Healing on Whidbey
I moved to Whidbey Island to recover from the long term health effects of living in a moldy apartment for a year. I feel so fortunate to have found a place in a very walkable neighborhood overlooking Deer Lagoon, as the fresh, salty air started to soothe my nasal passages very quickly. But, as life likes to do, you move forward in one dimension and backwards in another. I managed to blow out my left knee in the moving process. It was almost bound to happen, because my strategy for avoiding pollution triggers over on the mainland was to live a very hermit-like existence. I was rusty from not moving and my eagerness to enjoy the spoils of Whidbey led to an over-use injury. But this setback also delivered me with no delay into the welcoming arms of the rich community of healers who call this incredible island home.
I began seeing Dinah Stinson of Blue Sky Massage regularly for massages and worked with Kimmer Morris of Island Somatics using Hanna Somatics to undo my sensorimotor amnesia. This combination worked literal magic on my extremely stiff body, rendered painful from a couple years of health related avoidance of movement. In the way that each brought their immense skill and knowledge together, I learned how crucial it is that we view path to health as a recipe that requires more than one ingredient. There are often immense gains in wellbeing from focusing on the results throughout our bodymind of our primary condition, as all other systems will be affected to some degree when we are dealing with disease or injury.
“Being massaged by Dinah is a splendid experience of melting body and mind tension in a precisely unique way that will bring you into resilient balance.”
“Working with Kimmer is a robust blend of being healed and being taught to heal yourself, via the power of moving your body”
The final piece of my own wellness jigsaw puzzle was listening to a very quiet inner voice that drew me to LENS (Low Energy Neurofeedback System) offered by Betty Snyder in conjunction with the Hope Clinic of Dr. Hope Fay. You can find her via the drewslist Health & Healing email.
Never has a treatment so subtle, produced such profound results. It turns out that the mold exposure had dampened down the electrical system connecting my brain, so much so, that the chart showed via a very steep incline with 18 of the total 21 electrode sites around my head indicating they were running with ‘low power.’ It took just 3 sessions for virtually everything brain-powered to shift into a more energized state that turned me back onto the flow of my own vibrant self. I am such a convert that I truly believe that most people should give this technology a try. Because whether cause or effect, the brain is involved when our health gets compromised.
Not only did these caring and immensely competent practitioners assist me in rehabbing my knee & brain, they kindled my robust interest in complementary health to the extent that I am pivoting my writing and consulting work to help guide others to becoming able to listen to their own inner wisdom. The single best way to craft a strategy for your own healing recipe is to listen to your own inner promptings. I see myself as both a Wellness Philosopher - guiding others on thinking optimally about how they think about improving their health - and as a Complementary Health Concierge because my experience is that the healthcare system is broken and the easiest way to spend the time needed with competent and caring healing professionals, is to follow your own inner guidance to modalities that speak to you.
In essence, I work with clients on getting their health story straight so they gain complete clarity on what is wrong, because only when you ask accurate questions can any medical professional give the ‘right’ answers. I also help people surface their own intuition around the bounty of options outside of the rigid solutions offered by the medical establishment. When choosing a different path, we all need someone to turn to with the skills to bushwhack a trail that isn’t yet well-trodden. And finally, I work with complementary health practitioners as a blogger and technical mentor helping with website, podcast, and all sorts of strategy assistance, because nothing makes me happier than helping someone with the behind the scenes work that enables them to focus on healing other people.
Many thanks to Peggy for allowing me to help her launch this site and for the opportunity to share parts of my journey here. I look forward to meeting and working with many more Whidbey neighbors!
