From Brain Injury to Brushstrokes with Cheri Carandanis & Manon on The Healers Café

this happen to you, or how

Cheri Carandanis  06:56

the first injury was a result of a fall. And so I I was healthy. I was fine, and we were vacationing in Arizona, and they think that maybe I got dehydrated, which I don’t know, because I was very careful about hydrating myself and making sure, but maybe I was dehydrated, but I I passed out and hit the back of my head. And so that was the first one. And I went through all the, you know, concussion specialists and physical therapy and speech therapy and, you know, occupational therapy. And after, I don’t know, about four months, I thought, I’m not getting better. I feel like I should be getting better because I’m doing all their I’m being a very compliant patient. I’m listening to everything they’re saying, and I’m not feeling like I’m getting better. And then at the six month mark, as my my father was taking me to an appointment, actually, for vision therapy. We got in a car accident, and so then that was my second and that just really, really rocked me. And so I had from that one, I had mobility issues with my left leg, I had speech issues, and then whatever I was suffering cognitively, just an amplified Yes, yes. Yes. And so I went back to the neurologist, went back to, you know, physical therapy, and the neurologist just, you know, kind of dismissed. I felt very dismissed. And as a and as someone who advocates for people and advocates for patients, I was really like, I’m going to advocate for myself, because this isn’t okay. You can’t just tell me this is my new normal and take an antidepressant like that doesn’t sound right to me. And so I started researching, there has to be help. There has to be more. And so I did find functional neurology, and I found nature. My naturopath was huge in helping me. Unfortunately, all of those things are not covered by insurance, and they’re

Manon Bolliger  09:07

not now, but they, I think they will be. I pray

Cheri Carandanis  09:11

every day. I pray because people should have access to this kind of care. So then that opened my whole world up into alternative therapies, and in that all of those modalities teach me to get in touch with myself. As a nurse i i was in touch with everyone

Manon Bolliger  09:32

else, Exactly, yep. And so it

Cheri Carandanis  09:34

really guided me inward. And so it kind of was like all the planets started to align for me, like I was getting the help I needed, I was getting the support I needed. Thank God that we are privileged enough to be able to afford some of those modalities. But really, I just did my homework and took the homework with me, because we couldn’t afford to keep going forever and. To the treatments, but I did, you know, we paid for what we could. I took it home, and I did the homework, and I think that’s what gave me some hope that, you know, maybe this isn’t my new normal, maybe I can get better, right? It was a long road, and I learned quickly that the brain has a lot of neuroplasticity, and it is able to heal. It takes its time doing it slow healing process. But I was even able to go to Dr Daniel Amen, the Amen clinic. Oh, yeah. And that was fascinating. I learned so much more about my brain than just what happened with the brain injury. And so with their help, I was able to get on a good diet, and some, you know, the right supplements, and not taking everything under the sun, but just really targeting what’s going to help me. And so with this little team in place, especially my functional neurologist, I started to get better. And so now I’m about seven years out, and I’d say I’m like 80 90% there. I have good days, I have bad days, but gratefully, there are way more good days than bad days now. And so I don’t I don’t even mind if I’m left with what I’m left with, as far as my symptoms. Yeah, I feel like I’m doing so much better than I used to, yeah, and without hope, I had

Manon Bolliger  11:28

no and so the the art, because, I mean, art is known to be one of the therapeutic modalities that helps. But what was your did you just come across it? Did you know about it? Did you

Cheri Carandanis  11:46

I knew nothing about healing. I knew nothing about art in general. I always say my kids never even got a scrapbook page for me because I just I didn’t do crafts or anything like that. But I was in with my psychologist and one of my functional neurologists, and they both kind of said the same thing, which told me this is a message I need to listen to. They say, you know, most of your injuries on the left side of your brain, so we need to go into the right side and fire that up. We need to get the healthy side really fired up so we can start making some connections there. And I said, awesome, I’m okay. What do I do? Make sense, right? And, yeah, they’re like, creativity, presence, mindfulness. I just started laughing. I said, No, I don’t do any of those things. I don’t know how to do any of those things. I’m not sure. And so my psychologist said Sheri, just start with an adult coloring book. Like, just get one of those mandala beautiful coloring books, sit down and just start there, see what happens. And so I did, and I colored for about 10 minutes, and hated every second. I ripped it up, I threw it away, and I thought, I’m in big trouble. I’m in big trouble because I can’t do these simple things that could be helping me. And as God would have it, I was watching YouTube because that was something I could do. Was watch YouTube. I saw an artist come across my feed, and she wasn’t just an artist, she was an abstract artist, and she was painting on large canvases. And as I don’t know what intrigued me, but I understood that she wasn’t painting landscapes or people. She was painting her feelings. I understood that immediately, that she was painting her feelings. So I was intrigued by that, and so I thought, I’m going to try that. And so my dad had just bought a big screen TV, and I went down to his house, and I cut out one of the sides of the cardboard and decided that’ll be my canvas, because I don’t want to spend any money on this, because I’ll probably hate it again. And then I got my kids paints out from school, their tempura pains from school, and I just started smearing paint, literally with my hands, onto this canvas. And something just sparked, just like, Wait, this feels good. This feels good. I’m just going to keep doing this. And so I have a amazingly supportive husband, and he could see that something was happening, and he said, let’s, let’s follow this. Let, let’s really press into this. And so he got me paints. We got canvases, and the more I painted, I realized that when I paint, I don’t have a brain injury, like I forget that I have these awful things that I have to deal with every day, right? I was able to get into what I learned was flow state, which I didn’t know anything about flow state, and you go into this state where you don’t have to use the bathroom, you don’t have to drink water, you you. Just get lost in the creativity. And then I learned I don’t paint things. I paint intuitively. Sorry I had it on silent. And so then that put me into touch with my intuition, and that was a new lesson for me. So I learned that to get to know my intuition, I have to spend time with it. So then that led me into meditation, and that just opened up everything as far as healing, because I felt like that was the foundation I was trying to heal from up here, right? Trying to heal from my knowledge, I had to move down into my soul and heal from there. This would catch up eventually, but when I learned, but it’s I love, the way I say, God just aligned everything for me, and just one step at a time I learned. It wasn’t all a big download. It was just one thing at a time leading to the next thing for me to learn. And one of my favorite things quotes that I like, and I think it was, it was a it was a Buddhist quote, and it says that when the student is ready, the teachers appear, right? That is so true, whether it’s podcasts or books or, you know, whatever it is, it comes into your life when you’re ready. And yeah, I was certainly ready to figure out how to heal and not in the way that I was trained. You know, as a nurse in western medicine, I was trained to heal a certain way. Well, it wasn’t working. That wasn’t working. So realizing that my body wants to heal and it knows how to heal, yeah, like, I want to figure it out. That’s incredible.

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Manon Bolliger  18:09

But that’s the mind shift, right? That is the difference. If you’re going to generalize, I mean, there’s an end again. It’s not the people who do it right, because they come from vast difference beliefs and knowledge base, you know, but it really is that idea that you know one, you’re you’re you’re the facilitator, and you’re the one doing the action to help the other person. And you’re, in a sense, the the powerhouse, and they’re the receiver to this other idea that it’s actually the patient, the client, the person doing the healing. And you’re, you’re receiving the information step by step. You know, as as much as you can take it, you know, in the right rate, the right speed, and you’re gonna like, it can be a lot like, that was a lot, yeah. And you could never decide it, yeah. You can never decide it as from the same mind that was injured. It really comes from having to see the world in a different way, right, and then follow the lead, right? So it’s yeah, no

Cheri Carandanis  19:23

changed my entire that mindset shift changed my entire life, not just how my body healed, but how I see myself, how I see the world, how I see other people. There’s so much compassion, there’s so much just i think i i, we all feel this need to be heard and understood when, if we could just take the time to hear and understand ourselves. Yes, then there’s not that need that, you know, that frustration and so spending time with myself and learning the. About me. And then that just opened up all kinds of like there was trauma that I never dealt with, you know, that I just buried down and that. And you know, Body Keeps the Score that will affect my health. So then I thought, nope, I want to do it all. I want to go on every level and discover how to bring health to this body and to maximize what it’s created to do, which is live, live.

Manon Bolliger  20:28

Yeah, exactly. So now that you know what you know, do you see any part of the art journey that might have made sense, not necessarily for you, because at that point you were the giver, but for the people, because you’ve had different medical exposures. You know, do you see that, that that path, art and or meditation, could have helped other people at the time, like, if you knew what you knew now, kind of thing,

Cheri Carandanis  21:10

absolutely, absolutely, and that’s why part of my my purpose now is to let People know how powerful creativity and mindfulness really is like I have been asked to speak to women’s groups, and especially perimenopausal that type, because I’m learning that perimenopause and menopause can often feel like a brain injury in many ways, and so teaching women that don’t Want to be professional artists, don’t want to make it their thing, but taking time to just create something, a meal, a garden, a flower arrangement, anything, anything that lights them up. It just brings that energy, that frequency like it. Makes your body primed to heal.

Manon Bolliger  22:04

And so it’s like the, it’s the feminine, right? It really, it’s bringing that back into balance in the world that we have allowed,

Cheri Carandanis  22:15

yeah, and I was, you know, I lived in that, especially in the military, and being a nurse, you’re always, you know, like, there’s that masculine you know, like, do it and you know. And then this healing journey has been very much in that, that frequency of the feminine, of nurturing and calming down, but not in a not, not in a way that’s like, soft and it’s, it’s very powerful. It’s a very powerful presence, like, I’ve got this, I’ve got this. I don’t need all the inputs that I believed about myself throughout my life because all of that went away with brain injury. You know, all of my accolades, all of my smart she is, and how multi she can multitask, that all went away. So I couldn’t tout that part of myself, which I think I did a lot, and now it’s just stripped down, bare naked me, and it’s awesome. It’s beautiful. It’s so freeing, and not really looking for, you know, anyone’s acceptance, you know, or any of that. It’s just being me, and being me opens me up to so many more people, because it’s that authentic connection that we Right exactly. Yeah.

Manon Bolliger  23:42

So are these pieces of your art behind you? Sure?

Cheri Carandanis  23:45

Yes, this one. This is a newer piece. It’s called I’m not just a number, because it came out of frustration. A couple weeks ago, I got a call from my insurance company saying they would no longer cover something for me that was helping me with my brain injury. And I was so upset, and I appealed it, and I I wrote my own prior auths and and they said no. And so I was so upset, not just for myself, but for everyone that is trying to get help and trying, and they pay into these insurance companies, you know, they they hope that when something bad happens, these insurance companies are going to help them. And I them, and they don’t. And so there was this frustration, I mean, not just for me, but for everyone, and for the fact that in our country, it feels like healthcare is a privilege and it’s a human right, like everyone should have the right to have a healthy life and to have access to health. And so that painting, I didn’t realize it, but after a few days of looking at it, I noticed there were a lot of bars in it, and I was like the bars. And then I realized, you know what? It’s like, a barcode, like just a barcode to them. I’m not, you know? A person with a story and relationships and this whole life, I’m just a barcode, and I did not meet their required boxes that needed to be checked. And so they said no. And it’s

Manon Bolliger  25:13

interesting, because the boxes are are very simple, right? It’s like it’s a profit driven system that really supports pharmaceuticals, not innovation, not cure, you know, as I mean, I’m

Cheri Carandanis  25:29

in prevention at this point, not

Manon Bolliger  25:31

even prevention, no, no, or what they call prevention. Prevention is poison. But anyway, it’s very scary, you know, but in that system, you’re not going to really get the support anyways. It doesn’t makes it’s not built for that. So just like every other institution, it has to be completely rethought, revamped and opened up to, you know, what is the purpose and what is it driven by? You know? And I think that’s the real, you know question. I mean, I, I was a naturopath, because I, I did lose my license for speaking, because I do live in Canada. So, you know, it’s complicated here. I mean, it is complicated in many places, but some places made more of a show of it, you know, anyway. But yeah, it’s, I would say it’s, you know, most people who go into naturopathy because you have to pay for it yourself, right? So you don’t get grants. You don’t get funding from, you know, a whole bunch of other research optics where they want you you know your knowledge because they know they’re going to get a piece because, and also, you can’t, what’s the word? You know, if you have natural foods, you can’t really get a patent on it, right, unless you profitable, unless you make it artificial, which is against the idea of what we do. So it’s like a misnomer that just, you know, I’m surprised we exist at all. It’s true in the system, you know, and, and it’s, it’s becoming so clear that we don’t belong in the system, you know, but we shouldn’t. It’s not like, Oh, we’re not good enough. No, no, we are quite good for the system, exactly, well. And it’s also like, it’s a bit like your experience of, you know, you develop another part of you, and you realize that you’re enough. You know you are full. This is the authentic you know, being that you know you you really were when you started this, until it got all, you know, mucked up with the energies of this other world, you know, as now we’re trying to be amalgamated all in one. It’s like, yeah, it’s troublesome

Cheri Carandanis  28:10

way that that magic, oh, who we are as individuals and as human beings. And I want to stay in the magic. And, you know, it’s so it’s so ironic that we fight so hard to be in the system like I thought it was my right, and we paid into this, and I want to be in that system and pay for my blah, whatever. Yeah, and no, I don’t. I don’t. I don’t want to be in that system. And, you know, we, I have a I have a very deep faith, and I just asked God whatever treatments I need to get to the place I need to be able to put love out into the world again and to serve others again in whatever way that looks. I never thought it would be. As a artist, it was not on my radar. But thank God, I’m not in charge. I’m not in control. My Spirit wanted that. I didn’t know it did, but he was hungry for that. It was so hungry. And now that I’m in this space, I would do it all over again. I would do it all over again. My husband, when I said that to him, I said, you know, I’d have brain injury again to be in this place. Wow, was like the hell we went through, hell we went through. For you to say, That’s a miracle, yeah, miracle. And I said, it really is. I’m glad it happened. I’m glad it wasn’t worse, because it could have certainly been worse, but it’s taught me so much. It’s taught through so many ways, not just healing, but meeting the right people and learning about the soul and me and my intuition and the world and our connection to each other, that we’re all connected. I. Never thought about that. No, yeah, but now I can’t. I’m obsessed.

Manon Bolliger  30:08

Yeah, I think it’s a great message, really, to to wrap up her session, but it’s like people who receive a diagnosis, even if they don’t know what it is, because sometimes whatever, but you know that you can’t function. It’s like, just, just wait a minute, you know, see, and then look, look outside of what box you’re in, whatever box you’re in, and see, because I, I think it’s always in hindsight, we get these like, oh my goodness, I would do it again, you know, and it’s

Cheri Carandanis  30:41

like, but never in the moment. My side is definitely 2020, yeah. And I really do believe our bodies have the answers. We just have to listen and learn how to listen. And I think that’s the first step, is getting in touch with ourselves and and learning how to listen to our intuition, because it has the answers and wants to guide us.

Manon Bolliger  31:07

Actually, I have one more question for you that, did you do any physical therapy? Okay, yeah, which types or that had the impact on you

Cheri Carandanis  31:23

that helped me? Yeah, it was all through the functional neurologist, okay, and so it was a lot of I always felt like I was going to space camp when I went into functional neurology, to say the most bizarre things, like putting me in a big cage that flipped me around. It was like the gyrostim is called the gyros. They put me in the hyperbaric chamber. They did VR glasses, so kind of retraining that vestibular system. It all felt like it was making it worse. Like I would always tell the doctor, I think it worse by that, he goes, No, we’re resetting, we’re retraining. We’re only going to do baby steps, and that’s what. Because when I went to the other physical therapy, regular physical therapy, after going for about a year and a half, he’s like, Cherie, there’s nothing else I can offer. Like, I feel like we’ve offered everything, and you’re not getting better with your vestibular system. So it was functional neurology that really helped me first. I mean, within eight weeks, my speech came back, and that was through electrical stimulation on my big toe and my tongue and just these bizarre things. This is not gonna I’m not sure what, but I was desperate, and I was willing to try anything. And lo and behold, they know what they’re doing.

Manon Bolliger  32:48

Well, no, because I ask, also because I have a college called Bowen College, and we do Bowen therapy, and it is a reset to the nervous system, and I’ve actually had quite a lot of success, and so my students, obviously, you know, with brain injury. So I was curious whether, you know, it’s touch, or it’s that touch, because it’s very little touch. It’s, it’s an unusual technique. It’s mostly hands off, but you kind of reset the body by doing certain moves in certain places.

Cheri Carandanis  33:32

And it’s like an energetic modality, like you’re

Manon Bolliger  33:36

you know, the massage therapists who have learned it hate to use the word energy, because they like to think it’s all physical, but the Cairo’s are okay. Or osteopaths, they see it more as it could be energy, but it follow meridian lines, some of the cases, not all cases, it really works with a fascia, and it helps, sort of detox and drain, but it really resets the neurology. So I was curious if,

Cheri Carandanis  34:08

God bless you for putting that out in the world, that’s what we need. Like, I went to craniosacral like that. I didn’t think was going to help, but it does. It does help? Yeah. Well, therapy helps.

Manon Bolliger  34:22

Yeah, it does. Yeah, that’s it, yeah, and I’m just mentioning it in case, you know, people are in the situation you’re in. They haven’t heard about it. It’s just yeah, good to know about that.

Cheri Carandanis  34:35

Yeah, it makes sense. A reset electrical right? When our computers freak out, we reset them,

Manon Bolliger  34:44

actually, that is why I call, I call one of my programs reboot, because I used to call my son all the time. I don’t know what to do. I can’t get like and he goes, Mom, you know, just shut it down and reboot and and. And after 50 times slow learner, you know, just like, I’d rather call him an angst than Yes, take a breath and go, Okay, you know what? I’m just gonna reboot.

Cheri Carandanis  35:13

Not it works.

Manon Bolliger  35:16

And then the body, I had no problem understanding that concept. So it’s like, name the program that right? Because it’s just reboot, and that’s it, you know. And then it’s, it’s like, nothing’s really broken. It’s just not communicating how it should, or how it did, you know, that’s right, yeah, which is what I find fascinating, that they decided, or whoever it was, that you have to work the right side of your brain to activate and make new synapses with the left right, makes perfect sense,

Cheri Carandanis  35:49

it does. But then how,

Manon Bolliger  35:53

oh, yeah, that part we do not for me,

Cheri Carandanis  35:57

it was a paintbrush.

Manon Bolliger  36:00

But that’s exactly it, right? It’s, it’s a different, it’ll be different for everyone, right?

Cheri Carandanis  36:06

Yeah, that’s the beauty of medicine, right? Or, or healing, I shouldn’t even exactly, is that if you’ve seen one healing, you’ve seen one healing, exactly,

Manon Bolliger  36:17

yeah, okay, well, I’m gonna need to end it here, but thank you so much for sharing your experience and

Cheri Carandanis  36:25

your conversation. Thank you for having me the

Manon Bolliger  36:28

comment I wanted to reiterate from my conversation with Cheri Carandanis is the importance of body work, right, of somatic work. And you know her journey starting with a prescription of antidepressants. It’s so far out of touch, no pun intended to what is really needed for a body to heal. But when you have brain injury, there are people who still believe that it’s just in the head and the body and the whole nervous system is not impacted, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. So if you are new to this, definitely in this case, go to BowenCollege.com and find out what we offer. There are classes that are available just to the public that you can use, you know, for yourself and family. It’s done on another person, so you can’t do it to yourself, but the basis of it can help the basic program reboot can really help you a lot as well. Of course, if you become a practitioner and you work with a TMJ and and the coccyx, you’re going to have a lot more impact in the cases that don’t respond as quickly to reboot

ENDING: 

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