Today we’d like to introduce you to Marina Mangano.
Hi Marina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a college athlete, I fell smoothly into step as a sports chiropractor. After graduating with my license and practicing on athletes in Tulsa, OK, I learned to speak athletic injuries fluently. I went there to work in a unique office because the owner taught me how to treat the mental burden on those that can no longer perform the sport they identify with, what I now refer to as “pain mentality.”
Moving on from that first job, my own injuries guided me to a more subtle style of manual medicine, like acupuncture and yoga. I became both a student and teacher for these intuitive practices, they heavily influenced my chiropractic message.
Blending the worlds of both sports medicine and eastern ideas, I developed a reputation for addressing the things that most doctors in my field didn’t, the stress and fear that surrounds pain. New Jersey already has wonderful clinicians, but amidst the hustle and bustle, they all can’t act on the other core trait of our profession… to be the healer.
I moved home to a region where I could work slower, more detailed, and truly gave my patients the floor to bring out their stories about pain. My healing platform, Chiroyogaflow, is nearly ten years old, and has found it’s home in Stone Harbor, NJ for the past six years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Changing who you are and your healing message is anything but smooth. Chiropractors dedicate their life to embodying their health goals and values. So when that changes, it changes our entire life.
Resistant as I was to losing my identity as a sports chiropractor, fate had intervened. I had more patients that wanted to unearth painful memories than to get adjusted, more tears on faces than torn muscles.
As I committed to this change of career, it became easier. The right people found my practice, those who spoke the same language, and then they sent in more of the same.
As soon as I got comfortable in this non-traditional role as a chiropractor, I became a mother. So yet again, I had to change my professional goals as my body paved the way. I practiced through the entirety of my pregnancies and used all of the medicine I advocate for on myself to recover.
Becoming a mother though, in a story worthy fashion, tested my chiropractic values and my personal identity so strongly that I had to write a new book about it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I helped years of anxious patients combat physical ailments by addressing crippling fears, intrusive thoughts, and anxiety-ridden projections. After tracking the highlights of these phantom conversations, I wrote my second book, Graveyard; Where Pain is Laid to Rest.
This is my second book and focuses on the darker truths of healing. I was in a darker state of mind after an emergency C-section with my son and it took a long time to, in a way, forgive chiropractic medicine for not better preparing me… protecting me from the surgery.
I healed through writing the book and connecting with patients on relatable moments where they had also lost touch with their bodies. Together, we created a template for readers to work through physical manifestations of emotional pain at-home, and to discover the stories they perpetuate about their physical capabilities. What I’ve found, is that we all use similar symbolism and metaphors to depict a pain we can’t quite describe…a language for those that believe they are broken.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Sunrises, a great historical fiction book, gardening with my children, and feeling strong in my body.
Pricing:
- Buy a copy of Graveyard – $16.99
- https://www.balboapress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/863260-graveyard
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chiroyogaflow.com/author-page
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiroyogaflow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chiroyogaflow/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dr.marinamangano635?si=0eaBWarNITc3Hfux
