My husband died when I was 32

My husband died when I was 32 leaving me with two small children, a debt of nearly a million pounds and a business to run I knew nothing about. There followed a 21 year period of extremely stressful events. I was also working seven days a week in the business and trying to bring up the boys aged 5 and 7.

My youngest son was diagnosed as dyslexic shortly after my husband died, he then went on to be a very troublesome child, teenager and as a young adult turned to drugs. Three years ago my younger sister died in hospital after a nursing error aged 45 leaving three children. I had to support my brother-in-law throughout a very traumatic period which included a court case.

The straw that broke the camels back (and there were many many straws over the years) was when my eldest son was sent to Afghanistan to fight with the British Army. He was in a very active artillery unit right on the front line. I didn’t sleep for 10 months and would pace my kitchen night after night or lie awake with my mind racing with thoughts of where he was and what he was doing.

When I was referred to Emma two years ago I was suffering from chronic insomnia and was addicted to perscription sleeping tablets, I had had a pain in my lower abdomen for months, and had been treated for clinical depression with medication and therapy.

I was 53 years old and felt 83. I was depressed, had a negative outlook on life and could not see the light at the end of the tunnel with the constant stress of running my business and life in general.

My body ached all over with muscular pain and I was at my wits end. Why did so many awful thing happen to me?

Thanks to Emma and her expertise two years later I am a different person.

Firstly and most importantly for me she taught me how to sleep! Emma taught me that your body needs rhythms and I started a bedtime routine of low lights from 9.00pm, going to bed at the same time every night and getting up and the same time every morning.

Most importantly however was the “me time” I had to have every day. Each evening when I came home from work I would spend half an hour or so sitting quietly somewhere away from everybody and everything just letting my mind “decompress” after the days events. In the early days I would take a notebook with me to allow me to write down all my thoughts and then start my night time routine with a clear mind.

Emma also taught me to try and think “in the moment” and not too far ahead. I also started to do some light meditation. This I still find difficult and is an ongoing process.

The abdominal pain stopped after Emma changed my diet. After a Metabolic Typing test we discovered that I was a” protein type”. I changed my ratio of carbs to protein and came off gluten and dairy. I suddenly had far more energy and lost weight.

Emma ran an adrenal test that identified severe adrenal fatigue which was contributing to the insomnia and depression. I undertook an extensive nutritional supplementation programme. My last stress hormone test showed that my stress hormones were now at normal levels at that I had a good hormonal rhythm.

Very importantly over the last two years Emma has shown me how important it is to be positive and be grateful for the small thing in life. With this positivity things that were once deemed stressful were much easier to cope with. Emma used NLP and Timeline therapy to help and we started to identify “old patterns” of handling things, breaking them down so they no longer affected me.

I recently lost a major contract in my business. This had happened to me twice before and I knew what lay ahead, basically I would have to start again, struggle with the finances, sleepless nights etc etc.

I took onboard everything that Emma had taught me including how much my business stress was affecting my health. I made a very positive decision to cease trading and retire at 55!

The positivty had such a great affect. I managed to pay all my suppliers, sold all my stock to a major competitor and went out with my head held high and some money in the bank!! I still can’t believe I did it having been stuck on such a “hamster wheel” – I had the courage to jump off – thanks to Emma.

Emma has an enormous wealth of experience in nutrition and natural therapuetic supplementation. My husband Roger underwent two operations for bowel cancer. He was fitted with a stoma which was removed after six months.

Emma was happy to help support and guide him even though he wasn’t a client. She put together a support protcol for Roger’s general and gut health during the recovery period and gave him lifestyle suggestions to aid his recovery. His surgeon was amazed at how his gut had recovered so quickly and he had none of the usual side effects or complications.

We are both now on low maintenance programmes with Emma and will continue to follow her guidelines for a happy and healthy life. Many many thanks Emma!!

Lynne Michael, Oxfordshire UK