Embracing My Resilience With Love by Samone Marie
I am Samone Marie, traumatic brain injury survivor. Who would have known that my life would change forever in August 2018? My daughter and I decided to leave the mall and go to a beauty supply store in Atlanta, GA. While riding as a passenger in the backseat of a car, there was a collision where I sustained a traumatic brain injury. At the time, I had no clue that I was injured so badly other than the cut on my neck from the seatbelt, my arm that had started to fall asleep and throb, my knee that ached, and a pain in my back. The emergency room clinician told me that all of these injuries were normal after being in a car accident.
It wasn’t until I returned home to Gresham, Oregon (after an excruciating long airplane ride) that there was something else going on. Several days later while eating dinner with my family I had a very scary experience. It started with a bit of water drooling out of my mouth while drinking without me noticing, the right side of my body started to droop noticeably, my arm kept going numb and felt like it was falling asleep, and I had a crazy headache. We took a trip to the emergency room as I knew something was seriously wrong. No one had any answers immediately. The doctors ran several diagnostic tests, including MRIs and CAT scans and that’s when I first heard about traumatic brain injuries.
I struggled with the loss of memory, as well as feelings of fear and anxiety as I would spend hours getting lost in a neighborhood I had lived my whole life. Then more symptoms popped up, including double vision, migraines, inability to concentrate, extreme fatigue, irritability, loss of emotions, accidentally burning & cutting myself while trying to cook, loss of balance, and I am sure there are a million other things I have not listed.
I dealt with a lot of loss after my injury as well. I lost my job in a career that I had gone to college for and that I had planned to retire from. I lost my husband who I felt like I didn’t even know anymore. Relationships with friends and family members changed out of frustration of not understanding my symptoms or what I was going through. The business that I had just launched in January never had a fair chance to get off the ground. The list continued to grow as my life was spent in and out of offices, seeing specialists that all said the same things. “You may need to accept that, this may be your new normal”.
My soul refused to accept or believe that. I continued to search for someone who had just as much hope as I did that I may get better. It was a year & a half into my recovery and I can’t even tell you honestly how many prescriptions or providers I had seen at this point. I was burned out. I met a Functional Neurologist Dr. Glen Zielinski, at NW Functional Neurology. He was the first person that basically said, “I am going to do everything that I can to try to make it [my brain] better”. After many weeks of intensive therapy sessions & transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with Shauna Hahn, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, I began to find a new sense of what normal now would look like. The extreme headaches and double vision were the first things to decrease. With continued homework therapy and seeing additional staff members my life began to shift for the better. Shauna, mentioned to me the LoveYourBrain program and thought that it could assist in my recovery.
“My word today is “RESILIENCE”
Definition: “The process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats and even significant sources of stress, such as family & relationships, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stresses” ”
I researched it and found that due to COVID all of the trainings and classes had been put on hold. So I searched the website for answers and applied for the BIPOC scholarship to attend the Yoga Teacher Training. My love for yoga began to grow even more after realizing that it could be the answer to assisting in my healing. To my surprise I received an email from Ramsay at LoveYourBrain notifying me that I was awarded the scholarship and that I could attend the upcoming training. My heart was filled with so much joy as I was one more step closer to continuing my healing but also would gain a new skill that I could give back to the community. A community that so desperately needs hope for healing and awareness for the different modalities of healing that are available to those with TBI and concussions. The principles, the meditations, and education taught by LYB could benefit so many people.
I have lost and gained so much in living as a traumatic brain injury survivor. One of the most important things is that I was formally able to acknowledge that life has been full of many obstacles which have given me the experience to do the work that I do. Life coaching, health coaching, and most importantly teaching, learning and expanding on my knowledge of yoga has been instrumental in my life. Which speaks so much to the mission of my business Tru2We. I just completed my LoveYourBrain yoga teacher training and felt surrounded by so much love, compassion, and understanding. Who would have known that connecting with a group of superheroes via an online yoga training would enrich so many lives?
I have experienced every single thing listed above and still I rise. I look to the future knowing that no matter what, I will survive. In my survival, I look to bring hope, compassion, strength, healing, and community to all those I meet along the way. I am looking forward to partnering with my community to bring awareness to traumatic brain injuries and the healing modality of yoga. Stay tuned for upcoming courses, events, and opportunity for partnership.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and continues to support me through this journey as my heart holds so much gratitude for all experiences from my past, present, and future. All of these experiences are shaping the amazing soul that I continue to strive to be. As I shine my light of resilience everywhere I go, I encourage each and everyone reading, sharing, and relating to this to check out LoveYourBrain (www.loveyourbrain.com). You never know who might be scared to share or even aware that they may be suffering from an undiagnosed concussion or brain injury and have no clue where to begin. I wished that I would have begun here with this beautiful organization offering free programming, classes, and seeking to build beautiful partnerships all over the world.