A former teacher, Karen and her family immigrated to Melbourne 8 years ago.

“Shortly after this move, my back really gave way. I could hardly move and the pain was intense. I had suffered from back pain since I was about 12 – perhaps it was the horse riding I did as a kid. Not sure...but by the age of 12, I was suffering from back pain which developed as I got older into disc issues, sciatica, neck problems and continual headaches.

I had tried so many different approaches to help me with the pain – conventional and unconventional. All these approaches have a place in the healing journey and yet, if we are not ready to release the pain, if we have not learned the lesson it is here to teach us, approaches can fail. And that is what happened for me.

Luckily, during this difficult period just after I arrived in Oz, a friend of mine gave me a copy of Brandon’s book “The Journey” I read it in one day and knew that there was something in this for me. I somehow got myself to the computer and could hardly believe my luck when I found that there was to be a Journey Intensive in Melbourne in a couple of weeks time (the JI is the first of the Journey courses) I signed on immediately.

I was still unable to sit on a chair with the arrival of the JI, so spent the entire weekend lying on the ground at the side of the hall. I don’t think I ever saw the presenter’s face! However, this weekend was an amazing experience for me because, for the first time in my life, I experienced inner peace...that space of stillness inside. It was this experience that drew me forward to sign on for the whole practitioner program.

Gradually, the more I released the emotional pain I had been carrying, the more my physical pain decreased. In addition to this I  had the  opportunity to discover myself as separate from the pain. I had fallen into the trap of believing that pain defined me. I lived around it and my identity had became entangled with it.

The Journey process work I did during the Practitioner program allowed me to find myself again, to see the truth of who I am beyond the pain, beyond the body. In this way I rediscovered my heart and I rediscovered joy.

For me, this walk to freedom from pain has been a holistic one. As the emotional and physical pain reduced through Journey processing, I was able to exercise more, which brought pain levels down further. Excercise and staying emotionally clear are therefore, 2 big parts of this pain free jigsaw puzzle for me. A neuromuscular mouth splint and a natural anti-inflammatory liquid have been 2 more.  This conscious balance of various elements now allows me to live completely pain free.

Gratitude.