A little Visit to see Vivien Kay at Simply Healing Detox Retreat – Juicing, Healing and Catching Up.

I can’t praise Vivien Kay and Simply Healing enough for all the support they’ve given me and my husband over the last year.

It’s crazy to think that this time last year I had my first fertility appointment with a specialist, who told me I probably had PCOS. As you know from older posts it wasn’t that at all and I just needed to give me body a bit of TLC, eat more, cut down on the exercise and get more in tune with my body, which I did with the help and advice from lots of incredible experts.

I remember, this time last year I felt so incredibly helpless. My sister was pregnant, it was coming up to Xmas and I was waiting to hear from my doctor about my next plan of action. It’s crazy. I was down in the dumps big time. I’m now 38 weeks pregnant and counting down the days until my due date…was a difference a year makes!

So today I thought I would pay Auntie Viv a visit. Its hard at this stage of the pregnancy – you feel so close – yet so far. The due date is in sight but you feel tired and you are winding down so the days feel longer and you feel like you are just waiting. You also haven’t been scanned since week 20 (well most of haven’t unless you pay for a private scan or have had a problem) and you just want to know that you’re baby is ok and ready to come out. Re-assurance was defiantly needed.

As usual my healing session with Vivien started with a warm welcome as I walked in to her gorgeous Sussex home.
I then laid on the couch as she placed her hands on my bump. The first thing Viv said was that baby was very cozy and sleeping. She tends to sleep lots in the day and wake me up at 5am in the morning so this didn’t surprise me. After a few minutes, Viv expressed that she was slightly concerned about mine and the baby’s energy levels. I must admit, this rings true. My energy has been awful recently, and I just haven’t had an appetite – it’s a catch 22 as you obviously need to eat for energy. She said that she wants me to eat more (at least every three hours) because the baby needs energy to get into the prime position and get ready for birth. At this rate it looks like she might be late as she’s slightly lethargic – and not engaged.

So what’s my plan of action? I need to start setting my alarm for every three hours and even if I don’t fancy food, have a juice or something with plenty of nutrients in. Here is a link to some of Simply Healing’s famous juices. There are loads to choose from and they are all super easy to make!
I also need to make sure I have a snack before bed to stop me waking up so hungry and eat more good carbs like Rye Bread, Brown Rice, Sweet Potatoes and quinoa. Stuffed peppers with brown rice sounds nice!

Another funny thing that Viv said was that the bubba liked the colour lemon yellow – which made me laugh as her nursery is very pink! We may have to start buying some yellow bits….

Simply Healing – Abdominal Healing

Since leaving the wonderful Simply Healing Retreat, I’ve kept in touch with Vivien and been seeing her for extra healing and treatments. One treatment that really stuck out for me was The Abdominal Sacral Massage’s that the retreat offers.

Vivien came across these when she was visiting Hawaii and first became really aware of how well the women looked after each other, groomed each other and supported each other.

One day she came across four women laying their sister or cousin down on a bed of rocks with the sea washing over her gently in waves. I realised that they were using the energy of the waves to massage her body: as the water came in their hands would go one way, and as it went out they would go the other. The whole rhythm of nature and the sea was part of this ritual.

She asked the women why they did this and they said that their sister was trying to have a baby and explained that the lower (sacral) part of the body had become congested and this particular massage helped to decongest it. As part of her healing journey she spent time with this family every Sunday for six weeks to see what the outcome was – and was struck by how keen everyone was to share their traditional techniques with me. She then brought that info back to the UK and sent her therapists on a course in the UK to learn the technique.

I was  lucky enough to have this massage two or three times during my treatment at Simply healing and although it was relaxing, have to say that it was very weird too.  It feels like you are having a deep massage of your womb and organs, and it feels like everything is starting to align and relax internally. No-one ever thinks to massage your insides – it’s usually all about the outsides, which makes this massage pretty unique.

Instantly I felt lighter and that everything was working abit smoother again. More importantly, Nicky, the therapist, showed me where my womb/uterus lay and taught me that I could also massage it myself. If she hadn’t of shown me this, I would have probably ended up massaging my bladder!

Being able to do this myself (not as well as Nicky of course) gave me another tool in my toolbox that I could do myself when taking some time out and relaxing. Boosting your circulation to your womb, ovaries, and fallopian tubes can only boost your chances ever more of naturally conceiving – while also helping bloating and digestive orders to name a few!

Simply Healing

So after a struggle to eat more, exercise less and take more rest and recovery for over six months, I had no other option that to en-role in a retreat.

Yes I could be stricter on myself but it’s hard when you are a perfectionist and conditioned to eat very clean (and probably not enough) and follow your usual exercise routine. It’s the only way I know and has been for a long time – habits are hard to break – especially the ones that are drummed into us as good!

I’d seen my specialist a few times and although my womb lining was going up very very slowly, he expected more in the time frame we had been working on. He upped my dosage of Tamoxifen which is a drug used to help with ovulation and female fertility and again told me that I needed to rest more. I remember him specifically saying – there is no healthy womb without healthy adrenals and given that I was still smashing mine into the ground, I didn’t have much hope.

So….I booked myself on a Fertility Enhancement Plan at Simply Healing Detox Retreat. The retreat has a long history of successfully helping couples in their quest for a child and offers the very best in juice combinations and stimulating body treatments that will aid your chances of conceiving.

There number one priority is to help you de-stress, relax your mind, and enhance you mentally and physically, it was an opportunity that I couldn’t miss.

After speaking to Vivien who explained that the detox would  clear my body of old toxins, chemicals, negative thoughts, and leave you more positive, lighter and healthier, I couldn’t wait to go. A whole five days of working on my fertility and getting some much needed R&R.

The house was lovely. On arrival I was instantly welcomed by roaring fires and friendly staff, including Vivien who whisked me away to a room and talked about my history and why I was there.

During our chat I had my first fruit and vegetable juice, a pro-biotic and some clay to help fill my tummy and start the detox process, then it was early to bed.

Throughout my five days at the retreat I did NO exercise apart from the odd morning walk with the rest of the group and 10 minutes a day on the Reviber Plus which helps boost your metabolism and stimulate your lymph glands. We lived off five juices a day and a potassium broth in the evening, which was nice and warm – it reminded me of a hot evening meal – minus the chewing (and bread). We also had lots of early nights, watched a few Dvds and read plenty of magazines & books.

Throughout the week, I also had lots of treatments including a Colonic, 3 x Abdominal Sacral Fertility Massages, which can relieve the symptoms of polycystic ovaries, endometriosis and tilted uterus, a one to One Nutritional Consultation, some hypnotherapy, which deals with emotional issues, negative beliefs and frees your conscious mind, some reflexology, which helps stimulate the reproductive glands, a Nutritional Group Talk and a few Meditation and Relaxation sessions.

The most amazing thing that happened to me in the week was that i had some healing with Vivien.  Vivien, who has been working as a healer and teacher for many years worked on thickening my womb lining during our session. It was a weird experience. As I lay on the bed her hands hoovered over my stomach and womb area and automatically I felt a magnetic, heat type sensation. The session only lasted for 20 minutes or so but I felt more positive when I jumped off the bed. The next day, I was allowed out of the retreat for a few hours to see my specialist. This isn’t usually allowed but appointments with my doctor are hard to get so my husband came and picked me up and took me to my appointment.

As usual my doctor scanned me – and OMG my womb lining had near enough doubled since seeing him four weeks ago. It had gone from 2mm (stupidly low) to 5mm. I couldn’t believe it – I couldn’t wait to go back and tell Vivien.

The next day I got my period! The first one in over 18 months – again I couldn’t believe it.

Before I left the retreat – feeling like a new women, Vivien gave me one more healing session, where again she worked on my womb lining and calming my mind and body down. Because my levels had gone up so much, my specialist wanted to see me again in a weeks time, so Vivien wanted to do as much as she could before my next appointment.

I would recommend this place to ANYBODY!

Yes it’s expensive but so is IVF. Vivien and her staff are wonderful and you really feel like you are being proactive here. I learnt so much about my body and mind and must admit it was a wake up call. It proved to me that if you nurture your body then it will work properly. Yes, I had some extra help from Vivien with the healing, but I am so grateful that she taught me to take time out, listen to my body and feed it lots of quality ingredients. if you do then you will see results – and I’m definitely a results-driven person!
I’m definitely going to carry on juicing when I get home and will continue to drive the hour journey to see her as much as I can.

I had instant results from this place – and haven’t looked back since!