On Sabbatical / Spring Update
Ordinarily, I wouldn't post something this informal on my blog on Embodied Being, as I prefer to keep my blog posts here limited to more formal philosophical / spiritual essays. But, I felt called to post this status update, because occasionally I get emails from people from different places asking me to be available for this or that, and to inquire about therapeutic sessions. So, I am sending this update to let people, mostly people who aren't friends on Facebook, know what's up with me. I'm on the Big Island of Hawaii. I've been here since the second week of March, and I think I will be here until the end of April, maybe even into May. More and more, I am settling in here and feeling at home here on the Big Island. I am beginning to feel as though I'd rather just stay here for a while and really go deep into a prolonged retreat.
Tidepool Transformations
Upon entering the hushed room, she began sobbing. She began wailing and emotionally releasing so much anger, sadness, disgust, devastation and empathy. Her heart wept, and everyone nearby came up to hold her through her grieving. For the next hour, she was held by an entire room of friends and allies, as she processed her grief through tears, weeping into a bowl filled with crystals. Her allies came and held her body, laid their body next to hers, simply to hold her through the intense release of energy. Today was a day like any other, but for her it was a day of transformation. A day of grieving and working through her deep subconscious emotional body, to process and clear her emotional energy body, to allow for a greater level of clarity to open... And then it hit me. The realization that in the realms of human psychic dynamics, our emotional & psychic energy bodies are affected much like a tidepool ecosystem. And, my subconscious was attuned to the unseen emotional energy washing through the space and responding intuitively to the flow of psychic energy being released simultaneously as her waves were crashing.
Thoughts on Haitian Earthquake
As I sift through the rubble and shattered lives through the images & videos & news on the internet, my heart feels extremely heavy, and sad. I sit here, in New York City, in the capital of the American financial industry, in one of the crucial centers of wealth and global imperialism, looking through the internet at the wreckage of the earthquake, in one of the many historically impoverished nations in this world. And I wonder, why are the the places that are the most in need, the places where the people have so much to lose because they had so little to begin with, the places where the poverty is so high, why are these places continually targeted by natural disasters? The last several major disasters that come to my mind were all regions where many numbers of impoverished people lived.... Haiti, New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, the SE Asian Tsunami, the Hurricane in Guatemala............ (letting out a deep, sad sigh....)
Full Body Presence
Yesterday, I discovered an essay by Suzanne Scurlock Durana, entitled 'A Guide to Full-Body-Presence' in the recent issue of Massage Magazine. What perfect timing. I've been feeling low energy, depleted, verging on depressed and unable to show up and be present, these last few days. I'd awoken this morning with that feeling of being slammed over the head by a frying pan; headachey and irritated at feeling so crummy. My roommate, Keala, reminded me to revitalize my Chi this morning, by doing breathwork, and exercising, and getting some fresh air. I didn't know how I would be able to truly come and meet the day today, so I prayed fervently, and then spent a half hour doing some basic chi cultivation movements, breathwork, and strengthening of my arms and core with weights. And then all of a sudden, I felt vitality slowly seep in.In her article, Suzanne talks about the importance of Full Body Presence to other bodywork practitioners, and the need for "a strong flow of healthy energy moving through" the body. I think this is crucial for every human being, not only for massage therapists and other alternative healer practitioners. She goes on to say:
"While left-brained intelligence that helps us understand anatomy and physiology is vital in our practices, we are all called now to more whole-body knowing. We must learn to remain present in all of our cells, trusting and living from the wisdom of our being. So don’t throw out your left-brain education; just add your gut knowing, your heart’s whisper of inspiration, and round that out with the inner vision of who you truly are."
