HI, MY NAME IS SCOTT RILEY...

... and back in June 2014, I was suffering from a severe case of Rheumatoid Arthritis; an auto-immune disorder that western medicine doesn’t fully understand. Simplified, it is a case of your immune system attacking your own body, specifically the joints. The body knows something is wrong and your immune system springs into action, but what if the problem is.. you?

I believe that 23 years of poor diet, badly managed mental health and an almost flat out refusal to live life caused my body to turn on itself. Only when I hit a rock bottom so hard that I was 100 lbs (45 kg) over weight, barely leaving my small apartment because of physical pain and shame about my appearance, was I both desperate and sufficiently inspired to find a new path.

HYDRATION & NUTRITION: MY 60 DAY FAST

Feeling failed by Western Medicine after 4 years trying a cocktail of failed pharmaceutical solutions, I opened my mind to alternatives. In conversation, my brother mentioned 'juice fasting' to me, and it was a moment that would change my life. I watched several documentaries about how people had overcome their chronic illnesses by denying their body the processed food they normally eat, and flooding their system with micronutrients from raw, organic juices.

I decided to go 60 Spartan-strict days without a bite of solid food, following a nutritionally balanced 28-day program put back to back plus a few added days. I also took the decision to end my course of pharmaceutical drugs at this time, as they were having no positive effects and I wanted to give my body the best possible chance to detox. The drugs I were taking were so toxic I required blood tests every two weeks to make they weren’t causing me even more harm.

A LEAP OF FAITH: THE PERUVIAN AMAZON

My juice fast was successful but plans for the next step had already been made, long before I ever knew that would be the case. Near the start of my juice journey, I booked a trip 6 months in advance to the middle of the Peruvian Amazon for treatment with their indigenous plant medicines; Bobinsana, Ayahuasca and Huachuma administered by native Shamans of Peru.

These plants (chiefly Ayahuasca) are considered useful in treating both mental illness and auto-immune conditions (perhaps because the two are so connected). However when the time came to fly into the jungle, I was already pharmaceutical drug free and suffering no arthritis symptoms. I feel this allowed me to focus healing on my mind, more than my body. And after being on & off anti-depressants since the age of 17, my brain was long overdue some attention.

FROM ‘PREVENTION’ TO ‘OPTIMISATION’

I returned from 3 weeks in the Amazon with a lifetime of lessons. It was my first introduction to 'tribe' and opening my heart, after connecting with over 20 incredible people in the jungle sanctuary. I also realised my true calling to help others who were depressed, chronically ill or just wanted to improve their life circumstances, and this lead me to get qualified as a Chek Academy Holistic Lifestyle Coach in the months that followed my return to the UK.

I continued to investigate ways of looking after myself to ensure the symptoms of the illness I suffered wouldn’t return, however when I found the Wim Hof Method (as a means of reliably reducing inflammation in the body), my focus shift more towards what I was capable of in the present and future, more than running from fear in the past. I dedicated myself to this breathing and cold training technique and became the first and only instructor in my home of N.Ireland.

FULFILLING THE INTENTIONS SET IN PERU

The Wim Hof Method didn't just make me fitter, more resilient to stress and realise I was capable of anything. It was also the catalyst for creating Causeway Living. Through the Wim Hof Method, I was lucky enough to meet people I now count as family, and through the love and support from these incredible humans (just as in the Peruvian Amazon), I was pushed to grow. I was encourage to create Causeway Living and share my story and all that I’d learnt on the way.

Even though at times it seem that story appears to be more about giant leaps of faith than small, practical steps, it's important to remember the extreme circumstances I was starting out from. As strange as it sounds, I'm extremely grateful for those years of mental and physical suffering, because without the chance to hit rock bottom, I wouldn’t have discovered the same simple and effective path to get more from life that developed into Causeway. I learnt the hard way so you don't have to, and now I'm living my dream of helping others to do the same.