The Breath of Life
December 7, 2022Wake Up to the Indivisibility of Ourselves
May 31, 2023Restoration Back to Health After a Concussion
It was just before Christmas Eve and I was on my way to the movie theatre to see Avatar, James Cameron’s new movie. While walking through an unfamiliar underground parking garage, I walked straight into a low-hanging beam and struck my forehead right into a horizontal concrete supporting beam.
“Oh No!” I muttered in between curses. I knew I had suffered a mini concussion and within a day or two I had all the familiar symptoms:
– A thickness in my head.
– A feeling of slowness mentally and energetically.
– A mild headache.
I frantically tried to see a therapist who did similar cranial work to me, but she was a physical therapist and insisted on a medical referral. So, I called my primary physician to see if I could get a referral and at first his receptionist said that he couldn’t make such a referral. When he eventually called back he downplayed my injury, said he had never heard of a “cranial” physical therapist and told me to go see a neurologist.
At this point, I was starting to panic as the symptoms were starting to get worse. I knew if I was fortunate to find a neurologist, I might have to wait a while to get an appointment, go through a battery of tests and at the end of the day, finding relief would be questionable.
Fortunately, I remembered a classmate of mine from my Foundational Training in Biodynamic CranioSacral Therapy, who lived and worked in lower Manhattan. By the grace of God, she was sympathetic and asked if I could come in the next day at noon.
So, I went to her office and lay on her table. Within 20 minutes, I could feel myself settling into the table. Another 20 minutes went by and my breathing and Nervous System started to down regulate. Gurgling started to occur in my belly as my Parasympathetic Nervous System was starting to do its job – rest and digest.
My eyes started to tear up and I began to realize my frozen body was starting to come back online and the shock of the injury was starting to leave my Nervous System. As she worked on my occiput, then my frontal bone and then held them together, I could feel a lot of buzzing and movement within my cranium. I knew the compressive forces from the impact of the injury were beginning to subside.
I felt immense gratitude to her for seeing me so soon, and for the relief she had given me. (She actually had given me one of my most profound sessions during the course of our training 12 years ago.)
What occurred to me at the end of the session was how faulty our medical system is and how lucky I was, to know about this wonderful healing modality. How rigid and arrogant even the best doctors can be when they don’t know much about an invisible injury such as a Concussion or downplay the possible alternative medical interventions that can help. That is, the soundness of the modality (in this case Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy) either gets dismissed or the patient’s symptoms are made to seem unimportant.
I know from professional and personal experience how Craniosacral Therapy can impact patient’s lives and be extremely effective in their Restoration Back to Health, especially after a Concussion or shock to their system.