Marisa Circa 2011... the start of healing.

Meet Marisa, circa 2011...

This is really, really, hard for me to share, and not at all because of my physical appearance during this time, but because of all of the emotions I feel for this 32 year old version of myself. I'm not sure I can put them all into words, but the strongest feelings I have towards this young woman, right now, are gratitude and grace.

There are, literally, maybe a handful of people who remember this version of Me. That went through thick and thin with me, and I appreciate and love you so much.

Let me share a little bit about where I was at in this photo, how it lead me into who I am today, and the passion for integrative and holistic health it created.

This picture was snapped in July of 2011. We were visiting family and took a day trip to Great Gun on my brothers boat. It was a wonderful day. This is probably the literal start of my healing journey. I was 185lbs, which on my 5'5" frame was significantly overweight. I didn't feel that part of it, I didn't have many self image issues (yet), because I felt strong, and I WAS strong, but I had been battling many health issues for many years, that to me were just normal. If you would have asked me, I would have told you, "...yeah, I am healthy". Which is so ironic considering the number of times I had bronchitis, strept, asthma, allergies, ER visits, ultrasounds, CT scans, bloodwork, reproductive issues, emotional issues, anxiety, chronic pain, migraines... this list could literally go on and on. I think you get the picture. It was my norm though, and a trudged through it thinking it was all ok, but I knew deep down that it wasn't.