“Hey sis. I’m done with mayo, they told me to get a fucking heating pad. I cried, and then called Upledger Craniosacral Institute the next day, just to see.. they have a spot open for me in 2 weeks.. In Palm Beach.”

“I’m going to drive you. I’ve got to find a way to work while I’m there..but I’m going with you.”

The trip started off great, until Atlanta.we ordered Chick-Fil-A & ran right into their metal awning, breaking it, & it totally sounded like the world was ending. the staff just laughed at us. We kept rolling, even spotting a double rainbow.

Around 11pm, 1 hr. from Jupiter, at a gas station.Taryn used the ignition key in the door (which wasn’t even locked)and broke the key.We have AAA, but locksmiths aren’t open in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. SO, we got towed 1.5 hrs. to our campsite..which accidentally wasn’t booked for that night. We looked up beach parking lots in Jupiter. Fingers crossed it would work.

There we were, dropped off in a random lot, and 30 min later a policeman pulls up. he thought we were cute damsels in distress,”his station was close and he’d be on watch for us all night” . Great! We were safe! But, not from the gnats or the sharks.

It was HOT, & we had to open the van windows. My neurological system was haywire. Each time a gnat bit me, it felt like bee stings and fire everywhere. I had a panic attack & spent the night under the outdoor showers

We both went to the beach at dawn. The ocean was bliss.I heard screaming from the shore. The sound was muffled so I looked up, and a SHARK!! was jumping out of the water less than 2 ft away from me. I swam like lightning to the shore, then buried myself under the sand as a dystonic episode ensued.

T found me, “ do you want the good news or the bad news?”The good news was that the locksmith was making us a key..bad news was that the other keys AND her wallet were now lost.My good news was that I wasn’t eaten by a shark. We laughed.

The appt. was at 9,we walked in around 9:15.My therapist said, “you know we have limited time with you, and your already 15 minutes late”.we laughed..proud we were only 15 min late.

The entire trip was intense, even after each 2 hour session (that I had two of daily), my body would continue the healing work. I stacked three ketamine infusions ontop of my healing with therapists at upledger, because I knew it would help my body recover and reset… and it did! Not only that, but we were able to spend many hours swimming in the ocean before and after these sessions.. where I would be able to move freely, teach myself how to walk again, play in the waves and soak in all of the glorious salt water.

Looking back on this time and this trip, I have such immense gratitude that I was able to spend time with my sister. We had conversations we had been needing to have for a long time. Not only that, but we had a ton of fun. And fun has been a scarce thing for me to come by during this season of life. Now, a couple of years later, I try to access that feeling of fun inside of my heart, because the road has been hard and dark and fun has not been something I have been able to tangibly participate in or hold onto.

I learned so much about my body during this week. The healer within me had been opening for quite some time, but this week solidified my connection with my body. For months afterwards, I would need to spend hours in the shower working with her as she would show me how to help her realign and come back to homesostasis.

A couple of weeks later, my mom and I drove up to Pensylvania to see Dr. Lasko, a neuro-chiropractor. We worked together for 4 hours a day for a week, and he taught me incredible tools that helped me completely stop my dystonia attacks, learned to walk heel-to-toe again, worked on patterning.. and so much more.

My biggest ambition is to be able to participate in Upledger’s dolphin healing program in Mexico. CST is truly the most valuable healing tool I have yet to find, and I plan to use it as much as I possibly can.