Her Body Began To React To Years Of Her Not Listening
What she did next changed everything
For a long time, I thought being a good person meant being agreeable and pleasing.
Being loving meant being accommodating.
Being kind meant overriding my feelings.
And being successful meant not rocking the boat.
I was very good at that version of life. I built a respected corporate career where I succeeded and did well. I did what was expected. I made responsible choices. I became a wife and a mother, and from the outside, everything looked solid. Stable. Shiny.
But inwardly, I was slowly disappearing.
I had learned long before I could name it to silence my own needs. To over empathize. To shape shift for others’ approval. To prioritize harmony over honesty. To override the quiet voice inside me that knew when something wasn’t right.
I told myself that was strength. That was kindness. That was maturity.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was practicing self-betrayal. Deeply and fully abandoning myself.
The first wake-up calls were subtle. A heaviness in my chest. A constant sense of being “on.” A quiet grief I stuffed down with sugar. A sadness I couldn’t justify. A feeling of “not being enough.”
I ignored it. I started having children, and this was not a good time to question anything.
But intuition doesn’t operate on our preferred timelines.
The soul has a different plan that runs on divine time, not human time.
As my marriage became increasingly misaligned, with two children under the age of two, my intuition decided it was time for my cosmic wake-up alarm to go off.
My body began to react to the years of not listening. I experienced a terrifying panic attack. I was exhausted in a way sleep didn’t fix. My mind felt foggy. My spark dimmed. Eventually, my thyroid stopped functioning properly.
I now understand the symbolism clearly, but at the time, it felt overwhelming and daunting, yet also eye-opening. Figuratively and literally, I felt my (third) eye open.
As well as my throat and my voice. The place of truth and expression. I hadn’t been speaking mine. I had shoved my voice way down into the ground, but now she was ready to emerge in the light.
One day, while on vacation, shopping with a friend at a Target in West Palm Beach, Florida, my body made the message impossible to ignore. I passed out and saw myself lying on the concrete floor, disoriented and scared. I had a moment of clarity that cut through everything: I cannot keep living this way.
That was my shift.
I finally admitted what wasn’t working and felt an inner, loving presence that was guiding me beyond my understanding.
In the months that followed, I began listening differently. Not to fear. Not to obligation. But to something quieter and steadier inside me.
I started asking new questions like: “What is being asked of me now?” and “What is the most loving thing I can do here?”
The answers required courage. And massive trust. I left my marriage with two very young children in tow. I became a single parent at a time that felt impossibly hard. Divine timing, I learned, has a way of arriving when it feels anything but ideal, yet it is often leading us toward something more true, aligned, and right.
I also felt called to understand the deeper connection between the mind, body, soul, and inner wisdom. I returned to school to earn a master’s degree in health and wellness coaching, with an integrative focus on mind-body science.
What I was learning intellectually mirrored what I was discovering intuitively: the body never lies, and intuition speaks through sensation, emotion, and inner knowing long before the mind catches up. In fact, my body had been signaling to me for years, and I had used my thoughts to rationalize and push those signals away.
I made a vow to myself. I would never abandon myself again, to the best of my ability. I would live and teach these seemingly magical, yet deeply innate, principles that had saved and transformed my life.
The more I honored my truth, the more my life flourished, my relationships shifted for the better, and my health began to stabilize. The more I listened inward, the more alive and connected I felt.
Eventually, another intuitive nudge arrived audibly, clear as could be, this one even more daunting. I was being asked to leave my corporate career and step into the unknown.
I had no business plan, no safety net, no trust fund, and no guarantees. What I did have was a growing trust in a higher wisdom, one that had already guided me through loss, healing, and profound change. I also had a master’s degree, and a few wonderful clients I loved working with. That work lit me up from the inside out.
So 12 years ago, I took the leap.
Julie explores how to communicate with your Intuition Language™ in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.
Julie Reisler is founder and CEO of Empowered Living, Inc. She is an author, TEDx speaker, and holds a Master’s degree in coaching, with more than 15 years of experience. She has also completed advanced training in yoga, HeartMath, and Positive Neuroplasticity. She founded the Intuitive Life Designer® Coach Academy, a board-certified, soul-centered certification program for heart-led coaches and spiritual seekers. She’s the creator of the INTUITION Framework™ and Intuition Language™ — powerful systems that help people awaken their inner guidance, trust their soul’s wisdom, and live with divine clarity and confidence. Find her at www.juliereisler.com