A Little Bit About Me

Welcome to Meaningful Movement! My name is Helana M. Richason, and my story started almost 5 years ago on October 27th, 2016. That is the day I lost my older sister, Havala, to Lupus.

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At a young age, I always wanted to help people holistically, so chose to start a career as a Licensed Massage Therapist in 2002. Eventually, I came to a point when I hurt after every massage that I gave. I could no longer keep up with the 9 hours of massages that I performed daily. As time went on, I thought that arthritis pain was keeping me from giving my clients the therapeutic massage they deserved. After almost 10 amazing years in practice, I decided that it was time to give up my license and focus on my health.

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In the meantime, my sister was struggling every day with pain from complications of Lupus and eventually lost her life on that terrible day at the young age of 41. This event changed the whole trajectory of my future.

After losing my sister and much thought about my health, I decided to see a doctor for a check-up and to diagnose what I thought was arthritis. Many tests later, I learned I was wrong. I was subsequently diagnosed with both Lupus and Hashimoto’s Disease. At the time I discovered this, I was hurting from inflammation, limping around, and was close to 300 pounds. I was told by my Rheumatoid arthritis doctor, (by the way the same doctor who treated my sister) that I needed to be on pain medication to manage all my pain. I told him I wouldn’t take the medication and that I’d find a way to heal without them. His advice to me also included to not work out too much or my body would become too inflamed. I needed to do something. I needed to take my health back!

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After going to the mortuary to visit my sister’s grave on her birthday, I committed to starting, what I knew would be, a long but fulling journey! I chose to start my journey on January 7th, 2019. I knew I needed to pick this special day to keep myself accountable and I wanted to keep my sister close to me. My sister’s predicament became my reason to want to get better, NOT my excuse to just give up!

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Now, almost 2 full years later, on Christmas Eve 2020, I met my goal of 120 pounds down. I have NO inflammation and two autoimmune diseases under control. This was done through clean eating practices and movement! My mission now is to help others like me through education in movement and diet. Most of us are told regularly by doctors that there is NO hope. They say, “Take these drugs and live a sedentary lifestyle.”. This is not the case! You can take your health back! Let me help you discover being the best YOU! Let me help YOU take your life back, too!