Do you want to be part of a dancing, wedding party procession for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant? YES YES and YES!
Everything makes sense now!
Dance is my saviour, my healer and my utmost bliss! I mean who doesn’t relish in that feeling of liberation and euphoria, which can release the stresses of everyday life?
Suddenly, events took a turn for the worse in my life… I was forced to give up my love, my passion, my joy. My hidden disability decided to progress and I experienced complete paralysis chest down.
You see, I have a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica. Both are neurological disorders affecting the brain and spinal cord which cause symptoms such as vison loss, balance issues, and numbness. I have experienced all these and more…
My paralysis in 2020, denied me the ability to walk. I’m saying… to walk at all. My dreams to dance, to one day open my own dance school for children, were shattered in a sheer moment.
Put aside dancing… I had to relearn how to walk again. This is when you realise that there’s a reason why your family kept your grandmother’s walking aids! At the age of 40 something, of course you don’t wanna be busting a zimmerframe, however I had no choice.
In the subsequent weeks, Covid became my excuse to hibernate, whilst I experienced perhaps the lowest moments in my life.
Being someone in their early forties who is going through severe debilitation, leads to a natural analysis of your life’s direction and purpose. I encountered a variety of emotions and kept questioning myself:
Why is this happening to me?
What have I done that is so bad to deserve this?
Will I ever live a normal life again?
How will I take care of my children?
I spent much of the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 regaining my physical strength and ability to walk again. As a Primary School Teacher, I was unable to work, so utilised my time effectively to train as a Jay Shetty Certified Life Coach. I feel a passion and calling to support others through their hurts, pains and disappointments. After all, I have experienced these all first hand, so if anyone gets it, I do!
Perhaps I have a story to tell, which will inspire others…
It is all making sense to me right now!
You see I can now walk again…independently, freely and carefree! It’s when you lose a basic function such as the ability to walk, that you appreciate each day you can place one foot in front of the other.
I am incredibly ecstatic to be part of this wonderful wedding party procession for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant! I do so hope that I can make her proud! Let the celebrations begin!
Niketa Vakani