Kerry Harling and The Holistic Highway
Single Steps Strategies is pleased to feature our friend, Kerry Harling! Read her story below and click to read featured content written by Kerry: Struggling Through a Major Life Change.
I SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE UNHEALTHY AND CHRONICALLY FATIGUED…
This always surprises people when I tell them this, considering my profession, but I spent years being diagnosed with a myriad of diseases including fibromyalgia, depression, lyme disease, anxiety and chronic fatigue. I was taking numerous medications for all those diagnosed illnesses.
Pills for migraines. Pills for sinus and digestion problems. Pills to improve depression, pills to decrease fatigue. Pills for just about everything.
I would go to the doctor and be prescribed the latest drug for my latest symptoms. No one tried to understand the underlying cause of my health problems. As a single mother, with a rambunctious young son, I couldn’t afford to be sick. Life was stressful enough without constantly being sick and exhausted.
I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I was desperate. It was at this point in my life that I turned to an alternative health practitioner. I was diagnosed with mercury toxicity. Finally! I knew the cause of all my problems! I could finally be healthy once and for all!
Not so fast.
Five years of treatment left me mercury free but I still was lacking the energy and vitality of a younger, healthier me. The reason for this is because I had only solved half the equation. I fixed the underlying cause of my problems, but I hadn’t changed my lifestyle to maintain my health. I was still living the same way I was my entire life. The same way that made me sick in the first place.
It was at this time that I was introduced to restorative yoga and conversely, Ayurveda. I found my vitality improving and gradually increased my energy. It was amazing!
I was absolutely astounded by the power of this simple yet effective method of health that I decided to make a major life change.
I decided to study Ayurveda and yoga at the Kripalu School of Ayurveda, and made the decision to help others discover the incredible way this avenue of health can help improve their lives, like it did mine.
As my previous career was in education, I decided to give back in the best way I know how. By teaching others. This core principal is paramount in all the work I do at the Holistic Highway because it is not enough to give you a solution for a day, but give you the knowledge to achieve great health for your entire life. I will give you the tools needed in order to feel full of vitality, energy, and happiness.
Out of this line of thinking The Holistic Highway was born.
I find it tremendously rewarding to see people overcome their health challenges and regain that inner lust for life that comes from being full of energy, vitality and happiness… because when you feel healthy, it has a ripple effect, touching every aspect of your life and igniting passion for everything life has to offer.
In addition to being a National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) certified practitioner, a certified yoga teacher and TED speaker, I am the only Ayurveda Practitioner attached to the Consortium, with my home practice at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Integrative Medicine. I am also a wife, a mother, a sister and a daughter. I live in Bristol, Rhode Island with my husband Ken, dog Bailey, and cat Moxie. My son is my business partner and lives in Boston, where he is pursuing his MBA in renewable energy finance when not helping out at The Holistic Highway. I practice all over world and have speaking engagements across the USA. To see how we can work together, visit my Services page, or feel free to drop me an email at kerry@theholistichighway.com.
In health,
Kerry Harling