Belief and Superstition In Healing

Some days my heart aches as I see what people believe and what they base their beliefs upon in life.  Some I feel is belief that is grounded and all too often, some of it is superstition, for lack of a better word.  One will get you further in my opinion than the other.

When you have experiences and you see firsthand the effect or outcome of what transpires, it is easy to hold that belief as reality.  I have had many instances in my life where I know with a shadow of a doubt, that something is true.  It is true because I experienced it and can back it up in my body as a reproducible experience.

When others tell you something is true because they believe it to be true, too many times it is not grounded in true reality.  I'm not saying this is an absolute statement, but I see it more often then not.  It makes my heart weep especially when people are passing on superstition.

It takes much more for people to be grounded and out of that grounding, to share something that is truly life changing for others.  There are few that do this and too many follow the beliefs of superstition.

Embrace Being Grounded

Lately, it seems like it is an epidemic to either be living in fantasy or just not being grounded.  I see this constantly these days.  I realize to some people, I'm probably far out there at times, but what I am seeing lately is woo woo on steroids.

It is really sad in some ways.  I don't mind people being out there and embracing all that they pick up and sense and experience.  However, if you're not grounded, then chances are you are looking at stars and thinking they are the sun.

When people go to far out on the branch, not seeing that it is breaking off, then they make it hard for others who truly experience things in a grounded way. On the other hand, we have people who I respect like Neil deGrasse Tyson acting as if it doesn't fit into his scientific lab, then it is not real.  These are the extremes and neither is overly helpful.

Grounded And Recharged at Desert Botanical Gardens

Today, I saw beauty.  Today, I spent several hours in the hot sun at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona.   Just as many others said, "this place does not disappoint".  I had just been to the Botanical Gardens in Miami a few months ago and while the vegetation is different in the Desert one, both places offer an unique perspective on the world in which we live.

I love the variation and mixture of plants and animals as well as the variation from one geographic location to another.  When you stop and think about how many species of creatures and plants inhabit this world, it is mind blowing.  I've only seen a small subset of the entire population.

Walking through this area, it felt so good to be out in nature.  The stress load has been high lately and I needed to find grounding in life and just needed to re-energize my batteries.  It is moments like this that help keep me sane in amongst a stressful and hectic pace.

Trees and Nature Help Recharge My Life

Today was one of those days that I just needed to be where I felt safe and secure and grounded.  Today was one of those days where I needed to be out in the trees and woods.  It has been a stressful week and I felt like I was losing my hold on reality and losing my footing.

Being out in nature helps me find my way back to myself.  Its like the sounds, the sites, and the smells just call me home.  I feel safe and loved and welcomed.  I feel secure and grounded.  I sense the energy all around me.

In nature, especially the trees, I feel like I can talk to them and the trees talk to me.  If that sounds odd or appears that I'm mentally insane, so be it.  I just know what I experience.  I can feel all of it and see all of it.

Meditation Time

Ahhh, those quiet moments of our day where we just stop in our lives. Not a care or concern to think about. No tasks to be completed in this moment. All is at rest and at peace. A time where this one moment is all that we are concerned with in our lives.

I used to think that a time of meditation meant a person was to sit cross-legged and chanting some om's or something. Before then, I thought it was called "quiet time" where you read your bible and prayed. To be very honest, neither practice really did much for me. When I tried to do these things, I got bored and gave up. There never seemed to be time in my day for them.

After hearing people tell me time and time again, how important meditation was for my life, I finally found something that worked for me. This time though, I created what I felt I needed to do and what would be most beneficial. My goal was to make it into something that worked so well for my life, it would be a moment in my day that I looked forward to and enjoyed. I knew if it was not something I looked at with anticipation, then any practice would be short lived.

Fortunately, I have a very peaceful backyard with a screened in pool. The weather is typically nice enough to allow me to be outside most of the year. There are enough birds that come to visit me and talk to me. This is the space that renews and refreshes me.

In order to make this work, I set my alarm so I can spend 30-45 minutes in the morning as soon as I wake up. I head down to my quiet space where I bring a fresh glass of water. The water feels so grounding, calming and refreshing to me. I've got some comfy patio chairs and now I have a snuggie to help keep me warm on the cool mornings. I've created a safe, comfortable space that just allows me to be there in the moment and let go but not fall asleep.

When I get in my meditation time, I hold no expectations for anything to take place. I allow each morning to unfold in the way it needs to. Each meditation time is different and sometimes I just am more focused than other times. My hope for the meditation time is that I allow myself time to stop and listen.

I may be listening to birds at times or focusing on my breathing. There are days that I listen to all the sounds around me or take in all the beauty that my eyes see. Most of the time, these moments of listening help draw me into myself so that I can listen to everything going on in my life. I notice that when I stop and allow this to happen, that the messages and information are in abundant supply.

Every day, I take a blank piece of paper and I give myself the opportunity to write whatever it is that my hands wish to write. Some days it is more elaborate and other days it is short personal thoughts. I never think about what I need to write as the writing just happens. It is as if the words flow from my hands as a source of information for my day. I do limit myself to one sheet of paper so that I hold boundaries within my day and respect my schedule. It helps to keep me more focused in my meditation time.

It is amazing what shows up on the blank piece of paper. It is as if the words are meant to be. The words are a communication as I listen to all that is around me and that which becomes a part of my meditation time. The words tell a story as they give moments of clarity, moments of asking the question, inspiration and encouragement. Often, the words become answers to questions weighing upon my mind.

Instead of my meditation time becoming something that is boring to me, it is exciting and refreshing each day. While I try to do this every day, I try not to be demanding upon myself. Instead, I allow my body to have permission to rest or to rise and spend this time.

Most of the time, I am out of bed when the alarm clock goes off and ready to heal towards my peaceful space in meditation. When I give myself this time of meditation in the morning, I notice that my days are more centered and grounded. It is truly a moment where nothing else matters and life is so full and abundant.

(c) 11/12/10 by Don Shetterly - use by Permission only

I Just Know

Deep within my body is a place where I go that helps guide me and helps me determine that which is unseen but felt. I know there are people who are skeptical about others who pick up other things in life. I pick up so much at times and none of it is spoken or written or exhibited. I just pick it up.

Often though, when I pick things up, I check it against that innermost place in my body. That place is deep within my gut which may also be referred to as the enteric brain but I have no idea if science really would establish that link or not. It is just a place that I feel it deeply and know without a doubt what is and what is not. It is a place that I just feel, sense and know. However, if you were to ask me to describe it, I would struggle immensely.

There are times when I pick things up that I don't get any internal bodily confirmation of it. So during those times, I'm more reluctant to give whatever information it is, much credibility. There are other times that when I get the information, I feel it strongly and immediately. There is no doubt within my mind of the significance of what I am receiving. Even in those strong reactions deep within me, I have times that without a shadow of a doubt, I know whatever it is, I am picking up.

Then there are the times that I hear something from someone or am asked something and immediately, I know, see, feel or sense what is true and what is not. I have had situations where someone was being told something and emphatically, I am hearing in my mind something that completely contradicts what others are telling them. Again, I have no way to prove this. It is what I feel and pick up deep within me.

I really try to pay attention to these insights as well because I'm finding that they hold very useful information for me or for others. For a long time I discounted all of this thinking it was my wild imagination and yet I had friends telling me that they were surprised at what I knew and that somehow I just knew things. I never thought about it much and if I did, it scared me so badly that I wanted nothing to do with it.

Of course I see people that give themselves titles and designations claiming they are psyhic or mediums or they can pick up things about others. And while I know there are many out there that can do this, there are many who struggle to pick up a clear signal. All too often, I see people claiming to know things but the information they are giving does not match up and many times, I feel that deep within myself. Who is to say, I'm right though and they are wrong? I try not to look at it that way.

One time at spiritualist organization, I had a great 5 minute reading by a lady who was a medium, that hit the nail on the head and was more accurate than I thought was possible. It was amazing just how much she shared with me and how much she picked up. All of it was extremely accurate as well and really did help me. I was never able to find out who this lady was of course because I would have liked to meet with her again. I know she existed but doing a search of her name turned up no contact information.

Of course, another time at the spiritualist organization, I had one of the mini readings by a medium and the lady used holding my hand to notice that I didn't have a wedding ring on. So she began to tell me that I needed to go out and meet women more, blah blah blah. She was so far from the truth if she was even connected to it. I am in a long term relationship and I have no desire to go out and meet women for many reasons. If that would have been my first experience with this type of information, I would have never gone back. Fortunately, I have experienced people that are not full of themselves but really do connect with a source that is unseen. A friend of mine ended up with a similar experience as well. In these situations, I'd rather have the person just look me in the eye and say, I'm sorry but I'm not picking anything up instead of performing in the way that they think I want them to. It would bring much more credibility.

Of course, when you connect with things that are unseen, it is sometimes hard to truly know what is real and what is not. Even if you know it is real, you have to be so careful in how your life's experiences and your own filters of the mind, influence that information and mold it into words that you share. Ego has to be really in check and one needs to be well grounded and connected to themselves in a deep way. Otherwise, who knows how the words of the information will come forth. Sadly, there are many who do not understand this but continue to act as if they do. Fortunately, there are true ones out there that really do understand this and have done the intense healing work on themselves.

In my mind, many of these things that people pick up and we look at as being special or strange, they should be more normal to the population as a whole. In our society though, we concentrate on working as many hours as we can to please the boss, running to this meeting or that meeting, enabling our children to be over involved in as many activities as they can and basically just making life into one busy long day after another. We fail to stop and connect to the earth, to things around us and to each other because that doesn't fit in our day. If you add into it, all the interference from electronic devices, cell phones and our world around us, we leave little room for the signals of the information to get through to us. In addition, there are many people who have been so hurt in life and are so stressed out, that their lives are anything but grounded.

Being grounded and in touch with the core of yourself gives you a true connection to things that much of this world just does not connect with. Indigenous cultures pick up on these things all the time as if it is as normal as a conversation with someone they meet. If we as a society stopped and became more grounded, connected and healed, we would experience so much more.

One final note in all of this is that so many who do pick things up try to package that up into a nice little set of beliefs and rituals which just get in the way of what is going on. The dogma people subscribe to or use to replace some other set of beliefs is so rampant in our society. It has no use in all of this. It is not founded upon anything but a person's belief system. Just because someone ditches the mainstream religions and is into the new age philosophy, it does not mean they have rid their life of the dogma. Often times, they have just replaced one set of beliefs for another and again, it serves no purpose in this. I'm sure many will argue that point with me but I just ask that people really question all that they believe and search for the true source of those beliefs.

My hope is that each person will be all they can be and discover all that they are. Today, you may be standing at the crossroads in life wondering which way to go but if you just allow things to unfold, you'll be amazed at all that is out there. Find the ultimate truth in the things that tug at your heart strings and see what things are at the core and what things are part of a belief system. We all have a belief system but if we allow it to cloud our views and thoughts, than it becomes a chain around our neck dragging us to the bottom of the ocean. Look for the truth. Search it out and don't stop until you do. Don't just settle for what someone else tells you. Find it out for yourself!


*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog

Body Memories

Body memories (also known as Somatic Memories) have plagued a fair amount of my recovery and healing in my life. At times, they subside and things become much easier for me. However, when they are in full force, I just want to go in a cave and hide from the world and everything around me.

My definition of body memories would be something very physical that happens for no known reason or cause and continues in some type of pattern whether it is from day to day, night to night or some other frequency. Body memories are often accompanied by strong emotions, anxiety, intense fear and often can be associated with body temperature/heart rate or other physical changes in the body. They are a very physical symptom almost as if whatever event they connect to is replaying as if you were going through the same thing in the current moment. During these episodes, it is almost difficult to distinguish what is actually happening and what is replaying out in the body. It is as if the subconscious mind is in control and acting out through the physical body.

Some of the things I have experienced range from more of a nightmare type scenario to times where you could physically see the effects on my body. Without being too graphic here, I have had times where my anal area feels as if I am being raped in the moment with all the pain that brings with it. There have been times that I have been awakened at night by my face being in so much pain and actually swelling up to the point where I had to put an ice pack on it before it would let up. I remember feeling at times like I was being pinned down and held against the bed with no way to physically move. It was as if a weight was actually bearing down upon myself. There have been times where I felt like I was being choked or times when I actually thought one of my own abusers was in the room. Some of the other things I experience are waking up in the middle of the night with deep pain in my groin area but the pain goes and quickly as it arrives. Often it is accompanied by sweating or an intense body heat and extremely restlessness. These are just a few of the things that I've experienced.

The hardest part when you are going through body memories is trying to tell yourself that this is not happening now. It is not actually taking place in this current moment. Yet, I know all to well, that these things give every impression, feel and sensation as if they are taking place in the moment. The physical symptoms are all there, yet the actions that they connect to are not taking place. Keep reminding yourself that these events are not taking place in this moment and that you are safe.

The next hardest part of body memories is trying to keep yourself from thinking you are completely crazy and you've lost track of what is reality. It gets very tough during these times because the lines get so blurred. You've got to keep telling yourself that you are not crazy and these things will pass.

Not giving into the fear but by trying to take the fear on, will give you power over it. Yes, the fear is strong but that is what it is. It is nothing more than fears of something that happened in some previous time. I often think of the bible story about David and Goliath where Goliath the Giant is the fear. Little ol David managed to take down the fear with nothing more than one small rock.

For me, trying to write about these things in my journal is a big help. Often times, these things involve moments that were very embarrassing and filled with shame. They were times when we were powerless against what was going on. So even to give the memories a voice through writing can be a very healing support exercise for anyone going through this. In my own case, trying to talk to anyone about it was very difficult and so writing was my only way of beginning to get this out. I still struggle with wanting to tell anyone about it because of the embarrassment and shame.

Sometimes, I just had to find a way to let some steam off and scream or find some type of physical activity to participate in. Anything that helps you move your arms and body in an intense way followed by some restful moments is a big help in discharging all that comes up during these times of body memories. Anger was always a big part of these things and some times I felt like I wanted to go into a full rage against anything that crossed my path.

While I know that these events can be doorways to further healing, they are still difficult to deal with and keep one's self grounded and centered. If anything will knock you off your center, it is body memories. Trying to help yourself realize that the fear is greater than the reality of the moment is a way to help yourself move through this. Fears can be so great and they give so much energy to body memories but once again, keep telling yourself that these events are not happening right now.

Most of all, find someone you can trust and talk to them. Share as much as you can or as little as you can. If you can find someone that will just be there for you during these times even if it is to sit with you until you feel safe again, do it. For someone that is around people experiencing body memories, sometimes the most you can do for a person in this state is just be there with them and stay with them. The support of someone during this time is tremendous, even if you feel you are not doing much for them. Keep reassuring them that they are ok and that they are going to be ok even though they feel like they won't be. Sometimes, touching them in these moments may not be the best thing unless they can differentiate between you and the act going on. You have to be very grounded yourself to touch them during these times and be prepared for all kinds of emotions to surface.

Body memories are rough and I've went through many episodes of them. Sometimes it gets easier and sometimes it is still rough. Just having support of others who care means so much and helping remind myself that this too shall pass gives me another ounce of energy to make it through the day.

Additional Reading:

• Body Memories
  
• Body Memories or Somatic Memories
  
• What Your Child Remembers
• What Is A Body Memory
  

Dear Universe

Dear Universe

Help me stay connected to my heart. Let the activities of my day come from my heart through the way I touch people, deal with people and focus my energy for my activities. Let me come from a place of grounded peace and possibility rather than the low vibration of daily stresses. Let me celebrate all that is for the day, not only around me, but that which is within me, connecting my heart, my body and my mind together as one.

Thank you Universe as I let the energy flow through,

Reflections On My Life

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and realizing just how far I've come. Maybe that's the message I was looking for recently when I felt like I was up against the same proverbial brick wall. It was a familiar brick wall and one that seems to be there no matter what.

You see, my life has been deluged with many storms. I've been battered in just about any way one can think of that a person can be. There hasn't been too many things that I've not encountered in my life in one way or another. Some people have told me that I chose this life, which at first was hard to reconcile but the more I challenge and look at what these people have told me, the more it makes sense. I was never one to believe in past lives but too many things have surfaced to give evidence that there is more out there than what I was taught in some narrow minded churches.

When I was a kid, I never really thought I would make it through high school. I always just knew "somehow" that I was going to get very sick and the entire family would be around me wondering what to do. No one would have answers and it was a life threatening situation. As a kid, I thought this would happen before I graduated from high school but instead, it was a few years after I was out of college. And while I couldn't see the entire manner in which this would play out, it did involve my family wondering how to get me the help I needed and the doctors being unsure of what to do. Fortunately I did recover but it was a very difficult moment in my life and I did come very close to death.

All the while growing up though, I was an extremely sensitive kid. I'd cry at anything and everything. If I was separated from my mom, I'd cry. If I saw something little creature on the ground tortured or mistreated or even stepped on, I would cry. I had a pet rock and if someone would hit it, I would cry. There were people around me that could not accept that and being a boy, I was taught to be a "man" and not cry. Of course, that just made me go and hide my head under a pillow and cry myself to sleep.

The point is I was very sensitive and I picked up so much that was around me from what people were thinking and not saying to how they felt, how they responded to me or to so many things. It was like I was acquainted with a language that was not spoken or shared. Of course, the home life was not a stable, grounded life and so these things became misdirected as self sabotage for me. That led to stomach and digestive problems, self confidence issues and so many other things because I internalized everything.

By the time I reached high school, I knew I was just different than others or they were just different than me. I didn't feel like I fit in nor did I really want to. Many things I knew seemed to evade others and I was often confused that concepts which I understood were so far removed from most of the population. I still struggle with that to this day because somehow I just understand things that I have no idea where they came from.

Today, I still struggle with the self confidence and feeling like I fit into life. There are concepts which just seem normal to me but 99.9% of the population just doesn't get it! And they don't seem that concerned either.

I'm still very sensitive and really learning that this is a good thing in my life but sometimes it is overwhelming to say the least. Sometimes walking in store with a lot of people, is a major challenge for me. It is like everyone has their own life's movie playing around them as they walk by. Sometimes, I pick up the pains that these people have and then struggle to figure out if they are my pains or another person's pain.

So some days I still feel really out of place in this life and sometimes I have no way to reconcile that with anything. It is hard to find well rounded, grounded people to talk to because so many go out into all forms of la la land and they can't even see that they are in la la land. I'm learning though that all of these things are helping me grow into the person that I am. While I want everything to come together in life and know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing what it is I feel I'm being groomed for, I know that until the moment is right, there will be the feeling of a void. My sense and message is that all of this is taking place quicker than I realize but it is not time yet.

Why did I write this? I'm not sure. It may just be my way of trying to connect the dots. It may be my way of showing myself that this is going along as planned or it may be a whole host of other reasons. Whatever it is, my hands felt the need to write my thoughts down and I'll let the words go where ever they may travel.

It is my quest to understand more about my life, to heal from the storms of life and to follow that inner guidance within myself that shows me the path ahead.