Hi Sophia, thank you for being here! Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
Hi Julie, thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to share my story! I am 26 years old, I’m from Germany and live in the beautiful area of the Starnberger Lake in Bavaria with my husband and our dog.
You mentioned that you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. For how long have you been experiencing these symptoms and what kind of treatment did you do until now to help you heal?
I have been dealing with health issues from very early on in my life, it started with severe eczema and food sensitivities when I was just a few months old. The symptoms changed over the years, I was dealing with IBS, severe allergies, chronic fatigue, anxiety, cysts, parodontitis, reoccurring bladder infections (almost every week for a year), severe multiple chemical sensitivity, muscle and joint pain.
When I was 22 years old most of my symptoms started getting a lot worse and I was unable to go to uni a lot of the time, I have studied Osteopathic Medicine so I thought someone at Uni must be able to help me, but no one was, which was very surprising to me but started my journey of diving much deeper into holistic healing.
So I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when I was 22 and tried loads of different healing approaches in the 3 years following.
Some of them were:
- Paleo diet (went horribly wrong of course)
- Surgery for NICO (neuralgia inducing cavitational necrosis)
- Treatment with an Ayurveda Doctor
- Treatment with an Homeopathy therapist
- Treatment with a very good alternative doctor, he treated me with Applied Kinesiology, an IV heavy metal cleanse and a lot of vitamins & micronutrients that I was missing (which helped the most but still could not heal me)
- Eating gluten free
Then I decided to go vegan as my husband – back then he was still my boyfriend – had been reading books like the China Study.
Later on I found Anthony William’s books (Medical Medium) and decided to give it a try as I had heard some successful stories of healing on Instagram.
Eating more cleanly and a lot more fruits and vegetables significantly increased my state of health and I was able to get out of bed most days! Detox was hard but I did it anyway as it was the first thing that drastically improved my health.
A few months later I went 95% raw as my healing was stagnating, then in January 2019 I saw you, Julie, post about Dr Joe Dispenza’s book Becoming Supernatural and ordered it as so many of your tips have been very helpful for my healing journey, to be honest you instagram account was my absolute favorite healing account 😀
Can you tell us more about your experience with meditating, and when you started to incorporate them in your healing protocol?
Reading Becoming Supernatural was the start of a very magical journey for me – a journey that I would have never expected!
I started meditating daily in March this year which was very hard for me in the beginning as even staying awake was challenging, I pushed through and step by step gained the strength to sit up during a whole 45 minute meditation which was a complete game changer for me and a huge step in my healing.
In the beginning my body really bucked and kicked like an unbridled stallion as Dr Joe likes to explain, I experienced severe nausea the first times when trying to meditate sitting up, my body started itching, getting uncomfortable and I was near to losing consciousness during the breath (a special breathing technique of Dr Joe) a few times.
Not to forget the reoccurring voice in my head that said: Oh start tomorrow, you had a bad night / are too weak / this and that happened or just quit it all together.. that voice really is insane. I did not give in and gained control back over my body, as Dr Joe says ‘when you master your body, you master your life’ which I have experienced to be absolutely true.
I was eating a 95% raw vegan diet, doing Dr Joe Dispenza’s meditations every day (even when I did not feel like it) and my health drastically improved during this time, I gained strength and felt that everything was going to be alright. It was a magical transition for me, and actually still is.
You mentioned that you attended a meditation retreat held by Dr Joe Dispenza. Can you tell us about your experience there? Some people report they can sense a very strong energy during the retreat, could you feel that too? Do you think that the meditations were easier there than they are at home?
Yes I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a Progressive Workshop in Edinburgh, I really wanted to go to learn more and meet people who share the same interest. Somehow it all worked out although the workshop was already sold out and I had not been traveling for years as my chemical sensitivity was holding me back from even taking public transportation.
I didn’t let my body get back into the old thinking loop of ‘everything is going to go wrong’ and although I was a bit nervous everything turned out great which was one of the most beautiful experiences I ever had. The workshop was absolutely incredible! We were taught very helpful information and science by Dr Joe and the meditations were very well thought out and wonderful.
I too could sense a very strong energy during the meditations which I am sure made going into a deeper meditative state easier.
What do you think led you to experience this deep meditative and healing state? Do you have any tips you could share to reach this point during meditation?
Yes! As I said the energy in the room really helped, but at home what helps for me is :
- meditating early in the morning (between 4 and 6 am) as your brain is already in a more relaxed state (alpha brain waves)
- not trying to achieve a certain outcome but instead just doing the meditation without any expectation
- practicing to stay in the present moment (very important!) I have been practicing this by doing Dr Joe’s ‘The generous present moment’ meditation for 28 days straight at 4 am which led my brain to form the neuronal network to stay in the present moment and be no one, no where etc which is the state where profound healing can occur
A lot of people report getting detox symptoms at the end of Joe Dispenza’s retreats, is it something that you experienced as well?
Surprisingly this happened to me too yes! On the way home from Edinburgh my throat started getting very dry and itchy and I was then sick for about 4 days with symptoms of a cold. Although I was sick, I was feeling happy and energised, it was a completely new experience.
You can find more about this on Dr Joe’s blog, just search for reaction to a biological upgrade, it’s a fascinating topic I think.
How long did it take for you to feel better after the retreat, and how has it been since then?
I already felt so much better when I came to the retreat! Committing to a daily meditation practice helped me tremendously.
But a very big shift happened to me in a meditation on the last day of this 2 1/2 day retreat.
I was fully going for it when doing the breath (a special breathing technique to pull the mind out of the body) and then during the part of the meditation where you become no one in no time, no where etc I really surrendered, I just let go and with my awareness only slipped into a very deep state of meditation which allowed my autonomic nervous system to reorganize itself.
I felt a very profound sense of love and being taken care of, I had never felt anything similar before in my life. The state I have been in in this meditation is still indescribable to me, maybe it will always be in this realm.
After coming back out of the meditation tears were flowing down my face and I was unable to speak for a while, my heart was still so swollen of love.
In the lunch break afterwards I simply knew I was able to eat anything I wanted so I had my mango and smoothie, but then went and bought a vegan wrap which included gluten and all kinds of foods I was not able to eat before.
I did not fully trust it yet but I really enjoyed eating this delicious wrap as I had not eaten anything like it for 2 years.
My feeling was right and I tolerated the wrap, in the weeks after the retreat I have slowly eased from a 95% raw vegan diet into a vegan diet that includes gluten and fat, but still a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables as it is important to keep your body nurtured. I am very happy with this change as most non raw vegan foods made my symptoms much worse before attending the workshop.
So I don’t have to stick do a certain diet to reduce inflammation in my body as my body does not ache any longer, my joint and muscle pain is gone, I am not fatigued anymore and am totally fine with sleeping 6 hours a night. Most of my symptoms are gone or a lot better. It’s unbelievable! I just booked my first advanced week long retreat with Dr Joe in November and am very excited for it, I’m now ready to create a whole new life as the new healthy Sophia 😀
Would you have any additional tips to give to people dealing with chronic illness, and especially rheumatoid arthritis?
My tip for everyone, not just for people who are dealing with heal issues, but for absolutely everyone who wants to live a happy and fulfilled life is to do Dr Joe Dispenza’s work. Overcome yourself again and again to build a new self. It’s so worth it, every single time. Your heart will expand and you will feel a love that you have never felt before. It’s magical 🙂
Thank you so much Sophia for sharing your experience with us, we appreciate it so much!
14 Comments on “Interview – How Sophia Healed Her Rheumatoid Arthritis Using Meditation”
Hi Julie, thank you very much for this artical, it is so inspirational, as are you with sharing all your experiences. Can I just ask you one question? How do you manage not to faĺl asleep during the meditation when you are trying to meditate very early in the morning? Thank you very much for reply and all the work you are doing. Wish u the happiest life you can ever imagine :-). Erika
Hi Erika, thank you, Sophia’s story is amazing and I’m glad if it inspires people!
I don’t know for Sophia, maybe if she reads this she can share her experience, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve never once set the alarm at 4 to do the meditations. I first started doing them in the morning and in the evening, since those were my favorite times to meditate. And the more I meditated, the more I started to produce chemicals that my body started to crave – and I naturally woke up in the middle of the night to meditate. Sometimes it’s 3am, sometimes 5am, sometimes 4am… it depends. I’d say if you’re recovering and you need a lot of sleep, then sleep. That’s so important. Start meditating during the day and ultimately you’ll know when you’re ready for those nocturnal meditative experiences 🙂
Thank you very much for your reply, Julie.
What an incredible story! It is very inspiring and motivating. Thank you so much to both of you for sharing. ?
An excellent insight into genuine healing…. thank you with an abundance of blessings??
Danke,danke, danke…..!!!?
What an amazing healing story!! Thank you for sharing, Julie! The power of the mind and meditation is incredible and I wish more people understood the mind-body connection. Thanks for sharing!! And congrats on your healing Sophia – you deserve every minute of happiness!
Thank you Brittany! You too do deserve every minute of happiness! in fact we all do 🙂
xx
Sophia
Thanks so much to both of you for sharing this story – I love to read things that fill me with hope. Can I ask which meditations Sophia used and which you recommend to start with? I have only tried one so far (Tuning in to new potentials) – but the strange voice he spoke in really threw me and made me feel so weird I had to stop it. I found it quite stressful and my instinct tells me meditations should be calming and peaceful. Does he do this in all his meditations? Perhaps you could talk about this in your next blog post Julie? Thank you so very very much for all that you do and share to help others – I deeply appreciate it and have learned so much from you. Much love, Zoë
You’re welcome, we’re happy to help! Joe Dispenza’s meditations are not the kind to tell you to relax and drift off to sleep. That’s more relaxation than meditation actually…his meditations are tailored to slow down your brain waves and access your parasympathetic nervous system to turn off flight and fight mode. And when doing so, you’re raising your body’s energy by going into a state of elevated emotion and literally bringing your dream future to you. His voice threw me off at the beginning too, but trust me he’s studied it enough times to know exactly which voice tone triggers which reaction in the brain, and everything in his meditations has a purpose. If you want to meditate to relax, you can try the mindful movement on youtube, Sarah has a wonderful soothing voice, or Jason Stephenson and his meditation “heal” are also great. Joe’s Dispenza’s meditation are just something else… they allow you to access a future that’s not there yet. That’s when the magic happens 🙂
wow!! Thank you for sharing 🙂 I too have lots of difficulty in concentrating while I am meditating – a lot of thoughts come into my mind at that time. Is it bad in meditating while lying in bed? I usually do my meditation in bed
What a beautiful and inspiring story!?
Dear julie, what a great story! So proud of you and so inspiring! Can I ask how long did it take you to heal, how many weeks/months before you could eat more? I am also on a very restricted diet (clint paddison baseline for two years) but became anxious for food and lost weight. I started with joe dispenza and I am flabbergasted! This is amazing. But I think of starting mtx also because of the dieet. Can i do it both or do you recommend only joe. Is the weekend retreat a must or can i do it alone? Thanks so much!
I’m in tears of joy and gratitude. Thank you both for being a light, a guidance of healing and self love. God bless you both!