Project Description
Kristine, BC, Canada
“When I arrived at Fresh Start, I had been crying for days. I just had so much inner pain and I couldn’t seem to let go. When I was driving my children to school, I would start crying, and I didn’t want them to know I was crying. So I was quietly wiping away tears. I was just trying to get through my days but I was struggling really badly. Through doing the work with the therapists here, staying positive and just following the guidelines, I feel so much lighter. I feel freedom from the pain I was carrying.”
Improvements with: Body Image/ Self-Worth Issues, Childhood Trauma, Depression, Digestive Health, Difficulty Walking/ Flexibility, IBS, Inflammation, Insomnia/ Sleep Issues, Muscle and Joint Issues, PTSD, Weight Loss/ Obesity.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Depression Score: 35 (severe) | Depression Score: 14 (mild mood disturbance) |
| Anxiety Score: 31 (moderate) | Anxiety Score: 15 (low) |
| Sadness and Dealing with Trauma while being a mom. I was crying a lot and carrying a lot of emotional luggage, feeling very depressed. How are things gonna go in the future? I need to stay positive. I have children. How do I deal with all this sadness and depression and hurt and past trauma and be a mom and carry out my days and stay a kind, happy, loving person. | For the last two days, I have found myself walking around and smiling. Typically I project the happy face to everyone, because I want people to feel happy. And now I realize I’m actually smiling because I’m happy and I feel joy, and I’ve noticed it in my cheeks. I’m noticing that I have a newfound joy and a newfound excitement for the future. |
| PTSD. I’d have thoughts: Oh no, I can't believe that happened. And why did that happen? And oh, it's really hurting me and hurting my heart. | I can move forward. Now I think: yeah, it is a memory and I'll never lose the memory, but I can move forward knowing it doesn't affect me. I can live my days knowing yes these things happened, but it's the past and I'm living in the now and the now is beautiful. |
| I have always looked at the people that have hurt me in my life as villains. . For lack of better explanation, I've always looked at the people that have hurt me as the villains. The people that I was scared of. The villains in my life. The people that hurt me. The people that took away my innocence or, or just left a really heavy imprint negatively on my life. | Somehow through this therapy, I was able to heal. I'm starting to look at those people as, they were innocent people as well. And they had their own experiences in their lives, and they carried their own weight, and they had their own traumas, and yes, what they did was wrong, and how they affected me, and their choices were so wrong, and they were also children inside.They were also innocent babies born into this world, and then, of course, grew up with what they grew up with. And through looking at my villains as children, I was able to let go of the pain that they caused. |
| Low self-esteem and low self-worth. | You can’t help but leave feeling positive because you’re just fed positivity the whole time. It’s great to start seeing yourself in a different light, through a different lens, and remembering who you are, and brining that joy back out, and that bringing that little kid back out, that playful child that wants to experience the world in a positive light, and just to really enjoy life. |
| Taking on and absorbing the world's pain. . I've always known that I am a very empathetic soul. I'm a very compassionate, empathetic human. And I tend to feel a lot of pain in the world, what's going on in the world, other people's feelings, and other people's problems while I'm trying to deal with my own. | With working with somatic therapy, I learned that when somebody comes to me and they're dealing with a stressful problem, before I right away start feeling it: oh no, that's terrible and how can I take this on and make your problem my problem and fix it? Instead, I am going to take a breath and to ground myself. I'm going to tell myself I'm safe. This is not happening to me. And then allow my brain to do the work. And I feel like moving forward now, I'll be able to handle those heavy things coming at me from elsewhere. |
| Muscle and Joint Stiffness and Inflammation. I was dealing with inflammation, big time inflammation. I was having an achy, sore body. If I would bend over to help my daughter do something or to pick something up, it took a second to gather those things. I would just feel that achy lower back exhaustion, like: no straighten up, don't bend over. Or my hands would just be much stiffer and more of a brittle, thick kind of feeling. | Now, I feel almost like the circulation is better, if I can explain it somehow, that I feel like my blood is flowing more. My things are moving. The inflammation has come down and my body feels more relaxed. I notice the stiffness that I normally would have in my hands and in my knees when I bend to put my shoes has really dissipated. My body's moving a little freer, I can bend over and put my shoe on, and I don't feel as achy. |
| “Yucky” morning belly and IBS: I had a very swollen belly. I would wake up in the morning, and my stomach would just feel yucky. I dealt with some IBS. I definitely have some food intolerances that I was ignoring and avoiding. | I do not experience any issues with my IBS I haven't had the yucky belly in the morning at all not once. I don't have any issues with my digestive tract, I've just felt good since I've been here. |
| Insomnia. I was carrying a lot of uncomfortable feelings physically, and I have been dealing with physical pain and not sleeping very well. I had a very broken sleep. If I would fall asleep and wake up about 20 minutes later and I would be wide awake and thinking. | The first couple of days here, I did go through the, okay, this is getting a little uncomfortable, pain-wise. I had a couple sleepless nights and then I started feeling lighter. I started sleeping longer. I had two full nights sleep the last two nights. And, it's been a long time since I've had that, and I feel much more rested. |
| Weight Gain. | Lost 3.5 lbs. in 7 days and some inches. I did look in the mirror when I went into the steam bath and I noticed my belly has gone down a fair bit. |
Experience Highlights:
- Group: I’m so grateful for the women that I met. We integrated incredibly. All people here were for their reasons, but for the same purpose to feel better and to give a positive outlook.
- Team: It was so great to meet everybody that’s part of this journey, from the people that run the kitchen to the therapists downstairs, from the yoga to the people that take you for outings. It’s all just positive.
- Energy and bodywork: craniosacral and somatic work, massage therapy
- Digestive Work: various supplements, Isotonics (=digestive flushes) and colonics had a positive effect on my gut
The information above is based on the following resources:
- Unedited Video Testimonial Materials
- Before and After Self-Assessment
- Program Participation and Progress Sheet
- Before and After Emotional Wellness Tests
Disclaimer : Results of participants differ and the Fresh Start cannot guarantee that you will experience your improvements in the same way as in this testimonial. The Fresh Start is not an allopathic medical facility and does not claim to either diagnose or treat any disease. The Fresh Start does not guarantee a recovery from any specific disease or a health symptom.
