Her Story by: Melissa Morrison

Four strikes and you’re out. At least that is what I thought after the fourth time I was hit in the head with a softball. I had a concussion with numerous, debilitating symptoms that I never thought I would return to my normal everyday life. My new normal is different than I expected, but it has now been four and a half years and I am doing what I love. I have my own business working as a Transformation and Wellness Coach and a Certified Neurosculpting® Facilitator.

April 17, 2012 was the night that changed my life in an instant. During a softball game, a ball tipped off my glove and it hit me right between my eyes. I did not lose consciousness, but was foggy and started experiencing dizziness and vision difficulties. I didn’t go to the hospital. I drove into work the next morning, even though my head was pounding, everything was foggy, lights and sounds were causing excruciating pain, my balance was off and I had a hard time putting words together in a sentence. This is when I finally went to the ER to then be sent home after some tests were done.

From the start, I felt like it was an uphill battle, not only with the injury, but also in trying to live a normal life. I was having a hard time accepting my limitations. I was battling my independence. I lived alone and I struggled doing the basic necessities to take care of myself everyday like brushing my teeth, showering and cooking. My family wanted me to move home, to a different state, to take care of me, but I was stubborn and determined to try to continue my life as close to as it was before my injury. I didn’t want to accept all the changes that were happening. I just wanted the old me back and to feel better.

As a result of the post-concussion syndrome, I was unable to continue working at the CPA firm as an auditor where I worked prior to my injury despite my lack of trying to go back to work multiple times. My new full-time job was going to various doctors and therapies and sleeping to heal. These steps are critical when recovering from a brain injury. I wanted to do it right the first time and not have these problems sneak back in later in life because I didn’t take the proper time to heal now.

I was a very active person before my injury, playing sports, running, enjoying being outside every chance I got. I, also, was a hard worker at my auditing job. I didn’t know how to be still. My doctors didn’t seem to be well versed in concussion management, so I took it upon myself to help myself heal. I did my own cognitive exercises and researched the brain, trying to learn anything I could that would help me to heal.

A year after my injury while still having unbearable fatigue, cognitive impairments, day-long headaches, hearing and light sensitivity, etc. I decided to try a different vocational path to help gain back some of my independence. I enrolled in a training program to become a certified professional life coach.

I got certified as a coach a year later. With my injury, neuroscience peaked my interest. I took classes for neuroscience and coaching and eventually starting doing more and more research on brain health.

I learned about a healing modality, Neurosculpting® that infuses the latest neuroscience research with meditations for brain health. The Neurosculpting® meditation integrates both sides of the brain creating a whole-brain approach to create new patterns in the brain. I started by taking a class from the Neurosculpting® Institute. The knowledge that I learned and how I was feeling physically and mentally after the meditations in class, I knew that I wanted to pursue it further to become a Certified Neurosculpting® Facilitator.

I become certified at the beginning of 2016. I wanted to share this knowledge with the rest of the world. While I continued to heal from my brain injury, I started my own business called Infinite Transformation to work part-time doing Wellness Coaching and Neurosculpting®.

It gave me hope and motivation to see that I was able to start doing work again on a sustained basis. My independence was continuing to grow personally and professionally.

Personally, my healing journey has catapulted in the past year since doing the Neurosculpting® meditations, using the nutritional knowledge that I learned at the Neurosculpting® Institute, and using other somatic modalities which helped to improve my symptoms.

•  I have always had bad fatigue, needing daily naps and frequent breaks after doing activities or even after going to the store. The meditations help strengthen my pre-frontal cortex in my brain like a muscle and my recovery time has lessened immensely. I do not require daily naps anymore and am able to do multiple activities at a time before needing a break to calm down my symptoms.
• My cognitive deficits have improved. The ability to sustain my focus and attention has improved. The fluidity of me putting my thoughts into words and speaking sentences is close to where they were pre-injury.
• I was able to go off my medications. I was on medication for anxiety and for headaches. Within 10 months, I was off both medications.
• The nutrition information that I learned for brain health was key in helping me move forward to maximize my neuroplasticity everyday. It makes me a healthier person and helped me improve the way I eat and feel everyday.
•  A somatic modality named Body Current® helped eliminate my twitches that I had in my leg and other parts of my body.
• My light sensitivity was always unbearable, especially when I was inside, causing eye pain and headaches. I had to wear sunglasses. In less than a year from when I first starting doing the Neurosculpting® and Body Current® practices, I no longer have to wear glasses for light sensitivity!

Professionally, starting Infinite Transformation and being able to work part-time doing Wellness Coaching and Neurosculpting® is helping me gain my confidence back and helping me realize that I am more than just a brain injury survivor.

• It is helping me feel like a contributing member of society again.
• I can take advantage of the parts of me that are still there and alive and put them to use to help others through similar journeys as mine.
• My work will help others going through a transition in their lives to become a healthier version of themselves.
• I help people make new pathways in the brain to re-train their brains and re-learn old things that may have become deficits from their injuries.

My goal is to make a positive, sustainable change in their brain health and give them the tools to continue on their healing journeys more equipped to gaining their own independence.

My healing journey is still unfolding and I have further to travel. If I were to summarize what I want you to take from my story is to never give up and continue to learn new things. It is a long process to healing. I understand and aim to listen and help make your journey a little easier, guiding you along the path to wellness. Most of us with a TBI or any other illness or injury, this is new to us. We need to learn what resources are available and create our own paths to wellness and healing.

 

 

 

Melissa Morrison

I’m a Transformation and Wellness Coach. I am a Certified Neurosculpting Facilitator (CNSF) and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC). My passion is working with people who want to actively improve their lives through brain health and/or is in transition or wantin to generate transformation. I love working with individuals wanting to stretch the edges of their comfort zone to grow in life and in business.

I excel at being creatively curious with clients, bringing my strong intuition and awareness into the space and bringing the energy and fun we need back in our lives.

My background in leadership and business in auditing, consulting and fraud create a unique viewpoint as a coach. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, I am equipped with tools to recognize and eliminate the personal fraud we all hide behind.

Here is me. I am loving, caring and powerful. On the other hand: I’m blunt; I’m bold; I’m a risk-taker. I am also driven, curious, inspirational, and intelligent. Honesty is number one and I plan to give that to you in all the work we do together. I want this to be interactive; to start conversations.

I am currently recovering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), I understand what it means to personally transform.  I am living proof that you can step into your truth no matter what circumstance you face in life. Yes, I have bumps along the way and detours that arise, but I always try to keep a forward motion in my dance through life.

To learn more about Neurosculpting®, visit my website, www.melissasmorrison.com or email me at [email protected].