Debra Robinson
Aug 23, 2026
the long-awaited sequel to ‘Synchronicity and a Near-Death Experience’ (following ‘Take 12’)
Synchronicity and a Near-Death ExperienceDebra Robinson·May 21Read full story
So much learning came out of that experience…in so many directions.
After a surgery, you are generally on your own once you’ve had the post-op interview and received your instructions for aftercare. There may be questions after the initial healing period, but there is not always a mechanism for addressing them. Once you’re up and running again, you’re kind of on your own.
In my post-op, I was told how serious my case was, how close to death I had come and that I had broken all NYC records for surviving an ectopic pregnancy. Being young, it was a lot to take in. I was advised that trying to conceive in the future was, in fact, dangerous. The surgeon impressed upon me all the details of the emergency exploratory surgery from start to finish. It had been a harrowing race against time for them…
To their great credit, I survived. I am forever grateful for all they did…
Nothing is wasted in God’s economy… This experience pulled me into unexpected learning on several fronts. All of that learning was put to good use in the years that followed in ways I could not foresee.
Certainly on the physical side, as I learned much about the stomach, surgery, recovery, how diagnoses are arrived at, etc. There were post-op aspects that continued for some years afterward without professional explanation. I muddled through. I learned.
For instance, over the next 3 years, there were many episodes of tearing, stinging and burning pain in my abdomen that no one could diagnose. It was often frightening because it was reminiscent of the original trauma. I eventually determined that these were hemorrhage-related and post-surgical adhesions that were slowly tearing loose and freeing the tissues. Over time, everything became more normal.
Another had to do with numbness along the incision line. I was told…as are many patients…that “the nerves regrow and heal slowly. Whatever feeling you have after 6 months is about what you can expect.”
I accepted that explanation at the time and reconciled myself to some permanent loss of sensation. Then I forgot about it. Nearly 5 years later, I found that I had regained full feeling!
Now what made me think that the body would just stop healing after 6 months?! Bodies don’t work like that! That was an arbitrary maxim on the part of the doctors… swallowed whole and never questioned! I’ve heard this from so many other patients. It sounds silly now.
Could there be other pronouncements that should be questioned? In fact, yes!!
I’ve met so many patients who were told as youngsters that they would never walk again, regain function of a limb, never leave their wheelchairs, etc. etc…who went on to prove the doctors wrong (I am one myself). I’ve witnessed the reversal of so many dire pronouncements that I actually started a collection that I called “Doctors say the Dumbest Things”.
In the end, it doesn’t hurt to question our fallable health providers. We’re all still learning…
Perhaps we should let these amazing problem-solving bodies and their determined inhabitants have the final word…
Meanwhile, there is nothing quite like learning in your own body...
I had to learn to treat myself over the years as my bowels found their way back home after being unceremoniously stuffed back inside at surgery’s conclusion (yes…that’s how it’s done).
Herbal colon cleansing, better diets, even colonics. Again, that knowledge was multiplied to others. I eventually added colonic therapy to my list of skills. My excellent teacher had learned from an old-time osteopath who had treated her husband after he gradually overdosed on supplements. (he was an avid devotee of Jack LaLanne who held top titles in body-building competitions. When he fell from the top slot, he doubled down on his gym time and supplements. When that failed, he dabbled in a little more…and then a little more…until he poisoned himself). He required daily colonic treatments for 2 months to save his life. It took another full year to recover his health.
We all grew up in the shadow of the supplement-popping industry! We are now at the heart of it, in fact!
As you can imagine, that opened up yet another avenue that led to a great deal of research and learning!
As I worked my way through all of this, I began to realize why I had never been able to finish a single bottle of multi-vitamins. They always left me a little queasy in my stomach and often left me with a slight dull headache. I never felt better. If anything, I felt worse. My response had been to shop around and switch brands…I never found one that worked or made me feel better (minerals are a less problematic area, but vitamins are now synthetic.) My symptoms were indicators of toxicity…a subject I know a lot about. I was slow to make the connection, however, under the influence of all the advertising with its never-ending promise of better health.
This eventually led to understanding the emotional aspects of the stomach region…
Think for a moment about the explosive rise of anxiety…coupled with eating, drinking and drug disorders…
While we may think of the heart as the emotional center, the belly actually gets top billing.
I had my own body of experience along these lines on the emotional/spiritual /psychic importance of this region of the body…stretching from childhood to my first ‘hungry ghost’ experience at the age of 17… (a subject better understood elsewhere in the world than here) Those posts will be added before long…
Along the way, I learned from Thai and other Oriental practitioners who also regard the stomach as the ‘Emotional Brain’ (Brain #1-the fast one-that cannot lie). Again, a subject in itself.
I am not easily invested in ‘woo' subjects. I needed to make some sort of sense of these claims. Were they valid?
One day, I pulled a well-illustrated anatomy book from the shelves and began to study in detail. I began to see the relationship on the anatomical level. Nerve bundles and plexuses are heavily concentrated in the abdomen, and they are busy transmitting signals to the brain via the spinal cord…
The belly was, in effect, Grand Central Station for the body!
Many puzzle pieces were falling into place! Exciting learning!
Many of my subsequent experiences in life were focused along these lines…
You can see how this original experience was becoming a multi-layered event!!!
Very early in my Thai training, I experienced a spontaneous 40-day period without food or sleep…and very little water…things I had never heard of.
This was another experience that I had to figure out ‘in the rear-view mirror’ so to speak, as there was no one to help me understand at the time... (that post is also on its way)
A lot of this lies quite outside of our experience. You can always DM me privately with questions and comments.
In working with an acupuncturist on a particularly resistant muscle in my lower back, she surprised me with the remark “When this point finally releases, you will feel like someone just released their tight grip on your stomach!” Her remark made no sense to me at all…until the day came. It was a dramatic release that was followed by much healthier digestion! It felt like a giant fist had suddenly let go! (for those who give and/or receive massage, those tight lower back muscles engage the nerves that govern the muscles of the belly. This can be emotional as well as physical release)
In addition, I was fortunate to meet and work with Chi Gong practitioners…with their remarkable abilities! I apprenticed under a Reiki Master from the original lineage. The 1st time he held his hand 12 inches above my midsection, my whole body began to vibrate…again, the belly.
A little mention should be made of Tao, a Mongolian bodyworker who I met in the most ‘serendipitous’ way. His energy work was such that a single session left me unable to eat anything but the purest, freshest foods for the next month.
Then there was the remarkable time in Thailand with Den, a gifted healer which led to a life-altering 3-hour long massage of my belly…all elbows…all the way down to the spine. That post will follow on the heels of this one...
There are such mysteries in these bodies…
⚡ ⚡ ⚡
From early on, the pivotal experiences of my life were ego-stripping.
What lies beneath?
An unexpected world, for starters. An altered worldview, a unique pathway, certainly a better trajectory.
I was 23. It began with an experience of blinding atomic Light…the dissolution of all the worlds…my ego was obliterated…a freedom so complete that you are left wanting only the return of that freedom for the rest of your life…
There is no greater freedom than being relieved of the ego. (while our world worships…)
There was only the Ultimate…
It lasted perhaps 20 minutes or so…and then the Light disappeared.
I was shocked (and not a little dismayed) on opening my eyes, to find that the world was still here…
There was Living to be done apparently…
But that experience shattered the barriers. Life would never be the same…
(while we do operate somewhat within ego roles going forward in life, they are never again taken so seriously. They are malleable, definitely illusory and should be regularly set aside…almost like costume changes…of a livelier kind. Blessed are the agent rogers of this world…)
Coming around finally, to the near-death experience of the previous story…
It was a little taste…not of eternity…that would be the clichéd idea…but a foretaste of what lies just beyond normal experience. It is closer to us than we might think…
Something Unseen interacts with us and the world with a love we weren’t expecting…
the Great Adventure… the Grand Mystère…
The loving essence (the tender lamb) that was revealed, excavated from beneath life’s hardships and difficulties was experienced. I could not have known apart from this…It was never forgotten, but stands as a vital reminder.
The breakthrough experiences gave a glimpse and a promise…and a value to the lives we live.
Meanwhile, there is Living to be done…
As always, thanks for reading… See you quite soon!
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Discussion about this post
George LeoneGeorge LeoneAug 23
What stays with me here is how you trace one crisis into a whole constellation of understandings, physical, emotional, and spiritua, without ever forcing a conclusion. The way you follow the body’s signals into deeper terrain feels honest, lived, and quietly revelatory.
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