Body Presencing™ - Healing the Root of the Matter

Many of us consciously and unconsciously look for a miracle pill or thought or idea that will set us free. People I have spoken with have talked about an idiot pill that can keep us, happy idiots. That sounds kind of funny, but if we think about it, many of us would like a pill that makes us happy. Hundreds of thousands of people and more are on anti-depressants to help them to stay more even-keeled. Sometimes in severe depression, it is helpful to take some medical intervention to help us to get through difficult times where we feel we really need the help as we work through our depressive state. It can also be helpful for elderly who have lost so many loved ones to be able to live a more peaceful life. And yet, many of us use these pills in order not to feel bad. Sometimes we are even afraid to feel. In truth, there is no magic pill that can take our pain away or that can make us happy. The only way I know of to live happier and more peaceful lives is to do the painful wor

I recently listened to a story on NPR on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I love the true stories told here. This was a story of a man who was on death row for the murder of 3 children. He was 18 years old when he was accused and was on death row for 18 years total. He didn't commit the murders and there was DNA evidence to support him over many appeals but the same judge heard all the appeals and designated them as not enough for an appeal. Finally, his case was heard in a state supreme court and he was able to be released after 18 years. He lived half his life in jail. He lived many years with out hope and his health failed. But some part of him never gave up. This is certainly a true story and an extreme story of long term abuse and trauma with no end in sight. The truth is, most of us live with some form of long term abuse or trauma of some kind or another. Some of us are more affected by them than others, and some of us are more wounded than others, and some have more ter

In this world today we are so rushed. We rush our breakfasts, if we eat breakfast, we rush to work, we are always on our phones texting or messaging, we rush our lunch and even eat at our desks, we rush home, and so on. In America, if we are lucky we get two weeks off a year for vacation. We rush to finish things, we want to know how things end and we want to rush to the end. What happened to taking the time to smell the flowers? When I look out at the blooming trees as an example, I love to see and appreciate what they look like now and also remember how they looked just yesterday and appreciate the daily changes. If I were rushing in my mind I wouldn't be able to see these subtle changes. This sounds so simple, but if we really think about it, how often do we not take in the new beauty around us, and just see things as they were or as we want them to be? I know I am guilty of this some times.  Another example of this is that I can remember the negative reactions to t

We spend a great deal of our time in life protecting ourselves from perceived hurts from life and from others. Some of us take on the role of being a victim and so we go through life over sharing and being over vulnerable with others, bonding over our wounds and almost unconsciously asking to be hurt again. Others of us take on more of a role of everything being ok, and not easily asking for help and not easily sharing our true and vulnerable, underbelly selves. Neither extreme is one which is helpful to us, and yet we developed those ways of coping from our early life experiences. Which way of coping do you find yourself most resonating with? Both ways actually keep us from being truly vulnerable in a life affirming way. They are defenses built to protect us from hurts. Defenses could also be called fences. These fences keep others out from our hurt selves and keep us in, really not allowing our further growth and expansion. We developed these fences as a way of surviving.

Change is not easy for most of us. Letting go of a thought or an idea or of something or someone in our lives challenges us. This is true even if and when we know they or it no longer serve us. We are creatures of habit. What we hold onto is connected with our early need to belong. This holds true even on a macro level as we see with our government and our political beliefs and we see playing out in the world. Yet what we see playing out in a big way always begins with us individually; with our internal work with ourselves. We hold onto that which served us at one time in our lives. That time period has great meaning to our inner world even if that was in the past. Our inner world knows time very differently than our outer world; the world of defenses and masks we developed to help us to survive in our world.  I remember a conversation I had with a group of friends at Passover this year. We were talking about forgiveness. How do we forgive when someone killed a family

Self-conscious is being aware of one's self. How do we do the hard and necessary work of being aware of us and who we are and discern who we think we are and what we want to be from who we truly are? It begins with our self-talk. Listening to how we talk to ourselves and staying awake to us helps guide us to seeing and knowing who we are. I had been working on a woman's astrological birth chart recently. In looking at her chart I saw a pattern which I interpreted a certain way. Our astrological charts can show us our basic nature, the nature of our early wounds, and ways with which we can work with our minds and our wounds to grow and be our potential in this world. Her birth chart looked like she had chosen a difficult life. Her mind was being pulled in many directions and looked like there had been a lot of strife and emotional abuse in her life. When I actually met with her and worked with her, I quickly saw and felt and knew that she had been able to transcend the

Gratitude Poem With all that is going on in this world, I woke up grateful. Remembering all the sacrifices our founding fathers’ made; for them and for us. The Father’s of our country, so wise and so flawed. We come from them and from so many. We come from peoples all over the world. I am so flawed, and so awed, and so full of love. Grateful for our country. Grateful for both the beauty and squalor around us Grateful for the opportunity to be alive and to feel Seeing the richness and diversity all around us; of nature, of peoples, of feelings, of believings. All has shaped us and shaped me. I can’t remember and can’t forget all my past pains As I go forward in life thankful to be, to think and to express All that I hold dear to my heart. In gratitude.