Gratitude-It Lives in Your Body

"If the only prayer you would say in your life is “thank you” that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart

At this time of the year, itʼs a good idea to focus on what we have to be thankful for and to let go of any resentments and bitterness. Take a moment and think about a time you felt touched by Life...a smile, an act of kindness, a moment of vulnerability. Recall all the sensory rich details of this moment, when you felt touched by Life. Where were you? Who else was there? What were you doing? Were there sounds? What were the sensations and feelings in your body?

Implicit in being touched by life, often lies the feeling of gratitude. Moreover when we feel connected to ourselves, we often feel connected to others around us. What would happen if we consciously practiced gratitude?

At a workshop I was in recently, we practiced this exercise. I recalled how it “felt” in my body when I remembered being greeted by a fellow participant. I hadnʼt met her yet or exchanged words, and she greeted me warmly, when I stepped inside the dorms we were staying in. She said “oh youʼre Ed” having heard my name mentioned before. And proceeded to engage me in lively conversation. I felt at once seen and comforted by her warmhearted attention. Later in recalling the scene, I felt once again the tingle in my body and good feeling spreading throughout myself. Another words recalling the event that touched me and the sensations and feelings in my body, brought on another dose of gratitude and a smile to my face.

The Best Kept Secret

It’s Tuesday, and I just got back from Jaclyn’s Feldenkrais Awareness Thru Movement class, and I can’t help thinking why isn’t everybody doing this work? I feel in a totally different space than when I arrived for the class. I feel open, relaxed, and my perspective has been enlarged. Another words I feel at ease with myself physically, mentally and emotionally.

So simple, so elegant; learning to move in an easy integrated way, so there’s no strain anywhere in the body.

My mind relaxes in accord with my body.

My fellow classmate and I are talking on the way out. She says nobody knows about this work. How is that possible? Anyway I want to inform you about the best kept secret in the Universe. By learning to sense and feel what is going on in your body and paying attention as you move; tense muscles let go, aches and pains recede and movement enlarges. Like Magic!

I get up feeling lighter, smiling, liking myself more.

Try it-you’ll be hooked.

Reputation

" Reputation"-

After a refreshing visit to the beach and ocean, I stopped off at a local Cafe in Ocean Grove, NJ. The owner mentioned it's his "reputation" that keeps customers coming back. And keeps him busy throughout the year.

It's "the fresh roasted coffee", he said. Just look at the date the coffee was roasted the next time you buy coffee, to see how fresh it is . That's the difference in taste. That's what brings out it's vim and vigor. Same for his baked goods-freshly baked.

I thought about that word "Reputation" a few minutes and what it means.

At FeldmanChiropractic we take pride in our long term results with patients. We bring ourselves to the session without any preconceived ideas, trying to see what is needed in this particular situation.

Exploring with them freshly each session, not repeating well worn techniques.

It's similar to the freshness of the cafe owner's coffee. We bring awareness and unbiased attention and that makes for powerful results with our clients.

Unconditional friendship with oneself

I wanted to share this quote from a workshop Pema Chodrin taught at Omega called "Smile at Fear". It has helped me enormously. I'm paraphrasing.

"The biggest obstacle to unconditional friendship with oneself.

In fact to living a sane life is fear of feeling; fear of feeling what you're feeling.

Fear of feeling unwanted, uncomfortable feelings.

Losing our fear of feeling what we're feeling.

Opening to, turning toward's one's feeling.

Not reacting against what you're feeling.

Not acting it out or repressing it.

Being fully with the experience.

In order to have friendship with oneself."

Respect

After my tutorial in Biodyamic CraniSacral Therapy, Saturday July 23rd, 2011 :

I am reminded once again, why this work is so powerful; why it holds such a special place in my heart.
It reminds me of all the things we spoke about in today's session with Shannon, but at a" felt "sense.
Another words; "allowing the person to be as they are." seems to me so respectful. So humble.
"Being in my midline" really means being in my center-where I am truly respectful of the other person and myself..
Being in my core gives the client space.
"Finding the quality of the holistic shift"-allows me to perceive the client's wholeness, but I , in turn enter into that state of wholeness, as well.

Moving with Ease

The Feldenkrais Method is based on the principles of Judo, which is to move with minimum effort and maximum efficiency, not through muscular strength but through increased consciousness of how you are moving.

This was born out during my week at Hampshire College in Amherst , Ma., July 8-13th ; where I participated in the 2011 Annual meeting of the Feldenkrais Guild.

Through Workshops in Awareness Through Movement (Hooking the Big Toe was one 2 day workshop) and learning about the roots of the Feldenkrais Method in Judo-Art of Falling and Dynamic Stability, I came away invigorated, stimulated, ( only slept about 4 hours a night!) and revivified!

Learning to deeply connect with our clients:

A successful outcome for clients means that they have felt acknowledged, received seen and heard by you, the therapist. How does the practitioner achieve this and feel enlivened by the session?

First and foremost is Presence. In the body, the mind is settled; all personal concerns, as well as technical skills are “put behind the curtain”, (a phrase Rollin Becker, D.O coined) resting firmly in the moment with you. You as a client can sense that, and so you begin to settle.There is a sense of safety, as one begins to let go.

As the practitioner, are you attentive to your breathing? Are you allowing yourself to experience your breath just the way it is, without trying to change it? What is the quality of your mind? Are you anxious or calm? What are you feeling in your body? Hurried or rushed? Tense or constricted in some part of you? Are you aware of anything in yourself that is preventing you from being fully present in the moment with your client?


“Contact” is everything that happens from the first telephone call to the time the client enters the office up until you apply your healing hands or therapeutic problem solving skills to the person. So much of our work as healers is to listen. But before we can listen to what this Being is presenting, we need to be aware of what’s happening within us. This listening to ourselves is happening through our breathing, and through the sensations and feeling tones in our body. We are attentive to and aware of our thoughts, but it’s through the body that we settle. Then we come into a place of Being-ness. Then we can begin to resonate with the person across from us (and sense what’s going within their minds and bodies). It is from that place of Beingness that we relate as Human Beings. We relate on an inter-being level. And in order for that to be successful, we must negotiate the connection, the physical and attentional boundaries with our client. We need to check out with our client; are you ok? Am I too close on a physical or energetic level? This is perceived by the client both through our physical hands-on contact and through our intention. Our client may feel crowded in by our intention to fix, to be helpful, even though physically we are giving lots of space. Once our client feels met, safe and seen, she can begin to drop down and make contact with herself,and the sensations and feeling tones in her body. And that’s when the clients own Healing Intentions can emerge.

What is the client’s role? She is a willing and able co-creator in the session, whose input and participation is necessary if we are to fully “engage” her system. She needs to feel into and make contact with herself, on a gut level ( the seat of the second brain). Learning how to create this “holding field” and nurture this connection is fundamental to being in the moment. It affects our work with clients, and enlivens every connection in our lives- our spouse, child, employee or boss.

Edward Feldman, D.C.,R.C.S.T. offers transformational individual sessions and mentors other practitioners in the art of making contact. He can be reached at feldmanchiropractic.com or 609-252-1766.

At my last Biodynamic CranioSacral therapy module, we worked with the process of Ignition.

There are three Ignition processes that take place for the newborn as we enter the world.

Conception (Ignition) is about Coming into Being; the Ground of Being-feeling received.

To be. Heart Ignition is about the Embodiment of Being-there is a direct relationship to Mom in the womb, the womb is our world. This about being received in my Being by the other.

Finally Birth Ignition is about our orientation to the outer world, ignition of our Life Force as a separate physiological being. The empowerment of being.

How can we be ourselves and not take things so personally? If we have boundary problems, have a sense of being invaded by our partner, it is because as a little one, we needed to be held. There was as Winnicott states: a good enough holding environment. We needed to feel and sense that someone was present. Not too distant. Not too far. This is very early stuff. If Mom was unable to "hold" the infant in the womb, we might as a survival mechanism become the "good" child, helping Mom. We become the caregiver of Mom. In the process, we become someone who can't take care of ourselves, protect ourselves later on. We need to re-own our own goodness and strength without feeling guilty.

The goal of therapy is to recreate a holding environment that's more trustworthy. That is safe. Allowing us to feel seen and received. Allowing us to heal the terror of the feeling "I don't exist." During the the processes of ignition, the re-creation of these incompleted processes allow healing to take place.