Are you taking some kind of meds to support your body and struggling to find peace over it? This has been coming up a lot lately in my inbox and coaching sessions and I want to share a few words. I got an email from a dear client that said,

"My compassion for myself has become so permissible. Maybe it is also in part to finally accepting my bipolar diagnosis, and being open to trying medication, which I previously would not consider."

And then another, "I've had PMDD for years, and I also experience really painful periods. I've always said "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT" to birth control pills (I've never wanted to alter my natural rhythms...)... In my 20+ years of menstruation, I think I've tried every possible alternative, every possible "natural" remedy that came my way. ...So, I spent half the day crying. I felt like a failure. I've been "standing guard" and trying to protect my body from this thing called birth control for most of my life. I know it's time to try birth control. I've been terrified of saying "YES"...I've been wanting to write you since Thursday (the day I couldn't stop crying), almost one week ago. I just kept thinking that YOU would know what I could do! You would have the answers.

And then I was meditating this morning and these positive affirmations just started bursting out of me. I immediately wrote them down. I already feel a shift, and I've decided I will read those meditations every time I take a pill until I start to feel more comfortable. I still have a little over a week before my cycle aligns to start taking them, so I'm going to keep saying them over and over until then as well."

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Can you relate to one of these women? You are not alone in your struggle and your desire for health on every level. If I could give you one thing it's to remind you that you are the expert on your body! ( <----- Read that again)

I've done the dance between east and west, between pharmaceutical and holistic medicine. In my mind and my experience there is a place for both. I took the birth control pill for over a decade. I loved the pill, it's predictability and that I never had to worry about an oops baby. It served me well and when my body and spirit were ready to come off I did. I took loads of different meds to help my breathing. I loathed them. They didn't help and most actually made me feel worse. I'm sure you have similar experiences of finding some medications really helpful and others --- not so much.

Your body is always talking to you. Listen to it and respond with what feels best for you. My approach in times when I feel that I need some kind of pharmaceutical support is to take the meds to soothe the symptoms and get to work on addressing the the root of what's happening in my body. I use all of my tools (food, rest, meditation, affirmations etc) in conjunction with the drug. I'm not saying that you should pop a pill for every ill or reflex into Western thinking but I am saying that you can remove the story behind taking medications when the moment calls for it. It doesn't have to mean anything positive or negative. It's all information on this life journey and taking medications is usually temporary. I never trust a doctor that says you're going to have to take this forever. Wha? How the heck could you possibly know that about my body? Use your powerful intuition and your super smart noodle to lead you forward.

My sister, Kayla Floyd says, "Know how to care for yourself without any emotion or blame." and I think that sums it up perfectly. Take care of yourself. Do what feels best for you and release any blame, shame or guilt associated. I know that many of you want to heal with food and positive thinking. I do too. I meditate daily to stay connected with the truth of my being. To know that I am pure potential and that I can allow my body to heal itself by itself. I trust that healing is happening in every moment and that each decision I make is for my whole health. And if I wake up tomorrow with a raging bladder infection you bet your ass I'll be taking antibiotics along side my water, cranberry tablets and affirmations that I am WHOLE HEALTH! I'm hoping you feel the lightness in all of this as I'm intending (and smiling as I type). The goal here is to empower you to trust yourself!

I don't live in fear of getting sick or needing to make those kinds of decisions. I trust that all is unfolding perfectly in my life and body. I make game time decisions based on what feels best for me in that moment. We take meds way too seriously. We take most things way too seriously. Remember that things only have the meaning we attach to them. Get still, ask your body what it needs, listen and then take action.

You've got this. And if you didn't know already, YOU ARE PERFECT HEALTH!

I love you, Lacy

I received an email from a dear girl who is in the midst of transition and I saw so much of my story in her words. She went to a yoga class, and another and another. She feel madly and deeply in love with the practice and the way her body felt fully engaged in the present moment of each pose. She paid lots of money for proper schooling and credentials. She became a certified yoga teacher. She loved teaching. And now that her shiny new website is built and ready to roll out into the world it's become unavoidably clear that it's time to move on. Disappointment. Guilt. So many feelings are colliding all at once. Then the justification that she spent the money on the site... shouldn't she see it through?

I'm here to say permission granted to change course in the very moment that you know it's time. Seriously. We all do that thing over money from time-to-time. You spend "good" money on something really big and then there's that moment of pause... you use the money as a justification to keep going even though every fiber of your being is saying MOVE ON RIGHT NOW!

Honoring your intuition is sacred ground. Do it. At all cost. Some days it may be something really big like NOT publishing the site. Others is may be seemingly small like not finishing a book. It's your life and you get to live it however you want. Exercise that beautiful freedom.

Letting it go (whatever it is) can be excruciating and at the same time completely necessary. It is ok that something (or someone) once filled you up body and soul and then it was time to move on. I spent my 20's trying to make a living out of things I loved. Yoga. Making Scrapbooks. Creating herbal products. etc. etc. etc. I changed paths often and with a great deal of struggle. I wish someone had said that it's O.K. to keep going and change course when you know it's time. Mid way through my 30's I'm seeing how it's all been a part of the journey that is still very much in motion. I can only image the clarity that the 40's will bring.

Release the guilt, dear girl. Forgive yourself. Often. You showed up, burned brightly and when the time was right you let it go. That's practicing yoga off the mat. That's listening to your sacred voice and it's always worth it no matter how much it cost to get there.

Clear space so that your what next can peek through and wink at you. Clear space... In your body. In your closet. In your kitchen cabinets. In your email inbox. Let go of the things (or people) that are ready to move on and take your next step in the direction that feels light and joyous.

I love you. You've got this. Lacy