
• Related Episodes to Listen: (wherever you get your podcast or here!)
  • Episode 2: Hurdle2Hope® Is More Than A Name: Your Healing Mindset Guide
  • Episode 8: The First Step to Healing: Embracing Change with an Open Mind
  • Episode 11: Healing Journey: Beyond Physical Recovery
  • Episode 20:  Hurdle2Hope® Stories - Meet Lousie Butcher
    
    

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @hurdle2hope!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week.

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Teisha xo

Always remember to thrive after a life-changing diagnosis... Your Mindset is Everything!


Learn more about the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap by watching the Mindset Masterclass Reclaim Your Life. It's available now on-demand.

Podcast Website http://www.wellbeinginterrupted.com/


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Transcript

Wellbeing Interrupted

Host Teisha Rose

Episode 22

What Does Spirituality Have to Do with Chronic Illness?

Hey there, Teisha here, and welcome to episode twenty-two of Wellbeing Interrupted. Episode twenty-two... there's been a change of plan. Originally, I was going to do a different topic, but I'll hold on to that for next week. When I was having a shower this morning, an outside shower in the freezing cold, at our new block, I had this realisation that this is episode twenty-two. And this number, all of a sudden, means something a little bit more to me. So stay tuned, and this episode will really, I guess, delve into more about what it means to live with a chronic illness and embrace our spirituality. As I truly believe that healing requires us to work on our mind, body, and spirit.

Embracing Authenticity with a Personal Story

So hopefully, you're still listening, and it didn't scare you off, um, this topic, because when I was chatting to Louise a couple of episodes ago in episode twenty—who Louise ran the marathon topless to embrace her scars post-mastectomy—we really had a good chat about authenticity. And I realised that if I'm going to be authentic in Wellbeing Interrupted and the guests I chat to, and really represent what I believe in, then a massive part of my journey with MS and now cancer has been working on myself physically, absolutely, emotionally, mentally, but also spiritually. And I realised I cannot ignore that.

And I'm not going to do episodes saying that, you know, this is my belief and I want you to believe the same things I do. But what I'm a big believer in is that we need to have an open mind. 

So a few weeks back when I was recording an episode, I realised that I was twenty-two when diagnosed with MS. Very young. I realise now how young is twenty-two to deal with such a massive diagnosis. Then I realised I was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was stage four breast cancer from the beginning; that diagnosis happened in February twenty twenty-two.

Last year, on a recommendation, I read a book called Angels in My Hair by Lorna Byrne. Beautiful book, not something I would have read years and years ago, but I found it really fascinating because Lorna shared her story from childhood when she saw angels and she connected with the divine world. I don't even know whether I use the right terminology, but she connected with angels in the divine world. And she shared her experiences of that as a child but also throughout her life. Recommend the book if that’s something you're interested in; I actually listened to it on Audible, and it was fantastic.

And I've also heard, and I heard it on someone else's podcast a little while ago, someone scoffing about angel numbers. And again, I hadn't really thought about angel numbers, but I do believe that there are angels around us, especially after reading Lorna's book, Angels in My Hair. And I thought, let's have a look at the angel number twenty-two because I thought, is it a coincidence that I was diagnosed at twenty-two with MS and then the next massive, massive health challenge I've faced was in twenty twenty-two? So one night when I was thinking about this, is it a coincidence? I thought, who better to turn to than Google? So I Googled angel number twenty-two.

Angel number twenty-two is a symbol of strength, power, and resilience. It's an affirmation that you possess greater strength than you may realise, and you have the capacity to navigate through any challenges that come your way. On the surface, that might seem nice, nothing much in it, but this is why I had such goosebumps when I read this. If you've listened to episode number two, where I introduced the Hurdle2Hope® Roadmap, it’s the basis of all that I do in my teachings. So my courses, my workshops, all of it is centred around theHurdle2Hope®️.  Roadmap. And the Hurdle2Hope®️. Roadmap is made up of three key pillars.

The first is harness your strength. So I talk about the red zone. If you're going through a crisis, we need to create an environment which enables you to harness your strength. Then the second pillar of my Hurdle2Hope®️ Roadmap is the situations where you're in emotional turmoil. And during these moments, whether it's the stress, anxiety that you feel when your illness is impacting your life and you become consumed by your illness, it becomes beyond frustrating. And I've been there, absolutely. And we need to feel those emotions because, remember, we need to be authentic in dealing with the emotions of our illness. But I talk about, in these situations, if we're to move forward, then we need to regain our power.

Then the third pillar of the Hurdle2Hope®️ Roadmap is build your resilience. And for me, building your resilience is our new beginnings. Building our resilience is the silver lining. So for me, dealing with a stage four breast cancer diagnosis, I was able to cope with that properly, even better than I thought I could, because of all the insights I've gained in living with MS. So if we go back to what I read that night, angel number twenty-two is a symbol of strength, power, and resilience. And Hurdle2Hope Roadmap is based on harnessing your strength, regaining your power, and building your resilience. Goosebumps. So I woke up Andrew that night and said, you wouldn't believe that angel number twenty-two is the three words I could have chosen, any words in the world. The three words I chose were strength, power, and resilience, and that is the basis of everything I do with Hurdle2Hope®️. He probably didn't have the enthusiasm I did or the goosebumps at that moment because he was asleep. But the next morning, I shared that photo with, a lady Leisa, who I go to energy healings for, and she said, you know, there's no such thing as coincidence, that there is meaning behind this.

So I don't know why I was diagnosed with MS at twenty-two. I don't know why in twenty twenty-two I was dealt with another massive diagnosis in stage four breast cancer. And I certainly also don't know why I decided to talk about the three pillars of strength, power, and resilience. But Leisa actually sent me through some more information about angel number twenty-two. And what it really talked about was divine life purpose and soul mission. And that rang really true for me because I know that in being diagnosed with these two conditions, I know that I'm given an opportunity to apply all that I know to live well and heal. But I also know that part of why I am here is that I need to share insights with others dealing with their own health conditions. I've also broadened that to also work with healthcare professionals because they play such an important role in our healing, and they're also doing a lot. We want to make sure that they still stay well as well.

Opening Your Mind to New Ways of Thinking

Okay, so what I truly believe and what the lesson in this is for all of us, whether you believe in angel numbers or even that angels exist. If we're to heal—and remember from episode eleven, healing is beyond the physical recovery—so if we're going to heal, we've got to talk about our mind, body, and spirit or mind, body, and soul. And then, as I talked about in episode eight, if we're going to heal, then we need to have an open mind. And if we're going to have an open mind, if we're going to heal at all levels, mind, body, and soul, then we can't ignore spirituality, and I truly believe that.

In the Hurdle2Hope®️ Roadmap, I talk about part of building resilience is taking time to challenge how we think about and experience our illness and all aspects of our life. And you see, in my twenties, in living with MS, I really struggled to make sense of my MS diagnosis because I was a very rational and logical thinker. And how can you make sense of a healthy twenty-two-year-old being diagnosed with this really full-on neurological condition? And it wasn't until I really started thinking more irrationally and illogically. So when I started, I guess, letting go of trying to make sense of everything, that's when I started healing.

And for me, that was when I started energy healing. I went to someone for kinesiology. And that was the first time in my life where I had all these crystals put on me, you know, that there was energy being moved around my body, that the lady I was seeing, who was absolutely lovely and normal—and that's important to me in terms of someone who is really grounded and part of this world—she was channeling and tapping into things that happened in my childhood, or she was talking about things that would happen in my future, which are now happening. I remember way back then, she was talking about me writing a book. And I thought, well, that's ridiculous. I didn't even enjoy English at school. Why would I ever write a book? Whereas, you know, ten years ago, I wrote Life Interrupted. And it wasn't until I started really challenging my thinking and my approach to my illness or my approach to wellness that I was becoming more proactive to my wellbeing and the relapses gradually stopped. And I've only had one relapse in the last fifteen years. And as you've seen, I'm using a walker, so I'm not running around. But I am so much better than what I was.

So now, fast forward to twenty twenty-two, when I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, I didn't waste any time trying to rationally or logically work out why I was diagnosed with breast cancer. On the surface, not fair. You know, dealing with two massive illnesses in one lifetime seems really unfair. And it is a massive, massive challenge. I'm not going to deny that. But fortunately, I knew that to heal, I needed to have an open mind. I also knew that I needed to think about my healing beyond just the physical recovery. I knew I had to call on my support network, medically, but also spiritually. I knew that all the prayers or the healing energy, especially when I was trying to make sense of the fear of a stage four diagnosis, and then when I was going through my operations as well, I knew I needed to feel at peace. I needed to feel grounded. I needed to feel centred and prepared for what this new chapter and where this new journey was going to take me. And now, as I record this, looking out onto our beautiful acreage, I'm here at Daisy Hill, which is the name of the place we live now. So, Teisha Rose from Daisy Hill, and I'm more driven than ever to nourish my spirituality. And to use what I've learned to help you in living with your illness, but also, I've broadened my reach a bit more as well. Because I also believe that the insights I've gained can also help healthcare practitioners not only in working with us but also looking after their own wellbeing.

Final Thoughts: Illness and Spirituality

Okay, so a bit of a different episode today, but let's just revisit what I've quickly chatted about. And I'm hoping this will spark some conversation. I know in episode fourteen, when I talked about the power of manifestation, that, um, created a bit of discussion, which is great. Let's start thinking about these things differently, as I keep saying. Our type of thinking, the way we viewed the world, before we get sick, before we're diagnosed with our illness, that type of thinking is not going to help us to heal. We need to challenge our thinking. And for me, challenging my thinking has involved thinking more spiritually about my life.

And again, I'm not here to tell you what you should do or what you should believe, but use your experience with your illness to start questioning what is and what you want from this lifetime. Because I know being diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, you quickly realise how short life is and that I don't want to spend the rest of my life being frustrated and angry and worked up about why I've got MS and breast cancer. Instead, I want it to help me evolve as a person. And part of that evolution for me is to share all my insights with you, trying to make your journey with your illness a little bit easier. You know, if some of these insights can help you, then great. If I can challenge you to start thinking about things spiritually, I know it will help. Well, it's helped me, so hopefully, it'll help you. And to also encourage you to be aware of the signs around you. You know, what a sign for me to all of a sudden not only realise that I was diagnosed at twenty-two with MS, diagnosed in twenty twenty-two with stage four breast cancer, and the massive sign that when I looked up the angel number twenty-two, it talked about strength, power, and resilience. And that is what I'm about, and that strength, power, and resilience is what the Hurdle2Hope®️ Roadmap is all about as well.

Anyway, I'm going to leave it there because if nothing else, I want you to challenge yourself over the next week or two or three or four to have an open mind, to start thinking about your life a little bit differently. And go back to some of the episodes I've talked about. The Hurdle2Hope®️ Roadmap is explained in episode number two. Then, in episode eight, I talk about the importance of having an open mind for your healing. Then I also expand on this in episode fourteen, where I talk about healing is more than our physical recovery. I'll also put in the title of the book Angels in My Hair by Lorna Byrne because it's a great book, um, and it might start your thinking about life differently. But again, if you're not into angels, that's absolutely fine, but still, the challenge is there to start thinking about life differently. Because if you're struggling with your illness, the way you're thinking about it now probably isn't working. That's fine. So challenge yourself to think differently, and thinking differently and being open-minded, that is the key to your healing.

That's all from me. Um, we'll chat again next week. Bye.