Welcome to everyone to another beautiful month of this new year! As February rolls in, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you all to this month’s Evolving Wellness in Action story.

February’s Evolving Wellness in Action is Unity J.Schmidt of Spirit Awakes.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Unity a few years ago, and be part of her incredible transformational journey of health and healing, into optimal wellness. Unity’s story is one that addresses such important concepts of how our current medical system is often times more invasive and disruptive to the natural balance and healing ability of our bodies, than beneficial, and the benefits and power of natural healing modalities.

Most important Unity’s message shines brightly for each of us to listen to our own inner guidance system. Listen to your body. She is living proof of the power proper nutrition, movement, water and most importantly an open mind have on the state of our health and wellness.

And so here is Unity, sharing her story with us all:

What area(s) of your health and wellness have you decided to change and why?

It’s been a long journey. One that began when I was younger than I can remember. It started years ago when I was just a baby and was diagnosed with juvenile rheumotoid arthritis. Of course, that had the medical community poking and peering all around me (so to speak), and my parents hard-wired-focused on my health and wellness. And as you can imagine, from almost the very beginning I found myself mistrusting, skeptical, and almost instantaneously disenchanted by every promise made by the modern medical community (positive and negative): the pills, the splints, the physiotherapy, the cortisone shots, and so forth.

The first time I said a firm “No,” to the choices presented to me was when I was being wheeled around in a wheelchair and they (the doctors) were about to do knee surgery (I was 7 years old). I felt a strong voice within me say, “No. They can’t do that. If they do, you’ll never be able to walk the same again.” I shared that voice with my Mom with an intensity that I’ll never forget. And I was blessed to have a Mom who listened to her 7-year old daughter, even though I know she was just as frightened as me.

Fast forward through the years, more drugs (aspirin, sulfasalazine, gold treatments, prednisone (steroids), methotrexate) more physio, more splints, and finally, in highschool I said “No” to them all. I wasn’t seeing any positive differences, but I was experiencing the side effects: nausea, stomach pain, joint deformity, weight gain, to name a few, and I was hearing the warnings about the future, “You won’t be able to get pregnant or plan a family on this drug. Your child would be at high risk of being born with major birth defects.” It just wasn’t making sense what was happening to me. The crazy ride had begun when I was just over 1 year of age. I knew it wasn’t a ride I planned on staying on and I was determined to get off, to reclaim my life, and to figure out why this journey was mine and what I could do with it. Anyhow, the path’s definitely been a long and winding one, but where I am today is very exciting and quite different from where I started years ago!

What strategies have you implemented to change, and how have they been working out for you, i.e. are you able to stick to your goals?

The number one strategy for change, may sound cliche to some, but for myself, it’s been very true: follow your heart’s inner guidance system. If there are areas in your life that are unsettling, stressful, or unhealthy in any way, then access from your heart why these areas exist and then begin to search out what steps you can take to begin the healing process. When you do, the answers will come, and if you ignore them, they will continue to come again and again!

For myself, I’d already been down the road of doctor’s, hospitals and modern pharmaceuticals, and that just wasn’t the answer for me. Where I really began having success, was the day I walked away from that ‘already decided’ approach, and instead decided for myself to open up every other limitless potential of alternative healing pathways that were available.

I started by deepening my relationship with Great Creator and sacred space. And then I continued to follow my heart. From that sacred space, I was led to a wealth of healing modalities and beautiful friendships that led me to guided chakra meditations to naturopathic therapies, to reiki energy to angel therapy, from psychic awareness and mediumship practices to shamanic medicine and sound healing, and the list continues.

From the path of a healer, I continually sought new sacred wisdom. And so I saw Great Creation bring up again and again Nutrition and body movement. But to be honest, I didn’t trust either category. I’d heard and experienced too many false promises as a child, so I didn’t believe any hype regarding something I ate or placed into my body, little alone trust into how I should move my body. This would be the next transition, the next metamorphosis of healing that would take years for my heart and mind to be ready to embrace and fully awaken to. But like it happens with everyone on a path of healing, the messages I was asked to share to others, were also the messages Source was attempting to share with me.

I began to find myself receiving visions, encountering book after book, and consistently hearing clairaudient information on healing remedies revolving around nutrition and movement. The angels, signs and synchronicities kept sharing: Give yourself healthy waters. Return to the earth for healing. Give your body the nutrients it needs to grow anew. Detoxify your life.

Then suddenly, here I was, finally ready to receive the messages I was delivering but not yet engaging upon in full embodiment. This has meant so many lifestyle changes, yet two of the most paramount ones were water and food consciousness.

For over a year now, our family (myself, my husband, and our son and daughter) only drink and cook with natural spring water which we actually drive out into the woods to collect. It’s rather funny because this natural spring is only a winding road away from the holistic clinic where I conduct the in-person healing sessions with my clients.

Within months of changing our water source, we also heard the call (my husband is quite intuitive and wise) to transition into a vegetarian lifestyle. And from there, we’ve been called to incorporate healthy elixirs, healing tonics, grounding/earthing technology, magnesium baths, essential oils, super foods and herbs, and raw food into our lifestyle approach as well!

How have the changes benefited your overall health and wellness up to this point?

The difference between the woman I am today, and the woman I was becoming years ago are night and day! My body is stronger, healthier and happier than it ever was before. Years ago, when I was on all those drugs (which the doctor’s warned I should never just drop) I was stiff, suffering from joint inflammation, and at times, afraid of the future ahead. Now, I’m happy to greet the day, to be jumped upon for morning hugs and kisses by our little ones, and to start off with a raw cacao healing elixir and a nature walk DVD while rebounding on a mini-trampoline! Who knew? I can’t help but laugh as I think about the change. What a gift!

My energy is clearer and continues to strengthen and brighten daily. My knees and soul move me through life with new reliability and assurance. And my vision as a healer, a wife, and a mother, are to continue to evolve, to firewalk, and to deepen my own experiences as a healer healing, as a wife loving, and as a mother setting the course for the two greatest miracles life will ever bestow upon me. I am truly blessed because I simply decided to let the blessings arrive (and to take action)!

What are the next steps in your health and wellness evolving journey?

I plan on continuing this walk of truth from the space of sacred love and consciousness. I plan on continually growing the inner landscape in every avenue possible, that matches the vibration that I feel inside. I envision myself as getting even stronger and healthier, as incorporating hot yoga into my lifestyle design, learning more and more yummy, nutritious recipes that my children will scramble over and that no one will ever have to feel guilty about.

As a woman committed to healing, I must always work towards healing myself, and exploring every element of sacred potential with a visionary heart to succeed, to share, and to change my life and the lives of those around me, with compassion and openness at the forefront of every frontier – body, mind, emotion, soul and cosmic Universe.

What message do you have for others who are struggling or embarking on a similar journey, where their health and wellness is concerned?

Do not give up on yourself or those around you! Do not be frightened of taking steps that perhaps you have never taken before. If there has been a distaste in your mouth due to failed promises, greedy hypes, or any other reason at all, ask yourself (and Great Creator) to rinse this disagreeable taste out of your mouth, and off of your soul, to make room for the abundant bliss of the healing smorgasbord of delights that already awaits you if only you just say “Yes!”

Lastly, you can achieve it, and you can do so with joy! If you are not finding that joy on your walk of healing, then ask yourself, “What is holding me back?” “What work can I do to release my fears and my energetic blocks?” And dust off and sparkle up that vision of yourself succeeding, healing, and sprinting along the road of success. And please, trust yourself, do open your heart to trust the possibilities that are merely a footstep away!

Remember, the next step is always ready for you, and if you decide to ignore it today, it certainly will be knocking on your door again tomorrow. But, my friend, why wait any longer to live the life of your dreams? ;)