Mission Accomplished! Now, It's Your Turn

It's been 5 years since my gnarly near-death experience. After years of medical misdiagnosis by a bad doctor who's no longer practicing medicine, I was sick. Then I got the stupid virus on top of untreated asthma... It was an uphill battle and I circled the drain. I had to quit my job because I was incapable of working an 8-hour day. My friend Bryan passed away. He was another person like myself with asthma & other health complications whose body struggled with the virus. We'd just lost our friend Sara, too.

I was determined to survive and had the help of some nurse friends and neighbors who looked out for me. It was a LOT of time at home, unable to do anything but cough and attempt to sit up straight (I couldn't do that for a long time). I couldn't empty the dishwasher without falling over. I couldn't lift a gallon of water. I was on steroids so strong, I couldn't see my own TV. I gained 50 lbs. (I only have 7 lbs left to lose before I hit my pre-illness weight).

I made it.

I remember when Bryan died and I wanted to cry, but a friend from Bible study, Dominique, yelled at me. Knowing the situation, she yelled at me that I couldn't cry or I'd trigger an asthma attack. She was right. It was hell. Why put my friends through another death? I had to make it.

So the bargaining began. Trying to survive while grieving ain't for no punk. The brain goes some pretty strange places. I let my mind wander to the things I'd most want to do if I made it, if I were well again.

If I could walk, breath, go out, and function again, what would I most want to do?

The answer came. I'd want two things forever: yoga & music. I'd do so much fucking yoga. I'd go to so many concerts, see so much live music. (Not to mention the obvious, like see friends and family again, which I've done, thankfully).

It started when Willie Nelson played Wichita and 50,000 of us packed Douglas Ave by the river during Riverfest to see him play.

I completed my yoga teacher training (RYT-200).

I moved back to Phoenix to see friends & family. We miss Sara and Bryan. We will forever. We've lost more friends and family. And we've persevered.

The live music has been a journey that's been more than just buying concert tickets. I joined a rag-tag team of music nerds trying to rebuild the Internet and forge a better path for musicians to beat the lamestream like Spotify. The journey began with a Sara Jade concert here in Phoenix two years ago. I've traveled to Austin, Nashville, Vegas, tested music apps, written for Wavlake, and even thrown Ainsley Costello on stage for an impromptu show at a cidery in State College, PA.

As it turns out, my desire for more yoga & live music led me down a path to my folks. My kinda nerds. You never know where something will lead. Now, I get to work with friends and others I admire (true galaxy brains) as we work to make our dent in the Universe.

We may just be crazy enough to do it.

Here more on this week's Radio Detox with journalist Frank Corva.

If you listen on Fountain, you get to hear some of the music Frank talks about in the video! We talk about his time as a White House Correspondent, covering Bitcoin adoption around the world, and stories of groups like Black Vulcanite and Brand New. You'll hear how he met Sam Means of The Format wayyy before we all ever did this "change the music world" thing. (And my story of attending The Format 25-Year Reunion show here in Phoenix!)

The interview alone without the music is on YouTube.

What's Up With The Yoga?

I've not been teaching yoga. I took a break to refocus on my own practice and study. I'm working toward my yoga therapy 800-hour certification. People would always ask me what yoga they should do for a specific problem. I'd do my best to give them recommendations. It turns out, this prescriptive form of yoga is yoga therapy! So I had to sign up to study it...

In the meantime, I've been contributing to yoga in other ways:

I've had my happy ending in life compared to 5 years ago when I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, let alone get to experience yoga or live music ever again. I've been very blessed in these past 5 years of life not promised to me. Hopefully, I can continue to bless others.

10% of the proceeds from Radio Detox go to HRF, a charity I'm proud to support as it supports our Bitcoin & Nostr ecosystem of ever-growing freedom tech.

If you've had your own dark night of the soul, I'm here to say there is hope. If you're looking to move past something huge like I did, gain a nervous system reset, and truly create the life of your dreams, I'm offering coaching on a limited basis. Everything I do starts with a nervous system reset! Start with calm. Build from calm. Rebuild from calm.

~Wishing you ever-increasing health, wellness, & vitality, Heather.