Laura is a skilled classical Pilates teacher and advocate for the original method. Her focus has been as a caregiver for her husband, Jon, who sadly was injured in a car accident in 2017.
Despite the tough plight, Laura powers through because she believes in Jon's dedication to his recovery. "... Jon is leading his recovery. I give him the options and allow him to steer the ship."
Jon’s mental state has transformed from complete agitation, fear, fight or flight episodes during the first two years of his recovery to today, a constant state of joy, love and happiness. The purity, light and unconditional love that Jon radiates is breathtaking.
For me, I draw my peace from God. He is my rock and foundation. Since day 1 of Jon’s injury I have focused on the power of the Lord by trusting His timing and His ability to overcome any earthly challenge.
Great question. Another obstacle is perseveration. Jon will repeat words, phrases, and activities over and over. It is a loop within his brain. This type of behavior is often linked to the limbic system which deals a lot with trauma. There are wonderful techniques out there to help with this and two we have found to help tremendously is neuro emotional technique (NET) and energy healing.
When Jon gets stuck on something and/or seems too challenged there are two approaches I take: 1. I observe if the task is too much for his system at the moment by watching for signs such as rapid eye movements, change in heart rate, breathing, etc. If it feels like too much I put the task aside and don’t make any more of it. It is about finding a balance of not over stimulating the brain. And 2. I allow Jon to dictate his rehab. If he wants to keep working on something we move forward, but he has the ability to tell me he has had enough. As a navy seal it is more common for him to not recognize when he has had enough so I revert back to number one.
Jon learns best with my voice frequency. I have been Jon’s constant and he understands me. I do a lot of hands on with him as well. I truly believe in the power of touch. Jon has strong mirror neurons which have been his strength when learning.
I find the Cadillac to be our go to. It is easily accessible and gives great feedback to Jon’s body. I actually have one of my Cadillacs upstairs as a changing table for Jon. It works perfectly.
I find the Cadillac to be our go to. It is easily accessible and gives great feedback to Jon’s body. I actually have one of my Cadillacs upstairs as a changing table for Jon. It works perfectly.
Interesting enough those challenging moments are no longer part of our lives. At the time they did occur I stayed grounded in my faith and knew God would pull Jon through. Looking back I honestly don’t know how I did it other than with God. What I have publicly shared is not the complete picture. Jon went through a really difficult two years after his injury and there were many very hard and challenging times. But, praise God, those times are behind us.
The whole purpose of my sharing this journey is to bring awareness and hope to others; with God nothing is impossible.
Gratz Pilates is honored to have the opportunity to support Laura and Jon Grant by sharing their story and journey with the Pilates community. Please see our video links and visit our blog at Pilates-Gratz.com
To support Jon’s GoFundMe please click: gofundme.com/jonnyg
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