Dreams do come TRUE!
I write to you on this Monday, January 18, 2016, a day in
observance of Martin Luther King. Brandon home, spending his day in service to us
his family, giving tirelessly, allowing time for me to write, and manifest the
message and sequence for my 2 evening yoga classes! A little over two years ago
I had the opportunity to lead a movement, to provide service to a community for
an entire year. I learned how to express my passion of giving to others, in
others, and, how to inspire individuals to share their service in moments of
kindness. The year was gratifying, it taught me how to gleam with diversity, to
truly be authentic. My words are now a little gentler, my actions hold kindness,
my thoughts pass less judgement, and my awareness is to actively be in the
moment. I experienced my dreams, turn into reality.
I single handedly owned and operated a wellness center
beginning with an offering of small intimate classes focusing on arthritis
exercise and diabetes prevention. Before Archer was born “my baby” was the
Walking School Bus program, “rise to shine,” the program was upheld strictly by
loyal volunteers, and another dream was to see the program continue. It happened
the community supported the mission of providing safety, supervision, and mentorship,
to the youth while walking to school! Meanwhile, Three Bridges Yoga studio was
closing their doors for new adventures, and it seemed as the community choose
me to uphold the offering. So what did I do, lived another dream becoming
reality. While 19-21 weeks pregnant with Archer I traveled to CA to earn my
200-hour yoga teaching credentials from the White Lotus Foundation. My
intuition lead me there as I didn’t for see an opportunity after the baby was
born for at least 2 years, that would be about around the time of now. Hey you pessimistic
thinkers, no this trip wasn’t the root cause of Archer’s conditions, it’s
genetic. The studio also continues to thrive as Vibrant Lives, building
capacity within the community. Providing a service of yoga has given me the
strength to follow my newest passion: to light the fire inside of Archer, to
help him feel with his heart, to question, to accept, to thrive within the
present moment. Today, I am still a dreamer and I'm teaching my son how dreams do come true!
I have a dream of the day my boy will move with attention, and will walk, will talk, will
read, will write, and will have independence. After 2 long years, my faith was
beginning to weaken and my dreams starting to fade after all of the doctor’s
visits, countless hours of therapy, piles of paperwork, relentless advocacy, listening
to my son’s future be analyzed, and hearing the words that boiled down to my
son’s deviation from normal. Doing my best to uphold this diversity, I strived
to concoct a lifestyle for Archer giving him access to therapy, regulating medication,
find supplements to counter-act the side effects, researching diet plans to
provide him with the proper nutrition. But, this all wasn’t working or was my
patience being shortened? As I have shared before, Archer has the cognition,
the know-how, the awareness, he is a learner and very receptive to his
experiences. Why was this not all working? Because, what he didn’t have was the
road map on how to connect all this movement going on in his brain. Traditional
therapist were doing their best, providing their expertise, and helping him
make progress. He remained an unsolved mystery, until we spent the week in San
Rafael, CA at the Anat Baniel Center of Movement. His bewildered brain arrived
and began to learn, to map, and to experience neuronal connections. I’d like to
see the brain waves during his lessons, because oh man, it’s only going to get
better from here. I now hold the confidence of my family being able to grow
even larger with love. I guess what we have done right is teach him the power
of his heart. Now that we have chosen to switch gears, and give ABM a GO, watch
out this little charismatic soul is soon to have his brain pathways re-educated,
so he can excel at exploring his world through movement.
Let us meet the 3 practitioners that ignited
Archer’s
learning switch! Day one, we met with Sylvia, where she began working with
Archer’s pelvis. I knew he held his body very rigidly along his pelvis, spine,
and chest, before coming I was beginning to wondering if I needed to start
searching for a CP diagnosis. This was the red ribbon, sent to me as a message
to stop searching and to start learning. Back to the first lesson, I set him
down on the table in a sitting position (as I was so proud he recently started
gaining insights into independent upright positioning, but was it really if he
didn’t know how to get there?) and was quiet, as was she. We gave him time to “aware,”
feel his action in the new space. I’m a talker, and long winded, as you can
gather, I wanted so badly to ask questions. This is the first distraction I can
create in his new learning environment, so I let her break the ice. I gave my
best with giving short abstract feedback, as she created small talk gathering
information about Archer. To provide comfort to Archer we played with a variety
of 3-4
toys during the lessons, and before we knew it the lesson was over.
During the lesson, I slowly began to notice a change in his vision, it was very
subtle but he was beginning to make confident focus on the objects near and
far. Archer worked with Sylvia 4 times during the week, having a variety of
experiences on his back, belly, and was exploring side sitting. They played a
game of pushing up the length of the table a good 3-4 pushes to begin, by the
end of the week 2 good pushes would clear the length of the table, creating
stride! As he found movement in his pelvis, the spine began finding it’s natural
curves and his chest softened, his fingers started spreading more as weight was
shifted into the hands, and on the afternoon of day 3 Archer and Sylvia
exchanged quite the verbal conversation.
Day one, an afternoon lesson with Michelle. We were on a lower
table in a big open room, the training room with red shaded carpet, Archer
observing the lines of the room and the clear distinction between the walls and
ground. Michelle asked me if I noticed any changes, I shared my observation of
his visual functions, and the two of them got going. She introduced these
little “jumps” to Archer that engaged his pelvis and created a beautiful rhythmic
flow in his spine. He loved them and physically kept asking for more, i.e. him
trying to experience the movement on his own, but he wasn’t quite ready, yet
his attempts showed us his imagination of the movement was there! Over the week
Michelle provided insights into how not to have strict goals and try not to be
the “therapist mom,” by re-creating what I was seeing her do. I just was given
the golden ticket to put more energy into being a nurturing mom and no longer
worry about strict movement routines, that I failed to get in consistently, ah
one less hat
Day two wrapped up at the center and Archer and I were off
the trek across the golden gate bridge. He loved the vibrations from the
bridge, the swooshing of velocity as the cars drove by, and the simplicity of
being outside. I’m sure this boy smells and has a heightened since of smell, so
let’s say he navigated his way through all the smells on the bridge and embraced
the smell of the bay. We sang “Down by the bay” the entire last hour of our
commute on that Sunday, so now this memory will be with him for a lifetime.
Along with our adventure on day three, to a unpopulated beach, yet another
first experience for him, the ocean and sand, of course I let him eat a few
handfuls!
On day three Archer was due for some testosterone, he missed his daddy
and was seeking some loving play. Archer had two lessons with Chris and loved
every moment of them. He even let out a few giggles and gave him kisses near
the end of the lesson, an act that is sacred to only those that he really cares
for. Isn’t the simple bond that males have no matter the age so unique? When
Archer visits his grandmas and isn’t having the best time, it always ends up
being the grandpas that providing the calming space. Chris is very slow with
his interactions, he provides clear, meaningful narration of the movements to
Archer, a different approach on enthusiasm. He upheld the knowledge Archer
already had of his body, and re-educated these connections with Archer. They
played and giggled on his back, finding his toes, crossing his mid-line of his
body and making opposite hand-foot connections. Archer rolled to his sides, and
then he started stopping on his belly and pushing up, lengthening his spine
with a slight curve. I asked Chris on day 3, about the rigidness of his spine,
he explained while there is no magic fix, better yet slow down observe the
entrance and exit into an action and see if a little guidance can be provided,
be that physical to begin with to create a functional movement out of the
action. On the morning of day 5,
Chris asked about changes and we had a
breakthrough I couldn’t wait to share! Movement down under! Archer has suffered
from mild-severe constipation his whole life. I had my trust in the belief that
once Archer learned that his pelvis could move, the last piece of his
functional puzzle. Sure enough, every day since we have been blessed with
regularity, without the daily prune intake or other digestive aide!
By day four I knew we would be returning, and I hoped for it
to be soon. The ABM practitioners, significantly skilled with their own unique
approach within the method, all brought out different pathways in Archer’s
brain. They truly care about the individuals they are working with, having
morning conferences about the students, and take time to discuss the changes
they are experiencing as they are working with these unique individuals. We
felt endless amounts of love and support during our week long intensive. Our
pennies have been pinched and added up to just enough so we may return in
February! I was so excited that after washing the clothes from our trip I just
re-packed them in our suitcases, ready to GO. Our bags are packed and with the
continuation of week-long intensives at the center, Archer will be leaving on a
jet plane, not knowing if he needs to return to old patterns, or form new ones,
but he will be back again! I can literally see him rejoicing in the function of
his brain, it appears that a fog has been lifted, burnt off with the rising
sun, and he is dreaming in the California sun, and before his eyes, movement becoming a reality!
