Have you ever looked back on your life and recognized that some of the most challenging events, though perhaps experienced as painful at the time, gave you your own unique perspective and skill set? This has definitely been the case for me, starting in my teens, when I tripped on train tracks and fell across the rails as a train approached. The engineer could not brake soon enough to avoid hitting me. Yes, I dragged myself off just in time, but I ruptured my spleen when I hit the rail and went into shock from the internal bleeding. From that point on my nervous system, when stressed, was primed for a pattern of heightened panic, sometimes progressing to a state of shock or collapse, although I never fully understood it for another forty years.
Many years later, I gave birth to identical twins. They had some developmental delays but were otherwise happy and affectionate. At about 18 months of age, first one, and then the other, began to lose skills and regress until they no longer seemed to recognize me. They started having violent tantrums and banging their heads repetitively. They were diagnosed with autism for which no solutions were offered. It was a horrendously bleak and painful time. I felt that I was witnessing the death of my children and the hopes and dreams I had for them, even while their physical lives went on. More and more, I met other families facing the similar struggles- trying to do their best with little medical guidance.
In 2011, I became profoundly ill after a Botox shot which caused a toxic reaction to my nervous system. I gradually lost the ability to walk, became wheelchair bound and finally bedridden, unable to even sit up, and requiring total care. I was in a state of total nervous system disarray, the fear of which led to severe panic attacks. The doctors I saw were clueless as to how to help me. Once again I hit a wall of helplessness and despair. One neurologist told me she was unsure if I would ever recover. Her best advice for me was to “believe” I would get well. She told me she had seen miraculous recoveries in patients who had a strong faith in a positive outcome. I took this to heart, but, at the same time, I realized that traditional medicine had nothing effective to offer me and if I was going to get better I was going to have to do it on my own. This began a period of intense research and self- experimentation as I began to learn how the body functions, what causes disease and how to restore health. In particular, I had an insatiable interest in all aspects of the nervous system, particularly stress response, inflammation and the gut brain-axis. I had to understand these if I hoped to heal myself.
Amazingly, I was eventually able to return to health. I completed my training in Nutritional Therapy and my twins became my first two clients. I saw another miracle unfold. My boys gradually “woke up”, they became aware of their surroundings, their violent behaviors subsided and they are now loving and affectionate with me and their caregivers.
I have learned that traditional medicine has no pharmaceutical ‘cures” for conditions such as depression, MS, Alzheimer’s and autism, and little understanding of their root causes. It doesn’t yet recognize that the nervous system has a profound ability to heal itself and that the true “medicines” are proper lifestyle choices- the decisions we make on a daily basis.
Where does this all lead? I have developed, in collaboration with Kari Eyer MA, a program called Mind Body Renewal. It’s a culmination of everything I have learned and use with my clients to heal and reset the nervous system and restore overall health and vitality, combined with the insight and experience Kari has gained working as a trauma therapist.