Snow!

The peaceful image of a seated woman on my back deck, was taken before five inches of snow blanketed her. She looks calm and serene doesn't she?

Taking baby steps, to avoid falling down in the five inches of snow that blanketed my office parking lot today, didn't feel calm and serene.

And took my blog post creative energy. 

See you next time!

There are comments in the comment section that you will enjoy - especially the ones about human and animal interaction.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Magical Thinking Up Close & Personal - #189

Time: Early evening, Christmas Day 

Task: Riffling through Jon Burras' book, Return to Nature, 

Purpose: Need information on magical thinking.

Action:  An owl hoots loudly outside my house.  

My Usual Response: Find Animal Energies book by authors Garry Buffalo Horn Man and Sherry Firedancer. Read facts about owls and what "medicine" they offer, and explore owls vulnerabilities and blind spots and what these may communicate to me.

What Animal Energies offers:"If an owl has oriented on you, you can be certain that an aspect of your life is going to change, in a big way. Some people believe that Owl only comes to those things that are about to die. So not fear, though, for this does not mean physical death as much as it means the letting go of some part of you that is not serving you. Owls, with their spectral senses, are guides through the dark tunnel of fear and change to the certain light shining at the other end. Thank Owl for its willingness to guide you through its shadowy realm."

What Jon Burras offers: "Magical thinking is a way to interpret the world by telling ourselves a story. For instance, most people consider a dog's bark disturbing. But when an owl makes a noise, it becomes a mystical experience."

Let me know what you think. Remember there are no wrong answers.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Look closely at the image - it's a barred owl!

Messing With Our Magical Thinking - #188

Where does one begin messing with magical thinking?  As the song says, "let's start at the very beginning."

According to Burras, humans began to walk upright, 3.7 million years ago.

(Are you now humming songs from the Sound of Music? If so, congratulate yourself, your unconscious is activated.)

Five hundred thousand years ago, present-day Homo sapiens emerged. 

Chellis Glendinning* believes that we have been human in biological and psychological development for about one million years.

Only in the last six or seven thousand years have civilizations, as we know them today, emerged. 

Alphabets and the creation of written language arose in the last five thousand years.

During these last five thousand years, Burras speculates that the following belief began to emerge: 

Humankind is not part of nature but is superior to nature.

At the same time, patriarchy and male dominance over feminine values began to emerge. Women, children, animals, and nature began to be dominated by the patriarchal way of thinking.

Intuition, sensation, and expression of emotion all began to lose ground to rational thinking, words, and repression of emotion. 

Intuition, sensation, and expression of emotion are characteristics that are largely unrecognized by patriarchy.  

In this week of holiday gatherings and time off from work, find time to listen to your intuition, feel your sensations, and express your emotions. See what happens. If you meet resistance, perhaps you've met patriarchy. Introduce yourself. 

And then let me know.We'll continue to sneak up on magical thinking...

In the meantime:
Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall








*Quoted in Burras as being the author of My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization

Image appeared after photo shoot of sunrise. A true mystery to me!



SPECIAL NOTE: If you need to know the other two corners of Four Corners of Movement to get closure, you are in luck - here they are: #3 is Integrative Movement and #4 is Playful Movement. #3 integrative movement works at re-patterning the nervous system using slow gentle movements. Examples: Alexander work, Feldenkrais, and Continuum all are examples of this work. #4, Playful Movement has few rules. Burras says most of us have forgotten how to play. Examples he gives are kayaking, dancing to music or swimming in the ocean.

Now in Corner #Two - #187

Did you note that the image depicting "Four Corners of Movement"(Post #186) had more than four petals? Someone I live with enlightened me. This was shocking news: I take finding images seriously.  

Movement begins in the mind according to Burras. 

Do you want to move when you look at the above image by Judy Sebern-Beachy*? What does your mind want your body to do when you focus on the above image?

That Corner #2 promotes Cardio-Strength Movement won't be a big surprise. What might surprise you is how Burras emphasizes the importance, while in corner #2, of including a full range of motion while practicing every movement. The other surprise from Burras: Don't be concerned with numbers (calories burned, heart rate).

Burras writes that movement is natural, exercise is not. That "in shape" doesn't necessarily mean "in health". 

What do you think of these ideas? Do you have a fitbit? Do you count calories?  

Warning! If you are not good at handling disagreement  - the chances that you will be upset with Burras and Me are mounting. We are going to mess with your magical thinking to start. Stick around and....

Continue exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Check out  Judy Sebern-BeachyArt on FB to see her work. 

Four Corners of Movement - #186

I still don't know what happened last post - mystery took over! My apologies for cluttering up your inbox with duplicates.

Jon Burras* feels strongly that we need to move our bodies - he says everything in Nature moves and then makes the case that since we are part of Nature, we must move. He continues: Health is much more than just strength and a lowered resting heart rate.

In his book, Return to Nature, he asks if we are still moving our body with prehistoric beliefs in mind? He says if our answer is yes, it may be time to update our belief systems.

What belief systems do you think he is referring to?

The center of this post will explore one of the four corners of movement as described by Burras. Today we will look in corner number 1:

"Disciplined Movement. Disciplined movement involves a pattern or routine with emphasis on flowing and lengthening. "This is an organized set of movements that is either interconnected or practiced separately. There is a structure, a formula and a method for practice.

Examples of this type of movement might be tai chi, yoga or Pilates." 

I would add QiGong and Tango. What would you add? Do you have anything in this corner?

Until about eight years ago, this type of movement didn't work for me. I could name a number of factors why it didn't, but chief among them would be that I didn't have the right teacher. I needed someone to be very patient and to understand that I have two left feet and little sense of direction; Someone that had patience to help me go over and over movements until they were recorded in my flesh. 

When I found Ruth Kneile, I found my teacher. Tai Chi is now in my corner.

*You will be hearing more from Jon Burras in the weeks ahead.

speak your shame - #185

Speak Your Shame - #185

"In a 2011 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, researchers found that, as far as the brain is concerned, physical pain and intense experiences of social rejection hurt in the same way.

"Neuroscience advances confirm what we've known all along: emotions can hurt and cause pain. And just as we often struggle to define physical pain, describing emotional pain is difficult. Shame is particularly hard because it hates having words wrapped around it. It hates being spoken."*

Have you ever tried to put words on something you feel ashamed of? 

In my therapy session this week, before I could own up to something I felt shame about, I needed to be gently asked. "Do you want to express your feelings?" 

My initial answer was NO.  I felt too raw.

By the next session, I had garnered my courage and put words to what in the last session felt too hurtful to express. As you can guess, I'm not going to tell you what the issue was because that is not the point of this story. 

The point? When I said the words out loud - they didn't seem as horrific as they did when they were swirling around my brain. (Some of you may remember my newsletter Living Out Loud - I'm still learning!)

I can work with my "shame" now that it has words. Words that have been spoken outloud. Words that didn't cause my therapist to run screaming from the room. Words that in some strange way are beginning to set me free.

Before the end of the year, will you make an effort to admit to yourself, and perhaps one other person, something you feel shame about? Choose the person carefully. Find your words. Begin to heal.

Stay tuned - Jon Burras coming up soon.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Posted 7/11/2015 (My copy is red - don't know why. Maybe redfaced shame?

Sorry for confusion - don't know what to say! I have confidence that you will explore the mystery & come up with a solution.

Do You Have Much Patience? - #184

"Since ever, in China, bamboo farmers have planted baby bamboo shoots deep into the ground. And then, for three years, nothing happens. But the farmers will work, diligently watering the shoot, spreading hay and manure, waiting patiently even though nothing is sprouting up. They simply have faith. And then, one day, the bamboo will shoot up and grow up to thirty feet in a month. It just blasts into the sky."

I owe this bit of knowledge about bamboo to Amanda Palmer. Her book, The Art of Asking (2014), describes what she learned while making her living as a human statue. She covered her face with white face paint, put on an old wedding gown, stood on a box on the sidewalk giving flowers to people who gave her,  "the bride", coins or poems. I didn't read every page, I didn't have the patience to read about the couchsurfing she experienced as a musician, but the parts I read were fascinating.   

Just between us, I don't have much patience. The world probably would not have bamboo if I was in charge. Sorting out Christmas CD's just now about drove me nuts! Many discs were not in their appropriate plastic cases and without exception were dusty which stirred up my allergies further trying my patience. My cleverly designed red box system to store CD's, doesn't seem to be working as it takes patience to find the correct category and box.  

Do you have patience? What tries your patience? When do you lose your patience?

More from Jon Burras soon. Are you feeling healthy? Are you moving?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Speak Your Shame - #184

"In a 2011 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, researchers found that, as far as the brain is concerned, physical pain and intense experiences of social rejection hurt in the same way.

"Neuroscience advances confirm what we've known all along: emotions can hurt and cause pain. And just as we often struggle to define physical pain, describing emotional pain is difficult. Shame is particularly hard because it hates having words wrapped around it. It hates being spoken."*

Have you ever tried to put words on something you feel ashamed of? 

In my therapy session this week, before I could own up to something I felt shame about, I needed to be gently asked. "Do you want to express your feelings?" 

My initial answer was NO.  I felt too raw.

By the next session, I had garnered my courage and put words to what in the last session felt too hurtful to express. As you can guess, I'm not going to tell you what the issue was because that is not the point of this story. 

The point? When I said the words out loud - they didn't seem as horrific as they did when they were swirling around my brain. (Some of you may remember my newsletter Living Out Loud - I'm still learning!)

I can work with my "shame" now that it has words. Words that have been spoken outloud. Words that didn't cause my therapist to run screaming from the room. Words that in some strange way are beginning to set me free.

Before the end of the year, will you make an effort to admit to yourself, and perhaps one other person, something you feel shame about? Choose the person carefully. Find your words. Begin to heal.

Stay tuned - Jon Burras coming up soon.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*The Art of Asking (2014), Amanda Palmer, Page 212.

Listening To Internal Whispers - #183

I have been immersed in Return to Nature: The Five Pillars of Healing. The author, Jon Burras, who generously continues to advise me and provide invaluable information, suggests we use our intuition rather than our habits to guide our movement. 

For me, that means listening when I hear my internal voice whispering, "Nicky, remember when you read that sitting is the new smoking? You have been reading for a half hour. It is time to get up and do a few Tai Chi moves or get on the floor and practice the "tipped turtle." Go for a short walk - after all it is a sunny 50 degree Iowa December day!"

I want to not only listen - but take action. (I have been known to set a timer for a half hour so I will move when it goes off and then when it goes off, set it again without taking action.) 

No more!

Next time your inner voice urges you to move, pay attention. In the next few weeks, you will learn from Jon Burras and me why it is vital that you move, especially now that the dark days of winter are upon us.

Do you have enough movement in your life? What gets in your way of moving if you don't? What would help you get more movement into your life? What helps you move? Please share with us by sending me an email or going to the comment section.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Two Additions to Post #180 - #182

In Post #180, I strongly suggested that after Thanksgiving Dinner you MOVE.  

If movement is painful or difficult for you currently - don't despair: 

Get down on the floor and do the "Tipped Turtle" - lie on your back, stick your hands and legs up toward the ceiling and move them around in circles approximately 20 - 30 times. Reverse and move them the opposite direction. Then pound the bottom of your foot - my Tai Chi teacher calls this part the bubbling well. It will stimulate your immune system and entertain your guests.

The image above offers another option: Two stretchy bands looped through a loop which is held firm by the door because of a little metal ball that prevents it from sliding through. Pull down using mostly core muscles - not your arm muscles. Find bands and loop online.

More from Jon Burras next post. Thanks for exploring the mystery and moving your body - Nicky Mendenhall