As you can see it’s been a very long time since I’ve been active with my blog posts. I could go on and on but the truth is, I had a major life-changing event. When defining moments occur it is important to heed the messages. You might wonder, what happened? The simple answer is: Life happened.
In March 2012, I went to my chiropractor, for what might be considered a routine adjustment. I went in and had my adjustment on my lower body. Then the chiropractor was adjusting my neck and immediately I knew something did not feel “right”. I felt a sudden extreme pain in my neck. I noticed it right away and told him before I even left the office. His response: “ice it”.
As it turns out, my pain thresh hold is very high (being a former competitive athlete we are conditioned to work through pain). This was a learning that I was being taught to unlearn.
The pain continued and each day progressively things worsened. I was unable to sleep that night because the pain was too intense. By day three I was unable to lift my head off my pillow, I could only holding my head up with my hand, I had to cancel work meetings, and I was not able to think clearly. My pain tolerance was so high that before I knew it, it was too late, and shock set in. That third night I went into shock and needed to be rushed for medical help.
Long story short, I had dislocated C-1/ C-2 vertebrae, with a stress fracture. Basically: Your head sits on your spinal cord and is connected at C-1/C-2. My head was almost taken off! Essentially, the amount of force that was used on my neck was similar to a high impact car crash.
Diagnosis was questionable. Everything the doctors said was “we’ll have to wait and see”. I was told that I needed to wear this neck brace 24×7, rest and take pain medication (I have never really been one who takes medication but you can see from this picture the pills were helping.)
The brace, although not very sexy, helped take some of the pressure off. It made me feel somewhat safe in, what was now and uncertain future. One side effect was I was once a side sleeper, that was not something I could do any longer. Sleep was not easy and either was walking. Everything took a lot of energy and exhausted me.
Now you might know that we are made up of 100 trillion cells, 22 internal organs, 600 muscles and 206 bones. The energy in which we focus is powerful in how we heal.
There were many dark times the first few months. I thought I might never be pain free. A short list of issues: Pain on a scale of 1-10 was at 9/10 for weeks, I could not hold a purse or grocery bag, I had massive headaches, ringing in my ears constantly and was depressed beyond words. I was in so much pain I had a difficult time accessing who I knew myself to be. As you can imagine this is as painful as the physical pain I was experiencing. I didn’t know what kind of transformation was occurring but I knew this time was to be used to heal.
My healing required a team of people to help: Massages were 3x’s a week to help ease the muscle tightness from the stress (Solluna (619)846-9427 (incredible!), Chiropractor- Dr. Corey Lichtman (Not the one who caused the injury! Dr. Corey was the only one willing to help me get out of pain without pain killers- Awesome healer!!!!!), Phyiscal Theorpy (insurance only covered 20 sessions), Acupuncture (Gordon Merkle- incredible fascia tissue release technique that was a mircle) , Orthopedic Doctor, and Physical Training (Katedeering.com)
In my time of healing and pain I had many dark thoughts. I could barely walk so I would often wonder if I would ever be able to workout again. Would ever laugh without hurting? Would anyone want to be around someone who was in so much pain? The only time I had where I was pain-free was my time with my clients. For each session, I go into my “zone” and my pain would disappear. As soon as the call was over, my pain would resume.
As each week passed I would see small baby improvements. I would focus on the little things and I say to myself: “if I ever get out of this pain I am going to do my life differently.” That was my declaration to myself.
June 2012, I started my training with a personal trainer to pick up with the physical training stopped. I had zero strength. A former athlete I was humbled by how my body had changed. I had gained weight; I could barely walk down the street without being breathless. Something as simple as walls slides brought me to tears. I was sad about my reality. I could not seem to motivate so I needed to find someone to help me get back to my workouts. Katedeering.com has been an incredible help. My strength is back and I am stronger than ever before.
July 2012 was my first outing that was social and unrelated to work. Las Vegas here I come, neck brace and all. If you are going to go out for the first time you might as well make it Las Vegas with 4 women I have never met before. Living, laughing, and having fun is what I am learning to do more of.
I made a decision to change my hair color. Why not have more fun and switch things up a bit?
In that same month I said yes to going on a volunteer trip to Thailand to work at an elephant preserve. Thanksgiving was the perfect time to do something different and appreciate life in a different way. This experience was awe inspiring in many ways. Specifically my experience in feeding the mother and baby elephant was life changing. It was bliss filled. It was if time, sound, and space all merged and the only feeling available was pure love. My heart was opened with these two beings. I am forever grateful.
The next stop was the beautiful dinner at one of the best sky top restaurants in all of Bangkok, Thailand. The dinner was amazing, the conversation with my dear friend was filled with memories and sharing dreams of what might be next. Next for me were thoughts of attending a Tony Robbins seminar. (for those of you who don’t know Tony Robbins had inspired me to want to make a difference in peoples lives many years ago. I had never been to any of his events).
Little did I know that a group of Canadians who just happened to be enjoying the Bangkok nightlife would remind me I am on the “right path”. There would be one Canadian, Oliver, who was actually reading Unleash the Power Within by Tony Robbins on vacation!!!! Really? Who reads that on vacation??!?!?!
A few weeks later, I had an opportunity to meet up again with Oliver for my birthday weekend in Niagara Falls (he didn’t know it was my birthday). For me it was a sign: Yes, I am in!
Less than 4 months later, a two for one came in the email for a Tony Robbins – Unleash the Power Within (UPW) event. I said: Yes!
I attended my first Tony Robbins event where 6000 people walked on fire!!!!! Absolutely incredible!!!!!! Everything you may have heard about Tony Robbins event being like a rock concert is true. It was an experience of a lifetime. I danced, laughed until I cried, and made new friends.
Funny things happen when you open to possibilities, more start to show up. A friend of mine had a spot open up for a hike that I have wanted to go on but unable to get a reservation. Havasu Falls had been on my bucket list for years. I said yes. Finally, this is my chance to go experience the beautiful of the Grand Canyon and the amazing water falls. It was incredible!
Finally, I can say I am back and better than before! I have my MoJo back and I am clearer and more joy filled than ever.
Tips for how I got my MOJO back:
1. I said YES to life. I said YES to the universe. I said, and still say YES, YES, YES.
2. I leveraged what I have known about myself. Focus, being open and discipline would bring greater healing. In addition, I have been open to knowing myself in a different ways. Ways that bring me greater happiness and joy.
3. I had an amazing support team to help me see the light when I couldn’t see it for myself. If you have a dark moment it is key to have people around you who can see you in your glory and grace even when you can’t.
4. Love is all around us always, in all ways. Embrace it and accept it.
5. When you can see that your hardships, problems, issues are a gift you, everything around you and the situation transforms.
Thank you for allowing me to share myself with you. I am honored.