- Spiritual Guidance with Raven

Felicia’s Healing Journey

“I have had an amazing life, and up until 2006 I was blessed with radiant health. An athlete all of my life, I was agile, flexible, strong, active and never really had to worry about my body being available to whatever I wanted to do in life. The strongest thing I had ever taken for pain was an aspirin and I did not know what it would be like to have pain daily.

In 2006, a series of hardships happened that caused me to experience a great deal of heartache. In January, my best friend died. In February, my father, who was a foundation of love and support for me throughout my whole life, died. In April, Jerry, my ex-husband whom I loved dearly, died. Losing three of my closest friends and family in four months was devastating. The sense of loss I felt was overwhelming. And in May, I was doing a performance on stage, and I tripped over a monitor, banged my knee, and twisted my back.

From that time on I had a series of painful issues with my knees, hips, back, and feet. For fourteen years the pain traveled; it was in my left foot, then my right knee, then my hips, then it was my right foot, then it was my back.

I tried many different healing modalities to help myself heal and to manage the pain. I tried nutritional supplements, three different chiropractors, body work, pool therapy, physical therapy, energy work, and orthotics. For a time, each of my feet were in a soft cast. I tried acupuncture two or three times, but it never really helped very much. Some of the modalities brought temporary relief. Pool therapy helped with my mobility, but not pain. Body work helped with pain temporarily.

When I met Raven, I had been in pain for over 13 years. And in the last year, the pain in my knees and hips was so severe, I was in daily pain. For the first time in my life, I was taking heavy prescription pain medicine just to get through the day. Just the week before I saw Raven, I’d gone to see a surgeon to surrender to have knee replacement surgery and was awaiting a call to schedule it.

I contacted Raven, read the chapters he directed me to in Growing Big In Love, and in one session I felt relief in my knee. After hearing my story, Raven suggested that I try to reconnect with my father, that he was here for me. He asked me if I could remember any ritual I used when I was with him that would generate the endearment I had felt with him when he was alive. I said I used to sit on his lap and he would hold me and I would massage his bald spot. So Raven suggested that I do that ritual with him where he is now, the place where we go when we die. As soon as I asked to talk with my father, he was right there as if he was waiting for me all that time. It was beautiful and really connecting. When my father died, I had had a feeling of being left unsupported. Reestablishing the relationship on a somatic level was amazing. Being able to feel the presence of my father’s love for me, it made all the difference in the world. I wasn’t in this crazy world by myself. It gave me back my center.

Over the next few days and weeks, I would include these interludes with my father and Jerry in my meditations. It felt so good to interact with both of them. Within a few days I started to notice less pain and after a few more days, there was no pain in my hips or knees.

Today, I’m completely off pain meds, joyously riding my bicycle with my husband, able to sit cross-legged and comfortable in my yoga practice. My joy and energy for life are back, and everyone around me (family, clients, co-workers) all benefit from my aliveness, presence and love.”