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"2024: The Gifts of Pain & Struggle" – A Healing Reflection by Seth Tabatznik



Our founder, Seth Tabatznik, shares his transformative journey of gut healing and how the gift of music reignited his joy and sense of purpose.



Eighteen months ago, I was hit with a wake-up call. Feeling unwell, I went for blood tests and discovered my inflammation markers were officially off-the-chart. A routine colonoscopy confirmed a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. This was just the beginning of a cascade of challenges.


With my family moving countries with a young child, another on the way, and a painful shoulder injury limiting the use of my arm, my gut health spiralled. Daily bleeding, diarrhoea, and extreme food sensitivities became my reality. I found myself living on a restrictive diet of bananas, rice, and eggs — a painful irony for someone obsessed and working with local, seasonal food, both personally and professionally. I sought every solution, from doctors and nutritionists to shamanic practices and Western medicine. Some brought temporary relief, but nothing lasted.


I decided to take a radical step: I cleared my calendar, stepped back from work commitments, and made my health my priority.

They say when you lose your health, all other problems fade to one. That was my truth. With empty days stretching ahead, I felt unmoored.


Yet, in this stillness, something unexpected emerged: music.


Music had always been a quiet hobby of mine. Now, it became a life-path. Encouraged by friends, I began to take my music seriously, setting up a simple home studio and recording my songs. As I poured myself into music, it transformed me, igniting a renewed sense of purpose and joy. It was creation that came straight from the heart and brought forth more of who I am here on this earth to be.


Around this time, I connected with friends who were also navigating their own “dark nights of the soul.” One of them introduced me to the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza. His teachings on ‘breaking the habit of being yourself’ and ‘rewiring the body to a new mind’ resonated deeply.


I committed to daily meditations, observing my thoughts, language, and patterns with sharp awareness. Slowly, I felt my body and mind shift. My symptoms lessened, and I began to believe in my own ability to heal.

As my confidence grew, I started trail running again, aiming to complete a trail marathon — a dream I had shelved due to my health struggles. I also made a profound shift in perspective and language: when people asked how I was, I stopped leading with my ailments and began saying, “Much better.” This was true, and every time I said it, I felt it more deeply.


I made my life into a kind of retreat as breaking patterns of life while in a regular routine is not easy. We need retreats, whether that’s on a meditation cushion, a sharing group, or going away for a weekend to get some perspective. I was living much more in the present moment and so the flow of life had space to enter and guide me, different from my rigid and busy schedule where there was little room for flow.

 

On my health journey soon followed a turning point. During a call with a psychic family member, a woodpecker started tapping on the window. Minutes later after much distraction from the call the window smashed and shards of glass entered the room.

The bird took off. Change was coming and this auspicious event symbolised a breakthrough. Days later, I received a message from a healer I had been working who guided me through a meditation to release an entity she believed was causing my illness and only now was ready to leave. In a moment during a guided meditation, I felt a sharp pain in my gut vanish, followed by a cold sweat and an undeniable sense of release. In that moment it started raining on the land where the healer was, on the land at 42 Acres, a retreat centre I co-founded 10 years earlier.


A cleanse. I knew in that moment I was healed.


Within 48 hours, my symptoms disappeared. The bleeding and diarrhoea stopped, and I could eat completely freely for the first time in a year. I savoured every bite for weeks, overwhelmed with gratitude.

Over the course of the year I felt like my entire body, mind and spirit received an upgrade. This journey taught me profound lessons about the power of the mind, the importance of positive language, and the role of trust and discipline in healing. I learned that while doctors, healers, and friends can guide us (and I’m deeply grateful for all the support I received, all part of the healing journey!), resilient healing comes from within, from showing up for ourselves with unwavering commitment.


Today, I see this chapter as one of the greatest gifts of my life. It reminded me of my own power to create, transform, and manifest. In a world undergoing immense change, I believe our bodies are messengers, guiding us to listen, grow, and remember who we truly are.

Believing I have learned the ability to manifest anything I want, all I really want is to be grateful for with what I have in each and every moment. To remind myself what a blessing it is to be alive, as creator and witness.



 

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