About
Abigail Steidley, Mind-Body Coach
A Little Background
Abigail grew up in Wyoming, studied music at the University of Wyoming, and began a career as a violin teacher. She and her husband Scott, a Naval officer in the Civil Engineer Corps, lived in Florida, South Carolina, California, and finally, Virginia Beach, Virginia, where they settled for four years. While in Virginia, Abigail read Finding Your North Star, by Martha Beck. Her North Star beckoned, and when she and Scott decided to return to Wyoming, she enrolled with Martha Beck Inc. as a student of life coaching. This is the very short explanation behind her decision to become a Martha Beck Coach.
Dealing with Pelvic Pain
In between all of those normal life events, Abigail went through a major life upheaval. She encountered a few pelvic pain syndromes: interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, and pelvic floor dysfunction. As you might imagine, at first she was pretty much slammed by the pain and other symptoms, and spiraled down into a nasty depression. The symptoms grew for years before they were diagnosed as IC, etc. Upon the diagnosis, Abigail decided to see a specialist (the last in a long line of doctors who had not been able to help). While she was delighted to know she wasn’t crazy, and there was a name for the myriad of odd symptoms and intense pain, she was not delighted to discover the specialist wasn’t helping much.
Becoming a Mind-Body Coach
As a result, Abigail embarked on a new and exciting journey into mind-body healing. She read books, talked to people, and experimented. Guess what – it worked! Obviously happy to have been released from the pain, the cycles of despair, and the whole issue, she spent a couple of years enjoying her new-found health. But in the back of her mind, she couldn’t stop thinking about the incredible power of mind-body healing, and found herself reading about it for fun. Then she felt pulled to become a Martha Beck Coach. Two months into training, it hit her like a ton of bricks – a true AHA moment. She knew she was meant to teach mind-body healing to other people with pelvic pain issues, and coaching was the perfect way to do so. Suddenly she knew why she had felt called to become a coach! It all became clear.
Weight Loss and More
During her journey to health, Abigail discovered the power of the mind-body connection and its far-reaching benefits. Having spent much of her twenties over fifty pounds overweight, she was tired of struggling with guilt around food, obsessing about what to eat or not to eat, and hating her body. Though her focus was primarily pain relief, in working with her mind and body together, she learned how to team up her brain with her body to lose weight. Having spent the last eight years at her natural weight, she is happy to be so clear around food and body image. Even more, she no longer feels constant anxiety and stress. Discovering mind-body wisdom completely transformed her life, allowing her to create not only health, but fantastic relationships with her body, husband, parents, and friends. She’s no longer the shy, afraid, tense person of her twenties. She has blossomed into a strong, confident, comfortable, relaxed, and much more fun woman! For this reason, she is thankful for the pain, startling as it sounds. It gave her an incredible learning experience that led to a complete transformation, and for that she is very grateful.
Current Credentials/Interesting Info
Abigail’s training includes two rounds of Martha Beck coach training and Self Coaching 101 training under Brooke Castillo. She is Self Coaching 101 Certified and is a Master Martha Beck Coach. She was recently interviewed and quoted for the Interstitial Cystitis Association publication ICA Update Special Issue: Complementary and Alternative Medicine, (Summer 2009) where she is listed as a CAM IC resource. The Vagina Dialogues is a featured blog on the TMS wiki, an informational site for people wanting to learn more about mind-body healing as taught by John Sarno, M.D. She is excited to help her clients learn mind-body healing techniques, understand the dynamic between mind and body and the creation of physical and emotional pain, and embark on the inner growth process that is mind-body healing.
“Abigail Steidley is a good coach for bad times. Her coaching can make your life better no matter what your circumstances, but when things get tough she is really in her element. Her ability to forge and strengthen mind-body-spirit connections for her clients make her a safe haven in life’s stormy times. Abigail’s kindness, her wit, her intelligence, and her determination are formidable allies for her clients.”
- Martha Beck
Abigail’s Story
To hear Abigail talking about her process from pain to health, check out this download. Though a more detailed recording of her story is in the works, for now, this one is still available:
Abigail’s Story Interview Link: Interview with Susan Bilheimer.
Please understand that this interview does not include everything about my mind-body healing experience. I am currently working on another recording to clearly explain more about my personal mind-body healing story. This interview was directed by Susan Bilheimer, who is new to the mind-body concept and focusing her questions to assist her research in pelvic pain and its affect on relationships.
Since this interview is long and the file is large, you may want to download it to your desktop rather than listen to it online. To do that, right click (control click for Mac users) the link and select “Save Link As.”
