A Master of Disaster
My name is Kat Finnerty. I’m an author, yoga and fitness instructor, nutritionist and mum of three. I currently work as a retreat facilitator/motivator for the Food Matters/Gaia Network, which is the largest transformational media network in the world (2 million + followers). I’m lucky enough to consider Laurentine Ten Bosch and James Colquhoun, the founders of Food Matters (and now current CEO of Gaia) as personal friends and mentors. In a past life, I was a former gym owner and top-selling Thermomix sales rep.
But although all these opportunities have contributed to shaping my life they haven’t defined it. That privilege belongs to the never-ending series of ’disasters and KATastrophes that have befallen me since I was born. I actually feel very blessed and fortunate to have experienced all my disasters.
No doubt you’re probably wondering why.
Let me explain…
My childhood and teenage years in Canada as one of five kids were marred by horrific migraines that kicked in at age six and lasted almost ten years.
This was followed by my mother’s death at age 12 and an eventual suicide attempt at 16 after my life fell apart.
I decided to toughen myself up at 18 by enrolling in the army. This pushed me to my physical and mental limits and taught me resilience and mental fortitude.
However, following my discharge, I was involved in a motorcycle accident that resulted in me nearly losing my leg, I recovered, only to be diagnosed a few years later with an “incurable” auto-immune disease, multiple sclerosis (MS).
I was told by doctors I’d most likely be in a wheelchair by 40.
My Battle for Survival
What followed next was a decade-long battle to stop disease and disability from ravaging my body. I suffered dozens of debilitating attacks, battled depression, contemplated suicide (again) and came close to death numerous times.
Luckily, I had nine “Kat” lives up my sleeve (plus some cutting-edge drugs and gene therapies!). And just when I thought I was out of the woods, I was forced to confront my husband’s betrayal on my 40th birthday when he left me for another woman.
It took all my willpower, plus a lifetime of experience transforming all my previous disasters, to overcome it. Remarkably, I managed to achieve this in 12 hours (find out how in my memoir HERE).
Mastering my Disasters
A video taken in 2007 when I was struggling to walk. I was being assessed for stem cell therapy by doctors at the Weizmann institute in Israel.
So when I say ‘fortunate’ I mean that all my disasters have helped shape me into who I am today.
They’ve given me the courage, strength and conviction to transform my life, overcome betrayal and adversity and find a cure for my incurable disease.
I’m proud to say I’ve now been in remission for almost ten years and even more importantly, I’ve also reversed nearly all of my previous symptoms and disabilities.
As far as I know, I’m part of a very small, very select group of people to have achieved this (out of nearly three million MS sufferers worldwide),
I attribute a huge part of my recovery and my journey back into life, health and sanity to my ability to master my disasters by radically flipping my mindset and perception.
The 12 principles
At the core of my MOD philosophy are my 12 principles. These principles represent the distillation of all the mental and spiritual life lessons I discovered along the way. Buddhism, Stoicism, Hindusim, Christianity, the great philosophers, they’ve all contributed to these principles in some way.
Adhering to my 12 principles gave me the courage and conviction to stay the path and transform my pain. I now teach these principles to others at my health and wellness retreats, along with yoga and nutrition (part of my Master of Disaster process).
My goal is to share this wisdom with as many people as possible through my books, blogs, courses and Master of Disaster (MOD) Community so that no one has to suffer for a minute longer than they need to.
WANT IN?
Send me the 12 Principles
We respect your privacy.
Family
My journey has never been about money, pride, ego or celebrity. And I am not a preacher, a guru, or a self-help prophet.
I’m a perfectly imperfect mum of three who simply got sick of being stuck in a constant cycle of suffering and decided to put in the mental and spiritual hard yards to do something about it.
By embracing the concept of never letting a good disaster go to waste I have transformed my life and I want to share my story and insights so you can too.
Contact Kat
Contact Kat
Want to book me for a retreat or as a speaker or for a one-on-one consult?