Episode 6
The Forgiving Ballerina
September 13, 2022
In this episode, Lyndsay Soprano talks with her guest, Jeannette Tashjian, about forgiveness and the importance of forgiving those that have harmed us. Sometimes repeatedly.
Lyndsay starts off the episode by discussing her personal experience with being hurt by people in her life and how difficult it can be to forgive those that have harmed you, disappointed you, lied to you, and let you down. Sometimes people behave this way for seemingly no reason, making it even more confusing for the victim and reinforcing abandonment issues and difficulty trusting others.
This can be especially difficult if there is no closure to the situation. She is thankful that she was raised to be a forgiving and loving woman, instead of a mean and spiteful human being, noting that she has no respect for individuals that are unable to forgive or communicate their frustrations.
Her guest, Jeannette is the owner of Burbank Infrared Sauna, where Lyndsay met her about four years ago after moving to Burbank. Lyndsay had been researching holistic approaches to manage her CRPS symptoms, and after emailing Jeannette to see if infrared therapy may be helpful. Jeannette revealed that she also suffers from CRPS, and they basically hit it off from there, beginning with a very emotional meeting.
She recalls having a wonderful childhood up until elementary school, around the ages of ten or eleven when she became the victim of bullying by an adult that she was very close with. The adult was her Brownie Girl Scout Leader. She loved her like a mother, and she had become a close family friend. In the blink of an eye, this person turned on her and began to say terrible things to her that would have gotten them sued or arrested if it were to happen today.
Within the next few weeks after this incident, she developed a rare disease called Reflex Neurovascular Dystrophy (RND). RND reduces the supply of oxygen to your skin, muscles, and bones. RND was so rare in the early 80s that Los Angeles Children’s Hospital met with a board of doctors to discuss her case, calling in other doctors from out of state. She was hospitalized for two weeks and underwent intensive therapies lasting a minimum of five hours a day. The condition of her release was that she had to be able to walk around the perimeter of the children’s hospital without pain before she could leave. She completed the walk, but not without pain, to get back home to her family. All she wanted was to go home!
She then started gymnastics and eventually began ballet, given her genetic gifts, she was a natural. She felt as though she was able to control her environment and feelings. During her ballet career, she ended up training at the Joffrey Ballet School because of her ballet teacher.
Jeannette has suffered from CRPS flares (the adult version of RND) 4 times since she was a child. We don’t know what is worse…living with it 24 hours a day or getting hit by the CRPS flare freight train randomly!
Then to add more fuel to the fire…most recently she has been diagnosed with Mueller-Weiss Syndrome with a healing stress fracture. On Memorial Day of this year, she went out walking her puppy and then next morning woke up and felt like her foot was broken. She ended up getting an immediate MRI. Come to find out her bone was dead. How do you heal a dead, fractured bone!?? We will have to chat with her about recovery down the road!
Mueller-Weiss syndrome is a rare condition that causes severe arch pain on the inside of your mid- and hind foot. It’s mostly found in people ages 40-60, and it’s much more common in women. It’s a progressive disease, meaning it gets worse over time, and it usually affects both of your feet.
They covered different modalities of treatment from biofeedback to all sorts of energy healing. If you don’t believe in the power of energy, then you need to check yourself! The power of the universe is more powerful than any doctor.
Jeannette is offering 3 infrared sauna sessions for $35 if you use the code: THEPAINGAME
Let’s get to the heart of how to heal. With you by her side.
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Resources
https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/chronic/reflex_sympathetic/
https://www.joffreyballetschool.com/
https://www.burbankinfraredsauna.com/
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/mueller-weiss-syndrome-overview
https://psychology.fandom.com/wiki/Reflex_neurovascular_dystrophy