Colors Of The Wind

I recently heard a song that I just love. It was from the Disney movie, Pocahontas. The song is "Colors Of The Wind". To me, I see it as a song of possibilities in life as if it is talking about all that can be and all that we can be part of. The signature line that just brings goose bumps to my arms is "can you paint with all the colors of the wind?".

So my question to everyone that reads this is, "Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?".

Take a moment and just read the following lyrics. There is power in the overall big picture of these words.

Lyrics to "Colors Of The Wind"
You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

A Thought To Ponder

Why is it that we can more readily see the good and the potential in someone else than we can see in our own selves? It is something to ponder.

Body Pain

The pain we find in our body is the connection to something greater. It is our fears that hold us back from going deep into the pain. For when we travel into the pain, we find that we have so much power within ourselves. As we find our power, we find something greater for our lives. Pain is about getting our attention. It is about us moving forward. It is not about us masking it, trying to get rid of it or running from it.

Each Day We Create Our World

Every day we wake up into a world that has not been created at that moment. It is with each waking moment, each step we take and each thought we derive, that creates our day. What we choose to do with it and how we choose to live it, is our choice and our choice alone. In this moment, no one in our past, present or future, can create the day for us. While others may influence and impact it, the choices we make are still up to us.

Yet for so many of us, we go through life feeling as if events and circumstances are in control of who we are. We are blown by various winds in our day, drenched by the storms and drawn to pretty colored fake neon signs. These things take our eyes off our path and draw us away from that which we are here for.

May we be as a ship coming into the harbor watching the beacon from the light house that illuminates the path ahead. May we not lose sight, watching the lightening from the storm and run aground into the rocks.

The Body In The Shutdown Process, Part 3

For Part 2, Click Here - June 25, 2009

At the end of the session, Dr. Canali did some major adjustments on my neck because there were still some stiffness and alignment issues. You see, as our bodies become overwhelmed with fear and as they repeat the stories of old, our bodies change biologically and physically. So as these things are released, the body then has the ability to come back into balance and alignment. The neck adjustments don’t always feel good and often my body tries to hold itself back from these but again, if the fear part of my brain allows my body to let go, the outcomes are unimaginable.

When we left Dr. Canali’s office, I felt so much different than when I came in a few hours earlier. Yes, I did have two sessions that day because my body had so many mountains to cross through. I still remember one patient there looking at me and telling me that I looked much different than I came in. He said he could tell that I was in a lot of pain. And yet now, I was walking out of there without hardly any pain. My legs were moving like they had never moved before. The stiffness in my neck and shoulder were basically gone. I felt a little out of it as if time had quickly passed by that day and I needed to catch up. So we went to a park off of the bay and just enjoyed some down time in the sunshine and in nature while I was able to process more of what had gone on. It was a beautiful time to just be there and take it all in.

The plan was to make the 270 mile trip back that night but it was getting late and I really felt that my body needed rest instead of the stress of driving the distance. We stayed overnight and it felt good just to relax in the hot tub at the hotel and enjoy a peaceful night of sleep.

As I went into the night, I noticed that I was holding my body as I was before my sessions just as if it was full of pain and stiffness. Noticing that, I told myself why am I doing this? For my body doesn’t feel bad and there is nothing wrong. I no longer needed to hold my body in this way. Then it would release. Of course as Dr. Canali explained to me, that the pattern I was holding before was now in my conscious mind and it allowed me to make different choices and to do something about it.

I also shared with Dr. Canali that I believed this was the most acute physical situation I had been in since I had known him. Seeing how my body was in such a state of shutting down, even beyond that which I was able to pick up before the session and then seeing that allowing my body to heal and the results that followed were eye opening. It was not like I needed anyone to tell me this was or was not possible. It was something that was proven to me through my own body. I knew from firsthand experience that this truth was not what someone told me but it came out of my own body where I could see it, touch it and feel it.

I’m reminded that there is no greater truth than which you can connect with in your own body, mind and soul. There is so much more out there than what we are currently aware of and although the fears may be strong and although we may feel overwhelmed as if there is no hope, this is the moment being given to us so that we may truly discover another part of ourselves. It is a gift that we can either open or ignore. If we choose NOT to open it, we may trick ourselves into thinking it has gone away. It will continue attempting to get our attention. At some point we will either continue to ignore it or we will begin to listen to it. Through listening and opening to all that it is, we give ourselves one of the greatest gifts any human could have. That gift is truly knowing ourselves and how we impact the rest of the world by becoming more human.

The Body In The Shutdown Process, Part 2

For Part 1, Click Here - June 24, 2009

Oh please let me hide. I wonder if I can withdraw myself enough into the table so that no one will notice I’m here. Maybe this will all go away. Maybe everyone will go away. Do I really want to be here? I’m scared. I’m not sure there is a way out.

That’s how I felt walking in the door of Dr. Canali’s office. My body was overwhelmed with fear and while it wanted to be held, reassured and validated; any perceived touch felt like a nuclear bomb going on inside. It was such conflicting thoughts and desires that confused my mind into an endless stream of thoughts.

I could feel the heaviness in my chest preventing my body from really breathing. The breath was in lock step with wanting to hide for if I barely breathed, no one would see me. I felt the stiffness of my body not wanting to move and being in pain when I did. Outside of the pain and stiffness in my body, I felt very little. The trembling and shaking in my body were present and very annoying to me. They remind me of the early days of the paralysis when I would shake and have seizures while feeling all alone. Everyone would watch me from a distance feeling helpless while my body went through all these violent movements being afraid and alone. While I now know that the trembling and shaking is the nervous system letting go, I am still frightened by it as a trigger to a very scary moment in my past.

A lot of the session is a blur to me. There are little bits and pieces that I remember but not enough to draw a complete picture. I do remember some of those moments. Most things early in the session would startle me. And it is still imprinted in my mind that Dr. Canali told me “he and Quayny believed in me”. That’s something that I never got growing up and often I struggle to have the confidence in myself because no one was there for me. Those appropriate timed words were priceless and they brought tears to my eyes.

One such moment was when I could feel my hands and arms in an almost rigid form where they would not move. Quayny kept working with me to just focus on moving my fingers which was difficult beyond rationale. But as we went and she kept me focusing on what I felt, I stated that it was as if I wanted to take a baseball bat and hit someone. Of course, I’m still not sure who that “someone” was but it had so much power to those words. Quayny suggested that I take an imaginary baseball bat in my hand and make the motion as if I was doing that. To just feel the energy of it and the motion of it. As I did this, the tension in my hand and my body began to change. It began to let go and allow someone to begin the physical touch with me.

Another moment in the session, I told Dr. Canali that I really wanted to get up off the table and run as fast as I could and as far as I could. That’s the response that I get when confronted by fear. It is also known as “fight or flight”. So Dr. Canali told me that we were going to use that energy to bring about a change in my body without going into the fear part of the brain. He put the flat part of my feet together and had me lift the pelvic area of my body to help stretch the psoas muscle. When I did this, the pains that shot down through my legs were so intense that I screamed several curse words out. It was not so much a physical pain, although it was showing up that way. It was the connection to the fears locked within me.

At that moment, I felt the pain that connected me to a time many years earlier where I had felt the same thing. Actually I had buried this one pretty deep because until this current connection was made, I was not consciously aware of it. That pain was the same thing I felt in my legs early on in the paralysis when it was just hitting me. It was the pain that took my body by surprise and was so intense, that after that I could not feel a thing in my legs. They were numb and nearly dead. So when we hit this moment in the session, all of that came flooding back to me.

We pushed this reaction further in the session which then caused a shaking and trembling in my legs but as I allowed myself to connect with this and allowed it to take place, the pain and tension released. The tears started to form much as they are doing while I’m writing this because it allowed me to truly feel my legs for the first time in my ENTIRE life. Let me repeat that because this is a very big thing for me. I began to really feel my legs for the first in my ENTIRE life in a way I had NEVER felt them before. It was electrifying, pulsing, and warm and my legs felt alive. I could feel the touch around them. They felt like they were part of me instead of just being a body part that held me up as I moved around in a day. It was truly a moment in joy for me.

The specifics of the rest of the session are ones that I just don’t recall. So much was happening and taking place. I was going into the fears and not letting the fear part of my brain (amygdala) take over. I was finding my power as I released these things and went deep into the pain. The desire to freeze was there but the more I went and allowed my body to heal in the way it needed to, the more freedom I had.

For our bodies do know what is needed to heal and yet we stay in a state of “survival” locked into our fears. This prevents us from healing and growing in ways that are essential to our becoming more and more human every day. Often the fears are unconscious like they were in me before I went to the session but they are there. It is through the touch of a skilled person who can be there through all of this with someone that we are truly able to go from survival fear into being connected intimately between our mind and body. I had to be reminded of this even though I know it to be true and I work with it. The fear part of our brain is strong but when we empower ourselves from the inside out, we are the ones who are strong.

--- come back tomorrow for Part 3 ---

The Body In The Shutdown Process, Part 1

Lately, I knew I had been struggling a lot in life. There have been so many things that have blasted me that the overwhelm I was feeling was taking me under. However, I thought I was dealing with it and taking care of business so to speak. In mind mind, I thought I was handling it and not letting it get to me.

By Sunday, it had begun to get the best of me as I woke up that morning with pain shooting through my neck and shoulder. As the day progressed, the pain worsened and my shoulder/neck muscles became very contracted making movement difficult. I had someone work on me a little while I laid on the massage table but as badly as I wanted to be touched, my body was repelling anything that they did. My thoughts were that I so badly wanted to be held and told that everything was going to be ok but at the same time, I did not want anyone to touch me. For the more I was touched, the more I connected to intense pain from one end of my body to the next.

Of course, I've been down this road before through paralysis, stiff neck episodes, muscle pain, back pain and my body generally just freezing up. This was not new to me but when I could not feel my legs or most of my body, I knew that it was time to take action. There was no doubt at that point that if I waited any longer, the result of this could get extremely serious.

I called Dr. Canali (Evolutionary Healing Institute), the one that knows how to bring me back from this. And of course, he told me what I knew he would and that was I needed to get down to see him for a session. To me, it wasn't really about needing him to tell me that as it was I just needed to draw the line in the sand with myself. Otherwise, I would have discounted all of this and attempted to brush it off trying to "think" it would get better. I know myself enough on this as I've been through this before.

For today's blog entry, I'm going to include what I wrote before I went to see Dr. Canali. It is my line in the sand of what all was going on. Please check back for the next day's blog entry to read more about the healing part of the session. It is just too much information and material to post all at once. The emotions and overall big picture is the important point, not the individual items.

Journal Entry 06/21/09

Snakes
Nightmares of snakes – startled by them, surprised by them but to afraid – almost paralyzed to move and get away from them. Sometimes I don’t jump out of bed and be startled but it is where I can barely close my eyes and go back to sleep. Seems to happen in the early morning hours.

Been plenty of snakes around the yard this spring and in the past few weeks. I’ve groomed the lawn to just about take away any cover they might have and they still come around. I’m almost afraid to go out around the lawn but if I do, it is only during the daylight hours. I’m watching every step I take and our grass isn’t that tall either. I’m completely on guard the entire time in the yard and even around the pool now that one got inside.

I was upset with Jeff because he had put the gas can away in its place but pushed it so far in the cubby hole we have for it. A couple of weeks earlier I had seen a small little baby snake crawling around the vicinity. So I made Jeff pull the garbage can out so I wouldn’t have to reach back in there to get it.

Snakes have always scared me. Even seeing pictures on TV or in a magazine or where ever they might be. I either have to leave the room, shut my eyes or just block them out. They scare me and I’ll usually jump immediately when I see one. It doesn’t have to be real. It can just be a picture.


Family Nightmares
I’ve had so many recurrent dreams lately where my family is all killed in either a car crash or suicide/murder type situation. Whatever way it happens, it is a violent end to their life and I’m the only one left out of the family. I then have to go and identify their remains and take care of all their funerals, burial and possessions. The weather is snowy and cold during these scenarios.

Seeing the horrible scene of their deaths all together is more than I care to see. Taking care of all their possessions and the legal stuff is exhausting.

This one has played out time and time again, night after night. It is almost like a movie that just won’t end. Exhausting, tiring, and frustrating to say the least on this.

Prosperity
Reading the book “open your mind to prosperity” and it was going good until I got to the chapter on tithing which the author said you needed to give your money to the place where you get your spiritual growth. I don’t go to church nor do I want to go to church. The author claimed that just giving money to charity didn’t fulfill this part and you really needed to be going to some type of church. My take on it was that no matter what I did or how I helped, it would be never good enough. The anger in me that started to come out reading this was enormous. It was like a volcano erupting that went on and on. I was feeling motivated by this book although it had religious references in it until this point and it deflated the balloon as quickly as it inflated. Up until this point, I had hope but it got obliterated at this point.

The Everything Else Bucket
It seems like everything I’m doing lately is just coming up empty handed. I get so many ideas and try to pursue them but everything I’ve done seems to have fallen flat, empty handed, on the short stick so to speak. I’m frustrated beyond comprehension at life with everything that it seems like I face and with the shortfalls in my life. I try to look on the positive side, but it seems like the bucket only comes up empty. I keep wondering when and if things are ever going to change for me.

Depression has set in. I feel it. My body feels it. A lack of interest in a lot of things. A lost interest in sex or going through the motion without feeling anything.

Anxiety has been attacking me lately and making a hot summer feel much worse.

A week ago, I was basically shutting down from a lot in life because it was more than I could handle. Too many problems arose from the AC repair to the pool system problems to whatever else was going on which I can’t even remember at this moment. It was like, bam bam bam thank you bam bam bam some more. I know I said a few times that I really can’t take any more. I was at the end of my rope and had more than enough.

The Hiding
Lately I’ve wanted to just hide. Find a corner of the room and hide behind a chair so no one could see me, get to me or hurt me. It is like I’m hiding from a war, a battle or people just beating the daylights out of someone. These people seem familiar but I don’t know for sure who they are. If I had to offer a guess or write a fictional story, it would have as the main characters, my mom and dad. But the hiding is from something of fuzzy details.

I sometimes don’t even want to go into the store or go outside. I want to stay away from people and a little afraid of them as well as me going off on them. Sort of like how I will sometimes get around the holidays.

The Pain
This morning I was awakened early by the pain in my neck muscles. It hurt so bad that it woke me up. I’ve struggled all day with it and felt so tired all day as well – worse than many of the past many days of being tired. I tried to relax in the pool and take it easy. I can feel the pain and stiffness go all the way down to my low back as it makes walking difficult and breathing very labored. I feel the restriction in my chest as my lungs try to breathe.

After the last workshop, I felt so good – so full of joy, hope and peaceful that lasted for a couple of weeks.

Jeff tried to work on me and while I so badly wanted to be held and told that everything would be ok, my body did not want to be touched. I really hate it when this happens because it really messes with my mind.

So I called Dr. Canali today just because I wanted all of this to be real and that it wouldn’t be something I would just discount as the day went.

--- come back tomorrow for Part 2 ---

The Human Spirit

The human spirit is strong. It does not operate within the limits we set within our minds.

Ordinary Into Extraordinary

Many people overcome all kinds of odds to accomplish extraordinary things. They are usually so ordinary that it seems like blend in with the world around them. Yet, they display phenomenal strength, courage, and determination to accomplish these things. It doesn’t take the most gifted person to do the things they do. It takes a person who says I can do this and is willing to meet the challenge head on.

The Universe

One must let go, in order to be free.
You know,
The Universe

Workshop: Mind-Body Awareness Through Relaxation

Location: Andrew Jackson Davis Building
City: 1112 Stevens Street, Cassadaga, Florida, 32706
When: Sunday, July 19, 2009
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Cost: $20


Note: Please bring Yoga Mat/or Blanket plus a pillow and comfortable clothing
Facilitator: Don Shetterly

This workshop will focus on the Mind-Body Awareness. Through relaxation, movement, breathing, energy flow, the spoken word, music and just connecting the mind and body together as one to bring about a deeper awareness and a more spiritual connection with the universe.

For More information and Registration (click here)

Saying Something Nice

Do you ever stop and think that sometimes we very seldom here nice things or compliments from those around us. Often in our day, we are slammed with criticisms, critiques and negative gossip that does nothing to raise our vibrations, our spirit or our outlook on life. And yet, one of the most simple things we could do for one another on a daily basis is just saying something nice to them.

I'm not talking about empty meaningless words for that is no better than the alternative. This has such a big impact on each one of us. The words we use to others and the words we receive from others has so much power.

So why not remember what it felt like when someone said something nice, supportive, caring or in a manner of thanks and do a similar thing to someone you meet. You might just completely change their day and their life. It could mean more than the world to them.

The Amazing Avocado

Did you know an Avocado

• Is good for the treatment of breast cancer and prostate cancer
• Contains oleic acid that may help lower cholesterol
• Is a good source of potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure
• Is a big source of fiber
• Is a great source of carotenoid lutein which is good for your eyes
• Is one of the healthiest fats
• Is primarily grown in California and Mexico
• Is a great source of folic acid

A good article on the healthy side of Avocados at whfoods.com

Sources:

1. www.pyroenergen.com
2. www.vitalitybliss.com
3. www.helium.com

How Could Anyone

One of my all time favorite healing songs is one that Shaina Noll performed on her CD, "Songs For The Inner Child". It is a beautiful and simple song yet the words are so powerful.

Here is what I wrote and sent to Shaina Noll that she posted on her website:

"The first time I was introduced to Shaina Noll's music was at a Voices conference in Chicago, IL. Ellen Bass was completing her keynote address at the conference and she ended with the audience singing How Could Anyone.

It was the first time I had ever heard this song and singing it with fellow survivors brought me to tears. Here are the words to this song:

'How could anyone ever tell you - you were anything less than beautiful. how could anyone ever tell you - you were less than whole. How could anyone fail to notice that your loving is a miracle. How deeply you're connected to my soul.'

The next time I heard this song was when a therapist played it for me one day in a therapy session. I immediately recognized it and with the topic of the therapy session, it brought tears to my eyes. Fortunately I was able to find the CD, Songs For the Inner Child, which features the song How Could Anyone.

During this time, I was going through a very difficult point in my life and the little child within me was hurting so much. I began to play this CD time and time again. Most of the time, I would play only the song How Could Anyone. in the morning before leaving for work and then before I went to bed at night. I did this for about a month and it began to change how I viewed myself and how I started to accept myself."

If you have never heard of this song, take a listen to it. You can hear a sound clip of the song on her page on CDbaby.com .

The lyrics go like this:

How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful?

How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole?

How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle?

How deeply you're connected to my soul

Try playing it through in the morning and at night for a month and see if it doesn't change your life like it did with mine.

Prosperity Through Love

If you have been fighting anything in your life, rest your overworked mind and emotions by declaring often, divine love and wisdom are united in the situation, through it perfectly."

Then loose it and let it go: "I bless every situation in my life with love and wisdom. Love and wisdom are united in me, expressing perfectly through every phase of my life now."

(Page 152, Open Your Mind to Prosperity)

The Gratitude Jar

I ran across this site the today and was really impressed with what they were doing. I had done something similar and posted about my own gratitude jar but it didn't go as far as this one went. Hopefully they will keep the web page up but in case they don't, I'm copying the text of what there gratitude jar is about. If you want to read their site and it is well worth a moment to check out, go to http://www.gratitudejar.com


From their website:

Every time something good happens to you or you
feel grateful for something in your life, place some
change in a jar. When this jar is full, give it away
to someone in need!

With each jar we include a card that reads the
following:Gratitude Jar This jar represents abundance and our gratitude
for all the blessings we have received recently.
Every time something good happened to us we
would place some money into the jar as a symbol
of our gratitude.

True abundance comes from sharing.

Take this jar and enjoy its contents and know that
it was filled with love and gratitude.

Our intention is for you and your family to
experience true happiness and abundance in all
areas of your life.

Stepping Into

When I drew this chalk picture, I had no idea what I was about to create. Rarely do I sit down and draw anything because I just don't feel that is my area of expertise. So when I do sit down and draw, it usually takes me by surprise. This is a simple picture but it is jam packed with meaning and significance for my own life.

You see, many times throughout my own life, I've been afraid at what lies ahead. You could even say, I am at one of those moments right now. I am sure that I am not alone as others experience this as well. Often we do not talk about those fears and if we do, many around us quickly tell us to just live for today or go on about our lives and not worry. While there is some good intentions to that, this could short circuit this part of our life and hold us back in many ways. The fears are real, the people are real but the outcomes are what is important.

Often when we face that unknown darkness ahead, we sometimes spend so much time staring at it that we forget what lies behind us. All of the things that we have carried with ourselves up to this point gives us the strength, the courage and the determination to move forward. It is all part of us. It helps us find the footing when we step out into the unknown.

In the picture, the house depicts a sense of security, starting point, origin, and grounding for our lives. It is the safety point from which we emerge. It is the fortress from which we draw strength. It is the beginning point for moving forward. The terrain reminds us of how much we have overcome and how many difficult steps we have already taken. It is the reminder of all that we have accomplished when we begin to doubt ourselves. The tree is for bountiful sustenance and a further anchor to hold on to. It is the strength we see in many ways as we begin to step forward. The birds are there to remind us of the joys we do have in our life and the gratitude for all that we are. Behind the person looking into the unknown is the wind that comes along in our life. It is the people, places, knowledge, self discovery that propels us further. While it seems the wind is only to the person's back, it is helping propel the person and give them strength and energy to keep stepping forward.

Many times we have no clue what each step we take, will bring to our path. We just know where we have traveled from and so as we take a new step, we are reminded of all that there is in our life, to move in the direction we need to go. We have no need to push it or pull it or change it. We just need to take the step forward for taking the individual baby steps forward is what makes the unknown familiar to us.

Resting, It Does A Body Good

Some days,
it is good
to stop and rest.

Can You Be Fine With That?

I sit here with an event currently taking place in my life. It is not a fun event but one I seem to repeatedly face time and time again. It brings with it the fears of a life time, the attacks on my confidence and a army of thieves who rob me of all that I am. I consider it my beloved and hated twin. While I profess, I no longer desire the sexiness of this event; somehow I hold on and cling to it as if it were my life long friend. I feed it, clothe it and give it the sustenance it needs. At the same time, I so long to never see it again.

Then I'm reminded of a lesson I've heard and been taught so many times before. Can you sit with the pain you have and be fine with it? Can you just connect to those events that are difficult to endure? Can you just let life be as it is in the moment, giving it the time and space it needs, not dictating and controlling life to your specifications?

Then I realize, that this is not easy to do. I feel sometimes as if my plate has more than I can bear. I've encountered similar situations that felt the same way but as I now look back on them, I found my way down the path. It was not easy in the moment but if I focused on the moment I had, not worrying about the steps I needed to take, than I found my footing as I went on my journey.

So to, this event that keeps rearing its head to me is one that I need to just let it be as it is. I know that is easier said than done for me, but I know that if I do this, I will go on to new discoveries within myself and in the world around me. I know that this is one moment in time for my entire life. It is not the sum total of my life but just one single moment in the span of a lifetime.

May I continue to allow myself to just be with this event and let the fears and insecurities of the moment fade away into the sunset. Remind me, that it is but a single moment in the span of my lifetime. May I just be fine with this event for the moment.

Breathe in the good
Breathe out that which you don't need
Breathe in the energy, the strength, the sustenance for your life.
Breathe out that which holds you, constricts you and binds you.
Breathe
Breathe
Breathe
Life has so much to offer, not so little
Life is about so much more, not what it doesn't have.
Life is about possibility, hope and what can be
Life is you, us, we, them and everyone in between
Life is all together connected so intricately
Breathe
Breathe
Take it all in
And know that all is, just as it is for this moment.

Through The Touch

Since our body is a storage site that connects the emotions with the events, we are able to affect recovery of these events by connecting them with the body and the mind. It is through the touch and the connection with the body that we make, which provides the connection between the event, the emotions and the mind.

Excerpt from class research paper by Don Shetterly on "Reclaiming Healthy Touch"

Free The Energy

There are so many things that are part of our body and that are a direct result of events that have impacted us in many ways. By becoming more aware of what our body currently experiences, we can connect with these events to free the energy within ourselves and become all that we are.

Excerpt from class research paper by Don Shetterly on "Reclaiming Healthy Touch"

Dream Your Problems Away

In a recent study, researcher from the University of California, Dr. Sara Mednick found that people improved their problem solving ability when they took a nap between the morning and afternoon that included a period of REM sleep. For those participants that just rested but did not have REM sleep, there was little change in their problem solving abilities.

REM sleep is also known as a period of deep sleep where there is literally rapid eye movement. Typically, it occurs about 90-120 minutes of the total sleep in a night for most humans.

According to Dr. Mednick, creative problem solving that uses dreams usually is not successful at first. However when the person makes the decision to let go of the problem and does not consciously try to solve it, the solution to the problem comes to the person's consciousness in a dream that is recognized upon awakening.

The neocortex of the brain is the part of the brain associated with thinking. When this part of the brain is free to integrate fresh information, it is then that the solutions are realized. It is expecially important for people such as artists, musicians, and scientists whose daily work is matched closely to the function of the neocortex in the brain where new connections of familiar information is made.

Many famous inventors throughout time have had the creative information come to them through dreams.

I remember one particular time in my own life where I had fought for about two days to fix an email problem on a computer system. My time was running short because I was supposed to get on an airplane the next day. As the end of the day neared, I had no idea at that moment of how to fix the problem. That night, I went back to my hotel and just decided to relax and let the problem go for the evening. Going to bed, I fell asleep and felt very rested the next morning. When I got to the site to begin working on the problem, what seemed like a mystery the day before all of the sudden seemed to fit into place. It took less than 30 minutes to fix the problem that I had wrestled with for two days.

For a long period of my life, I did not allow myself to dream at night because what kept coming up was like a horror movie times a thousand. These events were too rough for me to deal with and so I just shut down the dreaming at night. As time has gone, I have started to dream again. Or maybe I should be more correct in that I remember more of my dreams. The dreaming was probably always there but not where I could even recognize it. Now, my dreams are usually vivid in many ways and often times I do remember them.

I've always heard that naps are good but never paid it that much attention. We have our children take naps every day. Yet, we as adults discard this practice because it does not fit in with our many tasks that we need to accomplish in our day. However, we might be more productive and more centered in our day if we took time out to take a nap or find ways to relax.

Maybe it is like the commercial on TV that says "milk does a body good". Instead of milk - we should say "a nap does a body good".

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1088029.html

Find The Answers

It is only when we stop, look and listen to that which is within us, the moment, when we will find the answers to what we seek.

Sensation Of Feeling In The Body

There is a field of thought that once you encounter a feeling in a body and if you stay with this feeling, it will give rise to the sensation beneath that feeling. And if you stay with that sensation, you will reach the chemical reactions that produce the sensation. Staying with the chemical reactions, you will reach the molecules that make up these reactions. With enough time, the molecules can be divided and broken down into the smallest particles of living substance within our body where they can no longer be divided.



Pg 43, Dr. Clyde W. Ford
Compassionate Touch: The Body's Role in Emotional Healing and Recovery


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Long After Traumatic Events

Long after the traumatic event is over, our bodies and minds live through the event on a continual basis, just as if it was happening again. In the presence of fear, the survival mode is alive and well, not letting go of those past events. For in survival mode, our bodies are trying to flee from the danger. The energy of that danger our bodies perceived is locked within, unless it finds a way to exit. And so it continues to look for a way to exit, day after day in various ways. Ways such as pain, stiffness, anger, rage, abuse, drinking, sexual behaviors, sleep problems, weight issues, mental illness, anxiety attacks and the list could go on and on.

If we do not allow the event to fully complete and release the energy that is locked within, it will find a way out in one form or another. Sometimes it lies in wait until some unrelated moment pushes the button and at that moment, what seems like an imaginary force takes place within us.

While this may sound dismal and horrific to endure, there is a way out. With the presence of a compassionate, grounded individual, we can move past the fear of those events into fulfillment and purpose for our lives. Sometimes the process may unfold slowly and sometimes more quickly. Sometimes the process seems as if we are giving birth but just like in the process of birth, something beautiful is created. And it is in that moment of release, where we give rise to a new self, a new body and a new empowerment within ourselves.

It is moving past the fears from the survival mode into the mode of growth, awareness and empowerment that we truly find out what it means to be human.

The Placebo Effect

Placebo in Latin means "I shall Please" and has its origins in medicine that was used more to please the patient rather them benefit them. Today, placebos are used in many forms that most of us would not even recognize. While many of the regular health care procedures we gravitate towards appear to be backed by scientific studies, many of the same positive results can be done without these routine health care procedures.

Placebos are anything from a sugar pill to an inactive or fake medication or treatment which is designed to mimic a drug or medical treatment and given in the same way. After a placebo is administered, any improvement in the health and well being of the individual whether felt, observed or measured is called the placebo effect.

In 1955, the work of Henry K. Beecher, titled "The Powerful Placebo" was published. In 15 trials, he claimed that 35% of the 1082 patients documented, were satisfactorily relieved by the placebo alone. Some researches now suggest that placebos can be just as effective as any medical treatment.

When I was a kid, my grandparents had been involved in a car accident on the way to our house. They were not seriously injured and were released after being checked out. While they rested at home, the doctor had prescribed some pain pills for my grandfather to take if needed. He of course needed them and so he took them as if they were treats. Unfortunately, we lived in a rural area, so he quickly ran out and because it was the weekend, there was no place to obtain these from until Monday. My mom, growing tired of hearing my grandfather complain about the pain he was in and how badly he needed the pain pills, devised a plan to treat him. She took the little sugar candies we got at Halloween called smarties and told him that these were very high powered pain pills. She convinced him that they were much better than his regular pain pills even though he questioned her that they looked like candy. And believe it or not, they worked. I actually remember him remarking to my mom that these pain pills were the best things he had ever taken.

When I worked around farms and would make visits with the Veterinarians, we had what we called the "boiling water option". Sometimes you needed to treat the people taking care of the farms as much as the animals. So often I would run into situations where some of what the care takers would see was not real. They perceived it was but from an objective mind, you just could not isolate what they saw. So instead of wasting money on medications that were not needed, we would find ways to make it look like we were doing more than we were. Often, we joked that we were "boiling water" so to speak but in all reality, it was a placebo. It worked every time!

In many clinical research trials, placebos are given to all test subjects prior to the start of the test without any of them knowing this. If there is a positive response during that time, then this test subject is kicked out of the trial results. In fact, more often than not, the prefrontal regions of the brain showed changes in activity as a result of the placebo.

Consider how many times you go to a doctor and you tell them your symptoms, which of course results in them giving you a "name" for the condition you have as well as a "medication" or "treatment" to get rid of the condition you have. While there are situations where this form of medicine is necessary and critical, much of it is interfering with not only the function of the mind and body but with the messages the body is trying to alert the person to. There is great power in having a name to put to our condition but often times, it becomes a hinderance because we tend to vibrate towards the condition instead of vibrating to heal it.

In our society, we are so closed off and shut down to all the messages that our bodies put out in a day. We barely listen and if we listen, we have almost inactivated that part of us which is there to help us. Instead we want to numb that which we feel and get rid of it so we do that through many different methods in our days including medications and medical treatments. If only we learned to listen to our bodies and listen to the messages from the pain or from what we felt, we would offer ourselves so much more than we could possibly imagine. The mind is very powerful and the body has the ability to heal itself from many of the conditions we face. Please don't get me wrong in that I am suggesting medicine or medical intervention plays no role because it does. However, until we learn to listen to ourselves first, we are only short changing life for ourselves. The more you interupt the normal balance and homeostasis in the body with the introduction of outside cures, the more you inflame the situation and force the propagation of it into other areas of your life.

While there are scientific reasons and research for medicine to suggest certain procedures, more often than not, the person may alleviate the symptom only to find the onset of another symptom or condition. Yet, in our society, this is the way we view things because as I say again, we have shut ourselves down to listening to our bodies. Some of the messages and pains coming through are more than we have the tools to deal with and so it is easier to just turn everything off. The only thing is, it is much more dangerous in the long term for our life.

I remember one lady I know that told me how she had suffered from a severe stroke at one point in her life. Talking to her and getting to know her, you could not tell that she had suffered from this condition. What astounded me more though was when she shared with me that she did not go through the normal health care routine to recover from it. She used alternative methods completely and recovered fully. She did not use conventional means to recover. There are many stories like this that I'm sure we have all heard and yet for some reason, we chalk them up to being some sort of miracle (which sometimes it may be) or we think that it only happens to others. We are the ones in control of our bodies and our health and we need to take that role much more serious than we do.

When I was paralyzed in 1991, the doctors didn't fully seem to know how to treat me or get me beyond my physical limitations. It was as if they were going to let time takes it course in whatever way it turned out. My impression was that they really didn't have a clue on how to get me from the point I was to the point I am at today. For years I struggled to fully regain all parts of myself even though most people would have not noticed what I saw in myself. At first, I had no clue how to get there and it took much discovery, searching and time for me to find my way.

Today we are blessed with the internet and especially google searches. There is a wealth of information out there and a wealth of experience that many people share about the conditions they have experienced. Many times, if we look long enough through the internet, we will find alternate ways that others have used to treat their own conditions and illnesses. Many times, these are not through conventional health and medicine that our society subscribes to.

So my challenge to you is if you are going through some type of health condition as long as it is not life threatening, consider the following points. (if you are in a life threatening situation, than by all means find qualified medical help. Use your common sense here, please).

1. Listen to what your body is telling you and see if there are any current, past or just prior events that may be going on in your life. See if these events have any connection to your situation in the moment because many times they do. We just have to listen to our bodies.
2. Search and seek out information through the internet, others or your higher power to help you find the best course of treatment for yourself. This could include the use of medical help and it may also include forms of treatment that you have never tried or are not aware of.
3. Don't stop there! Keep searching for more information, discovery and knowledge because as you find one piece of the puzzle, it will open up more of what you know. You may not have any knowledge of how to get past this in the moment, but if you start searching, you will find the way through.
4. Realize that pains, conditions, illnesses are often situations that are designed to get our attention and tell us something. It is our body's feedback mechanism and all to often, we ignore this. Start listening to it. Start allowing it to help you harvest more from your life and experience as a human. We are much more than we currently know.
   

I have seen conditions in people healed that I didn't think were possible and I have had this happen within myself as well. It isn't far fetched and it isn't some new age mumble jumble. This is real and it happens every day. Our bodies are wonderfully designed and they constantly work towards balance or homeostasis. It is what we do to our bodies and how we respect and listen to them that takes us out of balance. Stress, trauma and daily events in our lives do impact them as well, but we are designed to be much more than we currently are. Embrace that part of yourself and see youself for all you are, not what you aren't!

Trauma is

Trauma can be anything that hurts us such as mistreatment from others, accidents, natural disaster, physical and emotional abuse and accumulated stress. It is a biological, unconscious physical condition that freezes us in time, it keeps us stuck, attached to the past and unable to move forward in life.

It is the source of chronic pain, disease, suffering, fear, and anxiety. It is the main reason why people don’t heal from any condition.

Understanding how it affects each and every one of us is the most important secret that any therapist or human being can learn.

(From Seminar by Dr. Paul Canali, May 2009)

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Music As Medicine

MSNBC recently reported in an article titled, "Music As Medicine" how Doctors are using music to help their patients heal. From heart surgeries to brain disorders and cancer, music is being played to help heal their patients.

This article of course touches me deeply because of the music I create on the piano. I classify it as "relaxing piano music from the heart", for it is truly music that comes from my heart. It is healing and life changing for many people who have heard it. If you get a chance, check out the music sound clips on my website at www.donshetterly.com or you can also check out my CD, "Relaxing Spa Music" at Amazon or iTunes.

Picturing Power Of Our Mind

The picturing power of the mind is now being rediscovered by psychologists, who say that imagination is one of our strongest mind powers. Yet the picturing power of the mind is one of the oldest devices known to man for getting what he wants. - ( pg 59, Open Your Mind to Prosperity)

My mind has always been creating and I constantly see images, scenes or sometimes they play like a movie that you see at a theater. Often in school as a child, my mind would create a ton of image scenarios as if I was writing a book or directing a movie. Some people would most likely refer to it as daydreaming and some might say it is an over active mind. It could be both of those but the important thing is my mind does this about as easy as my lungs take a breath of air.

There are many times that before painting our house, I would see the colors we had chosen on the wall or when we were buying home decor, in my mind, I would see where each of the decor items would be and how they would fit in. I often plan events or projects or even things I write, in my mind first before step one is ever begun. When I drive, I do so more by the images of my route than remembering the roads I turn on especially if I have already traveled this route before.

Sometimes though I forget that I can consciously use the imaging in my mind to create that which I want to move towards. Picturing images in my mind occurs unconsciously and yet consciously I can use the same process.

For a moment, think about something you want to achieve. It could be a task, a project or maybe something you want to be different in your life. It could be a health or financial condition or something as simple as a repair problem you are facing. While you may not be able to picture all the steps in the process of what you want, that is not important. Instead create the outcome in your mind of what you do want. Pull in images, colors, sights, sounds and smells in your mind that give you that which you desire. Make the image of what you want so vivid that it is almost as if you're living it in that moment.

As you do this, begin to let it absorb into every part of your being including your mind, soul, body and senses. Feel every part of it. Sense every part of it. When you do this, things may come up in your life that need to be cleared out of the way to make this happen. These things could be significant or they could be very small and unnoticeable like fears, thought patterns, lifestyle. Whatever it is, listen to that in your body and in your mind. Take the necessary steps to clear, clean and further embrace the image you are picturing in your mind.

You may notice as you more fully embrace the image, that it may need to change or you may see something you did not see before. Take note of that and add it into your picture. Make it a part of all that you feel, sense and see.

Don't just stop at the picture part either but really feel that all of this has happened and that you are grateful for it. Give thanks for what you have imaged as if it has already happened. For you are creating that which you can have and that which is part of your entire self.

We all create our realities in a day whether they be forward and positive or draining and caught in events that have already passed us by. Sometimes we are conscious of this and sometimes it goes unseen. So make the most of your day by picturing what you want for your life and being thankful as if it already happened.

The Art Of Listening

I often heard a familiar statement while growing up. "God gave you two ears and one mouth, make sure you use it appropriately. Of course, this statement had many uses and sometimes ulterior motives behind it. Regardless, the statement is very useful to our society and most of the times, it is ignored.

Listening is something that we barely practice any more in our culture. While you may think that sounds dramatic and a little harsh, take a moment and ponder the following scenarios.

• You're chatting with a coworker and thinking about all the many projects you have to complete that day. While your coworker may be interesting to listen to and talking about subjects you are interested in, your mind is anywhere but on the conversation at hand. Are you truly listening to what your coworker says?

• One day you meet someone you know on the street that you haven't seen for some time and both of you are happy for the surprise encounter. However, you are busy and late for an appointment. So instead of just exchanging contact information and being honest with your friend that you have no time, you anxiously stand there, checking the time and hoping your friend will just be quiet. After all, you wouldn't want to show a lack of respect to your friendship. The entire time that your friend is talking, are you really listening to them?

• You have a meeting with a client and since you prepared for the meeting, you have the best interest of your client in mind as you want to share the best course of action for their life or business. They come in and are ready to tell you that something truly remarkable has happened in their life and brought them to a realization. As they begin to share this, you interrupt them to announce your wonderful findings that will truly change their life. All the while of doing this, you are busy talking to them but are you listening?

• Your significant other has just gotten home from a full day at their place of employment and while they are trying to share something important that happened to you, you attempt to patiently wait for them finish. The moment they stop talking or pause for a moment, you rush in to tell them about your day or some event. Are you truly listening?

• While driving on the road through town after picking up your child from school, they are spending that quality time talking with you. In those moments, a coworker or your boss calls you and you pick up the phone chatting to the person on the phone as your child continues to talk. Are you really listening to either person?

• Maybe your partner or spouse is telling you about some scenario that is important to them but you've heard the same basic story a million times it seems. So while this may be very critical to understanding something in their life, you are bored and so you try to politely oblige them but hoping that they hurry up and finish this darn story. Are you truly listening?

• Someone you know quite well and spend a lot of time with is telling you something that is impacting their life. You feel that you've heard this scenario a million times by them or someone else and so immediately the conclusion is known to you. With or without letting them finish their thought, you are giving your conclusion because you feel it is more about what they need to hear rather than what they need to say. Are you truly listening?

Once again, I'll state very clearly. God gave us two ears and one mouth. We should use them in an appropriate proportion. And yet, we often are guilty of using two mouths and one ear when communicating with others. Some of the examples I just give you could fit 90% or more of the population at any given time on any give day.

Some days, someone that is close to us just needs us to listen. They really don't need any advice or what we think is the best course of action for them. They don't need us to give our judgment from all our years of experience. They don't need for us to tell them what is right or wrong about what we are saying. All they need is for us to listen, without preoccupation, judgment, conclusions or our minds drifting to a million other places. They just need us to be there in the moment, with them and them alone, thinking of nothing else. Often the best help we can give someone is just to be there for them, holding the space and listening with compassion.

More often than not, people around us know what needs to be done. Sometimes it is very hard for them to have the confidence to accept it and take action. Sometimes these people are processing so many things in their mind as they drone on to you about some scenario in their life. To you, it may seem unconnected or a waste of your time, but to the person talking, it is more valuable than all the gold in the world. There may be many unconscious neural connections taking place as they talk.

When we listen to others, we truly are communicating with them and giving of ourselves in one of the most pure human forms. We are saying to that person whether it is our spouse, partner, child, client or prospect, that you are important to me and what you are saying is important. You are giving the other person the respect that your relationship needs. Just imagine how that feels to them or yourself if you are in their shoes?

It has often been said that one of the best qualities of a therapist or counselor is how well they listen to people. Listening makes all the difference in their clients feeling valuable,cared for and safe. I know in my own life, that true listening by therapists or people I know has helped me beyond anything I could describe in words. Some of those individuals most likely didn't know just how much they were helping me in the moment and yet those listening moments changed my life in dramatic ways.

I urge you to take a moment and just consider how much you listen to others around you. Are you busy talking on the phone or texting someone when someone significant is trying to talk to you? Are you going through the motions and appearing as if you listen but you truly are not? Is your mind drifting off to a million places or thinking about all the tasks you need to accomplish instead of listening to the person talking? Is your mind thinking up the next thing you will say so that the person will see you as significant and intelligent, when all they want is someone to listen?

Don't take my word for it on how poorly we listen in this world. Look around yourself and you'll see several examples of this. From the news pundits and politicians, to the companies advertising their products or to the boss and employee relationship. You most likely will also see examples of it in doctor/patient relationships, the spouse/partner relationship and family situations. It is everywhere around us and if we observe it, we will see it.

Take it one step further though when you have observed all that is going on around you and see just how you mimic or do some of the same things that you observe. For the more you know about what you do, the more empowered you are to change your life. Wouldn't it be a beautiful world if everyone truly listened as much as they talked?

May we all continue to remember that we have two ears and one mouth.