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Women’s Dream Enlightenment | Episode 3
This is one woman’s personal journey from autoimmune and chronic illness to spiritual awakening. Interstitial Cystitis, Hashimoto’s Disease, Lyme Disease, Mold Disease and cataract surgery formed the perfect storm for a transformative awakening. While enduring any dis-ease can be difficult, it can also be a catalyst for making profound changes in the way we view and live our lives. Know that whatever you are going through, there is a silver lining waiting for you to discover it. Recognize the connections between your mind, body and spirit. Embrace your struggles, learn to listen to your inner knowing in your dreams and connect with your unique higher purpose. Anything that has or will ever happen to you is a gift, if you share it.
Our darkest times often lead us towards enlightenment and a new realization of our purpose here on earth. As an introvert and private person, I never planned on telling my story. But now I feel compelled to share it, so that other women can find comfort in knowing they are not alone.
Storms in nature, aren’t always just…in nature. After all, we are all part of nature, and as such storms are part of us, and we them. When winds rise, temperatures swell, and the air fills with change, a storm is afoot. The more dramatic the storm, the more change it brings.
Megan Mary
When people ask me how I came to start Women’s Dream Analysis, I have to tell my story of spiritual awakening. It can’t be told without that part. In fact, it was more like a spiritual remembering. Since I felt strongly like I was picking up somewhere I left off long ago and had forgotten.
If you are a woman who suffers from chronic illness, this is for you.
Let Food Be Thy Medicine
The first chronic disease I was diagnosed with was Interstitial Cystitis (IC). I’ve battled this disease or “syndrome” for over 15 years now. It is largely considered a “woman’s disease.” Initially I thought about creating an online business for women simply to provide nutritional support for IC. There is no medical cure and the first line of treatment is a very restrictive diet.
Seeking answers on how I could best allow food to be my medicine, I became certified in plant-based nutrition and then went to an online culinary school to become a plant-based home chef.
I was going to create a plant-based website that would be a resource and support site for women with IC to help them learn what they “could” eat, rather than the exhaustive list of what not to eat. But that never developed, as there was more planned for me yet.
Although I was eating extremely healthy and exercising, thinking I was doing all the right things, I was still not well, something else was not right.
Even though my blood work showed signs years earlier, it wasn’t until two years ago that I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Disease. Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid gland, where the body creates antibodies against the thyroid, recognizing it as a harmful invader and attacking it. Hashimoto’s disease is 4 to 10 times more common in women than men
Nearly 80% of people affected by autoimmune disease are women. There are many different autoimmune illnesses, but at their core they all share one similarity, it is the body attacking itself. It is a state of dis-ease that is self-destructive.
There are so many researchers and practitioners out there shedding light on the connection between our bodies and our minds. It is all interconnected.
Our life experience, emotions and thoughts in our mind, can manifest dis-ease in our bodies.
After struggling with adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue, and intense brain fog, my functional medicine practitioner eventually referred me to an autoimmune specialist. The application was long, 32 pages, and there was a long wait list. I was desperate for answers.
The Eyes Are the Window to the Soul
My eyesight, which had always been terribly bad since I was a child, began to get worse and worse. It was becoming difficult to see, to do my job or to tell a comma from a period on my computer screen.
Even with my high-powered contacts, and I knew something else was wrong. I found out I needed cataract surgery, which, in my opinion, is pretty rare for someone in their 40s.
Two months prior to my launching my business, the perfect storm happened with my health. Well, it wasn’t anything but perfect, but looking back it was perfect to bring me here to you today.
On the morning my husband brought me home from my 2nd cataract surgery, I finally had my telehealth visit with the autoimmune specialist. The meeting confirmed what I had already analyzed in the blood work.
I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. Lyme disease is twice as likely to occur in females than males. I also had mold illness and a wheat allergy so severe that Celiac Disease was suspected. I was devastated.
From External to Internal vision : A Journey of Self-Discovery
In the following months, as I struggled to see and my eyesight worked to adjust, my world completely shifted. My specialist recommended that I meditate 3x day. It was not new to me, as I had actually worked at a Buddhist university at the beginning of my career, but I hadn’t meditated in many years.
My diminished external vision of my eyesight led to a dramatic cascade of internal vision.
As my natural treatments progressed, it was as if my mind awakened and a dramatic funnel of light flooded me with inspiration.
A few weeks later, I decided to join a book club, as I had started writing my novel again and longed to connect with other women that might be going through the same thing.
Even though I had read extensively in college, I had not read an actual book in years. I wasn’t even sure I could actually read the book with my eyesight, but I decided to go anyway.
One day, a woman started sharing her dream. I immediately realized I didn’t even want to talk about the book, I wanted her to talk about her dream. It was then that I realized what I was here to do.
Into the Dreamworld : Dreams as a Pathway to Wellness
All of my life I had been fascinated by dreams, but I never saw an opportunity to do anything with my passion, until now.
I felt extremely driven to launch my business, as if some greater force was driving me, directing the whole thing, before I even had a chance to second guess or think of all the reasons not to.
Initially, I knew that I wanted to offer my service to women, but the rest of the picture had not evolved.
I felt like my previous career experiences were completely different from my new venture and didn’t apply. But now I see they are all connected, they all do apply.
I have owned a successful digital marketing business with my husband for the last 25 years. Even though initially I felt like I was completely starting over from scratch, in a new industry, with no bearings, I began to see that I actually have all the tools already in my toolbox to make this a success.
My toolbox already included:
a love of writing,
fascination with mysteries,
affinity for metaphors,
ability to decode,
strong sense of empathy,
appreciation for wellness,
intuitive nature,
insatiable quest for knowledge and
tenacity and determination.
Together they created a synergy that lit the way for my new path.
Even my prior certification in online teaching and learning was going to help me spread the word to others.
My husband’s support, as well as my family and friends, have been invaluable in my recovery. But I have come to realize women need support in all of their life transitions, regardless of whether they are suffering from chronic disease or not.
We all have some dis-ease, whether in our minds or in our bodies.
I believe that all dis-ease is revealed in our dreams.
Analyzing and interpreting our dreams is a wellness exercise that all women should partake in. It is the ultimate in self-care.
We are here to discover our greater purpose and our dreams know the secrets.
Dream analysis can help us unlock our true paths.
I am honored to stand in the doorway to your dreams and hold that space open for all women seeking their higher truth.
If this story resonated with you and you’d like to share your story, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to comment below or send me a direct message.
One response to “The Perfect Storm: From Chronic Illness to Spiritual Awakening”
I’m so glad I came upon your website. I’m still gathering all my thoughts in order to send you a proper reply. I’m overwhelmed at the moment. The reason is because your story could have been something I wrote about myself. For now. I will say that I’ve been trying to navigate life for six years now after a toxic mold exposure (I was living in for 4 years) completely changed my life. I’ve had no diagnosis or any type of help from the so called medical community. The man I thought was my soul mate cheated, lied and abandoned me approximately a year and a half ago…the night before Thanksgiving. It was totally unexpected as we had shopped for items to make Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve been in complete and utter turmoil for almost six years (as of the first week of July). I’ve not been able to take care of my now 15 year old son. He lives with my dad and stepmother. He and I have always been very close, but I missed SO much time and life with him. It’s the only thing that brings me to tears that become uncontrollable. I spent several years bed ridden, but have since had no other choice but to drag myself out of bed in order to try and function day to day just to survive. Everyone close to me (very few) have distanced themselves from my life which has angered me and my bitterness has progressed.. I don’t know myself anymore and I definitely don’t like who I am. My life has become almost unbearable. My son keeps me motivated and with the will to keep living. I am an INFJ as well, so that complicates everything all the more. I’m sure you will know exactly what I mean. I’ve suffered from a lifetime of all types of abuse from the men in my life. It started as early as I can remember (4 years old). I’ve reached the point of trying to do my best to not hate every living, walking, breathing male. It’s extremely difficult to say the least. This last break up was the straw that broke that camels back. I’ve gone on more than I intended to. I thank you for sharing your story and I hope you are still active here and I hear back from you.