Burning the T-Shirts Series: A story of Healing, Boundaries & Becoming

Welcome to Post #1 of my “Burning the T-Shirts” Series: on GRIEF

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Been there… Done that…. Got the t-shirts…

Actually…. the universe handed me the “t-shirts”, whether I asked for them or not.

In case you have not heard this saying before:  “been there, done that, got the t-shirt” is an expression used when you've experienced something that you do not really desire or need to experience again.  For example, you went to Disney World and got a t-shirt as a souvenir, but now that you have had the experience, you have no desire to ever go back. 

Some of these t-shirts were harder to wear than others - too hot, too itchy, too tight! However, I wore them anyway, until they were old and tattered.

And then, I did something powerful … I burned them!

WHY?

Because FIRE = TRANSFORMATION!

Metaphorically speaking, fire consumes what cannot remain, much like life experiences strip away illusions and outdated patterns.  What is left behind - the ashes - becomes the fertile ground for rebirth and fresh creation.

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Hi, I'm Amy. Welcome to my blog post series where I share some of my deepest and most transformational stories, so you can see the power of healing from pain.

I would like to share with you my personal story of healing and awakening, which began in 2008 with the death of 2 family members, and continued on from there in various ways.  While laced with pain, this journey has shown me the way to my Higher Self, a higher state of consciousness and a deeper understanding of life, the human body and our relationships.   

My intent is to show you that your pain can also be turned into gold. You just need a

the readiness to deeply understand yourself, embrace your darker aspects, and accept the potential beauty that awaits beyond.

Every t-shirt I speak of represents a chapter of my life: periods of growth through struggle or crisis. Each held a wound, a lesson, and eventually a gift. I am choosing my most transformative chapters to share with you in a blog series, so I can bring you deeper into the experience, offering more reflections for you to ponder in your own life. 

I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you probably have a collection of your own old t-shirts. Do you also have some that symbolize the tough lessons you're prepared to let go of? Or are you still wearing one, questioning whether it will ever fit properly, or if it needs mending?

I understand. Transformation can be bumpy, especially if we cannot see the gifts on

the other side of the pain. We often resist out of fear or self doubt. Sometimes, we tell ourselves we can just keep wearing those t-shirts, but the truth is, eventually they will wear us out, if we do not do address the pain first.

With the hope to inspire you, I’ll share some of the t-shirts that have changed me, starting with a heavier and darker phase of my life.

Grief - The shirt that changed me … for the better.

This t-shirt was HEAVY, sweaty, black and baggy.

The picture on the front screamed darkness and depression.

The brand on the tag at the neck was “Grief”.

I felt like I couldn’t take it off - I didn’t know how.

But I knew I couldn’t leave it on forever … It was really uncomfortable!

This was THE shirt that kicked my healing journey into gear.  

My dad’s journey with cancer was intense.

Emergency surgeries, medical mishaps and many sad moments.

I took 4 months off work to support my family, sitting day shifts in the palliative care unit while Mom took the night shifts.  My heart would have it no other way. There was nothing in me that could stay on the other side of the country while all of this was occurring.

Eventually the day came when my Aunt knocked on the door at 7 am to wake my brother and I. She drove us to Dartmouth General Hospital to say our final goodbye and to get our Mom.  Dad had made his transition a few hours earlier, just moments after waking Mom to tell her “I’m in a really nice place now. I am ok”.

Exactly two months after this, my grandmother (his mom) died of a heart attack.

I still remember how the grief lived in my body as deep physical pain. It changed the way I breathed and moved through life. But this grief also had a silver lining.

It changed my perspective, and it was what made me start questioning life on a deep level.

I remember vividly, my first day back to work. I was walking up the stairwell in tears and stopped to look up to the Universe - for the first time ever - begging to be “shown a better way”.

The universe delivered … that very day!

A couple hours later, a lovely woman sat in my dental chair.  I vividly remember how our conversation went as I was standing beside her putting the dental bib around her neck:

HER:  “I have to be finished by 11am, I have a client soon after”  

ME:   As a way to connect, I asked “What service do you offer?"  

HER: “I am a BodyTalk practitioner.”

ME:  “What is that?”  

HER: “Imagine if someone came along and unplugged your emotional circuit boards… my job is to plug them back in” 

ME:  I was only half joking when I asked, “What if they unplugged it all, tangled up the cords, and then plugged them all back into the wrong circuits?”  

HER: She smiled and said, “I can fix that too!”  

I immediately took her number and my biggest leap of faith into the unknown ever. 

Soon after, BodyTalk became my reason for getting up each day.  It became my obsession.

Eventually, this really difficult ending became a profound new beginning.

It was the beginning of:

• Learning to let go of trying to control the outcome.

• Learning how the body holds emotions and trauma, and that it is possible to heal the

• body naturally.

• Understanding that we are always supported by the universe.

It was the beginning of a new version of ME - as I accessed the healer in me that I

had always been aware of, yet had lied dormant my entire life until then.  This was a real mix of excitement and fear! 

The fear came with breaking the mold, of being rejected by so many for not conforming to the outdated paradigms, and of not knowing what would come next. However, the excitement soon became stronger than the fear, as my mind opened more and more to so many other possibilities.  I observed myself dismantling old patterns and triggers that had kept me stuck in ways of life that made me unhappy. I became naturally happy, from the inside - how I had always wished I could be!! 

I’ve since guided many clients through grief and trauma. I have witnessed how

addressing it head on - or avoiding it - impacts long-term health and well-being.

Grief and loss are a huge part of this human journey that we all came here to

experience and feel. Having the courage to address it can be very empowering.

Peace and deep transformation awaits you on the other side.

As one of my favourite teachers, Lee Harris, says, “Grief is the great transformer."

Do you have a t-shirt that reeks of long held grief, or perhaps trauma?

Trauma can be another HEAVY shirt to wear, and comes in all shapes and sizes.

It is often the shirt you wear underneath the others … to hide it … which makes it even

more uncomfortable, because it is already itchy, hot, and smelly! 

You have tried to bury it many times, but it just keeps resurfacing....

Can you relate? If so, imagine how it would feel to be on the other side of that pain.

Imagine being able to relax, have deeper sleep, or relief from nagging digestive issues or emotional triggers. That pain can be turned into inner peace, happier relationships, and a better sense of direction in life.

If this sounds good, yet, have you been unsure of how to let go of your pain until now, let’s connect, to see if I can walk you through it..

Click here to connect - Let's see if I can help you!

I would be honoured to support you in finding relief on the other side. Let's see what we can do together to get you through this!

Meanwhile, I invite you to head on over to the next chapter of healing and awakening, in blog post #2 of this series.