The Body Speaks; Let's Listen

"There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, Photograph by Edward Weston

The body speaks. Let's listen. 

One way that the body speaks is in metaphors.

One client's stomach says "I'm fed up!" Another client "can't swallow" her current situation. Repeated emotional trauma can manifest as an armored solar plexus; as the gut bracing for more "punches." A tiring living situation can show up as a pain in the butt. (The body sometimes has a sense of humor.)

How is this wisdom? The body is wise in localizing the pain, and creating a metaphor that can instruct, a message that can be de-coded. Your body can speak in symbols like a dream. 

I can be your body-whisperer, your somatic psychic. I can help you interpret your body's "dreams," and wise-up to yourself ;-)

Seeing the Unseen

"I have spent my life seeking all that's still unsung. Bent my hear to hear the tune and closed my eyes to see." ~ Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter, Photograph by Edward Weston

As a Lyrical Healing healer, I hear the unsung song, see the unseen, and touch the untouched. Parts of the song are sad, parts are sweet, and all parts are sacred. It is an honor to hear and see and touch, and help you to hear, see, and touch.

Be a Tree

Trees do not preach learning and precepts. They preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. ~ Herman Hesse, Photograph by Eliot Porter

I aim to be like a tree. I don't preach; I stand-in as a rooted, Spirit-channeling accept-er and present presence. It's a kind of loving, calming neutrality that heals.

Befriending Ourselves

"Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already." ~ Pema Chodron ~ Photograph by Edward Steichen

Most of us want to feel less stressed and more at peace. We've been told that meditation can help with that. I notice that "befriending who we are already" as a meditator and as a somatic therapist does bring peace and healing.
 
A founding father of CranioSacral therapy, Rollin Becker, said that that when he stopped doing anything....and just put his hands on clients and listened, treatments were more effective. I agree. Listening is powerful and transformative. It's a kind of befriending.

"The important thing to remember about dragons is that they guard our treasure. When a dragon appears, it means gold is right behind it -- if we have the courage to stand our ground and fully meet it.

Sera Beck, from Red, Hot, and Holy

Art by William Blake

What is the gold behind the dragon that is Covid-19?

And what do we gain by having the courage to fully meet our own inner dragon(s)? We come to realize that the dragon is not all that scary...that facing it tames it. And the gold is knowing that we can tame it.

By facing traumatic or scary memories, by feeling our own pain, we come to know that "behind" those dragons is our magnificent, victorious, true self.

Listening

"...the traumatized body can be reawakened thanks to the attention, sensitivity, and capacity of the other/analyst to really believe in the painful story that the patient brings to therapy; it is the emotional participation of the analyst that makes the body a sentient body and restores unity where there was fragmentation."

Sandor Ferenczi (from https://doi.org/10.1080/0803706X.2017.1362502)

     Photograph by W. Eugene Smith

Listening with hands and heart heals.

That's Lyrical Healing in a nutshell.

Your Shadowy Parts Enhance your Radiance

The shadows in this shell delineate its lovely curves,

just as your shadowy parts enhance your radiance.

EMDR, in effect, brings light to the dark places in our psyches.

CranioSacral therapy involves "listening" to, and honoring, our pain and discomfort (and also our ease). We created the dark place(s) in an attempt to protect ourselves or others. We have needed the dark. Let's honor that. And also honor the comfort... and joy ;-)

Is the Law of Attraction Really a Law?

When we look at a plane, we see a sleek machine with wings. If we could see inside an airplane, we would know that most airplanes have more than one engine. Commercial airplanes have an autopilot option and flights often employ two pilots. So who is in charge and what powers the plane? It depends.

Similarly, our bodies/psyches can be powered and ruled by a variety of “engines.” So who is in charge of you? It depends. Is it your inner critic? Does she or he rule you? Or is it your inner child? Perhaps your Higher Self is in charge...until you visit your parents, at which time your inner child takes over. When we are encouraged to “think positive” or use the power of our intentions, which part of us is “intending?”

Perhaps we need to question the power of our intention.  Can we really attract what we want by thinking positive thoughts or by chanting affirmations? After all, who is it that is chanting that affirmation? What happens when our conscious mind affirms that we are happy while our shushed inner child silently frets? If we continuously shush that inner child, he/she will get more insistent, more powerful. He or she will shout over the affirmations. Let's listen to our inner child, access our inner nurturer, let our capital 'S' Self overwhelm us with his/her innate optimism and positive spirit!