Three hacks for actively owning your recovery
What do you do when something strikes that’s more powerful than you, something that’s too heavy to grasp on your own?
If you have ever had a major-life-changing-event, such as a stroke, how the hell do you put one foot in front of the other?
I would like you, for a moment, to consider this thought:
How do you go on, when your entire body has failed you?
Doesn’t it keep you lying awake at night, or at the very least, keep you from living your life with spontaneity?
These are things that play over and over in my brain, things that ripped me to the core of my being, once I suffered my stroke.
It left me wondering, how do you build that trust once more? Is it at all possible without making significant changes?
I‘ve talked to a lot of people, some far-out-there and some closer to the earth. They all agree, that while research on the brain has come leaps and bounds, nobody really knows what we are capable of. It’s all about the work that we put in.
Even my team of neurosurgeons (one of them being a professor of vascular neurology in a prestigious hospital in Zurich) don’t discount uses of alternative medicines.
I would like to share with you my three hacks for actively owning your recovery.
Number 1: support Your sense of Serenity and Wellbeing
One of the strongest influencers of my recovery was a woman who showed me great kindness and compassion. She also presented me with a special gift of essential oils to help my recovery.
You see, while I was open to the gifts she gave me, I was in a very stressful place. I was visiting doctors in Switzerland to have their opinion on my condition, while trying to find therapists in a new city and, all the while, taking care of our three children.
I don't know if she will ever realise that she bestowed so much more than the oils.
She helped me create my philosophy on taking charge of my recovery. Full of passion, she led me thru the effects of the different oils, whether they are applied topically, orally or diffused.
She got me thinking….if it feels good and it makes me feel like I’m taking an active part in my recovery, then why not?
It spurred me to look at my healing on a few different levels.
I know now, that my body is getting stronger day by day. My soul is also recovering from its loss. I’m learning how to temper my emotional response to it.
But you know, I am in control of the whole darn experience.
If something feels right, and you’re not harming yourself, don't let your rational response be your only one. If oils or scented candles or playing jazz music or you name it, creates an ambience that you love, I say go for it!
Number 2: Take a hard look at yourself…. and your vulnerabilities
Maybe it was my stroke that caused muscle weakness. Perhaps it was my mind playing tricks on me. Either way, I felt self-conscious about my wrinkles.
I have worn sunscreen and properly cleansed my face since day one… but something about my face startled me when I woke up from the post-stroke fog.
It was not the first thing that I had to tackle. In order of importance, things like speech, my ability to walk and gaining movement back in my hand, took precedence.
However, it was always there, working my nerves.
It was a while before I could do anything about it, probably only because I read a blog about the 10-step Korean skincare routine. I became hooked!
Not only would it solve my ‘skin problems’ but it gave me the space to follow something much bigger than me.
It allowed me the focus, I intuitively desired, to give to every aspect of my physical and mental wellbeing.
You see, the fight isn’t against my wrinkles.
It isn’t just about skincare.
It’s my promise to myself that I’m not going to let this beat me. Not my wrinkles. Not my stroke. Nothing.
Now, the plain fact is that we all age. But I plan to do this with a little help from a 20 minute skin care regimen that includes snails and exfoliating.
Number 3: If You Can Imagine It, You’re Half Way There
My mother always told me that if I believe in something with my whole heart, then it’s true.
Take Santa Claus, for instance. I remember asking her whether or not he existed.
Her reply? “Do you believe?”
So, I guess that was my entree into visualisation.
Just as I very much believe in the power of Santa Claus, I believe in my body’s own healing mechanism.
Now, there is no possible way to aid the healing of my artery. No amount of eating the right things, no medicines, no exercise can do the trick.
When I visualise my dissected carotid artery healing I use humour. I use imagination. And I use love, love that my body can do this!
I’ve learned from reading the book by David R. Hamilton (watch his video here), How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body, that there is no right or wrong way to visualise.
What is important is that when you focus your thoughts and emotions, you can change your body at a cellular level.
To read what my personal visualisation looks like, click here.
As a child, I didn’t question how the gifts appeared every Christmas morning. What mattered is that they were there.
On the same token, do I care what makes my artery find its way back to normal? Whether it’s eating less salt, meditating or visualising it?
No! I don’t give a hoot.
As long as the results are the ones you desire, why question it on Christmas morning!?
When I started along this journey (albeit one that I didn’t want to go on) two things became abundantly clear:
The first is that it is all up to me
If I crash and burn, or make a decent start on my recovery, I’m responsible. No one else.
The thing is, no one actually understands what I am going thru. So how could anyone else, but me, help me?
In itself, this is positively freeing. It’s like a small get-out-of-jail-free card. A license to work on you!
To never feel guilty about it.
The second is I am a fighter
I don’t want to recover from this stroke, I want to kick its ass.
That feeling is a very powerful one, I must tell you. I want to scream it from the mountain top!
Let’s do it together.
I am here. Fighting each and every day for my artery to heal. That I can add in my head. That I can feed myself properly.
But I am here.
Now that you have read my three hacks, let me ask you, are in or are you out? What do you want to visualise?
I’ve written down my 3 visualisation rituals so it might spur you to take this journey with me. I’ve shared something that is completely intimate, from the deepest, most luminous place in my soul.
I can’t tell you what to visualise, but I can guide you on the trip!
So please, click below and enjoy.