Member Highlight: Surviving Near-Fatal Stress
At 33, David Gonnerman was working out 6 days a week and sporting the body and stamina of a seasoned athlete. With his eyes fixed on financial success (“chasing the brass ring” as he says now), it was inconceivable to David and everyone around him that he could be struck down with any kind of illness, much less three simultaneous sinus vein strokes, which nearly killed him.
Drilling Three Holes
David was struck by multiple venous sinus thrombosis, a medical term used to describe the clotting of multiple blood vessels in the brain. A workout junkie, his strong heart kept flooding his brain with fresh blood, but the clots prevented the blood from circulating back to his heart.
His doctors were forced to drill three holes into his skull in order to drip a drug into his veins aimed at dissolving the clots. They did not expect David to live through the experience, much less thrive again. In fact, David was given last rites at the hospital. But a miracle happened. He survived.
Starting Over
“I went back to age one,” David said, sharing that he had to work to regain his ability to speak and relearn basic motor skills. His whole identity was stripped away. He lost both his stock trading and financial planning licenses and found himself out of work for three years while he gradually rebuilt his life.
A Surprising Solution
David realized that his relentless pursuit of “success at any cost” had been instrumental in blinding him from the root of his health problems– big-time emotional stress. He delved deeply, studying numerous healing modalities that might help his recovery. But one practice in particular, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), lured David with its open and honest approach to healing. Unlike other approaches David explored, EFT offered a way to get to the core of his emotional stress and held promise of a permanent solution.
Developed by nationally recognized self-help expert Gary Craig, EFT combines the use of Eastern meridian acupressure points with a profoundly personal exploration of emotions that typically reside in the subconscious. Stretching far beyond traditional approaches to medicine, EFT helps people learn to recognize and address unhealed emotions that lurk beneath their conscious awareness.
Less Stress, Better Golf Scores
Through the EFT process, David realized that fear of failure and working himself to exhaustion for “success” had driven his stress. He gradually learned to re-interpret success and said, “When we truly change how we see ourselves, our lives, our health, our relationships, and even our golf scores improve.” (David added that as a lifelong athlete he was prone to “choking” at important make-or-break points. Not so much anymore, though!).
Helping Others Find Freedom
When we talked, David described himself as a “touchy feely” kind of guy, who is totally comfortable bringing what he has learned to the world. As a licensed EFT practitioner, David (now age 59) helps others navigate the path to “emotional freedom” and a happier, healthier life.
Over the years, David has helped clients struggling with back pain, sleeping disorders, and weight issues, just to name a few. But one common thread wove its way through all of his clients’ lives: Each was taking prescription drugs to heal their physical health issues, but none experienced relief.
Ousting an 18-Month Migraine
He recalled a particular client who had a steady migraine for 18 months and was “choking down pills” hoping to be able to sleep and resume his normal life. After their work together, his client realized how cruelly unaccepting he had been of his own son’s sexuality. Upon making this heartfelt connection of empathy for his son, the client began to forgive himself and gain awareness of what he needed to do to make amends. Following more extensive work with EFT, the client’s migraines disappeared.
Walking the Talk
In addition to his EFT work with clients, David participates in an interfaith group. His role? To help members of this group understand alternative modalities of healing and wellness. David is certainly walking the talk of wanting to help others and “serve without ego as a conduit to healing.”
Connecting with Cell Nutritionals
So, how did David find Cell Nutritionals? An Indiana resident, he remembers a woman in Texas who was then helping her mother heal from cancer referring him several years ago. He said quite simply, “From the beginning, I could feel the sincerity of your company and that it is driven by heart.”
When asked about his favorite product, he quickly identified Constant Health. “I read your white paper and was impressed with the combination of ingredients,” he said. “It’s fast and easy; it’s measured and scientific. Maybe I should take some other things but this feels perfect enough for me.” While he admits to hoarding a cabinet full of feel-good supplements, he and his girlfriend find Constant Health’s scoopable powder great for their more-centered but still-busy lives.