Hurricanes And Fake Concern

Much like many things in this world, there is so much fake concern these days.  Hurricanes and fake concern are no different.  Think about the statement, "thoughts and prayers," and you'll know where I'm going with this post.

No, I'm not saying that all people do this or all statements of concern should be stopped.  That could not be further from the truth.

The point I'm writing about is when people you have not heard from in like a gazillion years come out of the woodwork.  The concern may be real to them, but many going through the stress of a devastating hurricane about to hit, it rings hollow.

Last year when Hurricane Irma came through, my email inbox was flooded with notes from people I had not heard from in so long that I thought they were no longer kicking.  It shocked me first of all because outside of the storm, they didn't care about what I was doing.

In fact, in one instance, I replied with what had been going on in my life, and they wanted nothing to do with that.  It was nothing but a fake concern.  Their words held no true concern.

In many instances, I had some contacts freaking out that this storm was coming.  I don't know if they had been glued to the TV news or what, but normally there's enough stress without adding to it.  I can generally stay a little calm until it hits.  These individuals were freaking me out to the point where their emails were becoming toxic.

I know I talked to many others and they have shared similar stories.  No, I'm not saying don't share words of concern and support.  However, if you're going to do that, check your anxiety and freak out moments at the door.

Make your emails authentic.  Don't act hysterically.  I will tell you without a doubt that the stress of a storm coming is not easy.  It builds with uncertainty.  It builds with trying to make sure you have everything ready, and you're prepared.  Let's not forget about how exhausting all of this can be.  When you don't know what is going to happen, the stress of that is extremely high.

We've got storms coming up, and for someone, it will get quite stressful.  I'm not a big believer in donating to the major organizations because I don't think that money gets to the people that need it.  The government comes in and promises all kinds of assistance but generally falls short.  I've heard far too many horror stories in those situations.  Maybe there is good that comes out of it, but I've not seen that yet.  I'm always open to good stories if they exist.

If you know someone in the path of these storms, be supportive.  Don't freak out because they need someone that can be calm.  See if they need help or if they know of others needing help so any support can get to the people that need it.

Be mindful that the TV news usually hypes up these storms.  They make the radar graphics look more ominous.   The cameras usually head to the worst hit areas.  So, what you see on the news (over and over and over again) may not be the whole story.

Also keep in mind that if someone is without power, trying to constantly text them could be draining the previous power they have on their phones.  When cell towers are out, the phones take more power to try and reach cell service.  It drains the phone quicker.  It isn't a time to carry on long conversations with someone in a storm area.

Plus, when there is no power, and the heat and humidity are so high, it is all you can do to function.  Exhaustion level goes up because sleep is not easy to get.  Read Hurricane Stress On The Mind Body.

One final thought, if someone you know has been hit, don't think that when the coverage of storm stops on TV that all is great.  There are people in Houston still struggling to make it each day in their lives as they try to piece their lives back together - over a year later!

By the way, if you live in a Hurricane prone area or just want emergency lighting for power outages, here's a light some friends told me about, and it works great.  They hold a charge for a long time and are very bright.  All it takes to recharge them is put them out in the sunlight for a few hours.

What Is Your Idea Of Rest

Written by Don Shetterly

I saw this question posted online by a friend and so I thought I would write about it.  What is your idea of rest?  Doesn't it sound simple and straightforward?

Unfortunately, I don't think it is because from what I see in this world, very few people take time out to stop and rest.   No, I don't have hard evidence of that, other than what I've observed and seen in people and in the bodywork clients I have worked on.

We spend too much time with our phones and staying connected continuously.  We run from this activity to that activity without really looking hard at where our time should go.  In many ways, we are so busy being busy that we are too busy to notice that we are.

The mind and the body need downtime.  Yes, we need sleep, but rest is beyond the sleep moments.

Can you run your car a 1000 miles without stopping?  Can you work 24 hours a day without stopping?  The answer you would most likely give to this is no, you can't.  However, we still tend to apply these same principals to our life.

The mind needs time to process and defrag itself, but if we are continually going, there's no way to do this.  If we don't stop and spend time observing life (such as nature or our breathing or stillness), life will pass us by.  Life will slip away before we realize it and all the essential stuff we will have missed.

The mind needs periods of downtime.  We're so stimulated with data and input coming at us a million times a second that rest seems foreign.  We don't even realize because we are so unconscious and unaware these days of our limits.  Many times, we are keeping our minds in a constant state of busyness is not health.

Our body's need rest.  It needs to build up and recuperate, but we see how far we can push it.  We don't give it a second thought.  We keep piling stress on top of stress in our muscles, tissues, and cells.  The more we do this, the more we add layers to something that could have been so simple to release and let go.  As it builds, so do chronic pain and health issues as a result.  Then we wonder in amazement why we are in the shape we are.

The more you give your mind and your body some downtime in life, the healthier you will be.  You will see things in a more balanced way and not be so numb or fear driven in life.  It will help bring balance to all parts of your life because you will be taking care of yourself instead of neglecting yourself.

Of course, you can continue to do what you do thinking that very beliefs will take care of you.  Unfortunately, if you don't deal with life, stress and stopping to rest, it will deal with you.  You can count on that.  Just look at the research that shows how much of doctor visits are related to stress.  We don't take care of ourselves, and the result is not good.

You don't have to meditate on the edge of a cliff for 5 hours every day.  You can take little steps like stopping to notice your breath.  You can choose 10 or 15 minutes at lunchtime and sit there in nature or in a quiet place and just be still.  Observe.  Put the phone away.

Sometimes quiet and stillness is an excellent form of rest.  Without it, we turn our lives into one noisy and busy nightmare that we will never wake up from in our life.  Don't wait until it is too late like I did.  Take charge of your life by taking care of your life.

When Everyone Else Is Wrong

Written by Don Shetterly

These days we see this everywhere we turn, but especially in online social media.  When everyone else is wrong has become the norm for the day.

We look at others online or where we live as being wrong while we are right.  Sometimes, maybe far too many times, we see our significant others as the one being wrong, while we are right.

Yet, we don't stop to take a look at things from a comprehensive view.  We just think we are the ones that have the answers and have everything together.  We don't seriously entertain the thought that we might be the problem, not the answer.

Sure, we give lip service that we do take everything into account, and we see all sides of an issue, but the honest truth is, we don't.  I'm sorry if that bursts one too many bubbles, but as humans, we are so good at being disconnected, that we don't see life around us for what it is.

As humans, we've become so good at numbing, avoiding and distraction, that we barely see the issue before us in a complete way as it appears to our eyes.  We've altered truth for our reality.

Whether it is in politics or relationships, or in a boss and employee moment, we often see our side of things.  It could be in the simplest of ways that seem so insignificant, but all too often we think we are right and everyone is wrong.

It is human nature to protect ourselves.  That is the ego, devoid of awareness and consciousness.  It is part of us to walk around seeing only through our filters.

If you find yourself thinking everyone else is wrong, there's something flawed in your thinking.  If you find yourself saying, "but in this situation, they are wrong," you're missing out on something you are not seeing.  Not everyone else is wrong all of the time.  You're not right all of the time.

Instead, if we focus on where we agree and look to learn and understand from those we disagree, we will become wise.  If we allow ourselves to be opened up to that which we despise in the hope of more understanding, we will become wiser.

There is far too much right versus wrong thinking these days.  You see it on social media every day and you see it in relationships and other situations.  It has consumed all parts of our life.

We must learn how to step back from the ego and embrace awareness of our mind body so that consciousness shows us the way.  We must learn to listen and connect with our heart, rather than our head which filters everything we see and hear in our life.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2/22/18 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required in writing before any part of this blog is reprinted, reworded, transmitted or used in any format. 
• Feel free to share the blog post LINK and a brief summary.  

---

How High And Mighty We Are

Written By Don Shetterly

It's all those other people out there.  It's the - insert label here - people.  You know, those that don't think like we do!  To this, I can only say, how high and mighty we are!  Yes, I say this with disbelief.

Too many of us think that we have all the answers.  I'm using the collective "we" because I don't want to let anyone off the hook on this blog post.  If it makes anyone feel uncomfortable, I'm perfectly fine with that at this moment.

You see, we label others, and we look down our noses at them.  We see them with contempt.  They are not like us.  They don't believe what we do, think like we do, talk like we talk or live in the way we think they should.  They are mistaken and misled people.  They are wrong.  These people know not what they do!

We look at people with disdain and as if they are the reason for our problems.  We strike out at them trying to correct them into human beings that we can associate with in our day.

After all, we feel we must tell them where they went wrong and just how misguided they are.  We must do this if we want the world to continue on because only we know best.

Then we take to social media to point out just how stupid others are.  They know not what they do, and we are here to tweet and like and post just how wrong they are.  Of course, we are the right ones.  We know best.  We must retweet and share for it is the only way others will know how lost they are.

While this is the way things seem to operate these days in our society, we're really all in this boat together.  While we may think we have the answers and are right in what we say, we're really throwing mud in the face of others.  Our eyes are so darkened that we cannot even begin to see this.

We've lost the way of listening to one other and engaging with each other.  No more do we honor and respect one another, and no it isn't because everyone else does not do this.  We've lost it within ourselves.   Respect for ourselves has vanished.

No longer are we connected to our heart and our mind body.  Instead, we obliterate ourselves with our busy, nonstop, stressful lives.  We pour junk into our guts hoping acting as if it doesn't matter while playing a dangerous game of risk with health treatments that fail to treat the root causes.

We have added so much horror on our days by not dealing with life's issues, but by numbing ourselves every second of the day.  Feelings and emotions are running for cover.  Heart and mind connected thoughts are silent.

If we continue this way, we'll be in a much worse mess than we are now.  We cannot sustain this because it is taking its toll on the human body and the mind.  It is not up to someone else to solve this.  This has to begin with each one of us.  Only we can turn it around in our lives.

While we may think we are high and mighty, in many ways, we are not.  The more we believe that everyone else is the problem, the more we have lost our way.

Stop for a moment.  Look at what you are doing to yourself and the world-at-large.  Leave no stone of discovery unturned.  Look deep and hard within your own mind and body and heart to see what needs the sunshine of truth.

Give up trying to pull the speck out of your brother's eye when you have a log in your own eye.  It is the only way to help anyone is by helping ourselves first.  Otherwise, we are just high and mighty as we continue to destroy the world we live in.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 1/01/18 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required in writing before any part of this blog is reprinted, reworded, transmitted or used in any format. 
• Feel free to share the blog post LINK and a brief summary.  

---

Do We Really Want Change?

Written By Don Shetterly

These days I see people pushing one movement or another.  I look at where we are told to "stand up to this issue" or "prevent this issue" or "bring awareness to an issue."  But yet, I wonder if we really want to change.

We give lip service that we do.  We fill our Twitter and Facebook feeds with it, but then our actions portray just the opposite.   Please don't mistake this blog post as being a political one, because it is much bigger than that. I am more focused on mind body health and healing.

I've written some blog posts about intense and difficult subjects.  These are often about the things that everyone wants to stop, prevent, change or bring about through awareness.  Yet, when I share those online, the click rate to the blog post is barely existent.

It appears that we want to help change the world and bring awareness, prevention, or support, but we really don't want to do much more than that.  So, I have to question, do we really want change?

I know... I know..  Everyone will say of course we want change.  Of course we care about our issues, but unfortunately, actions speak louder.  If all you're willing to do is retweet or like or share the fact that you are raising awareness, does that go far enough?  In my view, I don't believe that it does.

I don't even believe it means we have to protest or sign petitions.  I'm not convinced that those always bring about the change we need.  We may think we do, and there may be some evidence of it, but does it really do what we think it does?  To me, it feels more like screaming and boiling water than actually doing something.

After all, if you want to change the world, it begins with each one of us.  It doesn't start by beating someone else over the head to see the world the way we do.  It doesn't begin with bullying someone into believing the way we do.  It starts with how we change our own lives in this world.

It isn't just a thought process in what we think and believe.  From deep within the core of the mind and body, it radiates out energetically as a vibration.  What is genuinely within us is shown to the world.  We may not be conscious of it.  We may not be aware of it, but it is on display.

Do we really want change?  If we do, we'll support conscious behavior that helps others heal.  We will quit focusing on the latest trending story of the day and look beyond to a bigger picture.  If we really want change, we'll start by examining ourselves from the deepest parts, not from our belief system.

I'm not going to stop writing about the hard and challenging subjects.  People may stay in the clouds and not read these things.  That is their choice, but I'm not going to sit by silently.  I'm not going to watch others be abused and remain silenced.

This blog and everything I write is about pushing us beyond our comfort zone.  It is about challenging our beliefs and opinions and current awareness.  I strive to get people who read this blog to think about everything more and in a different light.

We are following a dangerous path in this world, and we really need to ask the hard questions.  I'll leave you with this question one last time:  Do we really want change?  If we do, it must begin with each one of us.  Let our mind body health and healing start within our own continued awareness of what is possible.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Hurricane Stress On The Mind Body

Written By Don Shetterly

Wow, you're probably tired of hearing about this subject, but I think some essential thoughts need to be said.  Going through a major hurricane is very stressful on the mind and body.

The week leading up to the storm you could feel the anxiety and fear in everyone, even in the strangers you didn't know. The stores were a frantic pace.  The hoarding and greed were evident in people buying supplies.  It was clear no one had prepared for a storm of any magnitude.

Fortunately, we had prepared already as we do every summer.  We tend to stay stocked up on nonperishable foods and supplies.  However, just trying to buy regular stuff for the week like a loaf of bread was not possible.  We went out early and attempted to finish stocking up on supplies, but it didn't make the process for storm preparation any more manageable.

I saw the story where two guys got into a fight over plywood for their windows.  Stores had to position employees at pallets of water so everyone could get water.  There were stories of people hoarding so much and then returning it after the storm while others went home empty-handed.

Yes, stress plays a role in all of this.  I get it.  I know what it is like to face a storm the size of Irma and wonder if you would have a house standing after it was over.  Instead of preparation that everyone in Florida should do, most resorted to greed and hoarding.

The stress in the mind was clearly evident in all of this, but there is also the stress in the body.  From the headaches and muscle tension to the pure exhaustion, it was so evident.  That's what the general population does not understand.

We sat through five days without power, and it was so difficult to find out what was happening or when power would be back on.  For two days, we didn't have home phone service.  For most of the five days, our cellular service worked poorly at best.  Trying to keep a phone charged was difficult, and internet access was even more challenging.

In those five days, we had to endure loud generators and the carbon monoxide that hung in the still air of a Florida night.  It made us sick.  It made us want to scream.  With every night we could barely sleep from the noise, fumes, and heat, it compounded a difficult situation.

My body grew weary and tired.  I longed for sleep, but it was difficult to get.  I believe after a few days, I just started checking out in life.  I think I was somewhat delirious.

Finally, some businesses were starting to open, and so we made our way through the hottest hours of the day to the cold air conditioning in their places.  It helped, but we still had to come back to a night of heat and nothing more than a cold shower.  It was tough and stressful on the body.

After we got power back, the first night we tried to sleep, but the stress was so high we spent most of the night awake.  It took time to start adjusting back to what we considered was standard in life.

The first day after power returned, we were mentally and emotionally and physically exhausted.  We were so tired, we took many naps, and I found out we weren't alone.  Other friends were going through the same thing.

The next day, we weren't as tired, but the stress was still weighing hard on the mind and the body.  We worked at restocking our refrigerator and finding food to eat.  We started to begin the clean up of the house from all the storm supplies we had placed here and there.

This is the third day we've been back from power, and I noticed my body slept more peacefully last night.  I feel more energized today than I have for some time now.  I did struggle with muscle tension and a headache last night, but that is now easing.  I need a massage badly!

We all store stress in our mind and body.  In very stressful moments of hurricanes, it increases many times over what is normal.  It impacts us in the body in ways we don't often see because we're not as connected to our mind and body as we think we are.

I'm allowing myself to adjust and get back to normal, recognizing that with time and rest, things will come back to balance.  It isn't a smooth transition back into our daily routine.  The one thing I know is that having no power indeed gives you time to focus on what really matters in life.

I sure didn't miss the media hysteria about politics and other ranting and ravings of the day.  I didn't miss the mindless interaction on social media.  I didn't miss the one sided and fake care for others that is sometimes exhibited far too much.

As difficult as the hurricane stress was on the mind and body, it really felt good to get away from all the social media noise of the day.  Now, I'm looking at how I can continue that and limit the time I give myself for the noise of our day.

In the meantime, I'm trying to honor my mind and body and taking care of myself through self-care.  Some things matter in life, and then there are the basics which genuinely matter the most.

As I post this, my heart continues to go out to Puerto Rico, The Caribbean Islands, Texas and now Las Vegas.  My heart is saddened by all these events and the lack of genuine care and concern that doesn't end when the cameras leave.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Sorry But Stress Is Present In Life

Written By Don Shetterly

Sometimes I see things stated and my eyes bulge out of my poor little mind. I am amazed at how unconscious and aware we can be even by those who claim to be conscious.  I believe that the things we preach to the world especially when they are our beliefs have serious consequences, and we need to be far more aware than we are.

I saw a quote online that said, "there is no such thing as stress in the world.  It is all in our mind." 

I had to read the quote a few times to make sure I saw the statement that I did.  Yes, that is the statement that I read, and it boggles my mind.

I had to read it and do a double take to make sure I saw what I did.  Yes, that is the statement.

This statement could not be further from the truth.  In fact, it and truth are strangers in distant galaxies.

There is stress no matter where you look.  Some of it is positive stress which we need in our lives.  Some of it is toxic stress.  No matter what you think your thoughts can do, stress is present.

• If you walk outside in the hot sun, the stress of the heat makes your body work to cool and find equilibrium.  
• If you get in the car and drive down the street, there are cars not obeying the traffic laws and rules of driving so that they can present stress to you. 
• There is the boss that yells at an employee in front of a meeting for something beyond their control.  That is stress on your mind and body.  
• There is the demanding boss that wants you to follow their every whim and demand with no respect for you.  That is stress.
• There is the stress of the kids needing help with homework, or to take them to every activity meeting they have.  
• There is the stress of trying to get your family fed and answering emails and texts from the boss.
• There is even stress from moments gone by in how it impacts your current thought processes on a million different subjects and points.  
• There are the financial consequences of spending too much and dealing with your ever changing budget that creates stress.
• There is that rude person who tries to ruin your day or just get in your face for the stupidest thing that they can.  
• There is the stress of a significant other feeling left out or putting demands upon your time that causes stress.
• There is the stress of all those things you were taught and learned as a young child that now sometimes makes current moments not seem reasonable to you.  In the process of those connections that happen unconsciously every minute of their day, they create stress that we don't often see.
• Learning and growth are most likely stressful moments because it takes you out of your comfort zone and into something new.

There is hardly a day that goes by where we have no stress.  If we walk around not recognizing the stress in our lives, we're not as awake and aware and conscious as we think we are.  We may be able to talk the talk, but if we can't connect the talk with real life action or the places in our bodies that it resides, we're only fooling ourselves.

If you don't recognize stress in your life, you're only setting yourself up for a big fall later on in life.  At some point, it will build up to a breaking point, and it will get your attention.  You can mark my words on that.  I've lived it.

We can't go through life putting the happy smile on our face while we ignore stress and connections to the past.  If you try to do this, let me tell you from first-hand experience that the result will not be a good one.  I don't say this out of belief.  I say it from experience.

Learn to recognize stress for what it is.  It is present.  Instead of trying to act like it doesn't exist, go in and allow yourself to see it for what it is.  Allow yourself to find ways to acknowledge and let go of it. 

It is not just an exercise for the mind because stress finds a place within our body.  If we don't see its existence, it takes us permanent residency and then crowds out the joy and peace and love you so badly desire for life.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Healing Back Pain Beliefs

Written By Don Shetterly

Some days I scratch my head at how people approach issues in life.  Healing back pain is one of those.  I grew up with a father who had constant back pain, and I'm still nauseated by the smell of Absorbine Junior.  For some reason, I was one of the "chosen ones" that got to apply this to him, but that's another story for another time.


Of course, I know his back pain hurt, and I know it bothered him.  He tried every product known under the sun.  They all promised "relief" of course, and if they did, he bought them.  However, very few if any worked.  Those were the days before back surgery, and before Oxycontin and Opioid usage were prevalent like it is today.

Today, it is the just about the same as it once was then.  We do all kinds of "procedures" and "surgeries" and "pain meds" to relieve the pain.  In the alternative therapy world, there are many "healing procedures" that promise to get rid of the pain.  Unfortunately, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but so many of these things just don't work.  Why?   Because they aren't approaching the entire body and mind together.

In a recently released movie documentary called ALL THE RAGE, Michael Galinsky showed through his own life history how much Dr. John Sarno, M.D., helped heal back pain.  Sarno's ideas were revolutionary at the time, and he was ostracized by much of the medical establishment, but he did help many people.  John Stossel and Howard Stern cannot sing high enough praises for Dr. Sarno, claiming he helped save their lives,

Dr. Sarno's concepts were not packaged in a once daily, ready-to-take pill, yet they worked!  They worked because he understood how our feelings and emotions, stresses and experiences in life impacted the physical body in ways that defied medicine.  He saw beyond the physical, and connected the body and mind together.

Unfortunately, when you try to share this with people, they are skeptical at best and dismissive at worse.  They don't want to hear what you have to say.  They ignore it, dismiss it and look at you like you are crazy.  You don't know their pain, so you know nothing.

The same thing happened to Dr. John Sarno.  People would bring in their medical tests, X-rays, and CT scans to prove that there was something physically wrong with them.  Yet, that was like looking through a pair of glasses and only seeing the color green and nothing else.  He looked beyond it and saved many people from surgery while helping them find lasting relief.

Many years ago, reporter John Stossel did a 20/20 story on Dr. John Sarno.  Even though Stossel knew how effective Dr. Sarno's concepts were, his own brother, who was a doctor, didn't believe it.  I remember in that report how John was saying, "but it helped me", yet that was not proof enough for his brother.  It appeared that his brother's paradigms were getting in the way.

I recently shared this with someone I know, and they immediately dismissed me.  This individual did not even take the time to check it out.  I was wrong, and they were right.  I didn't understand what their pain was about, they told me.  I didn't know what I was talking about, they said.  They called me crazy.  They called me a few other things.

Then I remembered that in the movie documentary, All The Rage, Dr. Sarno said to someone that people just would not listen.  He advised them to move on and let it go.  I'm paraphrasing here, of course.  He reasoned that if someone would not listen, there was not much you could do and you were wasting your time.

In the case of Conversion Disorder, which I have dealt with in my own life, many have laughed at me and thought I don't have a clue what I was talking about.  They have mocked me, dismissed me,and flat out just told me how wrong and stupid I am.  Yet, I see them continue to struggle with Conversion Disorder.  I know you can heal from it.  The help is available but far too many do not want to go in and do the hard work required to heal.  They just want the magic pill to make it all go away.

When presented with information, we can either dismiss it and turn away, or we can see how it could apply.  We can call it crazy and ill-informed or we can see if there is an element of truth in it.  Now, I'm not saying everything is full of truth, but there are elements of truth in everything.  The rest is filler material and beliefs.

Whether we go further into our own awareness and healing, or we sit back in our lounge chairs watching the same old life movies play over and over., is up to each of us.  I can't make that decision for you and neither can anyone else.  That has to come from within you, and whether you are aware or not, you're making a choice each day in your own life.

Be sure to watch out for the movie documentary, All The Rage, because it is a good movie to see.

Don't forget to follow them on

• Twitter - @TheStoryOfPain
• Facebook - The Story Of Pain

Link to Movie Tickets:  http://gathr.us/screening/20637

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

The Felt Sense

 By Don Shetterly

By far, we under-utilize this part of human biology and healing.  The felt sense is critical and powerful to changing the direction of our lives, increasing awareness, and consciousness and helping us heal the experiences of our day.

I've learned about the felt sense through the work of Dr. Paul Canali, known as Unified Therapy.  Felt sense, in my understanding, is about feeling the emotions and what is going on in life in the body.  It is the connection between those emotions and the body, including the mind.

All too often we only focus on what we feel, or that emotions are present.  We tend to focus on it from a mind approach where we are in our heads, but not in our bodies.

Emotions are outward manifestations of what is going on in life.  They are our reaction to events and experiences, originating from deep within us.

Felt sense takes us into the moment where we feel the experiences and emotions in our body, not just observe them in our reactions.  When we stop and allow ourselves to go in and feel them, it is then that we have the power to change them.

Most of us will feel the emotions, and feel pain in our bodies, but we don't connect the two together.  The felt sense is where we are able to do this.

Being aware of how these things connect to our body and our mind is the key to working with them.  The more we can work with the experiences and emotions we face, from a connected mind and body interface, the more we can make major changes in life.

These changes are not limited to physical only, but our increased consciousness and awareness.

A good quote from Eugene Gendlin's book, Focusing, puts this in perspective.

"The change process we have discovered is natural to the body, and it feels that way in the body.  The crucial move goes beneath the usual painful places to a bodily sensing that is at first unclear.  From this new vantage point, the traditional methods of working on oneself are seen to have been mostly pain-centered.  People get into and repeat over and over their painful emotions, without knowing how to use the body's own life-centered and inherently positive direction and force." (Focusing)

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

What Does Mindful Mean?

I see many things discussed about this every day, and while some hit the mark, others miss it, and some do a drive-by.  Mindful has become a buzzword these days, and while some of that is good, there's a lot that is not helpful at the end of the day.

So I'll give you my take on it, and I'm sure some will disagree.  However, what I write will be from my own experience, and what I have learned in the healing work I've been a part of over the past decade.

What Does Mindful Mean?

First off, it has to do with the mind.

Second, in my view, it is a connection between the mind and the body.  This is probably the point in which I differ with many, but again, I am speaking from my own experience and knowledge.

Too often as humans, we live in our head.  Yes, physically we are attached to our bodies, but we are so disconnected from anything we feel there.  No, I'm not referring to the pain that you feel, but an overall sense of being disconnected.

Most of the time we go through our days not fully feeling what is going on in our bodies. We don't stop to check in.  We don't notice how shallow and ineffective our breathing is.  We don't stop to see how stress and tension are affecting our bodies.

We just go through our days as if it is one task to the next, oblivious to what the body feels.  Yes, we need to do this to function and get our tasks done, but we often forget to stop, step back, and slow down or rest.  We think that's only for a yearly vacation, a weekend, or when we sleep at night.

So, while we focus on the mind part of mindful, we usually blow right past the body part.  The body part is where most of it happens.  Check out more on the Enteric Brain to get a better sense of that.

While it is nice to take a walk in the park and notice all that is around us, or to see something we normally don't see in a day, mindfulness is more than that.  It is about seeing and feeling all of these things from deep within your body so that it resonates outward and upward to your mind.

Mindfulness is about finding peace through awareness of all parts of the body, not just what thoughts we derive and create in our mind.  You can reach a level of peaceful contentment in your mind with your thoughts, which can be very helpful, but without the body you're only embracing half of mindfulness.

With feeling more in your body and getting in touch with those deep corners and recesses within you, you'll find that there is more to the mind body connection.  The more you embrace this and feel it and sense it, the more mindful you will become.  You will enhance your overall experience.

While experiences in life, stressors, and other situations keep us in our heads and out of our bodies, it should be our goal to be more in touch with the physical sensations lying beneath the surface.  We don't have to ignore and disconnect from them.  We can experience them and in turn, bring more fulfillment and mindfulness to our lives.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Anger Bubbling Up

I'm beginning to understand just how much of an epidemic this is not only in the country I live in, but the entire world.  Anger is alive and growing.  We see evidence of it through violent actions committed everywhere.

No one seems to know how to get rid of the anger bubbling up within them.  Society doesn't allow it.  Parents don't teach how to let go of it.  Schools don't teach it.  Churches don't teach it.  We all hide our heads in the sand as if anger is a problem for someone else.

In fact, we hide behind anger.  We stuff it down.  We paste it over with happy thoughts and condescending statements toward others for even feeling anger.  We tell others how they should not have anger in them because it means they are "less than" or "not the way a human should be".

None of what is being done in this world helps to alleviate anger.  When it acts like a spring bubbling up within us, we just stuff it down.  We smile to the world, while hating our innermost self.  We smile to the world while we try to numb the pain.

I'm wondering when we are going to start waking up as a human civilization and understand that we are our own worst enemy.  We are inflicting so much pain on our lives through what we do.  We as a society are trampling upon others because we are not leading authentic lives.

Anger is a poison that permeates our body, our cells, and our tissues.  Anger when not allowed to come out festers as an infected wound upon our body, only this one is silently hidden from view.

How often do we hear that someone just popped and no one would have expected they had the anger in them to do what they did?  How often do we see people's rage show up, but we hide it from our reality and act as if it didn't happen?

We have to get real with ourselves and with others.  If we continue to let anger bubble up with no method for release, we're harming ourselves so badly.  It takes a physical toll on our body and mind.  We end up hurting the world in ways that we cannot even imagine.

If we continue to hide from our anger and minimize it or numb it, we're doing the human civilization a major injustice.  There is no honor in being inauthentic.  There is no honor in minimizing and numbing one's life, rather than being real and human.

Anger is a hateful energy.  It is one that alters how we see not only the world, but ourselves.  When we find it hiding within us, it is then that we no longer consciously connect to the deepest parts of our soul.  It is then that we have lost our connection with humanity and the world in which we live.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Asleep To Feeling Pain In Our Body

Let's all go down to the river and party the night away.  Okay, I'm not sure why I wrote that this, but maybe it is more telling then I am aware of in this moment.  If you read the blog post on June 13, 2017, Are You Asleep?, you will see that Donnie struggles with this one.

Here's a part from Donnie's statement on the blog post Are You Asleep:     After all, he doesn't have time to deal with pains in his body.  There is just too much too accomplish.   His body is 100% pain free.  Unfortunately, that's a good sign of how asleep Donnie is.

We are so oblivious to pain in our bodies that even saying we are asleep is not a strong enough statement.  Of course, I'm sure you're probably eye-rolling me right now, wondering if I just fell off my rocker and hit my head on the floor.

Safe to say, I'm okay.  I didn't hit my head on the floor.

For a long time I was traveling every week and going almost nonstop.  I hardly felt pain in my body.  There was no time to feel it and if I felt it, it had to disappear because I could not function and do what was required of me.  Pain relievers were the go-to if that happened.

However, most of the time I didn't feel pain.  In fact, that's how most of us are.  We are oblivious to pain in our bodies, even though it is there.  Yes, even if you don't notice it, it is there.

How do I know this?  Well, when I finally get myself to stop or I go in for a deep healing session with Dr. Paul Canali, the first thing I'm asked to do is feel what is going on in my body.  Of course, one thinks that we know what is going on, but until you do this - much of it is hidden.  Let me repeat that - much of it is hidden.

The more you stop and notice, the more you'll exclaim like I do in a session, "Oh, I didn't know that was there."  We are so unconscious and disconnected that most of the time the pain (and the warning signs of the mind and body) go undetected.  We just fail to hear them because we are asleep.

They keep ratcheting up the alarm, and we keep dousing them with unconsciousness and other substances in our day.   Then when the alarm has gone as far as it can, the body gets our attention.  Usually by that point, things aren't good and require much more medical intervention than we would have had to do if we'd listened to the pain in the first place.

I had someone once tell me that they were sorry to hear I had pain.  I'm like, but everyone does - they just don't listen to it.  It is messages our bodies are trying to get through our asleep thick skulls.

Pain can be good if we do something conscious with it.  If we hide it, then we've inflicted a world of hurt on ourselves.  Rather than hiding it, the better thing to do is to go in and feel the pain.  Yep, I know - you've probably thought I've fallen again from my rocking chair.  Rest assured, I have not.

If pain is overwhelming, we want it gone.  That's human nature.  However, if you can find body work like what Dr. Paul Canali does, then you learn that by going into the pain,  you take control of it and transform it.  When you do, a whole new world opens up.

Is that easy?  NO IT IS NOT!  Is it good in the long run? YES IT IS.  Being asleep so much that you don't feel the pain is not a recipe for health and wellness.  Too much in our society is built around numbing the pain, rather than going in and interacting with the pain.  Too many health conditions are a result of not feeling the pain.

It is past time our world wakes up and begins to deal with pain in the right way.  First, we have to recognize it is there and feel it.  Once we've made it that far, then we need to go in and have a conversation with it through not only the mind, but through the felt sense of the body.  When we learn to interact with it in the body, that's when pain becomes our friend, rather than our foe. 

Make sure you check out the next part in this 11 part series

 Part 11 is "Asleep By Happy Thoughts"

 

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Asleep Burning The Candle At Both Ends

Back in the days I started out doing massage, I was so mind blown at how people just race here and there.  Burning the candle at both ends was just common practice in the people I met.  I never quite understood that one.  It is a way in which we are asleep.

In the example posted on 6/13/17, Josephine thinks that she can burn the candle at both ends of the stick.  She can't let anyone down, but she complains that she is the only one that can do anything.  

We just don't understand that the human body is not designed to run day and night with no stopping and no rest. Our minds needs downtime.  Our bodies needs to breathe.  We need silence and stillness to reconnect with peace and joy.

In addition, the rest and downtime allows our nervous systems to catch up and process what we have experienced in our days.  It helps our cells and tissues repair themselves and pull back to a state of balance and normality.

If we push ourselves day in and day out, we may get away with it for a long time, but sooner or later it will catch up with us.  Most of the time we are oblivious to the disastrous effects it is having on the mind and body.  We are usually numb and asleep to what is happening behind the scenes.

We don't see it and often we don't want to see it.  We'd rather go on oblivious to what we are doing to ourselves.  Then, when we get sick, we gasp at what has happened, but we fail to see the connection.  We just look for someone to keep us in a numbed and asleep state.

Being human is learning to interact with our mind and our body.  It is about taking care of ourselves and through doing that, we become better acquainted with who we are.  Beating our mind and body up is not living.  It is self-inflicted abuse that we do to ourselves.

I remember a therapist one time looking at me and telling me, "Don - you need to give yourself a break.  You are beating yourself up too hard.  You are your own worst enemy.".

Yes, we are our own worst enemies and when we are asleep and numb to it, we project that on to everyone else.  We think that everyone is the problem, when the problem could be resolved within each one of us if we chose to do so.

Hopefully, you'll learn from what Josephine is doing to her body in the example from the blog post on June 13, 2017 - Are You Asleep?

Make sure you check out the next part in this 11 part series

 Part 6 is "Sleep With Pain And Difficulty"

 

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Connect Mind And Body

What did you do today to connect with your Mind And Body?

Stress Set Point In The Emergency Danger Zone

This is the continuation in a series on allostatic load.  In part 3, we discussed being disconnected from allostatic load and stress. 

If you haven't seen Part 3, go there first.

In Part 4, we will be discussing the stress set point in the emergency danger zone.

So what can you do if your set point has entered the emergency danger zone?

The first thing is to recognize it.  You can't keep running from the body and the mind.  You can't keep pushing your body past its limits.  You can't keep running from your past even if it is so horrible and painful to see.  Okay, you can keep running, but sooner or later, it will take you down to your knees and trust me, it gets much harder to come back.  I speak from experience on this.

In the early stages of recovering your set point and reducing allostatic load, you may need to take drastic measures for your own survival.  This may include medications and life saving procedures, but you must be careful that these do not become a crutch that is misinterpreted and misrepresented as healing.  It is far too easy to do this in your mind.  If you stay in this mode, it will not go easy for you in the physical side of your mind and body.

Support and stress reduction activities can be helpful, but they will only take you so far if you ignore what else is going on underneath.  Yoga, QiGong, and other movement activities can also help, but again, you need to go to the root cause.  It requires traveling into the pain and difficulty, not just treating the surface.

Even massage and bodywork of different flavors can help you to begin the process of balancing out and resetting the set point of your life.  Keep in mind though, these things can become the healing crutch rather than the healing.  They may often be good for you, but they can become a routine that keeps you at arms length from that which is raising the alarms within your body.

The best thing you can do to help reduce the allostatic load is by going in and learning to connect with your body.  Through the felt-sense, breathwork, and movement connected together with someone who is trained, you can begin to feel your body deep within.  You can begin to go into the outer edges of what is comfortable, thereby training your mind and body to increase your resilience and take back the power of what is draining your life.

This is not just a mind exercise.  It needs to happen at the cellular level to bring about true change in a body.  If you don't engage the body and nervous system at a cellular level, you're just putting a band-aid on a gushing wound, hoping it will stop the bleeding.

Sometimes this process is not easy in the beginning, but it is like an Olympic athlete training for the Olympics.  They don't start out on day one being able to run 25 miles.  They work their way up to it and often through the process, there is muscle discomfort and pain.  If they keep training and allowing for recovering, their muscles and body will be ready to do more and to take on more.

The same goes for healing your life and dropping the allostatic load you are under.  This is not pie-in-the-sky thinking.  It has been proven many times over with those that know how to take someone in and guide them through the process of waking up.  The important point though is that you have to go through the process to wake up and stop disconnecting from your life.  Anything short of that pushes the set point further and further toward the danger zone, past the point of no return.

The process I've gone through with Dr. Paul Canali of Evolutionary Healing Institute in Miami is called Unified Therapy.  In this process, he draws on the core truths of many modalities and then applies them at the right time.  He constantly keeps the person engaged through the process and keeps them feeling in their body.  When you are feeling in the body, you are in control, but when you have disconnected and are not feeling, that is when you're heading for the cliff.

It sounds so simple and yet complex to go through this, but I know for a fact that many people, including myself, have dropped the allostatic load in their lives.  It isn't just a one time moment of healing.  As you go through the process you learn to become more aware --  and the more aware you become, the more life shifts so that you can adapt better to stress, heal your life, and keep yourself from maladaptive problem solving.

Make sure you check out the next part in this 5 part series.  

 Part 5 is "The Best Part Of Dealing With Stress"

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

If You Don't Deal With Stress

This is the continuation of a series on allostatic load.  In part 1, there are notes from a video discussion with Dr. Donald Bosch of the Headington Institute on allostatic load.  He does a very good job of explaining what allostatic load and allostasis are.

I really enjoy how he explains allostatic load.

If you have not seen Part 1, go there first.

I have always said that if you don't deal with stress, stress will deal with you.  We all will probably shake our heads and agree, but that's about as far as we take it.  We don't fully understand and comprehend what that means.  We are disconnected from what it means, in many ways.  However, I keep attempting to write about this so others can begin to understand it more.  I realize it is a complex subject that tends to sail right by, but it is important.

I speak from my own experience and that of what I have learned from Dr. Paul Canali of Evolutionary Healing Institute.  He understands this far better than I do , but I have experienced it firsthand in many ways.

Trauma can be simple everyday stuff...

In the video from part 1, Dr. Bosch talks about the set point and how the further we veer out of allostatic load, the further this set point gets moved.  It does not have to be trauma or child abuse or war or other means to cause this set point to shift.  It can be as simple as office work stress, caring for others, or just dealing with life when you were not taught great skills in adapting to stress that comes along.

We all like to think that we've got life by the horns and we are in control.  We all like to think that if we have a beer or a glass of wine that we've relaxed and the stress has all vanished.  We all like to think that if we manage to squeeze in a day off here and there or maybe a few days for a vacation once every couple of years that we're in charge of the stress in our life.  "We're handling it" is what we tell ourselves.

Daily buildup of stress is as harmful...

However, this could not be further from the truth.  The daily build up of stress is just as harmful as if we encountered some traumatic event in our life.  If we don't discharge that, it finds a home in our mind and body.  It moves the set point just a little further away from homeostasis.  Our body ends up staying in that constant state of alertness ready to handle what is bombarding us in life.  We have ended up pushing our allostatic load to the point where it is getting so far into the danger zone that turning back gets more difficult with each passing moment.

It happens before you know it.  It takes place in the blink of an eye.  It is not like you wake up one day and go, wow - I've pushed my set point way too far.  Okay, it can happen that way but more often than not, it goes unnoticed.  It goes undetected until something in our life happens that tries to wake us up.

In the meantime, we maybe experience things like headaches and muscle pains.  Sometimes we find out in a routine doctor visit that our blood pressure is high or our pulse rate stays at a constant high rate instead of dropping down into rest and repair mode.

We may experience fatigue, sleeplessness and nervous stomachs, acid reflux or other conditions.  Chronic health issues may set in and begin to become more pronounced.  We may encounter all kinds of health conditions as issues progress.

In worst case situations, we may go into Conversion Disorder like I did or experience health situations that are life and death.  It varies by person and it depends upon so many factors.  I'm not trying to say that there are not other underlying factors in the exhibition of illness and pain, but I am saying that allostatic load is the cart pushing the horse over the cliff.

Make sure you check out the next part in this 5 part series.  

 Part 3 is "Disconnected From Allostatic Load & Stress"

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Impacting Body Systems By Suppression

Humans are peculiar in how they treat themselves.  We often negate the power we have inside of us to heal our mind and body.  We too easily give our power up to others, rather than going in and doing the hard work to heal.

Yes, I know - It isn't easy to heal.  It is pretty tough work and very hard.  Whether it is mental struggles, child sexual abuse, or physical illness - it just is not an easy moment in our life.

Please know, I'm not going to say that all medical procedures or healing paths you are on don't work.  No way!  There are many core truths within each path that help us get to the next point.  The only thing is, we tend to stop on the bench along the path and forget to get back up again on the healing journey.  If you don't do this, well - I do!

I was not going to settle...

I still remember back to the days I was paralyzed from Conversion Disorder.  I could have stopped on the bench and said "that's it" and no one would have thought badly of me.  Yet, I knew that I was not going to settle for where I was.  I was not going to accept the condition I had.  I was not going to accept that I could not walk, move and barely talk.

One of the biggest problems I see in how we heal our mind and body is pursuing things that suppress one body system over another.  They keep us hiding from the true nature of what is going on.  The fear that arises when we hit these horrendous moments of what seems like an impossible dilemma is enough to take the strongest person down in a heartbeat.  I know - I've been there!

Fear and numbness...

Fear and numbness in our mind and body keep us from seeing more.  They suppress our body systems and draw us toward the things that suppress our body systems.  When we suppress things in our body, other body systems are impacted.  When you impact other areas, then you start flipping the wrong light switches within the body.

Of course, it requires great courage to go deep into what is happening and find the awareness that we need, but in the end - it is your ticket out of hell.  The things that just numb the pain and or illness further are not as healing as we try to make them out to be.  They are more there to disconnect us from what is going on, which is not even close to being a healing moment.

Impacting body systems by suppression of symptoms and conditions in our life is the norm in healing these days.  Yes, I did those things too and they helped me get to the point where I started to see there is more.  So, don't discount their effectiveness, but don't get lost in them either.

Healing our mind and body is much more than 99% of the world understands.  I wish it was a lower percentage, but I really am saddened by how I see humans attempt to numb and disconnect themselves these days.  It is not health.  It is not healing.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Reminded To Play

Often, my days get very busy.  I am usually trying to accomplish so much and it is very easy for me to just forget to stop.  The funny thing is, I try to encourage people to stop in their day and sometimes I really screw it up too!

Hey, we're all human.  Living in a human body is not necessarily an easy thing or a 1-2-3 process.

Every day things change.  Every day we experience new things.  We deal with stress and joy and pain.  We deal with life and sometimes we jump up in the air to celebrate.

The only thing is when I get so busy that I forget to stop and have fun in life, it can be like a sword thrashing around in a small room.  More than likely at some point, the result is not going to be pretty.

Cats are good barometers...

I'm always amazed at my cats because they seem to know when I need to stop and play and get up from my desk.  I'm fortunate to work from home.  My cats are good barometers of things I miss sometimes in myself.

It is amazing to watch the cats because sometimes they both come up wanting attention.  If you don't give it to them, they increase their presence until you stop and pay attention to them.  If you don't give them enough, they just up the stakes and work harder to get your attention.

My cats don't really care if you're writing your masterpiece novel or replying to a tweet.  They just know, it is time for you and them to have some social interaction... and for me to stop - play - have fun!

I like that they help remind me to play.  I need that sometimes.  It is just far too easy for us to get hung up on all the tasks we do or the social media posts we have not read.

Cats (and most likely dogs too) are good barometers to help us stay connected to our self and our mind body.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---