Rachel O’Boyle
A Mindful Life
You are in for a treat today! Rachel’s story shows how she has woven mindfulness into every fabric of her life. We all know the impact that stress can have on IBD but what can we learn from Rachel to cope with our realities better?
Rachel is a certified Life & Wellness Coach and a Mindfulness Facilitator in New Zealand. Over the years, Rachel has been on an awakening of sorts, discovering who she truly is and what she truly wants out of life. After working through her own personal experiences with anxiety, toxic relationships, feeling like a burden, unmet expectations, and the pressure to be someone she thought she needed to be, she now has a new outlook on life. Rachel's journey towards mindfulness escalated when she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2009.
Rachel now leads her local Crohn's and Colitis support group and partners with those working tirelessly for healthcare reform in New Zealand. She also volunteers her time helping to bring a little bit of fun and joy to children at a national camp for kids with IBD.
Rachel started showing signs of abdominal pain at 16 years old but it wasn't until college that her body hit its tipping point. She was going to school full time, working 25 hours a week, eating a college diet, in a stressful relationship, and spending several nights a week out with friends - her body couldn't keep up with it all. She began to notice blood in her stool and was hospitalized for two weeks. Upon receiving her diagnosis, Rachel hit an emotional low.
She was devastated. Rachel took six weeks off of school to focus on her recovery but everything in her world was changing rapidly around her and she didn't know how she fit into it any longer. Over the next four years, Rachel felt as if she was waiting on life to make sense. She saw others on social media living their best lives, traveling the world and adventuring, but she felt chained to her diagnosis living what felt like a very restrictive and unfulfilled life. Even though she knew she was sick, she still felt like she had to keep up with everyone else around her and at the age of 27, she was hospitalized a second time due to complications from Crohn's. Prior to being hospitalized, she had been up for a promotion at her job but even her career goals were taking a back seat to her health. It seemed as if nothing was going the way she had hoped it would in her life.
Rachel told me, "You get to a point in your fight with IBD where you get sick of being sick and you just want something to change." She realized that she was putting unnecessary stress on herself to be someone she didn't want to be - someone who wasn't even going to make her happy. "Instead of trying to control everything, I started accepting where I was in life." Rachel's first step towards cultivating mindfulness was accepting her body and her circumstances. "All I have is right here, right now" Rachel would tell herself on repeat.
Rachel surrounded herself with people that truly supported her. "It's amazing how your perspective can change once you find a place where you don't feel judged, with people that just make you feel safe." With IBD, she had always felt like she was a burden on others - she felt like she would bring too much baggage to any relationship she had but then she met Conor (her husband). Conor accepted her, with all of her faults, failures, and flaws. He encouraged her to follow her dreams and did all he could just so he could see her smile. Rachel and Conor have since made the decision to live their adventure together by moving from Ireland to New Zealand. "Looking back on it, things seem to happen for a reason. Life has a way of falling into place when it's supposed to."
Rachel then took her approach to mindfulness a step further by adding, "Stress is going to happen every day in life. Our bodies are overly sensitive due to our diagnosis so it is imperative to have a reset plan." Rachel keeps a journal tracking her physical health - how foods and medications affect how she is feeling. She sets aside time to reflect on her journal looking for what patterns might exist over time. This healthy habit has given her a way to release any built up anxiety about her health and reminds her that she will get through whatever life throws at her.
Thank you Rachel for sharing your story with us and teaching us that acceptance, surrounding yourself with loved ones, tracking how we are really feeling, and implementing plans to improve our outcomes allows us to be more mindful in our journey with IBD!
I am super impressed by Rachel's story and mindset. While we all struggle in life, mindset is the key to overcoming your struggles vs. being defeated by them. I cannot say more about the grace with which Rachel approaches her diagnosis. I have so much to learn from her.
Rachel has some amazing content on her blog, Instagram, and You Tube (all linked below) including a FREE three week online class about mindfulness.
Rachel's website: https://racheloboyle.com//
View Rachel's Instagram here
Watch Rachel's You Tube here
