Hello!
My name is Lisa Caldwell. I have super-loud tinnitus, but I still live a happy life. Happiness and tinnitus don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You can live a life that contains both! This newsletter shows you how.
I lead a happy life even though:
I live with the sound of a 747 preparing for take-off in my head 24/7
endometriosis robbed me of the chance to have children
I suffer with widespread chronic pain, using crutches, a rollator and a powerchair to get around.
I’m waiting for two knee replacements (I’m only 52!)
and, as the last New Year chimed in, I was given a stoma and an ileostomy (which I have named Bilbo Baggins!).
As each and every one of these experiences has occurred I’ve had to re-learn how to be happy.
Happiness hasn’t always come naturally to me. A born perfectionist and worrier, I excelled in noticing what was wrong with my life, rather than what was right. At school and university I was only happy if I was getting 10/10 or at the top of the class. And, given that I studied Law at Cambridge University with some exceedingly bright minds, that inevitably mean I spent a lot of my time there pretty unhappy!
It was that experience of university in the early 1990s that started me on my lifelong path of studying how to be happy. I realised that I couldn’t go through the intense pressure of studying for my Finals without some tools to help me stay sane. This was back in the days when any pleas for help from your supervisor were met with the advice that “no-one can do this except you” and “you’ve just got to get on with it”.
So, on my Easter break before my final exams I did just that. I caught a bus into Leeds city centre and browsed the shelves at the City Library. It was there that I found the first tool that revolutionised my life as a student, both in that last year at Cambridge, and at Law School afterwards—autogenic relaxation.
I specialise in helping people with tinnitus live a happy life, even with buzzing, hissing, pinging, or singing in their heads. It might sound out of reach now, but it is absolutely and entirely possible!
I’m a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and have studied CBT for tinnitus with Dr Hashir Aazh. I love the principles of positive psychology and apply these in my coaching sessions.
I’ve been helping people with hearing loss and tinnitus now for 9 years. I love seeing the transformation that comes from refusing to put off being happy until that elusive tinnitus cure appears, but instead learning to manage tinnitus the best we can right now. If you want a happy life even with tinnitus, start your journey now by subscribing to The Buzz for free.
Happiness awaits!
Love, Lisa x
