Recovery from Physical Trauma: A Healthy Times Case Study
By Mike Bundrant

“People don’t always realize the role they play in their own healing,” Amanollah explained to me as we chatted at his soon-to-be-open alternative healthcare facility, Simply Wellness, in Murrieta.  Statements like these always pique my curiosity. It turns out that Amanollah, a yoga instructor for over 25 years, has personal experience to back up his claim.

Late on the evening of July 25, 2007, Amanollah slammed into an abandoned vehicle at an estimated 55 mph.  The car had been blocking the carpool lane on the 91 Freeway and Amanollah, driving alone (he drives a hybrid vehicle and has obtained a permit to drive in the carpool lane) had no choice. The impact was so great that it launched the parked car up onto the center divider.

“The airbag saved me,” he reflected as he showed us the friction burns on his arms.  “I was so stiff and hunched over that I had to waddle around like a duck. It took a stack of 25 magazines under my head to allow me to lie down on a treatment table.”

With consent, I spoke with Dr. Therese Kosycaryz of Murrieta, who provided chiropractic care using the Activator Method.  “Amanollah had a severe cervical acceleration/deceleration injury (severe whiplash), thoracic sprain/strain as well as lumbar sprain/strain,” she said. “Under normal circumstances I would expect it to take 15-20 treatments over a period of 2-3 months for a full rehabilitation. In such cases people tend to feel a little better, then a little worse, then a little better, and so on…

Amanollah was completely recovered in a little over 2 weeks.  What were some of the keys to his successful recovery?  According to him, accepting the pain and not resisting it were important factors.  “Pain can be a gift,” he said.  “Accepting the pain, even embracing it, puts us in a state of mind and emotion that is conducive to healing.”

Could it be that simple?  Imagine experiencing pain in your neck. Now, imagine being really angry that you have that pain in your neck. Imagine being afraid of that pain, or very stressed and emotionally overwhelmed at all you have to do in life in spite of the pain.  Would the added emotional stress ease the pain or make it worse?

Amanolla, who teaches classes on healing from the physical and the emotional stress of trauma, seems right on.  Pain is subjective.  Our frame of mind plays a role in how we perceive it. If we resist pain, refusing to accept it, we tighten, constrict and make ourselves tense. Our subjective sense of pain is heightened. Our muscles remain in knots and our healing process is prolonged.

His treatment with local Alexander Technique and Cranial Sacral Therapy practitioner Christie Johnson only affirmed his beliefs.  “Christie was amazing,” he said. I lied down on her table that first time with 25 magazines under my head and by the end of the session, I could lay my head flat on the table with no magazines at all. I was straight! It was amazing!” he recalled.  “Then I went back out into the world, got stressed out again, and guess what? I began to tighten and hunch over again. That is where I re-learned the importance of healing from stress. It took a couple more sessions with Christie before I could leave upright and stay that way.”

When I spoke with Christie, she summed it up nicely, “When we’re in a pain-loop cycle, we can either feed into it and go into constriction. where there is limited circulation or we  can open up, let go and allow movement. When we open up, circulation happens instead of constriction and they body can heal more freely. After a session, people start to discover their own constriction process. Then, they have a choice. Shall I choose constriction or circulation? “We really can’t fall apart by letting go of constriction. We always have a choice.”

Amanollah relied on other forms of recovery as well. He integrated acupuncture and an intriguing form of energy work practiced by Murrieta’s Ira Porter.  Ira uses small devices called Pulsors to balance the flow of energy in the mind and body, facilitating relaxation and a deep sense of balance.

So, what is the role should we play in our healing? I never asked Amanollah this question, yet his actions leave clear clues.  While we should rely on the knowledge and skill of healthcare professionals, we are responsible for our healing.