Friday, October 13, 2017

Going the Distance: On Transformation, Freedom and Healing



It was Divine Timing that Dr. Joe Dispenza offered an on line live presentation from his Advanced Workshop in Los Cabos Mexico. Two weeks ago I had a dream that I attended a live workshop with him. I told my chiropractor, Dr. Lizzie Sobel, who coincidentally had the opportunity to hear him speak at an educational event for chiropractors, that I had the dream. She suggested that I put that on my bucket list and figure out a way to make it happen.

I had shared with her the role that Dr. Joe's teachings have played in my healing from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma since my chiropractor, (who now lives and practices in China), Dr. Ryan J. Means (who she happened to meet during a networking event several years ago) told me I just HAD to read his book, "You Are the Placebo." {Are you taking note of the synchronicity at work here?}

I started working with Dr. Ryan in March of 2015 after a very serious knee injury in December of 2014. The MRI showed an atrophied gastroc muscle from when I had contracted polio at age 5, a deteriorating knee joint, bone spurs, degenerative changes from arthritis and reconstructive leg surgery....I was told that I shouldn't and wouldn't be able to run again but if I did I should run only short distances. "Be prepared for a total knee replacement in a few years and why don't you come back to the Post-Polio clinic for a reevaluation." The implication was that it was only a matter of time before the progressive neuromuscular disease that Western Medicine diagnosed me with was going to well...progress. I had defied the diagnosis and came out of a wheelchair to run the 2009 Boston Marathon by instinctively doing what Dr. Joe recommends - living as if my future were here in the present moment - but couldn't get traction on my healing journey until I met Dr. Ryan and immersed myself in Dr. Joe's teachings. As Dr. Joe explained during the live stream last night, "It also helps when we share our healing stories for then the mirror neurons ignite and helps our own healing." Knowing that Dr. Joe healed his fractured vertebrae through thought alone gave me hope and inspiration for me after my knee injury.

Before I even received the book, Dr. Ryan sent me this photo from his book to help me get my mindset in place for the healing and transformation that was about to happen in my life.



We've grown a new gastroc muscle using KT tape. Over and over and over again I tap into feeling as though complete healing has already happened. Dr. Ryan's use of the art and science of chiropractic care combined with reading and practicing Dr. Joe's works has helped me to create transformation in my life.

During these last two plus years I have run two half marathons, a 10K and many shorter distance races. I have also healed a wound on my nose that had bled, scabbed over and opened again for several years. I just knew I had the power within me to heal this wound and while it took awhile, it is now merely a scar. Every time I began to feel twinges and tweaks in my body or struggled with fatigue, I remembered all the healing I'd done to date and held onto faith and hope as I trained for Bermuda Half Marathon III.

As we rode the waves of our daughter recovering from severe depression and PTS, I could feel myself having difficulty holding onto the gains I've made in my healing journey. We listen to Dr. Joe's Rest and Renew Meditation every evening together. It's a God send but I could feel myself getting stuck in old patterns with feelings of frustration and anger when the challenges of the day presented themselves. What was needed was compassion, love and kindness, an open heart and being able to create the life I want and need regardless of the circumstances around me. Initially I wasn't going to run the Bermuda Half Marathon in 2018 because I wanted to give myself a break from training but I see now the grand design in having been offered an invitational entry to run it again.

I also made significant changes in my life this past July as I broke the habit of being myself in a significant relationship with the massage therapist I was working with at the time. When I first started working with Dr. Lizzie in July, I was filled with hope and healing, knowing that I'd found someone with whom I can partner to go the distance on my healing journey.

My memorized self slowly emerged from the changes happening in my life and crossing the river of change with fear at my back (an expression from Dr. Joe) and being able to fully embrace the healing that happens in the treatment room with Dr. Lizzie became more and more challenging.

And then .... last night happened!

At first I didn't see how it was going to be possible to attend the live stream since I am the one who cooks dinner and provides support to our daughter when she gets home from her intensive outpatient therapy program. Initially I fell right into the victim role because as Dr. Joe reminds us we get addicted to those old feelings.

And then I decided that participating in this live stream was critical to my health and well being. I was able to ask Tom to come home early. Both Tom and Ruth Anne were so encouraging of me participating in the event.

Hearing the stories of those who healed themselves ignited the fire within me to go the distance on my healing journey.

The meditation filled my body and Being with hope, with love, with light and getting me unstuck from my identity as a survivor of polio and trauma and the mother of a daughter who struggles with mental health.

I had the best night's sleep that I've had in a very very long time after watching the live stream and doing the meditation. During the meditation, the tremors that I usually experience stopped completely. After noticing the stillness, I imprinted those sensations into my memory and then kept my attention focused on Dr. Joe's guidance.

This morning we had a discussion about when to do groceries. We had been very mindful about energy conservation for me especially as we add miles to our long runs.

To transform the memorized self of a survivor of polio and trauma, one who is prone to fatigue and injury, I knew that I needed to go do the groceries. I drove by the handicapped spot (I often use my HP placard to conserve energy) and said, "I don't need that anymore. I'm healed."

In the middle of the grocery store I thought about the attendees at Dr. Joe's workshop dancing. I've seen and experienced that energy before during his Project Coherence meditation two years ago. It seems that Dr. Joe's streaming events come into my life at the perfect moment.

I felt as though I wanted to dance. I felt light in my body and on my feet (as opposed to the heaviness I'd been experiencing in recent weeks) and imagined myself running free at the pace of a 12 minute mile.

I put away the groceries with ease. For the first time in several months I felt joy and freedom and overwhelming gratitude after having released emotion and conditions to a Higher Mind during last night's meditation.

I'll be watching the replay of the event and doing the meditation throughout the weekend. I am so excited that Dr. Joe's new book, "Becoming Supernatural" will be arriving in a few weeks AND I just learned that his live teleclass each month is only $9.99/month.

Life can sometimes try to stop us in our tracks....and then, when our hearts are open to possibility and our intention for healing has been set (for me ten years ago after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome!) the Universe delivers whatever we need to go the distance. I'm so excited for another 10 mile run tomorrow on the road to Bermuda Marathon Weekend. Three months from tomorrow is race day!

To going the distance with strength and courage
From my heart to yours,
Mary

Be sure to listen to my interview with Keith Cartwright, "From Polio Survivor to Boston Marathon Finisher" by following this link.

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


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