Hello, my name is Petra. I have been a healing arts practitioner since age 18, and I basically went to massage school instead of college. As some may know, the path of a healing arts therapist is not always linear, especially in how it relates to our own healing & transformation. I have tried going the route of getting a degree & working a “regular” job, and honestly I still am seeing if there is one out there for me. However, when I was in the process of getting a bachelor’s degree, I suffered an intense traumatic brain injury, which was 10 years ago. It’s been challenging to heal from this head trauma, as the treatment I need isn’t easy to reach, without a big paycheck or a lot of support. I have managed, and the main thing is that I need a lot of “down time” as my brain has low capacity for the stress & functioning I used to be able to handle.  I have been doing gig work for the past several years (organization, moving help, shopping, office administration tasks), and am really trying to 

     I have been guided to ask for a little bit of help, for myself, at this time, for I know how much the right help can motivate me with the energy I need to do good work, and achieve success, and be happy!  Any contributions are deeply appreciated & will go towards costs of rehabilitation, increasing my strength, and helping me help others.  

      More about the brain injury & healing journey I've been on: having post-concussive issues has also made it more challenging to continue healing from an issue I have had since about age 22, where my spleen is somewhat dysfunctional, and poses a constantly looming threat of an auto-immune disorder. I have been working on healing this aspect of my health for many years, and it has been a constant pain in my side for about 1/2 of my life.  The spleen is the master lymphatic organ, so my immune system is almost always in a state of activation trying to repair & release the spleen, so my brain gets confused sometimes & participates unnecessarily in my body’s immune function. This is called microglial activation.  

    This is how a functional neurologist explained it to me:

      The brain flare-ups I have been experiencing almost daily, and especially during sleep, for the past 2 years, are actually dangerous and could be causing me brain damage every time it happens. It is called microglial activation: since it is likely that I have a leaky blood-brain barrier from getting a concussion, certain cells may be passing through, into my central nervous system, that shouldn’t.  

      Basically, we have a peripheral immune system, and also our central nervous system (CNS) has its own immune system; these 2 are normally meant to be operating separately, as the CNS is clothed in the dura mater, to protect the craniosacral fluid therein. With a leaky barrier however, antigens from any flare-ups in the peripheral immune system, can get through the permeable layer, causing & CNS the brain to participate in upheaval.  

      White blood cells in the brain will normally get stimulated to clean up debris & do their job of regulation, the way the CNS does it. However, with microglial activation, which normally only happens in a severe threat, these cells in the brain lose their "feet" and immediately start pumping out inflammatory cytokines, which provoke an inflammatory reaction inside the brain & CNS, and thus cause unnecessary damage to the brain itself.  

       A functional neurologist has many tests they've curated to diagnose further the exact issues, can help prioritize the right care, self-care, diet, supplements, and determine exercises, activities, and life focuses that will lead to greater healing and coherence.  

      I am fully confident in my ability to heal, and I have faith that I can. Having access to a healing team would make a huge difference for me, and would help me move forward to make the great positive impact on the world I wish to have through my work. I am ready to start doing bodywork again, however since my work is only paying for my basic necessities currently, I am asking for a little help to get set up again to be available for client sessions. 

   Here is a what the money would go towards:  

Continuing education bodywork course & massage license renewal ($400-2000)

Visit with functional neurologist to get a better sense of protocol ($400)

Supplements to enhance my healing ($800) 

Weekly craniosacral sessions ($1000) 

More on using this health issue as a key to developing greater skills in my bodywork career:

       I am aware that I have a gift and talent at providing hands on therapy, have received a lot of praise for my work, and I wish to continue improving & expanding my abilities to provide good quality hands on healing for people.  It has been challenging to restart my career, as it is one that depends solely on my own strengths & ability to be present for others.  I recently attended a Craniosacral class, with the intention of gaining confidence to move forward in my career as a healing arts therapist, ultimately leading me to greater income & quality of life, and during the class, it became apparent how hugely blocked I am, and have been, by a very real issue with post concussive syndrome I am dealing with constantly.  I have had very painful headaches almost every night.  The Craniosacral teacher recommended that if I can, to just receive the work for awhile, until I get better, and increase my capacity to bring clients to my table for sessions.  That was one thing I was overlooking: capacity.  Given that a lot of my energy has been going towards just trying to have decent sleep, do the work I can to survive, and listening to the demands of my brain and what it needs to heal, I realized my capacity to work with others has been very diminished.  I am running this campaign for myself to turn this around.  I have faith and hope that I can still heal completely, and I am asking for help to get there.  I deeply desire to restart my career as a hands on bodywork practitioner, to be in the world of healing arts, and to help other concussion survivors to have better lives, and in order to do this with integrity, I need to properly & successfully heal myself.