We’ve already professed our love for Food Matters brand new FMTV, a genius new health and wellness platform by TCM guest editors past James and Laurentine. What was once just a single documentary has now become a whole media universe, filled with in-depth films, expert interviews, and healthy recipe videos to create the ultimate wellness resource. Frankly, we thought we couldn’t get any more smitten. Then we watched the trailer for Love Bomb. And our hearts pretty much exploded.
This soulful, inspirational documentary by chiropractor Rhea Zimmerman chronicles the story of two chiropractors who, after experiencing the horrors of September 11, 2001 firsthand, follow their hearts to serve people in need of better healthcare in The Sacred Valley, Peru. There in South America, Rhea and her team begin to discover the true power of healing and the difference one person can make in the lives of many. A testament to the power of love and human transformation, Rhea dives deep and is unafraid to ask the toughest of questions: How can trauma ultimately transform us? How can one person radically shift the lives of others – and themselves – with the unique power that only they have?
Grab a loved one, a bowl of popcorn, and catch a special screening of Love Bomb on FMTV starting tomorrow, Thursday October 23rd, at 8 a.m. EST. The documentary will be live online through Friday Oct 24th, at 8 p.m. EST. Need even more love in your life? Hop online for a live Q&A call with Rhea this Friday, October 24th from 8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. EST, and get to know this visionary healer yourself.
In the meantime, check out our heart-to-heart with Rhea below: how she turned her own feelings of fear into acts of love, how chiropractic work heals on more levels than you may realize, and how you can go about finding your own love bomb to drop, in a way that only you know how.
The Chalkboard Mag: 9/11 was a sobering day for our entire country, to say the least. But for you personally, it was the beginning of an awakening, a life shift. Tell us more about how and why this traumatic event became your own personal catalyst for change.
Rhea Zimmerman: I know that 9/11 affected people very differently. In fact, I have friends who were in New York with me that were mildly affected, while for me it was highly traumatic. My personal connection was that I quit my job at the World Trade Center only nine months prior, and also had just returned to my Brooklyn apartment on September 10th, after having been away for two months. I think the combination was shocking right to my core. The shock totally took me out of my normal every-day feeling of living. It was a combination of feeling the closeness of death and the immediate potential threat to our lives that zapped me into a keen awareness of being alive. This sense of aliveness created an urgency to live, and live now. That coupled with wanting to live in a way that created more love, more awareness and more conscious choosing is what catalyzed change that continues today.
TCM: You have a unique take on chiropractic work that goes beyond simple realignment of the body – it takes on a spiritual side that others might not realize. How do adjustments help heal us on a deeper level?
RZ: Chiropractic actually has a history of deep philosophy beginning with the founder, D.D. Palmer. There is an idea that proliferates from him that the purpose of chiropractic is to unite “man the physical with man the spiritual.” I learned about this during school and it really resonated with me, and also, along with the question, “How?” I had my own experiences of healing into connection with myself through chiropractic, and have seen it throughout the years of caring for patients. The “how” really lies in the functioning of our nervous systems, and chiropractic’s impact on that functioning. I will simplify it here to say that we access our most connected self when we are in the calm half of our nervous system, versus the fight-or-flight half. When this calm half is functioning optimally, we have clearer thinking, more access to our creative mind and, in essence, a body that is letting go of junk rather than storing and proliferating it in a state of inflammation. Imagine being supported in this optimal state over a period of years in your life, and you can imagine where that would lead on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level! This is why I love chiropractic as a part of a lifestyle that embraces healthy transformation.
TCM: Love Bomb is such a wonderful title; it immediately gives us a visual of an explosion of love. If “love bomb” was in the dictionary (which, by the way, it totally should be!), what would the definition read?
RZ: If love bomb were in the dictionary, it would state: A love bomb is something that destabilizes the steady state of an individual or community in a way that is infused with love. For example: Wow, I was feeling really lonely the other day and then Mary surprised me with a note of appreciation; it was such a love bomb, my entire day shifted.
TCM: Love Bomb brought you to Peru to work. What was your favorite moment, interaction, or shift you witnessed while working with the people of the Sacred Valley?
RZ: One of the most profound changes that I have taken part in while serving in the Sacred Valley is actually with a woman I feature at the end of Love Bomb, Paulina. She struck a deep chord in me from the moment I met her while serving there. She regained a level of function in her body, that also expressed deeply into the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of her life. She was in a state of feeling like she had lost everything after a mud slide had taken out her home and all of her possessions, also affecting her health. When she got the function of her body back, she also felt very spiritually restored, and her gratitude was something that penetrated me and the whole team. I am deeply grateful for moments like that. In moments like that it’s not about me, that I did something, it is about the gratitude that I get the grace of being in that moment, delivering the action, but the presence of everyone involved is what creates the healing, not me. It’s the magic of the moment.
TCM: Your “love bomb” as a chiropractor comes through your chiropractic adjustments. What is a typical session with you like?
RZ: I have been evolving in the way that I deliver my care, so a typical session with me at home is unique from what you see in the film. First I begin by getting to know my client’s concerns and also what they are already doing to take care of themselves. I want to know what is going on in their life so I can get a feeling for the potential transformational context that they are in. Then when we begin care I actually use a thermographic scanner to track the functioning of the nervous system, so that I can see if they are in a connected state or in a disconnected, stuck state. If they are disconnected and stuck then I will deliver an adjustment, which I track, to determine the optimum way to help connect that person. After the adjustment, clients rest for 15 minutes in zero-gravity chairs, and I give them a positive affirmation or visualization tailored to their journey that day. This is how I help to incorporate mind/body relaxation techniques into their daily routine. After the rest period I re-scan and they are on their way. It’s a combination of a scientific adjustment protocol with an intuitive and loving container allowing for that bigger picture of healing to happen that is always bigger than the mind.
TCM: How can someone figure out what love bombs they’re meant to “drop?” What are some simple ways people can drop little (or big!) love bombs of their own on the regular?
RZ: I think first the most helpful thing to do is to realize that love bombs are simple and don’t require any special skill, they just require the desire to give them. In the film we see me giving my chiropractic service as a love bomb, yet, I look for all kinds of unexpected ways to drop them in my daily life. I think first it is paying attention to the moment, to the people in your surroundings. Sometimes it is in the form of over-paying for something or an unexpected gift, other times it is reaching out to someone with a note or phone call. It is also asking how people are during routine interactions versus just getting the job done.
Beyond that, a great way to incorporate the greater feeling of service as love bomb is to look for volunteer opportunities in your area. Many cities have volunteer service organizations that help place people where skill matches need. It can be a small commitment to start, in order to create the transformational experience of giving, and then, listening to this experience leads to the development of the next, and the next and the next.
As we move forward with the film project, I am actually also developing the “My Love Bomb” program, which will be extended interview content organized with workshop-style segments to help people incorporate what they see in the film into their daily lives.
TCM: What’s your self-care must-have/must-do?
RZ: Well, chiropractic is certainly high on the list. For me, along with that is daily movement of some kind. I have been practicing yoga for 16 years, so that is definitely an important aspect of daily movement, along with hiking and trail running that bring me out into connection with nature. Then it’s food, eating balanced nutritious meals, without making the habit so restrictive that it becomes another tension in my life. The final habit is a mind/body practice with an audio program I developed called Breathe Love. I listen to the audios in order to continue to re-wire myself into states of love, connection, faith, trust, etc. So it boils down to: chiropractic, daily movement, balanced meals and mind/body practice.
TCM: What words of wisdom would you give to someone struggling with fear or anxiety?
RZ: It is worth it to make it through the waves into another way of being, and there are people there to support you. It is a daily choice.
It amazing how much aligning the self-care principles I listed above can begin to balance out the mind/body for an experience out of fear and anxiety.
Connect with others who are on a path of re-claiming their connection to themselves and one another. A yoga class, a discussion group, etc. Know that you are not alone and begin to find the resources that you need to get into a supported path.
TCM: What’s your current manta?
RZ: I am loved.
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