Project Description
Tammy, BC, Canada
“ I was in a spot where I was sitting and watching the world play and have fun, and I couldn’t do anything, and I’m not old enough to accept that life. I would get home from work, and I would be crying to get out of my car, and my feet were sore. I could hardly walk on them. My knee wasn’t working. My shoulder was sore. My back was sore. I was popping T ones. Yeah, it wasn’t a happy place to be at all. And I feel none of that anymore. Three weeks and all that is gone .”
Improvements with: ADD, Grief, Loss of Appetite, Bladder Control Issue, Breathing/ Lung Issues, Chronic Cold Sores, Constipation, Depression, Digestive Health, Difficulty Walking/ Flexibility, Edema, Gum Bleeding, Hay Fever/ Environmental Allergies, Headaches/ Migraines, Inflammation, Insomnia/ Sleep Issues, Low Energy/ Chronic Fatigue, Muscle and Joint Issues, Weight Loss/ Obesity.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Depression Score: 25 (moderate) | Depression Score: 2 (no depression) |
| Grief: I had lost my husband in 2020 during Covid, so I didn’t deal with my grief. It compounded when I lost my mother and father. | I know it will still continue to be a journey and that grief is a journey, but I can handle it. Little bits at a time by reaching out to the community and remembering that I will never slip as far as I had once been because I was taught as we heal. |
| Lack of Appetite and Fear of Food: I wasn't interested in food anymore. | Coming here taught me that. Food can be lovely. You can want to eat food; you can want to create food. Food is beautiful. |
| Emotional Healing: I was really resistant to counseling. I had been suicidal as a child and knew that I had separated from myself, but didn't realize to the extent. | I came back to my body and I wanna live now. I want to enjoy everything that's here. Moving through my grief and counseling was incredible. |
| Constipation: I would go five days without having a bowel movement. | Now I have a bowel movement after every meal. and it's healthy and there's no pain. And most amazing that I feel like all my organs are back inside now, not protruding and pushing against my ribs, and I don’t have this bloatedness at the top of my stomach anymore. |
| Migraines: I was having migraines two times a week. I wasn't drinking water. | No migraines at the retreat. A big thing for me is I got off a coffee [before retreat]. I didn't realize how bad it was for me. |
| Low Energy: I was so tired that I would just like to go through a drive-through instead of making meals for myself. I just had no will to do anything anymore. | Fresh Start has given me that zest for life again. Yeah, I'm excited. I feel way more energy than when I had the false boost from coffee or the thinking that you were getting a boost from coffee. My energy level is better. |
| Mobility Issues: I couldn't walk without poles. When I first came, I couldn’t lift my knee, I was dragging my foot. | I’m quite happy never to use a cane again. I was dancing and lifting my knee and had so much joy out of it. Just the fact that I could do things physically and mentally. |
| Knee Issues: I had no confidence in my knee at all. There was a lot of pain behind the knee, deep within the knee. When using stairs, I had to hold my cane. Take one step down at a time, make sure I was secure. Getting in and out of a vehicle was hard just to lift my leg to get out of a vehicle. I was in a spote where I was sitting and watching the world play and have fun, and I couldn’t do anything. | I have good strength in my knee and now I can go out and walk and enjoy life. Various therapies have got my knee so that there is no pain anymore. I step with confidence. I can run circles. I can dance. I can go up and down the stairs with a cup in my hand and not have to hold the rail. |
| Edema (swelling) in ankles: I would hardly been able to enjoy my summers. My ankles would swell up with edema so bad, both of them. My left worse, it would swell up right up to my knee. I couldn’t even walk down to the beach, because I was scared I would fall. | The swelling gone down in my ankles. I’m walking again. My hips have opened up to elongate my walking. |
| Extra Weight: We all want to lose it off our bottom end or our legs. I was trying to force a solution [to my problems] by losing weight, and I was thinking that if I could lose weight, I could be healthy. | I lost 8 lbs. and a few inches (1.5 inches of chest, 1.5 inches of waist and 2 inches of hips) in 3 weeks. It feels like a lot of that weight loss was in my small intestine and in my gut. It's healing my gut and healing where all my organs are, and I know the rest is going to be very successful when I leave here. I have the tools. |
| Insomnia: I was almost driving myself into a frenzy with the sleep. I couldn't get to sleep. I'd be frustrated by sleep. It was bad. It was a really, really bad. I would be lucky to get a couple hours sleep and then I'd be awake for a while.I would be lucky to get four hours per night of very restless sleep. And I would wake up tired. I was starting to get into a really dark place with my sleep. | There were nights I had like eight, eight plus hours sleep. I woke up and I wanted to stretch. It was a good sleep, not just an exhaustion sleep. And now I'm not sleeping quite that much. I'm sleeping more like six hours, but the quality of that six hours sleep is amazing and I'm getting up to watch the sunset and I'm excited to start my day. I don’t wake up tired. That is worth so much. |
| ADD Symptoms: ADD can be a real struggle. You cannot get things done; you can’t complete things. I would study different things, and I’d have to push so hard and re-read the line and make flashcards. It was stressful to socialize. There were so many triggers and overstimulation. I couldn’t focus, I would pick up those noises around me, any movement. My brain was constantly looking for distractions. | Now that I’m here, I would almost say “it’s cured”, but I love the superpowers that it’s given me. I feel that I have tons of energy to do things. The reading is amazing to me. Now I open those same textbooks and it’s like reading a novel. It’s just easy and the information comes in. I can be in a group of people and feel calm, not agitated. It’s turned what was an illness into a superpower. Now my brain sees things and enjoys them. My Nervous system is not firing all the time. |
| Creativity was hindered: Before, I could have never done painting. I would have been critical of myself. It wouldn’t have been perfect. I would’ve been frustrated. | Now I feel calmer and more creative. Even in art classes. I just went with the flow and just enjoyed creating. It was beautiful to be in that spot. |
| Poor Posture: I was leaning forward and using my body weight to step forward. I was overweight, so I was leaning forward to walk. I wasn’t using my core. | My posture is better than when I came. Not my body is all aligned. Exercises and some of the treatments brought me back into alignment. It opened up my hips and allowed me to stand upright. I’m using my legs and I’m lined up. |
| Old Shoulder Injury: I injured that shoulder 30 years ago, straining to open a jar. There was a big “pop” and a bunch of tingling. I lost use of my arm for weeks. I battled back and it was usable, but I had a big lump on my back. | I've been working on this shoulder, and this last a bit, just the lump, you can't even feel it. I've got full range of motion in my shoulder. I don't even think about it anymore. Like, it's not even there. |
| Back Issues: My back was always sore. Again, I was leaning forward. | Now my back doesn’t hurt anymore, because I’m not using it to move forward. |
| Lung Issues: I had bronchitis my whole life, from the time I was young. I was raised in a smoking family, and back then my, my parents didn't know what we know now, so we would travel by car and I remember lying on the ground and watching the smoke above me. It was so thick. And, I, as an adult, I had been using marijuana recreationally and I was starting to feel, a tightness in the breastplate a little bit. Definitely and that scared me. | I don’t feel that way anymore. My chest opened up. There is a beautiful salt cocoon that has helped my lings. Full, big breaths are easy. My meditation is even better now because I'm not struggling. Everything is just easy. |
| Bladder Control Issues: I was getting to a point where I would just lose control of my bladder. So you didn't wanna go anywhere or do anything if you were not close to a bathroom. | You wouldn't think that, drinking all this water would help the bladder, but I don't have that urgency anymore. And all that has cleared up. And I'm enjoying water and I'm reaching for the water and I'm so grateful. |
| Gum Bleeding: When I'd brushed my teeth, my gums would bleed. | That's not happening anymore. |
| Chronic Cold Sores: The cold sores would come on whenever I'd driven myself into the ground. When I had expended too much energy, I'd get cold sores. And if I didn't jump on them really quick, they would be there at least a week to 10 days, and then that would be me. Topically treating them, plus taking, medicines inside my body. | While at the retreat, I got a cold sore hair, and that cleaned up in two days with not the standard medicines that I would’ve used to heal. |
| Hey fever/ seasonal allergies: So normally, in this time of the year when the pollen's going on, I would react to flowers and tree pollen and would be reaching for some over-the-counter medicines. Every spring, tons and tons of allergies. Water eyes, stuffy nose, tickle in the back of the throat. I was thinking: I understand that this is the season, but I was suffering. | I can take a full breath in my nose and, no sinus issues. Allergies have improved. I can be in the bush and not let it be a problem. We took lots of beautiful pictures of tons of flowers on the way and no sinus issues at all. Now my body seems to be handling it all. |
Experience Highlights:
- Staff Support: from the moment I arrived, I was supported by the staff, the people that worked on us, like the energy workers. The cooking staff was kind and friendly and made things with love. So it really was a supportive environment that allowed you to be honest and be open, and I was shocked at my ability to ask for help and receive it.
- Group: The program really attracts clients who want to heal… I’m overweight. I would’ve could’ve never imagined being in a bathing suit with people in a steam room, and you just let go of all that stuff, because we’re all here to heal. We all have something. Skinny people, bigger people, older people, younger people…
- Nature: the place is beautiful. The mountains are beautiful. You can hear the ocean from the hotel rooms. The eagles are flying overhead. I am so happy with the people that I met from all over, over the world that have come here to heal. So that in itself, I’ve made long lasting friendships and I’m grateful to take that with me.
- Guided and independent nature walks: We went for walks in the beautiful forest and along the beach, and I was so grateful that we weren’t just told to go walk here. We had a guide who told us about the area, made me feel safe so I didn’t have to feel that I was lost. Plus, we have trails and beautiful places to walk on site, so you can take a walk by yourself too.
- Yoga – I love yoga. It was really, really enlightening and helped me learn to stretch my body and be kind to my body.
- I was doing Zumba. I was dancing and lifting my knee, and I had so much joy out of it.
- Meditation – one of my favourite things. I really enjoyed the meditation and the deep relaxation I got from that.
- Classes on nutrition, cooking classes and emotional workshop – it’s set up to make you successful.
- Live Blood Analysis and Organ Screen: that was such a comfort to me because I didn’t know where my body was. I could see physically what was happening in my body. And so it didn’t make me have to wonder if I’m gonna backslide from here, or if it’s something I imagined. I had concrete proof on the healing that was done here.
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.
