My Journey with Lyme 

My journey with Lyme disease has been one of the greatest unravelings and awakenings of my life. 

As a nurse, I was trained to look at symptoms, labs, diagnoses, and treatment plans. But living through chronic illness personally taught me there is often so much more beneath the surface. Lyme forced me to slow down and listen in ways I never had before. 

There were seasons of intense fatigue, brain fog, vertigo, nervous system dysregulation, and feeling disconnected from myself. I would go through periods where I was doing “everything right”, eating clean, taking supplements, exercising, meditating… and still not feeling well. That can be incredibly frustrating and lonely, especially when so much of chronic illness is invisible. 

Over time, I began to understand that healing was not just about fighting symptoms. It was about learning how stress, trauma, survival patterns, perfectionism, overgiving, and nervous system overload affect the body. It became a journey of reconnecting to myself instead of constantly pushing past myself. 

Some of the deepest healing came not from trying harder, but from softening.
From creating safety within my body.
From learning rest without guilt.
From understanding the mind-body connection on a lived level, not just an intellectual one. 

This journey changed the way I practice, the way I lead, and the way I see people. It gave me a deeper compassion for those navigating chronic illness, burnout, anxiety, autoimmune conditions, and feeling unseen in their suffering. 

I don’t see healing as linear anymore.

I see it as layers.
Awareness.
Alignment.
Regulation.
Acceptance.
Becoming. 

And I believe many of us are not broken, we are simply carrying too much for too long without enough support, safety, or space to heal. 

-Elizabeth