I am back from Ukraine and wanted to share some of my experience.First of all, thank you to everyone who held me in light while I was in a war zone and thank you to all who funded this trip. I am grateful and humbled by the love and generosity. 

Much of my time spent in Ukraine felt "normal", from attending a ballet in Lviv's historic opera house, the deep bonds made between practitioners and students, or the unique desserts I tried with a cast of good vodka. If you peel back the layers of conversation or drop into the field while walking home before the curfew starts, you blink into the low resonance of the war. What I expected from this trip was not at all my reality.

The day before and after my first surgery in 2019, when the status of my life was on the table, was the last time I got slapped in the face with the feeling of being woken up to the depth of joy as time seems to slow. Many of you with similar experiences may have noticed the richness of life as everything seems to sparkle a bit brighter. Feeling the infinite when your finality is being questioned. I felt a resurgence of this deep feeling but at a hum while in Ukraine. In the city of Lviv, there was a deep appreciation of life and to live it to the fullest amidst the air raid sirens and updates from the frontline: a deep look in one's eyes while cheering over kvass, the extra squeeze in the hug, or a gentle rub on the back acknowledging the weight of the situation without words. There was no time to be distracted by the trivial. The full days were filled with work, food shared with friends, and catching whatever sleep was allowed before the suspected wake up from sirens that often go off at night. 

I got to witness what a community that uplifts and cherishes the disabled looks like and how that translates into a peace and acceptance for the loss of a limb or three. These soldiers were some of the most grounded humans I have been around in a treatment setting. I can only imagine how being held by their community, receiving safe and gentle touch, and knowing the cost of their changed bodies was from them defending their country. The honor and respect from their comrades was palpable. There was no need for guided trauma metabolism, only the need for big belly laughs and femur bones adjustments for a better prosthetic fit. 

This was the first time this program was able to teach Ukrainian healthcare workers how to continue this care. I focused my attention on helping PTs, OTs, MDs, LMTs, and PAs listen to the tissues and communicate safety to the scars. Through broken English and mostly examples by working on their bodies to help them translate the softness of touch onto the soldiers. We have created the pipeline of learning and I was so proud of the students we taught and proud of myself for stepping more fully into my teaching role. With one hour of gentle scarwork, a student was able to eliminate a particular soldier's phantom limb pain. One hour of touch, from a newly trained provider, made so much difference for someone. The standard clinical research from the medical community has nothing that can approach this efficiency of time and cost. I am so honored to be a part of this revolution to bring a part of humanity back into sectors of our healthcare.

Deepening my ability to be able to help people who have had bullets ripped through their bodies, shrapnel lodged in their tissues, and limbs shifted in shape and size are skills I did not see myself understanding, yet I now know are critical for me to exercise. We see conflicts arising all over the world. I see how this is and will be an important part of my career and time here as a healer for my generation. This program is already talking about going to work in Gaza once the area cools down and becomes less dangerous. I am already planning on going back to Ukraine to help again. My goal is spring of 2027. 

I write these words with honesty and a lack of sugar coating. Reality is in front of us, we breathe deep to face it head on. We find the ease in the next step forward. An ethos grounded in me while working with this population of humans in a country too accustomed to occupation. I'm still integrating and welcoming in challenging thoughts for the winter months. These hands of mine work in ways I am trying to conceptualize and explain in the material world. I smile at the universe, to the river I am on and the bends of experience I am gaining. 

I look in and trust my intuition, moving from my heart center. 

Much love,

- Claira