Episode 4: Paying it Forward
The Show Notes

Full Transcript

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Natalie: Hello! Welcome to my IBS story! I'm Natalie and I’m here to tell you my story of living with IBS for 14 years and how I eventually became free from the IBS. The symptoms can be alleviated, you can have relief from the symptoms, so I am sharing my story so you can do it too!

Welcome along to episode 5. In this episode I am again joined by Tracy Stone, the founder of Limitlesspotential.co.uk she is a clinical hypnotherapist based in Berkshire, in England, she's also an advanced Rapid Transformational Therapy therapist as well as best-selling author and general wonderful person! And she is the therapist that I chose to work with to overcome the IBS. In the last episode Tracy and I talked about what Rapid Transformational Therapy is and that's the therapy that I chose to use to deal with the IBS.

So in today's episode Tracy and I will be talking about what came up for me during that RTT therapy session, before we jump into that just to signpost you to the show notes if you would like to read along or refer to any of the resources or information we talk about in this episode the show notes are available at www.nataliemears.co.uk/episode5

So welcome along Tracy!

Tracy: Well thank you Natalie, so lovely to be here with you today and with all of your listeners.

Natalie: Well thank you for joining me again. So Tracy we worked together back in September 2018 as we discussed in the previous episode, I don't think you knew this but I heard about RTT on a meditation retreat and I got home on the 7th of September 2018. And this person I was sharing a room with, Mariotta (who I have also done an episode with), she told me about RTT and when I got home (when I had wi-fi because I didn't have wi-fi when I was on the retreat) I started researching EVERYTHING about RTT and I mean everything!!

So that was about the 7th of September I started that, and then I started searching for local therapists and you were the person that resonated with me. So I contacted you and I’ve looked back at my emails and I can see that just how keen I was! And I didn't realise I was quite THIS keen and I laughed when I saw it! So…I had the consultation on the 24th of September 2018 and then I had the RTT session the very NEXT DAY after work…so you can see just how I wanted that FREEDOM! I was ready for the possibility that actually I might get some relief from the IBS! I wanted a life of no more restriction, I was all in with this and I didn't want to wait a minute longer!! So we had the consultation, I had been living with IBS for at least 14 years and I had something called chronic anal fissures, they were extremely painful. My bottom was bleeding on a daily basis, I was living on laxatives every day, eating that restrictive low FODMAP diet to try and reduce the pain and the IBS symptoms (which didn't work, had not worked). So during the consultation with you I had learned everything I needed to know to decide whether I wanted RTT, and whether I wanted to work with you. And I remember sitting down with myself afterwards and considering my options now I knew everything I needed to know about RTT, after having that consultation with you.

I remember thinking to myself “okay Natalie, the best case scenario here is you're gonna have relief from IBS or even be free from IBS! Dare to dream! Worst case scenario, I lose some money and some time, that's literally the the worst outcome here. It’s definitely not going to make the IBS worse put it that way!” So I asked myself “Natalie, what do you want to do?” And I’m so glad I decided to do it!!! Because there was part of me, like a sceptic in me, that was like “hmm…is this really gonna work?!” Especially when I was working in public health and I was very much absorbed in the medical model and at the time I didn't know all of the research and scientific evidence around hypnotherapy and how it actually helps improve the symptoms of IBS! There was a limiting belief there like “you know…we've been told we're gonna live with this forever! Maybe that's okay?” “Actually, no that's not okay! I’m gonna say yes to possibility and say yes to this because it feels right” and I had so much to gain!!! I gained so much from doing it :) and yet, as I said, I was so keen that after having that consultation with you Tracy, I booked in right for the very NEXT DAY…

Tracy: ...and I remember your consultation call and I remember you being so keen immediately to say “yeah, okay, I’m all in! I’m doing this”, you knew, you were prepared, you knew as you said what RTT was and you just knew “okay, this connection is right for me and I’m in it” and you wanted that session so immediately that it was the next evening after work, I remember that.

Natalie: I thought “why wait? Why wait a minute longer than you need to?!” So during my Rapid Transformational Therapy session with you Tracy, you started with a brief overview like “why you're here, what you want to work on”. Obviously it was the IBS, it was the bleeding from my bottom that I was having on a daily basis, it was the constant pain in my tummy area, the bloating that I could never shift or if it ever went it was very temporary. I presented with QUITE A LOT of physical symptoms and also the psychological struggles as well…the anxiety, the thoughts around suicide, life was just “meh, what's the point in being here if my if my body doesn't work and I’m just going to live with this forever?” you know, so it took me to…to a dark place and I was very open with you about that in the session.

So we did all the chatting first and then you guided me into hypnosis and it was really easy and simple. I didn't really have to do anything except follow your voice, I didn't feel nervous even though it was the first time I was being hypnotized…so you guided me into hypnosis, you showed me that I was absolutely in control and then you took me back to some scenes all about why I had the IBS and I didn't know if anything was gonna come but you told me you know…just be open to whatever comes so I just followed your voice, followed your guidance and so I want to now reflect on what happened, what came up during that session because ultimately when I work with clients it's those regression moments…going back to those scenes where the client really has that that light bulb moment! You know, that real understanding, exquisite insight into really what's going on at a deep, DEEP level…subconscious level. So let's talk about that now Tracy, tell us the things that you remember that came up for me, that was all about why I had the IBS…what the IBS was all about in your session.

Tracy: I remember so well that when we were going back because in hypnosis as we've mentioned you go back to all of these memories…that wonderful filling cabinet that's in your subconscious mind and you had connected and we do this without intending to but you had learned to connect IBS, the symptoms of IBS, things like pain and bleeding and all of those symptoms with a way of being able to have and share and show my OTHER SYMPTOMS IN LIFE, my need to be heard and seen because you had…you've been kind of quietened and pushed down from sharing things that had stressed you and worried you and made you anxious.

And any of these emotions that we don't get to share outwardly, if we don't get to use our words basically the body will find another way of storing and showing the same symptoms, so it's no surprise that you were having to kind of keep your pain down and inside and it's reflected itself in physical pain because it was pain that you were being made to keep down.

Natalie: Yeah...

Tracy: ...and a great way of being able to show that when people say “no, you shouldn't talk about these things” and this is what you heard when you were a younger girl and when you were a younger woman, that you were told you don't need to talk about these things, we don't need to hear about these things, soldier on…

Natalie: ...sweep it under the carpet is how I used to kind of see it…

Tracy: Exactly but there's no sweeping anything under the carpet, I mean it might stop coming out verbally but it's still there somewhere....

Natalie: ...Yeah...

Tracy: ...I mean it's, it seriously was you know. The world is made of energy, everything every single thing in the world is made of energy. It's the only thing that actually makes stuff, our bodies are made of energy, the trees are made of energy, every single thing around us is made of a different pattern of energy that forms together and makes things in the world.

Those feelings that you had, that were being pushed down, those were also an energy and they don't disappear! The energy in the world does not disappear. So if when it's pushed down, when you're not given the opportunity to use your words, to be able to talk through your concerns and your worries, and to say that you know…this this has stressed me, this loss in my life…I haven't figured my way through it yet…I’m hurting.

Natalie: ...and that was loss of my voice, the loss of my mum when I was seven years old, there were many things I remember and it was all about the suppression of negative emotions and don't express. I think that's why like now when I talk about it my body was screaming out to me, that's how I kind of describe it because that's what needed to happen.

There was such an amount of bottled up emotion around those losses, particularly around the death of my mum when I was just seven years old, and not grieving properly, not going through that grieving process and just kind of pretending like I was okay, you know “life goes on” and we just move on!

Tracy: Absolutely, exactly, it was screaming and that's such a great way of putting it…so it's no surprise when your body was screaming that the words didn't get to come out, your voice was not allowed to be heard, it was all pushed down and when you think of the emotion of screaming, of needing to let things out and it's a very pent-up, anxiety feeling…is it any wonder that things like bleeding represent that level of emotion? Yes and pain, so the physical pain, a way of being able to say “look this is what I am feeling”. It still has to come out somewhere.

Natalie: Yeah and it did! And I remember it was so revealing to me! It was such an insightful session, that actually…that happens! That that's actually a thing! Because I didn't realise that that was a thing! And then I had all of a sudden I had all of this knowledge of where this IBS was coming from and how my subconscious was basically was looking after me I thought and it was letting all these things out that I needed to.

And in that session with you, it was the first time I really kind of let it all go, let it all out and you facilitated that using the RTT tools, so I was able to express finally those emotions, the feelings of loss, the feeling of deep pain within me that I had been bottling up, pushing down, suppressing and just putting a front on to everybody else and obviously by putting that front on it wasn't a long-term solution! Because it was having a physical impact on me, and in that session I really understood that I could see really “wow” I kind of thought I could get away with doing that for the rest of my life and actually if I continue doing this I’m just going to keep getting these physical symptoms” so I am going to let all of this go, I’m going to let all of this out and it's okay to express your feelings of sadness, it's okay to feel a sense of loss, it's okay to feel negative emotions, what's not okay is to not express it, to hold on to it and not let go! So you helped facilitate that in the session and I think that's why I felt so tired at the end because I’d been digging deep into all of the pains, the wounds from when I was younger and so quite tired afterwards but I also felt so much lighter.

I really did feel like a burden had been lifted! And so after the session of course I listened to that personalised recording you did for me! I listened to it for 21 days and I know that the IBS symptoms tapered off quite quickly for me…and this kind of dark cloud I used to feel in my tummy had lifted, I had no bloating, I started to have a poo every day!!! Which was very unlike me, the anal bleeding stopped, tummy pains were gone and on the fifth (5th) day…only five days after having the session! There was a bake sale at work and it was the first time in years I had a non-gluten free cake…because one of the FODMAP triggers is gluten…so I thought “I’m gonna try the normal cake…the one that's got gluten in” and I had carrot cakes as one of my favourites and I had ZERO reaction!!!!!

And I remember just “WOW”, there was no flare-up, no bloating, no distension, no pain I was absolutely amazed! And then I started to eat LOTS of the trigger foods lots and lots of them and started overeating for a little bit because I wanted to really test it…like “IS THIS REAL?!?!?”

I mean you know already, but for the listeners…and I think they know already as well…but I’m delighted to say I am STILL pain-free, symptom-free and I have been since that session with Tracy in 2018 and that is actually three years ago at the time of recording this, no IBS and the anal fishers also healed in the process :) as you may have guessed I have absolutely ZERO REGRETS of working with Tracy, or of having RTT because it had such a PROFOUND LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT ON ME and this profound experience of RTT with Tracy actually landed up changing my career path as well!

So not only my physical health…I got my life back because I was no longer restricted by the IBS…my career changed as well…so I’ve trained in RTT and I specialise in RTT for IBS and I chose to specialise, I guess for obvious reasons, that I had a very limited life and RTT gave me my life back! And I just want to do this for others, I want to give back over and over and OVER again to anyone suffering with IBS because LIFE WITHOUT IT (IBS) IS VERY MUCH WORTH LIVING…and I did not feel really like it was before when I did have the IBS…and so TAKING YOUR POWER BACK and TAKING YOUR HEALTH BACK I think is really REALLY IMPORTANT and I’m a big advocate for that now!

I know I’ve thanked you before Tracy, but seriously thank you for being an RTT therapist and actually sharing this with other people because you are amazing, RTT is amazing and it absolutely changes people's lives and I’m just one of many, many examples of that!

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Tracy: You’re living proof, thank-you for that Natalie and it was a pleasure. It's amazing that when you liberate yourself from these things that suddenly life opens up and it's so sad then when you know people are not liberated from their problems. So it's no wonder that you, having experienced it, are now an amazing RTT therapist and you help people to overcome something that you have first-hand experience of!

Yeah…and they need that help from you and overcoming these limitations we do seem to think that “I’m stuck with this forever”…yeah…but you are the proof to all of your listeners and to everybody they know that you CAN overcome pretty much anything…almost anything.

Natalie: Absolutely…and it's not necessarily a really smooth ride, it is a collaboration between the therapist and the client, the client has got to do the homework, they've got to be fully invested into the 21 day journey and it is a journey but if the person is all in and they're not going to give up, no matter what, then then yes!

So do you have any closing remarks Tracy?

Tracy: I would just urge all of your listeners to take something on board, something that I kind of share these days with all of my clients…there's two words that I tell all of my clients to remove from their vocabulary, to no longer use. And it changes an awful lot of things.

One of those words is TRY. I’m not going to try anything, so don't say to yourself you're going to try RTT, don't say to yourself you're going to try and change how you talk to yourself, don't even say to yourself I’m going to try and get there for seven o'clock because when you try something you set yourself up for failure, you're giving yourself an out that says I’m probably not gonna do this anyway but I’m gonna try so then you beat yourself up when you fail at it. So don't try anything! Just get rid of that word and find a different word that works better for you. Let's say that your friends say we're all going to meet up at seven o'clock and you think okay I’ll try and get there you already know you have too many things going on you're gonna be late then you'll feel bad and then you'll beat yourself up…yeah, don't try, don't tell them you'll try and get there, but you can change that to saying something much more empowering like…I will get there as close to 7 as I can. It's a very more empowering statement than trying, so don't try anything, change that word into something that's more empowering!

The other word is HOPE. Do not hope for anything! Because when we hope for something straight away your mind sees through that and it says oh we don't really believe this is possible so don't hope that you can get rid of IBS, don't hope that you can find the love of your life, don't hope that you will get pregnant, you just make decisions and say I’m doing this or I’m not doing it. And again it kind of frees you up to not be in that state of mind where you're setting yourself up for failure.

SO DON'T TRY, DON'T HOPE, DO STUFF, LOVE STUFF AND BE KIND TO YOURSELF, LEARN HOW TO TALK TO YOURSELF THE WAY YOU WOULD TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE AND RESPECT!

Natalie: Love it! Amazing words from Tracy and I could not agree more and I’ll actually add something as well when we use the word MY…like my partner, my car, my IBS, my condition, my symptoms…WE'RE TAKING OWNERSHIP of that, and that's okay if you want to own something. But I’ve not come across a single client who actually says “oh Natalie, actually I do want my IBS, I’m quite happy to own my IBS” and so that's something I’m sharing with listeners because I think it's super important to STOP USING THE WORD MY ESPECIALLY WHEN WORKING WITH SOMETHING PHYSICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL OR EMOTIONAL so INSTEAD OF CALLING IT MY anxiety, my depression, my stress, my worries, my IBS, my migraines…whatever it is, just CHANGE THE WORD MY TO THE!

So it will now be THE anxiety, THE worries, THE stress, THE depression, THE IBS, THE migraines, so instead of calling everything my, my, my, we'll just replace it with the word THE :)

And it does take a bit of practice, but with a bit of practice you stop owning the things you don't want to own!

Now you might notice that this podcast is called “My IBS Story” and I’ve just been talking about the use of the word my, so just to clear this up, I decided to call this podcast “My IBS Story” because I’m actually VERY PROUD of it, I’m VERY PROUD to actually not have IBS anymore because I was always saying my IBS, my stomach hurts…I was always labelling the things as my, as mine, and I never really thought that I would be free from it to be honest with you. So I decided to call the podcast “My IBS Story” because I am very happy to own this story! I’m very proud of this story and it led me to a whole new career where I can work for myself and help other people get relief from irritable bowel syndrome.

So just to clear that up, that is why I chose to call this podcast "My IBS Story".

Well that's everything for today's episode! Thank you so much for joining me Tracy, and thank you for explaining from your memory what happened in that session and what the IBS that I had was all about…and I’m sure the listeners will find it insightful if nothing else, so thank you so much for your time.

Tracy: You're very welcome!

Natalie: And in the next episode I will be interviewing one of the clients that I have worked with and done RTT for IBS with them, to give them relief from IBS, so if you want to find out about that person's experience then I look forward to speaking to you in the next episode! So that's all for today's episode, thanks for listening and if you could write a review, subscribe, rate and spread the word about this podcast to anyone you know that has IBS that would be great!

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