I Healed Anxiety Unexpectedly
My first experience with chiropractic care was an emergency visit after a fall during pregnancy. I couldn’t move or walk, yet I walked out of the office in no pain on the same day. I felt it to be some kind of magic. I mistakenly thought it to be for injuries, and fixing a problem.
Fast forward nearly 10 years into the summer of 2022, I found myself in a very different injury. Emotional.
My brother-in-law had committed suicide, I ended a long term relationship, miscarried a pregnancy and found myself unexpectedly needing to leave my home.
To say the least, I was a mental and emotional junk drawer. My nervous system was breaking down. Panic and anxiety was a constant obstacle to even the most basic of functions. My body felt as if it was being electrified 24/7. As if some part of my body had an exposed wire that was being submerged in water, sending the damage from head to toe.
My appetite was animalistic — I vacillated between comfort food or starvation. My focus was fried, caffeinated beverages sent me into a complete tailspin. I either overslept or could not sleep at all.
I was so exhausted for such an extended period of time that I wondered if I was losing it. I scheduled myself for therapy, was prescribed an antidepressant, and put myself through the litany of steps to try and rebalance.
Upon my hesitance to take medication for something I knew was a temporary circumstance, I began to search for methods that I hadn’t considered and stayed as consistent as I could with meditation, yoga and prayer.
At the time, writing provided me with an outlet and my personal development business was a positive focal point for me. I was working on collaborations and connecting with many people in the wellness industry. I reached out to Dr. Grabouski for a possible podcast interview, though, at the time, I had little idea how chiropractic care fed into my line of work.
We met for coffee to discuss how and if our two fields of work would align or compliment one another. Within a few minutes, I was extremely surprised to find that our body and emotional body are one in the same. I knew this intellectually, as we tend to know many things. As he spoke, I knew not only was he going to be a valuable source of information and guidance for listeners but that he may also know the direction I needed to move in.
We set up a treatment plan that would cover the next three months. When I arrived to my first consult in the office, the ladies in the office were the kindest and most caring energies. Their voices calm, their smiles warm, and their demeanors very nurturing. At the time I thought that perhaps it was the amount of time I’d spent in a poor emotional place that made their energy feel so good. I would later discover that this is a constant and reliable comfort one can come to expect in this office.
I went through the x-ray process, being gently guided through every step. I have to assume with the deeply empathetic nature this office displayed, that they could sense how frayed and tender I was.
It became very evident to me when Dr. Justin walked in after the x-rays. For one reason or another, the way he asked, “How are you feeling?” was so embedded with love, I felt like he had released all the pressure and tension I’d been trying to manage through. All the sediment that was trapped poured out all at once. I was literally in public, coming apart in a doctors office and it was not in my nature to be vulnerable up front with little prompting.
After I basically flooded the x-ray room, and having a good laugh at my surprise in doing so, Dr. Grabouski assured me that he could help. He explained that our bodies store non-verbal information, emotions and experiences. That without reset, expressing or recalibrating, we can be severely affected by the extra workload as we try to compensate for various things. The bandwidth it needs from us to maintain a new base is taxing at best, debilitating at times and fatal, over time, at worst. Our nervous system affects every function of the human body.
Nearly everything we as humans could suffer from, can be traced back to an imbalance, blockage or injury in the nervous system on some level.
I was so relieved from that alone. This wasn’t permanent. I did not have to keep trying to fight against all of this. I think so many of us who have not stepped into a chiropractor’s office, do not know how much it could change.
My first adjustment was drastic. He didn’t do anything drastic, but the release, the affects, the energy was drastic. In the middle of my mess of a life, I felt like I was floating on all fronts. I could breathe, I could sit up, I could think. I felt free, energized, and ecstatic. My emotions weren’t snagged on every little thought and my body wasn’t triggered by anything.
The affects of this feeling lasted until the next adjustment and the second adjustment knocked me flat. I was a low buzzing, low energy, but calm. I left the third with some strange sensations in my diaphragm, as if it was overly active. And the fifth, I felt another wave of happy energy.
What I came to realize was that all of these were moving my system back into alignment, these responses were all nerve sensations I could actually notice. Before, I could articulate that I felt tired, or had pain, etc. Now, I could detail the micro expressions and small signals. I knew if I was hungry or thirsty. I could tell you where my overactivity was firing. I knew what type of headache I was getting. I could take a breath into a certain part of my body and calm it.
There is nothing in the world like being reintroduced to your connection with your own body. The powerful relationship we have, puts us back into sync with our ability, in tune with our awareness and aware of our autonomy. For many of us, this is the first time we’ve ever felt this way.
As I continued treatment, I found myself able to sort through the various things I was facing. I was able to prioritize, focus, and work on one thing at a time until I was able to get into a groove of managing the whole thing again. From unable to manage a single, simple task back to juggling and balancing plates all over again.
Chiropractic care is much more than the occasional physical maintenance a body can benefit from over the span of one’s life. It is really the best thing you can do to ensure your overall wellbeing. In the midst of any circumstance, one can exist without anxiety, pain and suffering.
As a meditation therapist, alignment is the holy grail — the state of “perfection.” It is the end goal, the destination we journey to and the way we journey to it. It is my professional opinion and experience that this goal is achieved with the essential support of your nervous system that chiropractic care provides.
And if I may be so bold, you will not find a better support system than the team at Grabouski Chiropractic.
I am more grateful than I could ever put into words for the support they gave in my return to alignment and wholeness.
Kara Payton
Author, Meditation Therapist, Self-Mastery Coach @
The Happiness Habit
IG: @karapayton_ / @happinesshabitpodcast
Spotify: The Happiness Habit Podcast
