Body Presencing™ - Healing the Root of the Matter

“ That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty, and to the inevitability of something.” -   Meredith Monk “Who am I?” is the question we ask ourselves beginning when we are little beings.  From the time we are born, and even before, we are being taught values, beliefs, and what it takes and who it takes to be part of the family we are born into.  This indoctrination, including the genetic component which is handed down over generations, infects us and entwines in our being.  We then live our lives so enmeshed and entwined in what we are taught and what is handed down that it is difficult to extricate ourselves, with compassion, and find out who our true selves are. Who is our authentic self? I am presently teaching a class which helps us to do exactly that: lovingly extract our true selves from our enmeshments so that we can appreciate who we are; separ...

“We have to dare to be ourselves, however                 frightening or strange that self may prove to be.”                                                                                        - May Sarton Imagine a friend asking you for some help when you really don’t have the time or inclination to help in the way they are asking.  Do you say yes and regret it or resent having to do it because you feel you should?  Imagine your child asking you a...

“You will never start living until you’ve realized that your life is your own unique gift.” - Geraldine Vermaak Have you ever had a day or a period of time where everything you tried to control went awry?  We slog and try to push through it. When that doesn’t work we begin to force things into place.  Through sheer dint of will we attempt to fit things into predetermined slots.  We might think, through our pre-conscious thoughts, that by controlling what we do and how we do it we are being authentic to ourselves. However, authenticity is more about listening to our true selves and learning what our gifts and thoughts really are.  Authenticity is also learning what we are not good at and what we don’t want in our lives.  When we are able to do this, not only do we feel freer and happier and more vital, we also become more authentic. All too often we try to be or would like to be who we are not.  Maybe we would like to be ...

“Men have forgotten this truth, said the fox. But you must not forget it. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.” -           Antoine du Saint Exupery A couple of weeks ago, I was walking on a park trail with my dogs on their leashes. When no one was around I took Sampson, my adorable puppy, off his leash and let him run.   This was invigorating for us all. Even my old beautiful and slower moving dog, Snowball, came more alive; though she happily stayed walking with me on her leash something about Sampson’s freedom called to her wild nature. We were having a blast and frolicking in the park when I saw a woman walking her dog and realized she was coming directly towards us.   Knowing my dogs love other dogs and would automatically run up and play with this dog, I thought we were in for a good time.   As fellow dog lovers we could let the dogs sniff and play and just be dogs; their authentic...