Body Presencing™ - Healing the Root of the Matter

“ How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark  side if I am to be whole. ”                                                                                                     -Carl Jung Halloween has become a big celebration here in America. When I was small, it was a little fun celebration mostly for kids. We would go out in our costumes; angels, princesses, princes, hobos, etc. and play a game called, “ trick or treat ” . We would knock on doors in our neighborhood, say “ trick or treat ” , and they would ask for a trick or a joke, and then give out home made treats or candy. It was fun, and not really so scary. These days, adults celebrate as much or more than the children. The children wear many scary costumes in addition to the fairy princesses, etc. Among other Halloween differences, people don ’ t have a joke or trick ready, and they love to scare each other. They even carve very intricate, scary faces on their pumpkins.  We all have an inner

“Everyone things of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy Here we are in the dog days of summer, September. We are thinking and planning ahead to the coming fall and winter. We may prefer warm weather, but we live in a temperate climate. We dream of where we want to live, what we want to happen, etc.  We dream and life happens. We would love to control our lives and be in control and yet there is a bigger picture. So often what we think we want and what we really want, underneath, aren’t the same things. We live our lives as if we are in control and as if we really know what is best for us, and we complain when things don’t go our way. There are days and times when we get behind every slow going car, we catch every red light, we drop things, we trip and fall and hurt ourselves, we get way laid by things we don’t want to do and we have to do, etc. It is so easy to just get upset when things don’t go the way we would like them to go. We can l

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be  changed without changing our thinking.”                                                                                                           - Einstein This September time of year can be hot, and can be cool as a harbinger of the fall nipping on its heels. It is a time of the New Year in the Jewish calendar, and a time of “at one ment”, atonement, for the Jewish Yom Kippur. It is a time when we go apple picking and blackberry picking at the local orchards, and enjoy fresh apple pies and apple cider. And it is a time of year which starts to bring out our cool, shadow sides. I never thought I had much anger left in my cool side, but I am discovering there is still some lingering. With the swings of temperature and bridge to a new season of the year, and the intent and preparation for the Jewish holidays, it makes me draw inward a bit in readiness and in pursuit of self growth. As I do so, I th

“They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”                                                                                      - Andy Warhol Here we are in the dog days of summer. The children are back to school, the days are getting shorter, the warmth is still with us, and we are happily watching the squirrels run around beginning their journey towards fall and harvesting. These are thoughts and feelings that come to me as September comes around. How about you? I also love this time of year because summer still lingers and I have the beautiful fall to look forward to. I am reminded of the song, “Happiness Runs in a Circular Motion.” Happiness begets happiness, creating a loop of positivity and continued belief in what is possible. We get in the circular motion of happiness, and our thoughts and feelings keep creating that feeling.  The opposite also occurs where we get in a loop of negative or fearful feelings, and th

"People are asking about the good old days. I say, why don ’ t you say the good now days? ”                                                                           - Robert M. Young We could say the four letter word we are dealing with right now is “ heat ” . We have already forgotten how much we couldn ’ t wait for our cold winter to be over. We might even have a little anxiety of another cold winter coming. But right now, we are in the heat of the summer. It is time to go out early in the morning, and to walk later at night. It is time to ride our bikes and go out for ice cream if we are so inclined. The fear of winter is far from our minds right now. How quickly we forget what we want to. On the other hand, how quickly that four letter word, “ fear ” , creeps up on us when something triggers it and it is tied to the past. We are living in the present now, as fully as we are able. Yet, something happens and we immediately get transported to an earlier time and pl