Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Rhythm of Love

During a meditation not long ago I heard the message that my heart beats to the rhythm of love.  I’ve often meditated on the meaning of listening to the rhythms of our heart.  In Chinese medicine, the heart is seen as the connection between the mind and the body, forming a bridge between the two of them.  The essence of the Yogic traditions identifies the heart as the seat of individual consciousness and the center of life. 

Neuroscientists have discovered that the heart has its own independent nervous system.  For me, this makes perfect sense knowing that the heart starts beating in the unborn fetus even before the brain has been formed.  The heart communicates with the brain and the rest of the body in three scientifically proven areas: neurologically (through transmissions of nerve impulses), biochemically (through hormones and neurotransmitters), and biophysically (through pressure waves). The research is also pretty distinct regarding the electromagnetic communication between the heart, the brain and every cell of our body similar to the information carried by radio waves.  Not only is this detectable in our body but evidence is showing that this energy is also detectable by others within its range of communication.

The heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body.  Measuring with an electrocardiogram (ECG) versus an electroencephalogram (EEG) shows that the heart has about 60 times the amplitude as the brain and that the magnetic component of the heart’s field is about 5000 times stronger than the brain’s!  HeartMath’s research is fascinating and you can read more about it at www.heartmath.org.

What I continue to learn on a daily basis is that staying present to my heart shows me the way to better health.  I am aware that my emotional management is a significant factor in balancing all areas of my life.  The more I listen to and follow my heart and its “rhythms” the more my emotions stay in coherence with the Health that lies within, making it less likely to experience disease.



Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Healing happens in the Present Moment

As we move through life we have experiences that affect our health in negative ways.  We are each molded by these experiences in ways that are unique to ourselves.  Over twenty years ago I had a fall down my outside stairs.  I had a concussion and broke my wrist.  As a bodywork therapist I relied on my hands.  I couldn’t do anything to make the healing speed itself up and I couldn’t work with a cast. 

I decided to receive some craniosacral work.  Even though the origins of this work go back nearly 100 years, it wasn’t well known. But, I was in pain and traditional massage was uncomfortable.  I’d heard that craniosacral therapy was good for traumatic injuries.  As I received this work I started to see glimpses of this dance of Spirit, which is really just opening us up to who we really are.  As it turned out this work was instrumental in getting me back to work within weeks of having the cast removed.

I’ve spent the last twenty plus years fascinated with this philosophy of healing.  I’ve spent years studying and practicing and I’ve found this work to be the most hopeful and inspirational modality for healing and connecting with the heart of who we are.

Biodynamic craniosacral therapy honors that uniqueness by approaching a session from stillness and acceptance.  As a “therapist” I am not doing anything.  I act as a witness and keep my awareness in the present moment.  In the quiet presence of a witness all things can shift.  No fight.  No flee.  We cannot lose connection with ourselves and we return to our Source.  Healing happens.

In stillness we find our answers.  By tapping into Stillness our awareness grows. Finding that still place is listening to our inner awareness where it is dynamic and contemplative without judgment.  We expand our field of awareness and let go of our attachments and find ourselves in emptiness.  Everything arises from emptiness. 

Our choice comes from being present to what is happening – not being reactive to it.  When we are “OK” with not knowing we’re open to the infinite.  And if we can accept what IS, in every single moment without judgment and resistance we are open to possibilities of the Universe.  This is where miracles have the ability to manifest.  This is where healing happens.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Knowing who I am

Knowing who I am goes beyond concepts.  Knowing who I am has absolutely nothing to do with the ideas floating around in my head.  My roles are separate from who I am – they are identifications with form.

Being rooted in my being is beyond words.  When my attention moves fully into the present moment I can go deeper into being.  This deeper dimension is of the sacred and I can enter this by being present with attention in the now.  I am rooted in being instead of being lost in my mind.

Who I am has absolutely nothing to do with any thoughts that I have.  On our tombstone there will be the date of birth and the date of death.  And the dash.  That is our life.  But, there is something deeper than just that.

Knowing myself and knowing about myself.  The about is my name, my occupation, where I live, what I like to do, etc.  The knowing is actually experiencing who I am – being who I am – in touch with that deeper being.  This can only be accessed in the present moment.

I need to make room for that – becoming alert to the aliveness of my inner body – that which actually animates my physical form.  When I know myself to be more than my labels then I can become more.  It allows me to grow.

All stress comes from resisting the present moment.  It does not come from the situation but from the thoughts of the situation.  I want the situation to be different than what it is.  I’m suggesting maybe we can teach ourselves to be okay with the present situation.  Perhaps we can learn to watch our minds and the thoughts that float through.

We usually find it difficult to control our minds.  It’s like a balloon in the wind – here, there and everywhere.  If things go well, we’re happy.  Bad, we’re immediately unhappy. 

We get what we want – a new possession or new partner – we become excited and cling to it.  But, we can’t have everything we want and we will inevitably be separated from friends and possessions we currently enjoy.  This mental stickiness (attachment) serves to cause us pain.

On the other hand, if we do not get what we want or we lose something we like we become despondent or irritated.  For example, we are forced to work with a colleague that we don’t like.  This causes us aggravation and the result is that we are unable to work with her efficiently and our time is stressful and unrewarding.

These fluctuations arise because we are too closely involved in the external situation.  We’re like a child that builds a sandcastle.  We’re excited when it’s finished and then upset when the tide washes it away.

This is why I’m suggesting that we culture a relationship with our inner selves in the here and now.  This present moment awareness radiates effortlessly and automatically.  We do not need to DO anything to BE present.  All that is required is that we choose to be present with our SELF.  Our present moment awareness breaks through any walls that are created by fear, anger and grief.  It heals all the wounds inflicted by careless thoughts, words and deeds.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Some beginning thoughts on Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy

As an osteopath William Sutherland studied the bones of the skull for many years and came to the conclusion that these bones move and are connected to the central nervous system and the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes it.

This fluid has a rhythm not controlled by any external muscular movement but from within, by our own inherent life force known as the Breath of Life.

The expression of the BOL at a cellular level is a fundamental necessity for good health.  If the rhythmic motions become restricted our health is compromised.  The main intention of cranial work is to encourage these rhythmic expressions of health.

Dr. Sutherland concluded that he did not DO the healing – he simply listened to and supported its unfoldment.  His premise that you could RELY upon the tide is the basis for biodynamic craniosacral therapy.  The Intelligence in these fluids will respond to the practitioner showing up.

Basically, this means by being present to what is arising in the moment and holding an open awareness the client’s system will work towards its own state of balance - and healing happens.  On some molecular, cellular level the body feels heard.  And to be heard is to be healed.

In Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy our touch is on a level that is common to all of us and referred to as joint practice.  It takes a total commitment of the practitioner to surrender into that place of unknowing that connects us with the stillness.  We surrender into the insecurity of not knowing – which carries infinite potential. 

To sit in stillness and rely on Intelligence to restore its equilibrium is very challenging.  All sorts of movements, images and thoughts come into our awareness.  Sitting in stillness without engaging in the perceived process flies in the face of all our recent cultural backgrounds.  Our system of health care focuses on a diagnosis and then a treatment.  The established health care modality is to take away the power of the patient and have her surrender that power to the all-knowing medical god.

With Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy the “power” resides within.  It is awakened by the presence of the practitioner acting as a “witness”.  And this witness has to leave all notions behind and enter into the relationship with a clear, supportive open heart and mind, ready to experience a revelation!

We enter a state below the level where dis-ease came into being.  A place of Spirit – not yet expressed, where the choice exists, through the remembrance of that intention of NOT being a victim of undigested and disempowering life experience. 

We show up with an open awareness and curiosity for infinite possibilities.  We say the work is doing the work.  From my experience I’ve found that when I tinker with the fluids or the membranes I am making an assumption that I know what to do to with that person’s system and inevitably the issue returns.  The system will not change from the outside.  It is the inner knowing that reorganizes itself.