Planet Thrive Interviews Derval Dunford (woman who recovered from MCS)

Hello!

I feel like I haven't written in a very long time and this post will be short.
Spring has sprung here in southern Ontario and I'm outside puttering in the yard and gardens whenever possible.
I've been battling frequent migraines and find they can be triggered or worsened by the computer screen so I haven't been online much.

Today I want to share a link with you to a great interview done by Julie Genser and Julie Laffin at Planet Thrive (a very neat site - check it out!!).

I mentioned Derval Dunford back in March and was so excited to see the interview done with her on Planet Thrive.
When I started this blog, one of the things I wanted to do was interview people who have improved with MCS. So far, I simply haven't had the energy to and I am really happy that someone else is doing it!
Thank you Julie and Julie! :-)
Some day I'd love to see you interview Sweigh Emily Spilkin, Debra Lynn Dadd, Raymond Francis, Annie Hopper, Julia Tuchman and others. It can be so inpsiring to hear of others healing and improvements.

Okay, here is the link to the interview:

Healing trauma and chemical sensitivities an interview with Derval Dunford, creator of the meditation CD Sui

After hearing the sample track from the Sui CD (and loving it), I decided finally to order it. When I get it, I'll let you know how I liked it.
If you haven't listened to the sample track yet, I encourage you to do so.
You can listen to it here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).

I hope you are all having a great spring with as much clean air as possible and things that bring you joys - great or small.

After Recovering From MCS, Irish Woman Puts Out Meditation CD

I'd like to share an inspiring story with you today.

Derval Dunford, an Irish beautician, was mostly housebound and unable to work due to MCS.

As part of her healing journey, she developed a meditation practice for herself that she feels played a big role in her recovery.
She has now returned to working part time as a beautician as well as running meditation classes and putting out a double CD of guided, relaxation and unguided meditation!

The CD is available here and you can listen to a sample track here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).
I have listened to the sample track and encourage you to check it out! I really enjoyed it. By the end, I felt relaxed and peaceful (something rare in my mind filled constantly with jumbled thoughts).

Here are some press articles you can read about Derval if you like.

Independent.ie

Mayo Advertiser

Sunday Business Post

You can also view my favourite article - the one in the Irish Mirror - at the Sui.ie site by scrolling down to the very bottom of this page and clicking the link mentioned in the final sentence. In this article, she says, "...I know that detoxing my mind played a big role in my recovery."

I had asked Derval how much she has recovered from MCS and she shared, "I feel I have recovered from MCS but I still steer clear of chemicals as much as possible & certainly wouldn't stay in an enclosed space for any period of time with a strong chemical smell. I use all natural products where possible. Having said that, I can go about my daily life as everyone else does, travelling on trains, planes and socialising Thank God!"


Thank you Derval for the inspiration and permission to post your words here!!!

*UPDATE*

1.  there is a great interview of Derval on Planet Thrive (to read click here).

2.  I ended up buying the CD and I love it (I have no financial interest)

Sharing Inspiration

Since my 'retreat', I haven't felt much like writing.

I've noticed that I'm very possessive of my energy - selecting carefully what I spend it on.
So I think that, for a while, I'll focus on sharing things here that are inspiring me in some way.

I'd like to share a video with you that recently made a huge impact on me.
It's a fascinating, passionate 18-minute talk given by Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist.

Many years ago she had a stroke and her description of the experience was amazing and, interestingly, spiritual! At the end of the talk I felt moved, inspired, full of joyful tears and so lucky to be a human in such a miraculous body! I hope you'll check out the video.

It took her 8 years to relearn how to walk, think and talk and she sees the entire experience as a positive thing! She is a strong advocate for the possibilities of recovering from strokes - or even being stronger than before they happened.
Her stroke stimulated the right/creative side of her brain and she now sings (advocating for people to donate their brains postmortem for research) and makes stained glass brains in addition to being a scientist!

My apologies to readers who are on dial up speed who have a hard time with videos. You could check out her book or website. Although I haven't read it yet, I've heard her book is incredibly inspiring.

You can view the video here. It's on the TED site which is inspiring all by itself! There are a plethora of inspiring, interesting talks given by people in fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED for short).

**Note**
There is a real brain present for short time during the video - heads up for anyone who gets super grossed out by stuff like that :)

Retreat - Listening To My Body's Wisdom

Retreat.
My body, spirit and intuition are telling me it is long past time for one. And the playful part of me jumped on the thought as soon as I had it and blurted out, "It even has the word TREAT in it!!"

I am a naturally very introverted person and often get drained, overwhelmed or overstimulated by interaction with other people - even when it's positive! I also get exhausted just being in a place where other people are talking, bustling, being etc.

My life may look like a retreat already but it doesn't feel that way. Even emails feel draining and overwhelming. Phone calls or in person visits are much worse.

I've felt many times that getting MCS was my body's wise way of getting me to retreat from a world that was simply unhealthy for me. Not in the sense of toxins but in the sense of draining or overwhelming me energetically.
I've been so focused on the ways in which I am isolated due to MCS that I haven't taken note of the ways in which I'm not isolated such as emails, support groups, reading blogs, phone calls etc.
Aside from when I get migraines and the few camping trips I've been on, I've never take a break from the computer for more than a day in years!

Furthermore, I've been fighting against my own inner wisdom each time I focus on the goal of 'healing' as defined by 'being able to be out in the human world again'!
My body doesn't want to be 'out in the world' again!!!
It's worked very hard to get me to retreat, take a break, honour my introvertedness!
I trust that there is some wisdom in this. Some positive reason.

So I've decided to honour my body's wisdom by trying a real retreat for a week. I'm not going to answer the phone, read or write emails, blog entries or comments(or possibly even go on the computer at all).
I'm going to do some EFT around guilt about this. Our society seems to view introversion as a defect - the very word 'antisocial' has a negative connotation. I've internalised those negative judgements in some ways and want to clear them!

I'm going to stop fighting my isolation for a week and see it as a gift - something to enjoy. (some people pay big bucks to go on retreats!) I'm going to relish it and spend the time doing whatever the heck I want.
Who knows what sort of healing my body will do if I give it the retreat it's been trying to get ever since MCS began all those years ago!

I won't be replying to emails or comments, but please know I'm fine - just on a retreat :-)

I am reminded of the dreams of turtles I had on a few different nights a couple of weeks ago. They felt powerful and important but I didn't know what the message was.
Now I think of turtle wisdom, for me, as including being at peace with where I am, not feeling the need to rush away from it, being comfortable with the pace at which I am moving and, of course, having the option of retreating within when it feels right.

Technique to Tap the Healing Power of Love (plus video)

♥ ♥ ♥ Love can be an incredibly healing force - whether it is romantic love, the love of human or animal friendship, the love between parents and children or the love we feel for anything we are passionate about (hobbies, healthy food, nature). ♥ ♥ ♥

I believe that when we are in a place of love we attract more love.

One of the techniques I have been using to shift my energy and help healing is to notice my thoughts when I am not feeling well. If I'm not thinking of something I feel love about, I consciously choose to think of something that I love. At first there was very little I could think of that I loved that didn't instantly remind me of one of my many limitations due to MCS, migraines or food sensitivities. I call that a 'negative hook' because although the thought starts off positively, it hooks me into feeling sad or sorry for myself.
So I settled on gardening. I was able to think about that without too many negative 'hooks' and it brought me great joy to think of.

Thinking of gardening can help me get into a 'love place'.
What can help you feel love, joy, happiness, passion or contentment?
Is it something that you do? Something you think?

If you like making lists, I encourage you to make lists of things you love, then go through the list and circle or underline the things that don't have any negative 'hooks' to them (example: I love lasagna but can't eat it - the can't part makes a negative hook that can snag me back into feeling bad if I think about lasagna - even though I love it).
When you've taken note of the ones that don't have negative 'hooks' to them, write them on a new piece of paper all by themselves so that you have a list of things that you can do or think about that cultivate a feeling of love, joy, happiness, passion etc (I feel that all of those enjoyable emotions have love in them).

Do not worry if your list only has one thing on it! That's enough to work with! If all of your positives have a negative hook, find the one that has the least intense hook.
You can carry this list with you or post copies in each room you spend time in. Any time you are feeling less than good, you can look at the list and either do something on it or at least think about one of the things. Even with snow outside, I can still get into a love feeling by fantasizing about gardens I might make in the future.



Another excellent thing you can do is to use that list of the ones that have negative hooks and do a bit (or a lot) of EFT on those every day. Once you have dissolved the negative hook aspects of those things you love, you can use them to tap into the healing power of love.

It sounds a bit simplistic, I know, yet I have been pleasantly surprised at the results and I believe you may also be if you try it.
The more love and 'good' feelings we can cultivate in ourselves, the better we will feel.
The better we feel, the more energy will be freed up in our bodies.
The more energy our bodies have, the more they can use it to heal!

And for those of you who believe in the 'Law Of Attraction', this technique is excellent.
What we think about effects our feelings...
what we feel effects our 'vibration'
we attract things of a similar 'vibration'.

Therefore changing our thoughts can have powerful results.

Many thanks go to Jerry and Esther Hicks for their The Law Of Attraction book that introduced me to this simple and practical way of viewing the 'Law Of Attraction'.

I'd like to leave you with a short, easy tap-along video from Brad Yates on Becoming A Love Magnet! As an introduction, you may want to read my post Why EFT (and what is it anyhow?) .
Please tap at your own risk :-)



Thanks again for your wonderful videos Brad! They definitely increase the love in this world.
You can also view this video directly on Youtube here.

Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 2

Just over a month ago, I wrote Moving Forward... Noticing The Positive. That post was a sharing of part of how my healing had progressed over the last few years and included a few lists of things that I was able to do or be exposed to without reactions, or with greatly lessened reactions compared to in the past.

I want to keep noticing the positive and celebrating the improvements!

To anyone reading, I would really love if you shared any improvements you have noticed - no matter the size. Sharing them can serve as inspiration for others on this healing journey and as validation for our own healing.

I believe that we attract more of whatever we are focusing on and this has proven to be true in my own life. So I believe that focusing on the positive, on improvements no matter how large or small, is a crucial part of my healing journey.

So without further ado:

This week I noticed that I had bills laid out all over the kitchen counter for a few days. I remembered that only a few short years ago, I could not be in the same room as a new piece of mail or any newly printed paper! Yet here I was, spending time in this room with about 8 bills laid out - all smelling of inks and chlorine-processed paper. And I was fine. Yay!

I read a book recently from the library that smelled quite scented and also of cigarette smoke. I noticed the smell but did not react.

Perhaps best of all, I am now able to use a set of years-old markers to colour with! When I tried these markers last winter, I reacted immediately. Now I can spend over an hour colouring! I was also fine with a highlighter that I couldn't use as recently as October. It's exciting how fast improvements have been happening for me this past year.

The result is wonderful, vibrant colour that I can adorn my walls with like the ones shown in this post.


I recently had to replace my old inkjet printer and decided on a laser one (since it's in a room I don't use I am not worried about the ozone). The result has been wonderful and totally unexpected - I don't react to the ink at ALL! In laser printers, the ink is basically bits of plastic dust fused to the paper. None of it rubs off on my hands whereas with inkjet printers, my hands reacted if they touched the ink - even after much time. *note* I wouldn't choose a laser unless I had a room to put it in that I don't spend time in.

I've been wanting to have a set of pieces on the wall to represent the chakras so I'm colouring with that theme in mind. So far I have the root and solar plexus chakras done (and for fun I have done a turtle because I recently had 2 dreams with turtles in them).

Many thanks go to http://www.mandalarbre.com for their amazing, inspiring colourable mandalas. They are all designed by Marc Bove and are copyrighted.
They have galleries there where you can see various coloured-in mandalas. It's wonderful seeing all of those vibrant colours! Media options may be watercolour paints, pencil crayons, markers, coloured pens or anything you tolerate.

Short Version of Magnificent Video!

As an introduction, you may want to read my post Why EFT (and what is it anyhow?) .

 

A few days ago, I posted a wonderful, powerful and FUN tap-along video by Brad Yates.

If you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to check it out - you can view it embedded here on my blog or click on this link to see it directly on Youtube.

Brad has now made another 'magnificent' video that is only 2 minutes and 23 seconds long so if you're ever short on time but would like to have the boost of celebrating how awesome you truly are, you may want to check this video out and keep a link to it so you can do it often!
Now at that length, there's no reason not to try it out ;-)

(bonus for those who have difficulty with the word God - the shorter version does not have that word in it)

I have embedded it below but you can also view it directly on Youtube here.

Happy tapping!





Thank you again Brad for a wonderful video.
♥

You Are Magnificent! (AWEsome EFT video)

 

As an introduction, you may want to read my post Why EFT (and what is it anyhow?) .

 I just finished watching Brad Yates most recent free EFT video on Youtube and it was AWESOME!!!
I have embedded it at the bottom of this post and I hope you'll try it out.

***Note***
You do not need tapping experience to use this video! Just tap on the spots you see Brad tapping and say the words he says.

I haven't even made my breakfast yet (bad me ;-) but I wanted to share this with you right away!

Any of you who have read the famous excerpt from Marianne Williamson's book Return To Love may recognise a similar theme (and even some similar, powerful phrases) in this excellent tap-along video. The excerpt is often entitled "Our Deepest Fear" and has been incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela many times.
It's a powerful piece of writing and worth checking out if you're not familiar with it.

Both the video and that piece of writing do use the 'God' word and in the past, that would have gotten in the way for me, but in the last number of years I've gotten used to 'translating' the word 'God' when I hear it.
It used to mean something religious to me (and since I'm patently not religious, it clashed energetically) but now, to me, it means something more spiritual and energetic. I think of the amazing Universe that we live in, the miraculous bodies we may take for granted each day and I think of 'God' as connected to all of that.

In this tap-along video, Brad does use the word 'God' and at the beginning he invites us to think of or say aloud whatever word feels right to us. It could be Life Force, Spirit, Universe, Higher Self, Goddess or any word at all that works for you.

For those who are atheist, I invite you to not let this tiny, 3-letter 'God' word stop you from benefiting from this video!
'Life Force' can refer entirely to the amazing force in our bodies that created us and sustains us and might be a more comfortable phrase for you (if any atheists reading this have other phrases or terms that work for them in this sort of context, I'd love it if you shared! ☺)

I cannot say enough how excellent and, well, 'kicka$$' (as my younger brother would say) I found this video! For me, it triggered all sorts of giggles and gleeful laughter though for some, including myself at times, it may bring tears.

*if you find tapping physically difficult due to fatigue or injury, I have found that benefit can still be had from simply holding my fingers in place over each tapping point while saying the words.*
As always, tap at your own risk ☺

Now I'd better go and eat breakfast.

Happy tapping!





Thank you Brad for another wonderful video!!!
I'm still giggling now and then!

♥

If you'd like to watch the video directly on Youtube, you can do so here.