A note from last year…
Stroke is no joke. As I approach my third year anniversary of that experience, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting.
I wanted to share with you, what last year looked like for me, and what I had written on the second year anniversary of having a stroke.
March 12th, 2019
At some point in life we all experience setbacks, some harsher than others. The COVID pandemic has been a collective setback that we have all felt in varying degrees and are working to comeback from. The arrival of spring has me continuing to be hopeful about our collective comeback from COVID!
Personally, I experienced my toughest setback in March 2019 when I had a stroke. This weekend marked the second anniversary of my stroke, an event that changed my life in profound ways. While I am still in the process of making my comeback stronger than my setback, the anniversary of my stroke provided an important opportunity to reflect on all that has changed for me and for all the progress I’ve made. Two years later and I am still working to regain full sensation in my right leg and still working to recalibrate my body and release the weight I gained post-stroke. So while my comeback is far from complete, I know that my comeback has been quite remarkable to date! When I think back to the days immediately following my stroke…relearning to walk and swallow, regaining my vision, learning to drive again…I am truly amazed at the resilience and strength of my body, mind, and spirit.
I share all this not to sing my own praises, as I know each of you have experienced setbacks. I share to remind us all of the power we have to comeback from any setback if we put our minds to it. I will be forever grateful to the doctors and nurses, who saved my life, as well as the neurologists and rehab staff who helped me begin to put my body back together. My gratitude also extends beyond words to my incredible family and friends that gave me so much love and support! The positive energy being sent my way was truly palpable. I’m also grateful to say my faith and spirituality never waivered throughout. I know that my initial recovery was a combination of western medicine, the love of my family and friends, and my faith and spirituality. However energy healing and sound therapy were also a part of my initial recovery, and my ongoing comeback continues to be powered by energy healing and sound therapy.
Energy healing and sound therapy were an immediate part of my recovery. Several hours after my event, while waiting in the ER for a bed to become available I asked my sister to find music on YouTube that would help me heal. Moments later I was listening to binaural beats to heal from a stroke while simultaneously receiving distant reiki (energy healing) from a group of powerful, caring healers. A week after my stroke while still in rehab I received my first in person reiki session post-stroke, which was followed by weekly in home reiki sessions for a month. Reiki was an integral part of my healing from the first night and continues to be to this day. Several months after my stroke, I had the good fortune to learn about sound therapy with tuning forks and began engaging in this work to help with my stroke recovery and have incorporated sound therapy into my practice. Two years post-stroke, I have the privilege and pleasure to share my love of energy healing and sound therapy with my family and clients. I am so blessed!
I personally know that energy healing and sound therapy are effective. I cannot stress enough the healing that my body has undergone as the result of these modalities. While I have not fully completed my comeback and am still a work in progress (aren’t we all?), I have come SO far in these past two years. And I honestly can say I am not sure I would be where I am, without energy healing and sound therapy. While I have mourned the loss of the body I had pre-stroke, I am thankful for the amazingly resilient body I’ve always had. I am a survivor!
As I continue to heal, I know unequivocally that one day my right leg will regain full sensation and be stronger than it was before the stroke, and that will be in large part thanks to my energy healing and sound therapy practices. I know that my stroke was meant to be a part of my story and that this setback has taught me so many things and for that I will be forever grateful.
While setbacks can be hard and can bring us to our knees, they can also teach us what we are made of. They help us become the best version of ourselves, as well as provide the real lessons we are here to learn. So while this pandemic has been a colossal setback for all of us, I am confident that we will continue to make our collective comeback stronger and emerge better for having experienced it.
My hope is that this spring will provide opportunities for all of us to continue to make our comebacks stronger than our setbacks. If you are experiencing your own setback or have reached a saturation point with COVID and the current state of the world, I encourage you to consider energy healing and/or sound therapy.
As I prepare to write my blog post for next week, and my third anniversary of my biggest setback to date. I am excited to share with you my thoughts and continued love for sound therapy and reiki. I hope you will consider if you haven’t yet, giving it a try!