Our guest Shay Merritt Hughes, is the owner of Merritt Clinical Wellness in Apex, North Carolina.  

Her business is unique, as is her personal journey.  

Merritt Clinical Wellness is an evidenced-based rehabilitation and injury prevention practice. Its focus is on the soft tissue realignment of the body through the pelvis. 

Bringing oneself back into alignment not only reduces pain, but it can help one move more freely and balanced. 

Known as a“realignment therapist,” Shay has helped those who have been injured or recovering from surgery, get back in shape—even after others told them it couldn’t be done.  She says was born to do this work, by uniquely combining therapeutic massage with bodywork.

Shay trained with renowned bodyworker Thomas Myers, author of Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement. He has also produced more than 20 online learning courses based on Anatomy Trains and collaborates with various body-oriented professional groups. Thomas and his faculty conduct professional development courses and certification in Structural Integration worldwide.

Today, Shay is also bravely joining us with a purpose beyond promoting her business--To share her story of how she reclaimed her worthiness after a suicide attempt at age 26.  With so much going on in the world today, and some believing we may even have a new pandemic of mental health challenges, Shay felt compelled to share, to help someone else who may find themselves in a dark place in their lives.

She now lives on a farm in North Carolina as a newlywed with her “very understanding husband,” 3 horses, a donkey, and 4 kittens.  She recently started a non-profit, “The Purrs A Lot of Society,” for rescuing, rehabilitating, and then “re-homing” kittens.

INTRO:

Gail/Host: Shay, first of all, I want to thank you for your enormous courage in coming forth to share the story of your attempted suicide in your 20s—and the inspiring ways you have reclaimed your worthiness to live. Now at age 42, you have much wisdom and perspective from that journey.  And before we hear all the gems, can you please bring us back to that “desperate” day when you tried to take your life?

 
Shay: At 26, I was at a very dark place in life, lower than ever, “felt damaged,” without hope of getting better.  I felt I had no value, no worthiness in the world...it was a culmination of things, abusive childhood.  Then the weekend after New Year’s Eve 16 years ago, “the darkness engulfed me.”  I was full of darkness and despair.

What was the trigger that set you off?

SHAY:  My ex-boyfriend and I had a nasty fight, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back ... I was away from home, in a state where I didn't know a lot of people, no secure friendships...when you add all these things together, it effects your mental health in a way that you feel like you're in a bottle and you can't get out.  I took pills, went to ER, and my boyfriend carried a lot of guilt, but my suicide attempt was based on multiple years of problems of being born to 2 parents who didn’t want me...I knew from a young age that they didn’t want me.

 
...That day was the start of something really good for me...I had to have that day for the good to come to me later.

"I make it a point now to tell those in my life, including my animals, that they are safe, they are wanted and they are loved."

How did your suicide attempt transform your life?

SHAY: "The first year after was tough.  There is no quick rebound--it’s like being in recovery for the rest of your life... for two years, in that moment when I remembered that day, I wanted to go home, by home, I mean, I wanted to go to heaven....That first year the challenge was I was still in a dark cloud, not a dark space, but a dark cloud.  I had to forgive myself and I had to claim I was worthy enough to go on and that I survived for a reason.  God wasn’t done with me yet.”

What advice do you have for others in a dark place, contemplating suicide?

• Talk to somebody NOT RELATED TO YOU.
• Go to a safe place, and if you don’t have one, you can contact me.
• YOU DESERVE THAT, TO BE HEARD.  
• Make an effort to find that light. You're worth it.  You're worth saving.  You're worth surviving.
• You can't thrive if you don't survive.
• Take it one day at a time, and one step at a time.

“Sometimes good things come from a dark place." ~Shay Merritt Hughes

"For me, there were tough decisions after that...I started changing, been with my boyfriend since I was 19...unhappy for last 2 years...stayed with him because I thought I should...then it clicked...NO, I should take care of me, and came home to North Carolina from Texas...I moved in with a girlfriend...went to school, trained as vet tech, then aesthetician, and rolled into massage when things really fell into place.”

“I feel like I became the person God always wanted me to be.”

At 34/35,  got her first job, 7 months in her career, I was trying to help a client with a particular issue and found this guy on YouTube—Thomas Myers (which was DIVINE INTERVENTION, according to Shay). Thomas is a renowned bodyworker.

Shay ended up training with him, and resonated immediately with his style of bodywork...no nonsense...it works...consistently effective.

GAIL:  Do you work with mostly with the injured?  

SHAY: “Yes, everybody’s been injured.”  From 8 years to 106 years old, I have no niche market.

Any other thoughts on helping someone claim their worthiness to live as you did?

“God always has a plan.  You might not see it right now, but if you end it today, you will never see it.”

“I decided I was worth saving, and not only did I survive, but I went on and thrived.”

“It didn’t end at surviving, and it doesn’t end at thriving.  It ends when the sun is setting in the ocean, and I am a long way from the beach, darling.”

Shay most wants listeners to remember this is:  "You don't HAVE to do it alone...there's nothing that says you have to be alone for the rest of your life, and you have to relive your past.  You don't.  Every day is a new day, and even if you make the smallest step today to talk to someone, that is step one." 

To learn more about Shay’s therapeutic clinical massage business, check out her website, 

https://merrittclinicalwellness.com/

To learn more about her non-profit, “The Purrs A Lot Society,” for rescuing, rehabilitating, and then “re-homing” kittens, check out the