Wheelchair-Bound at 18 to Holistic Health Expert — Lauren Vaknine's Extraordinary Journey

takeaways

1. Lauren shares her journey from being diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis before age two, through years of steroid and chemo-based treatments, to becoming wheelchair-bound at 18 before pursuing a holistic healing path.

2. She describes how her mother's intuition led her away from high-dose steroids toward homeopathy, framing that connection to intuition as central to her view of wellness.

3. Lauren explains that healing began with meditation and nutrition (cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar) in 2002, later expanding into emotional and inner-child work, and identity work.

4. She emphasises nervous system regulation as the first step in any healing, describing the physiological stress response as the body reacting as though chased by a predator.

5. Somatic practices discussed include breathwork, ecstatic dance, tapping, journalling and Dr Bradley Nelson's Emotion Code as ways to release trapped emotions.

6. She encourages sitting in silence daily to connect with intuition and the higher self, and cautions against outsourcing wellness or becoming over-reliant on tracking devices and data.

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