Could This Yoga DVD Be Your Key to Serenity?

It was in 1998 that I began one of the most difficult challenges of my life. What began as a large ugly red spot on the top of my left hand turned into something I would never have imagined.

Because my husband urged me to go to a doctor, I finally did. But I was reluctant to go. I was pretty sure the ugly spot was eczema, and I knew that medical doctors prescribe steroid creams for such things.

My brother Robert had warned me about steroids. He suffered from eczema on his hands for many years and had studied remedies and their effects.

What I remember him saying was that at first the steroid creams work well. But continued use just makes the eczema worse.  So he chose to use natural remedies.

What should I do?

With Robert’s  words in mind I chose to go to my allergist rather than a dermatologist. And I ended up with a steroid cream prescription. So I used the cream, and it was working well.

And then the eczema got worse…much worse… and  it spread to my right hand.

It was months later, and we had a holiday weekend trip planned. The eczema was so bad that I wrapped my hands in gauze because the skin on my hands was so raw.

So on Labor Day weekend we were in Corpus Christi, Texas. My husband insisted on taking me to the emergency room to get my hands checked. Although I was fortunate to be free of pain, we endured a long wait for patients with urgent needs to be treated.

Have you ever had to wait in an emergency room?…

Finally, I got my turn. The emergency doctor recommended an antibiotic to prevent infection, so I recited a long list of antibiotics to which I was allergic. He then prescribed an antibiotic which wasn’t on my list.

And I faithfully took the pills.

Several nights later, back in Houston, I had an allergic reaction to those pills…..not a severe reaction… just a rash, but I was a bit worried about it. So my husband drove me to a clinic that was open at night.

At the clinic I told the doctor what had happened. His remedy was to give me a cortisone shot. I told him that I was reluctant to take any more steroids because of my experience using steroid creams.

But he assured me that this is what’s best for my situation, and he would give me a low dose.

Well, he was a medical doctor, far more educated than I was about the human body. So I accepted his remedy.

Did I make the right choice?

The next day I had an appointment with my allergist. After I told him what had happened, he decided that because I had been given a low dose of cortisone, I needed more. So I was given another cortisone shot.

I believe it was the next morning when the unbelievable happened…..

I saw my body sprinkled with red patches of eczema….my face, neck, chest, arms, legs and more….pretty much every body part, although I think that my feet were spared.

I was looking ugly and feeling itchy all over. Either one is bad, but to have both is, of course, much worse.

The itching became unbearable, especially at night. I even had itching inside my ear canal, a place where I couldn’t scratch.

Have you ever tried to go to sleep while you have severe itching?

At this point I decided against what is ironically known as “traditional” medicine, and I decided to try acupuncture. In case you’re not aware of this, acupuncture has been around way before “traditional” medicine….thousands of years, I believe.

So I found a nice acupuncturist. After the first treatment, I noticed that almost all of the eczema on my face had disappeared…..what a relief! So I continued to go for more treatments.

In the meantime I’d made an appointment to see a medical doctor who used some natural remedies. At his office I learned that I had candidiasis, a condition that can be caused by steroids, too many antibiotics and also other causes.

It all made sense when I researched it, because I’d taken antibiotics many, many times. Also, I had received steroid shots on several occasions, beginning in my childhood. And maybe all those medicines I took for many years for frequent migraine headaches played a role, too.

Not only did I have candidiasis, but the allergy tests showed I was allergic to wheat. That is a common occurrence in those who have candidiasis.

And I was told to avoid sugar and most carbohydrates. Being a longtime addict of sweets, that was not welcome news!

Following the diet given me, I lost weight I didn’t need to lose. My rear end became so flat and pathetic-looking!

Meanwhile, continuing visits to this doctor, I was still receiving acupuncture. What a nice man my acupuncturist was. He finally told me he didn’t think he could help me get rid of the eczema, so he didn’t want to take more money from me!

But the medical doctor was milking me for way too much money. I think his treatments interfered with the acupuncture.

Since I didn’t know what else to do, I continued going to him…..even after he told he didn’t think my eczema would ever go away!…. That was really discouraging, let me tell you.

But I was a desperate woman!

Finally I got wise and stopped going to that doctor.

Then my friend, Mary, told me about a homeopathic doctor, and I got an appointment with him. He was also a medical doctor, and he did not believe in candidiasis. He said my eczema was due to stress.

So now it’s years later and I’m not sure if I started doing yoga after he said my eczema was due to stress or if I had just started yoga before my first visit to the homeopathic doctor.

Well, whatever, I strongly believe that doing stress-relieving  yoga three or more nights a week played a major role in my getting rid of the eczema that plagued a large percentage of my body for about 18 months.

Yes, for well over a year, I was itching almost constantly, and I had skin that looked contagious and ugly.

How attracted would you be to someone whose skin looked contagious…and ugly?

It must have been the Laws of Attraction that drew me to the article in a natural health magazine comparing a number of different yoga DVDs.  The yoga DVD I chose based on that article’s recommendation was amazingly effective.

It did just what the title said: Stress Relief.

Every night while following the yoga instructor on the DVD, lying on my back and doing the last yoga pose, I drifted away into a peaceful sleep. Now, that’s what I call stress relief!

What are you doing to relieve your stress?

Wouldn’t you like more serenity in your life?

I love that word serenity so much that I wrote a song about it titled ‘I Seek Serenity’. I’m including some of the song lyrics here for you:

Serenity is what I seek
Serenity to set me free
To find peace and light.
Help me sleep tonight.

Serenity
set me free.
I seek serenity.
Serenity
Serenity

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today I decided to check if that yoga DVD, ‘Conditioning & Stress Relief’, is still being sold.

Guess what! It is! On Amazon.

The link in the graphic below will take you there:

Isn’t that great?

You get to experience the serenity and stress relief that I did….that is, if you get that DVD and actually do the stress-relieving yoga poses.

Since the first part of the DVD is for conditioning, sometimes you might want to fast forward to the second half for the stress reliever exercises… when you’re short of time.

But if you experience the serenity and relaxation like I did after doing all of these yoga exercises, you’ll find how very wise you are to follow along with the yoga instructors more than once a week.

Well, that concludes your lesson from me…

The rest is up to you!

Remember to take action!

Wishing you peace, joy and love,

Joyce Marie

Songwriter and singer
Founder, LessonsFromLyrics.com

P.S. I’d love to hear how the yoga DVD helps you. You can write in the comments section below. There’s no need to include your last name unless you want to.

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