Friday, November 28, 2014

Abiding Wealth in Our Bodies-Illness

Your body has innate wisdom the mind can barely comprehend. It's like the deficit in the USA with numbers in the trillions. Trillions? What are they? Can you picture them? I think of a billion and try to imagine one thousand times that amount (a billion is one thousand millions). If you can't imagine it that way, it's a 1 with either 12 or 18 zeros behind it, depending on whether you use the long or short scale). Can you contain that sort of thinking in your mind? If you can, you have a better imagination than me!

Communication is key

The reason I bring up trillions is because your body has one hundred trillion cells. They are like a neighborhood that are in communication with each other in milliseconds. Unlike humans who speak with words, cells communicate through hormones (also known as neurochemical messengers). These hormones can convey information and also create feelings in our bodies. If we are tired during the day and can't sleep at night our body is telling us something is upside down. The hormones of communication are attempting to straighten out some misunderstanding yet something is interfering.

The body has an amazing ability to heal-when we get out of it's way. These messengers know what to do-it is their job 24/7 to keep us healthy. When they are not doing that, we need to ask ourselves "What is getting in the way of my body being healthy?" The answer will move us closer to health than if we label it as a disease and give it drugs (this is the equivalent\ of judging it and telling it to shut up because we don't want to hear what it has to say).

What interferes with health?

Often what is in the way is poor diet. If you eat foods that have labels with more than five ingredients in them, then your body may not recognize it as food and may consider it a toxin instead. Doing this regularly might create confusion within your body and that could create health challenges. I suggest eating only foods that your grandmother could have eaten. Cheetos, Cheerios, and Pop Tarts are examples of foods that your grandmother would not have eaten. Broccoli, lettuce, and eggs are examples of foods your grandmother could have eaten. I've been translating messages from the body into ways the mind can understand for about thee decades now and I'll tell you that if you have food allergies, your body is screaming at you to stop eating foods that it thinks are toxins!

Lack of movement is another reason our bodies get sick. The body was intended to move and our lifestyles have created a world where we sit in our cars for hours to commute back and forth to work, we sit at desks all day so we can work on computers, and we sit at home in the evenings so we can be entertained with the T.V. (I've heard the average American watches 10 hours of T.V. each week). I have not owned a T.V. for over 20 years and the quality of my life has increase tremendously during this time-frame. So has my health-because I gave up the commute, the corporate job, and the T.V. Now I use my creativity to earn a living, grow my own food rather than commuting, and to spend time with friends and family instead of watching T.V.  I'm much happier and more fulfilled as a result.

Another common reason our bodies can't heal is toxicity. This can come from taking pharmaceutical drugs or from drinking chlorinated water, or even from eating fish from a polluted sea. I make it a point to do a cleanse every few months to eliminate these toxins from my body so there is nothing in the way of my cells communicating with each other. I also use plant-based essential oils on a regular basis, which support detoxification and are fun and enjoyable as well.

Internal resentments and how to release them

Did you know that cancer is when cell formation increases and cells stop talking to each other? Why would this happen? Have you ever had the experience of stopping the communication with your neighbors? Did you find that life became unhealthy in many ways after that? Did you begin to hear music that was louder than you enjoy, experience more stress when attempting to park your car (which had not been the case before), or perhaps even receive glares and/or stares as you came and went from your home? This is what is happening when there is cancer too. Resentments have happened between the cells and they have not been cleaned up in a timely way. Detoxification can clean up these resentments within our bodies and re-establish healthy communication.

We have everything we need in order to heal, from any illness, if we will listen to the innate wisdom of our bodies and GET OUT OF THE WAY so the body can do what it does naturally-create health. If you have been diagnosed with an illness, are you asking yourself what your body is trying to tell you? Are you judging your body and not trusting it knows how to heal? Or are you doing things that interfere with your bodies ability to heal? Please let me know in the comments below!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Abiding Wealth: How To Be More In Touch With Yourself

Our lives are distractions from our selves and our rich inner world. There are bright, shiny objects everywhere: jobs, relationships, fun things to do, projects to complete, housework to do. It's easy to find ourselves caught up in our lives and lose track of what has meaning and purpose for us. Before we know it, we find ourselves on our death bed having regrets and wondering where the time went and sad that we missed out on important things (research shows men have regrets about having spent so much time working to support their families and missing out on time with loved ones). Being conscious about making choices about how we spend our time can prevent us from having these regrets. Making choices that serve us and we won't regret later is one key to having a guilt-free and regret-free life.

Listening to our Inner Selves helps us find meaning and fulfillment

How do we listen to ourselves so that we can focus on what is meaningful to us? How do you know what provides fulfillment for you? You can know it when you heed your internal feelings. If you override the feelings and do things that are not fulfilling you might feel sadness and/or depression. For example, going to job that you hate on a daily basis can bring up resentment. Resentment is a sure sign that you are not headed in a direction that will be fulfilling.

Following our hearts requires paying attention. Noticing what makes us happy and what makes us sad. Listening to when we are comfortable and when we are fearful. Acknowledging these feelings supports us in connecting with ourselves. It supports us in being clear about what we need and what provides meaning and purpose in our lives.

There is a unique "right" path for each of us

If we each work at jobs that we hate, then the person who might enjoy our job won't have work that fulfills them. Letting go of a job that doesn't fulfill us allows us to find meaning and purpose in our lives by following our hearts and doing work that does fulfill us. Moving on from jobs that don't suit us also allows the person who is fulfilled by that job to do it.

What prevents us from finding our unique path?

Connecting with ourselves and finding fulfillment also takes letting go of addictions and habits we use to numb ourselves. These can be vicious circles: we do things we don't enjoy so then we feel feelings we don't enjoy, then we numb ourselves so we can continue to do these things, then we feel even more feelings we don't enjoy and numb ourselves even more. Our culture is more adept at this numbing than at any point the in the past. More than 6.2 million Americans take mood-altering drugs to reduce depression everyday. We use alcohol, sugar, and caffeine to upliftt our mood yet relief is only temporary. Or we take pain killers to numb our bodies and not listen to the warnings it is providing that something is wrong. This turning away from the self, lack of honoring our feelings and needs, or "self-betrayal" as Ganagji calls it, is what makes us want to be numb. Numbing ourselves makes it even harder to listen to what we need.

Numbing ourselves with sugar makes following our hearts desires and finding satisfaction more challenging 

Numbing prevents us from accessing our feelings and needs. Numbing keeps us disconnected from ourselves. Numbing keeps us unfulfilled and unsatisfied.

Fear may be the exception

There is an exception to this. Fear. Hundreds of years ago there were lions, tigers, and bears behind every tree. Lions, tigers, and bears are no longer a threat for most of us, certainly not on a daily basis. Yet our bodies, which have not changed as quickly as our environment, tells us this is still the case. Fear is the one feeling that might be worth overriding, I believe. These days, it can keep us stuck and prevent us from living our dreams more often than not.

Walking through fear. Fear is there to protect us, to keep us safe. It's the alarm of our body. It tells us when we are about to do something that is dangerous. Our hair can stand up on the back of our necks, letting us know that danger is close-by. We need to learn to walk through the fears that signify we are doing things differently from before. Change, while threatening, enhances our lives, if done consciously. Change does not threaten our lives, despite what the body says/feels. This is one exception to listening to our bodies. It can be exhilarating to walk through the fear and reach the other side. This is often what success feels like and it comes from feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Exhileration comes from not allowing the fear to stop us.

Finding the courage to walk through fears

It takes courages to walk through our fears. To not allow fear to stop us. To keep moving forward, even while our hearts are racing. Persistence pays off though, and handsomely. We achieve lives that support our Soul's mission and purpose, which have meaning, and which are satisfying beyond belief.

How do we get in touch with ourselves? Here is an exercise that will support you in learning this skill. Spend time in meditation for five minutes each morning, allow your mind to review the day yesterday. Notice what made you happiest, what upset you and why. Alternatively, journal for 15-20 minutes in the morning, writing about what was most satisfying yesterday. Let me know what comes up for you by replying below. Remember, these exercises will be easier to do if you have not used any mind-alterning substances this week.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Abiding Wealth: Breath and Awareness-The link that awakens

One of the things we take for granted is our breath. It happens without us paying attention, from the moment we are born till the moment we die. We don't have to do anything for our breath to happen. We only notice our breath when it becomes challenging-when we have a cold, when we exert ourselves physically and are panting, or when we have an asthma attach and cannot breathe.


Our breath touches into our belly, also known as our "third brain" in some traditions. The first brain is our thinking mind. The second is our heart, and the third is our gut. These three brains are inner resources that provide wisdom through our bodies. Our breath supports us in accessing our feelings and other inner resources.


Stress can cause a desire to protect and consequently, disconnection

We hold our breath, or make it shallow, when we are stressed. This serves us by keeping our feelings at bay so that we can escape threats from our environment. Making our breath shallow, it comes in though our nostrils and goes down to our rib cage. It does not reach into our gut which is where we store our feelings. Think of the phrases " have a gut feeling" or "my gut tells me." or "I'm sick to my stomach". 

If we are holding our breath a few things happen in the body. First, our shallow breath allows us to avoid the feelings we are holding in our gut. Second, shallow breathing protects us from being noticed, which in hunter and gatherer days would mean we were safer from tigers and other predators. Third, shallow breathing keeps us ready to run and in fight or flight mode, making a successful escape more likely (the psoas muscle, which supports us in running away from predators, attaches to the next-to-the-last rib and keeps our rib cage from expanding fully).

Relaxation gives access to information otherwise inaccessible

Relaxation supports connection to inner resources

During massage and bodywork sessions, I support clients in releasing their diaphrams and psoas muscles. These releases allows them to breathe more easily, which reduces their experience of stress. It also supports them in having access to their gut feelings and the knowledge that is stored there. These releases support the client in moving from "fight or flight" mode into thrive mode.

Releasing muscles and allowing breath to move more freely supports us in becoming aware of what we have taken for granted. It helps us notice and pay attention to other things in our lives that we have not noticed too. This awareness provides access to inner and outer resources that we have not been aware of. Having access to more resources empowers us.

Relaxing supports your health and inner wealth.  Can you feel it?
Self-care for breath, connection, and access to inner resources  
Doing releases for your psoas and diaphragm can help you shift from feeling poor to feeling rich. To release the psoas muscle, kneel on your right knee. Extend your left foot out in front of you with your knee bent at a 90 degree angle. Now move your left foot further away from your body (you want to keep your foot further away than your knee) and then allow your left knee to move towards your foot, as far forward as possible. Now, keep your torso upright and allow your pelvis to move towards the ground. Continue to let your pelvis drop for 45 seconds. If your technique is effective, you will feel it stretching only where the top of your thigh meets your pelvis. Switch sides and repeat.

To release your diaphragm, fill your lungs to capacity and hold your breath. Push (or have someone else push) at the base of your rib cage, in the middle, at the lowest end of your sternum/breast bone. Push from the inside out, making the hand that is pushing down rise and working the muscle with your breath pushing out towards the hand. Repeat after you catch your breath.

Please let me know how these releases work for you. Is it easier to breathe after doing these stretches? Do you notice any differences in your lower back as a result of doing these releases? Do you feel less stressed? Does the increased awareness of your breath support you in noticing other resources you had been taking for granted? I'd appreciate hearing your comments below.