My story involves a car accident. I was taking a left hand turn in my Mercury Tracer  when I was hit from behind by a Lincoln Continental.  My car was totalled, and I looked fine but was unable to function.   I cried all the time and couldn't control it.  I was in constant pain, had little to no mobility. I slept sitting up in the couch for three months.  I had lost the abilitity to read or write, carry a simple plate or do any kind of math.  Upper cervical and lower back whiplash, head trauma (yes, I was wearing my seatbelt), broken foot and a torn rotator cuff.  My internal organs were shifted in place because of the seatbelt.

Years followed a continuous rush of chiropractic visits, doctor appointments, tests, accupuncture and cranial sacral-myofascial therapy. (I rejoiced when visits dropped from three times a week to once a week after 4 months).

 My three children were young at the time: nine,  thirteen and fifteen years of age and they didn't understand why mom was different.  At the time I was too ill to worry about it.  Going to the mall was a major ordeal and I choose not to go often.  About six years later, I began filling in the pieces, explaining what was wrong or how it affected me.  I was able to explain to them what part of my brain worked differently, why my personality changed and why there were some things I couldn't and still can't do well.

The most amazing thing was the memory of the Qi Gong and Tai Chi.  I had been teaching these techniques and forms - a sequence of movements that includes breath, balance upper and lower body postures - for two years when the accident occurred.  And my body craved and used these sequences to numb the pain instead of drugs. I spent hours every day working on the form and standing in Wu Chi postures.  Three months after the accident I was allowed to drive and resumed my teaching schedule of this fine art.  I continue to teach these techniques and practice them in my daily life. 

Eastern medicine helped to heal my body and my mind.  It allowed greater growth and ease of brain function.  The growth and improvement was slow but it held.  Western medicine only chose drugs that created huge disorientation and side effects that I didn't want to have. I stopped their drugs within days or didn't even fill the perscriptions.

The accident and its aftermath is my greatest teacher and gift.  I got off my ass and went to healing school. (By the way the energy of a rear end collision is to get off your butt and due what God has commanded.)  The School of Advanced Healing , in San Marcos, California required five days in California and six weeks at home for the two (plus) years of the program.  This was not an easy feat for someone who could not read or be in crowds for any length of time.   I learned the skills of energetic healing, balancing the chakras and the human energy field. Two years later I began the study of cranial sacral therapy.  All of these things not only healed my body of physical injury but my emotional trauma resulting from years of family difficulties.

In 2005, six years after the accident, I went for the neuro-psych evaluations to determine the extent of the brain trauma still in my body.  Vision Therapy, speech and language therapy and a gifted grief therapist worked with me for another 2 years to understand and release all that I had lost.

 In the middle of all this I divorced my husband of 25 years.  Not only did I leave an unhealthy situation but also my ancestral family home as well as gardens I had lovingly created for 20 years.  I could go forward  and did as a complete individual, healthy and able to survive on my own.

In 2008, I moved to North Carolina to be closer to my daughter who resided here. This is the first time I have ever resided anywhere other than New England. While I can no longer teach in an elementary class room (written grammar and math are still a challenge for me), I still find great joy in teaching and healing others.  I have gone on to certify in Theta healing and Arching Radial Light since living here.

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