My Journey of Healing Through Chiropractic
VULNERABILITY | UNDERSTANDING | LOVE | CLARITY | HONESTY | PURPOSE
Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA I had a relatively normal childhood - a nuclear family, living in a suburban neighborhood, a mom, a dad, pets, food, shelter. . . but I felt so lost and alone. I remember being in elementary school when I first started to feel this way. I was a child feeling this way. As time progressed, my reality began to change and the world around me did not feel as comforting as it once did. I watched my father spiral in his addictions, becoming disconnected from life. My parents fought, my sister cried, I retracted into myself. In this environment, arguments occurred daily, love became scarce, and the focus became on production and output rather than understanding and connection.
Before you paint a mental picture of a horror story of a childhood, I want make clear that I did have the normal things that many of us enjoy - birthdays, holidays, graduations, etc. But, just as many do, I grew up feeling a sense of lack instead of abundance.
I crushed through my schoolwork through high school and college, getting high grades, accolades, and maintaining a social life; however internally I was D Y I N G. I felt like a vast void that could not be filled by material desires and so, my own addictions began to develop. After tearing my labrum in my shoulder during high school wrestling, I had undergone 3 surgeries in 3 years. Not only was this my first REAL introduction to pain and dysfunction, but it also allowed me access to drugs that I had not experienced before. The power of these drugs to not only take away the physical pain that I experienced from my surgeries, but also to numb my awareness and consciousness out of the present moment so I didn't have to feel the hurt inside anymore made it easy to want to return to them long after my physical pain had ended. I became dependent on them to shield me from my internal reality. I spent the better part of 18 months while in college doing this - going to class, partying, socializing, holding a job in the summer, and all under the eyes of my friends and family without anyone having a clue. I was completely lost, disconnected, and on the verge of letting go.
Rewind to my first surgery. I was in high school and my family could not afford for me to go to physical therapy based on the co-pay and treatment schedule, so a chiropractor that my mom had seen once in the past told me he could do my rehab. About 3 weeks into post-surgical recovery, my neck and other shoulder began to hurt from sleeping in a recliner with a sling on 24/7. The chiropractor offered to “adjust” me. I was amazed at how quickly the discomfort subsided and my body felt more free and connected. That memory stuck with me and nearing my final year at my undergrad, a recruiter from Logan College of Chiropractic came to my class to speak on chiropractic and I knew that the universe was sending me a sign. It was at this time that I was at the height of my addictions - my disconnection, and trying to hide from life. I thank God that something in me still had the ability to recognize the sign and look into it.
As I began to learn more and more about chiropractic from reading and shadowing doctors, I began to resonate deeply with the philosophy - that the body is a self-healing, self-regulating organism that needs no help, just no interference. That the power to heal and be well comes from within and that disconnection on the outside stems from disconnection on the inside. There is this thing called a S U B L U X A T I O N. When you break the word down, it literally means “less light” (sub - less; lux - light). I cannot tell you the depth of the darkness that lived inside me, the void, the pit of fear and shame and guilt that I allowed myself to reside in. I remember when I started getting adjusted regularly by artful and masterful chiropractors. It wasn’t this instant shift that occurred in me, but a process of unwinding and unfolding that allowed me to express the true me that I always wanted to be. A feeling that the dark space was becoming less heavy and that life was becoming a bit more clear.
It was from that space that I began to grow, to learn, and to L O V E. I began to take action in my healing process - MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY, PHYSICALLY, and SPIRITUALLY. I have come a long way, and much of my growth I owe to chiropractic’s ability to allow me to be clear and connected to myself so that I can be clear and connected to others. I owe my life to the power of the chiropractic adjustment, which is why I have dedicated my life to delivering all that it has to offer - as a clear vessel, from above-down, inside-out - it is my gift to you.
If you find yourself in need, hurting, lost, broken, disconnected, wondering where your life is going or where it has gone, I invite you into my space - my home, so that we may both grow and heal together.
In health,
Dr. Bonham
