Do You Ever Open A Book at Random? - #220

I have so many books. Volumes and volumes on Somatics, Psychoanalysis, Health, Brain Research, Writing, Memoirs, Novels, Poetry. Every one of them - well almost everyone - would be great to sit down with and dive into head - or is it feet? - first. 

I've been told by a couple of people to hold a book in my hand and if it brings me joy, keep it. If not, pass it on. 

I'm doing a version of that - if I open a book and I want to read what is on the page, I keep it.  

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who is pictured above on my meditation altar, wrote Into the Heart of Life. I bought it from her when I was in India. The meeting was so fraught with meaning,I didn't even ask her to sign it!

I opened it at random today to read about The Eight Worldly Concerns:

"We are not generally aware of our appetite for praise and our dread of blame. We are not generally aware of how we yearn for a good reputation and fall anxious at the thought of the bad. We are not generally aware of how much we gravitate toward what we regard as pleasurable, nor how much we try to avoid what we regard as painful. But it is these eight worldly concerns that keep us revolving around and around in this cycle of birth and death, samsara."

Don't worry about what samsara is - or the cycle of birth and death. (You can Google it if you really want to know the Buddhist definition.) In my case, I want praise, hate to be blamed, yearn for a good reputation, become anxious if someone has an ill opinion of me, grasp for pleasure and avoid pain. 

Do you recognize any of these behaviors as your own?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

This Inspired Me - #219

The following two quotes by Bill Walton* impress me:

"For a long time, everything constantly hurt."

"My recovery took two years, during which time I stopped taking pain medication and began water therapy at the local Y and weight-training at home."

When one of my body parts hurt, I think of Bill.

I hate it when my feet hurt! Finding shoes to fit my narrow feet that are attached to toes that need a wide toe box, is not a trivial pursuit. Reading reviews on ShoeBuy or Zappos lets me know I'm not alone. 

Often when we have a bodily pain, we feel alone. This isolation adds to our pain. Pain can be a mystery to explore.

My heart goes out to you if you are suffering with bodily pain. For Bill Walton, Jerry Garcia's Grateful Dead music soothed him. Reading about Somatic Medicine calms me down. What helps you when you are in pain?

Please share with us by replying to this email or going to blog comment section.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Bill Walton, 63, played on two National Basketball Association championship teams. 

Does the Speed Of Life Shatter You? - #218

Life does not accommodate you; it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container, or else there would be no fruition.

FLORIDA SCOTT-MAXWELL*

I have seen quotes from Florida Scott-Maxwell before and wondered about her. Google says she was born in Florida and died in 1979. 

Her quotes are quotable. Here are two more for you:

"Anger must be the energy that has not yet found its right channel."

"I grow more intense as I age."

You may be hearing more from her as I just ordered, The Measure of My Days, for a penny - plus of course 3.99 postage.

The speed of life shatters me.  How about you? Let me know how you are dealing with the fact that it is April!

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

The image above, in my mind, represents the speed of life in 2016. Barely time enough to see the forest, let alone the trees. I found the first quote on A Network for Grateful Living: Word for the Day.

 

The Contagion of Emotion - #217

Here is the world.

Beautiful and terrible things will happen.

Don't be afraid.*

It is difficult not to be afraid sometimes. 

When I watched my CA grandson skateboard ramps at his skateboard park, I was afraid. 

I am glad to report that only beautiful amazing things happened. 

If I watched him more often, I would have to find a way to manage my fear so it wouldn't contaminate his fun. 

Did you realize fear is contagious?

Have you ever caught fear from someone else? Has your fear contaminated others? What are you afraid of?

Email me or to to the Comment section of blog and let me know.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

The image above was received on my walk this afternoon. The longer I was out in the world, the more I hoped the Weather Channel's forecast of 100% chance of rain beginning at 9 PM.was correct.



*Frederich Buechner, from Barnstorming by briarcroft (no date).

Thank Heavens Aporia Is Impermanent! - #216

Impermanence means that as things in life change, we are able to change with them.*

"Oh Tenzin, when I knelt before you in 1996 to capture your image, I wish I would have summoned the courage to ask you your personal views of impermanence. I like your definition above because it indicates that we need to make changes in response to the changes in the world. I wish I could have continued the conversation and found out what your opinion is on aporia."

It feels natural to converse with Tenzin as I see her every time I meditate. Her presence is very reassuring.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the best dealing with change; as I age I'm seeing how everything does change whether I like it or not. Life is easier when I don't fight change.

But what about situations that feature an unresolvable internal contradiction - one definition of aporia? 

Trees change. Some grow scraggly. Some are in the way of new landscaping projects. But to think of chopping down a dignified tree that has grown for a decade or more seems cruel treatment of a living being. 

I wonder what you, Tenzin, would say? What do you readers think and say?
Please email me or leave a comment.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Into the Heart of Life (2011), Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Pg. 7.

A Word I Felt This Afternoon - #215

Listening to trees being butchered made for a lamentable afternoon. 

I've written about my love of trees before - specifically trees in my backyard. Luckily they are not under attack.

The trees under the knife are ones that provide beauty outside my office building. The unmistakable sound of the chainsaw and the grinder this afternoon made me really angry.

When I grumbled to a new tenant, a woman who recently moved in across the hall from my suite, she disclosed that previous to her move, she was informed there were plans to update the office building. 

Suddenly I was feeling APORIA. 

This new word (to me) doesn't show up in every dictionary but when it does make an appearance, it is a word I love.

It is late and I need to stop writing. Next post, I will define it and tie it in to impermanence. 

Let me know if you find it and how you think it relates to impermanence. 

Thanks for exploring the mystery  - Nicky Mendenhall

The image is of a tree I named "Post-it-note Tree that was discovered in OR last year.

Are You Seeking To See - #214

"Sehnsucht"  (German pronunciation  'zeːnzʊxt') 

Sehnsucht is a German word for yearning (seeking to see).  

It is a difficult word, according to several sources, to translate adequately. 

When I first found the word it was defined* as follows:

Expresses a profound desire that life would have meaning beyond the "seen." 

I read this to mean that most of us want to find meaning in the irrational and the nonmaterial.  

I find meaning in the story of Jesus' life here on earth. I find meaning in The Four Noble Truths discovered by the Buddha. I find meaning in Nature and in the changing of the seasons.  

Where do you find meaning? What are you seeking to see? How do you deal with the irrational and nonmaterial? Send me an email or comment on the blog.

exploring the mystery will be back next Tuesday! Nicky M.

*Once again I lost the source. I apologize to the originator.

Never Doubt the Power of the Unconscious - #213

Post #212 was lengthy. It occurred to me after it was published that since reading it would take more of your time, I would skip the next post. No final decision was made; my assumption was that a new post was needed.

Friday evening, the window of opportunity for pushing the "publish" button (for Saturday delivery) came and went. No thought whatsoever of exploring the mystery.

This morning, Saturday, I woke up a bit disoriented. Something didn't feel right. What day was it anyway?

Clarity came slowly. I had forgotten to post last night. I have plenty of excuses why this didn't happen but my best guess is that my unconscious interfered. I thought I could (or is it would?) skip the post and so I did.


Do you catch your unconscious interfering with your plans? Do you even believe in the unconscious? I suspect there is at least one person reading this that no longer "believes" in the unconscious. I'd love to hear how you would think of situations like this.  

I offer my apologies for the late arrival of this post plus an image of an idyllic beach scene from a trip to Brazil in 2010 coupled with the thought - how can it be almost six years? I remember the fresh fish - caught minutes before lunch - grilled over the open fire.

What is your experience at the beach? Do you "believe" in sitting on the beach listening to the ocean? Let us know in an email or in the comments section of the blog which you can get to by scrolling to the bottom of the email you are reading and clicking on the underlined phrase, exploringthemystery

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Reader Posits Puzzling Paradox - #212

"I have hope," Karen writes after consulting her medical professional.

exploring the mystery: "That's good - it's important to have hope!"

Karen: "What about your post that talked about staying with the worry and disappointment?  I never know what to aim for!"

exploring the mystery : "What good questions. I'll get back to you - I need time to ponder."

Few days later:

Dear Karen, 

This response may not help. I fear that postponing my response may have raised your expectations.  

As you so astutely pointed out, the posts have offered two diametrically opposed opinions: ”stay hopeful” and “stay with suffering.”

Finding the word paradoxical in my Kindle dictionary, I learned it is an adjective meaning seemingly absurd or self-contradictory. This didn't seem rich enough for me so I kept looking.

My research unearthed: para="beyond" and dokein="to think." To me this implies one has to go beyond thinking to understand a paradox. 

A paradox, writes Kerry Walters,* "properly elicits from us a lived response, not a conceptual analysis."

Walters also writes that a paradox takes us into a "mysterious realm that stubbornly resists the battering ram of reason."

"Mysterious realm" - doesn't that sound like natural material for exploring the mystery! 

So Karen, here's one idea for dealing with this particular paradox: "Stay with the suffering; feel your feelings. Stay as long as you can with whatever feelings arrive on the scene. As you sink into the feelings, at some point you will notice that these feelings shift and change. You don't have to make that happen, the nature of feelings is that when they have our full attention (occupied center stage as long as necessary) they will shift and change."

And here's another idea: "Stay with a feeling of hope. Stay as long as you can. Picture the glimmer of hope. Feel it manifesting in your life. If hope begins to flicker, talk to someone you trust. Get support."

In other words - don't aim for anything. Just sit with yourself. Flip a coin if you don't have any idea where to start. You can switch back and forth between the two options for as long as you want.

Don't analyze. Experience your experience. Wait for a lived experience.

How would you respond to Karen? What paradoxes trouble you the most? Is it easy for you to go beyond thinking? Please let us know by emailing me or going to comment section.

Thanks Karen for exploring your mystery with us

Thanks  to everyone for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall



*Kerry Walters, Soul Wilderness (2001), page 3.

Note regarding image: There is not a hidden paradox in this image, don't drive yourself crazy trying to find one. If  you find one, please notify me immediately!

Can You Celebrate the Muddy Mess? - #211

"There is a hard truth to be told: before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck. I have walked in the early spring through fields that will suck your boots off, a world so wet and woeful it makes you yearn for the return of ice. But in that muddy mess, the conditions for rebirth are being created."* *Parker Palmer, Word for the Day, 2/7/2016, Network for Grateful Living. Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Do You Have To Stretch For Patience? - #210

Pulling into the driveway at 4:00 this afternoon, the squawking from this pair of geese captured my attention. I went into the house to find my camera. When I came back out, I discovered that the noise wasn't from just these two, they were communicating with another pair on a roof two houses over. In addition, there was a single goose in between the two pair who was the loudest of all. The dark clouds seemed part of the story.

I wish you could have heard them! The sound was raucous! It made me laugh to see them stretch their necks and squawk!

This was a marked contrast to what I faced inside the house: the internet was off line. Don't you just hate twenty-first century technological problems?

I guess that's where patience should have blossomed inside me.

What I really want to share with you are a few lines from Christine Valters Paintner's post from the Abbey of the Arts newsletter on March 6, 2016.  I found them quite fitting for our discussion:

"The cultivation of patience.....the Greek word is hupomone, which essentially means to stay with whatever is happening. 

"On a deeper level, the call is to not run away when things become challenging. Stability demands that we stay with difficult experiences and stay present to the discomfort they create in us."

This seems a little deeper look at patience. It challenges me to honor whatever is happening, no matter how difficult. These words hint that the discomfort may have something to offer.

I don't know about you , but I like comfort.  Stretching myself to appreciate discomfort will be quite a stretch. As much of a stretch as the geese did with their necks!

Does Christine's take on patience add anything for you? Please email me of go to the comments section and let us know. 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Did the Guardian Make a Fried Egg? - #209

"Patience is remaining present."

The above wisdom is not original. I jotted it down, omitting the source. I was confident I would remember and give credit to the author.

But alas the memory of the source is no longer available. This type of wisdom saying, so obvious and so true, is beginning to feel like something I must have said. If you said it, or know the source, please let me know.

The Guardian statue is always present when I raise the shade to see the rising sun and brilliant sky in the morning as well as when I begin to settle in for the evening and lower the shade.

I find myself pushing to get items on my list(s) crossed off or pushing things out of my mind, often things I am not ready to know.  I admit that patience is not my long suit. 

The Guardian sits there in all types of weather accepting what is. The Guardian is patient. The Guardian is a model for me. The Guardian is always present.

Scroll back to Post #191 and you will see another image of the Guardian. Keep scrolling until you reach the Post for 12-29-2015 for yet another.

Next time you lose patience, remember to be present. Remember the Guardian.

Do you have lots of patience? What makes you impatient? Is it your normal state to be in the present moment? What interferes? Does this make sense to you? Do you have a Guardian?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Observe Your Phalanges - #208

"Plants have learned how to arrange their branches at the exact mathematical angle that allows each leaf to absorb the greatest amount of sunlight.

"Our finger bones or phalanges embody this exact same mathematical ratio, which allow the hand to integrate the part with the whole and to open and close in the most efficient, elegant way."*

When leaves return in a few weeks, notice how the branches are arranged to provide maximum sunlight for them.

Observe your hands gracefully open and close. Notice how often you use them every hour.

Two ways to continue exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Nature and our bodies will be coming to life soon! Are you ready for the season to change? Please let us know what you look forward to as well as what you dread.

*David Fideler, Ph.D. as quoted in Kosmos magazine, Volume xiv, number two, 2015.

Smoking & Snow - #207

This afternoon I thought, if it is true, what they say, that sitting is the new smoking, I better close my Tricycle* for Spring and get my body moving.

Making my way down the nature path and then through the neighborhood, I noticed that the snow was almost gone. What was left was dirty and unattractive.

Feeling the pressure of being faithful to my promise that images are connected to the post, I snapped the above photo.

When I returned home, I reopened the Tricycle and read an article, The Dharma of Snow.

The science, provided by a geophysicist, explained how melting is a nonlinear process which makes it seem that snow melts all at the same time.  Obviously this pile didn't get the memo.

What I really resonated with was this paragraph that I want to remember:

"The highest expression of our human nature is to purify our minds. To clear away the clouds, the sheets of snow, the ice that we're encased in."

I am looking forward to spring but want to enjoy the rest of winter. There has been something nice about hibernating that I'm not quite ready to give up yet. How about you? Are you ready for Spring? Do you enjoy the change of seasons if you live in Iowa? Do you have noticeable changes in seasons where you live? Do you appreciate that?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Tricycle is a monthly Buddhist magazine. The article, The Dharma of Snow was written by Ayya Medhanandi Bhikkuni.

Sometimes I Forget......- #206

Post 205 had the logo for shredder truck above - I forgot to mention that the image was an original - not harvested from Google. The proof is in the picture above: observe the container of papers stuck into the truck ready to be shredded and the friendly man I spoke to about his business.

Here at exploring the mystery the pictures used are all (unless otherwise noted) original. You can probably tell that because often they are off center or blurry. There will always be a connection between the image and the post. If you need help figuring out what the connection is email me, Nicky.Mendenhall@gmail.com with your question. 

Today's post is from A Network for Grateful Living, 2/21/2016 and the connection to the image is pretty obvious: 

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

MARCEL PROUST

Copyright © 2016 A Network for Grateful Living, All rights reserved.

What Can You Give Up? - #205

In 1908, Sigmund Freud wrote the classic paper,"Creative Writers and Day-dreaming." 

If you are making small talk with the neighbors and there's an awkward pause that needs filled, throw in the only sentence of Freud's paper that I underlined:

"Actually, we can never give anything up; we only exchange one thing for another."

I've been thinking about this statement all week. Is it true we can never give anything up?

It feels to me the old farm house I grew up in was given up when the decision was made to burn it down to clear the land.  I would love to set foot in it again but I have to give up that dream.  I don't know if that's the kind of thing Freud was talking about or not.

Can think of anything that you gave up without exchanging it for something else, please let me know.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

 

In Case Winter Is Wearing On YOU - #204

Using words over and over tends to flatten their meaning. We aren't able to feel a word because we've heard it so many times. The words sadness and loneliness are ones that may lose their capacity to move us.

Susan Piver, in the wisdom of a broken heart, offers suggestions for healing breakups with romantic partners that we can adapt to help us when winter desperation sneaks up on us.
  
When you are sad because ice makes you a prisoner in your own house, don't get angry at yourself or others. Piver suggests sadness can be a form of gentleness. Be gentle with yourself. Don't berate yourself because you are sad; recognize that sadness means you are in touch with your feelings.

If you begin to feel lonely, Piver might suggest that loneliness can be a form of fearlessness. She writes: "Our definition of fearlessness is the ability to open up to, accept, and even take delight in your world, in all the fabulous and insane things that happen within and around you." Recognize the insanity of dreading a blizzard that never happens.

Stay with your feelings fearlessly and you will develop inner strength. You will learn that feelings, no matter how strong, won't always be there and that Winter Storm Warnings do have an expiration date.

Hang in there - we are soon to be turning the corner into Spring!
Let me know if thinking about sadness as gentleness and loneliness as fearlessness gives you a new sense of the words.

Thank you for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

www.susanpiver.com

A Valentine For Readers - #203

A special Valentine to all of you who regularly read and comment on exploring the mystery. 

Thanks for all the ways you let me know that you are also exploring the mystery. 

Picture us as a community of people all over the country who are exploring the mystery.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Picture Lisbeth and Mason, April, 2015, Portland, OR.  

A Different Kind Of Valentine - #202

"Love has sacred power, not because it makes us high, allowing us to rise above ordinary life on clouds of blissful glory, but because it helps us relax the struggle between self and other that is at the root of human suffering."

That Struggle happens between self and other is a given. Through struggle with a significant other, learn what is important to you. Learn to welcome struggle. Relax your roots.

"Love is profound because it roots us in the earth…."

Look at the roots in the image above and imagine your self grounded in the earth's soil.

"The profound question love poses is, ‘Can you face your life as it is; can you look at all the pain and darkness as well as the power and light in the human soul, and still say yes?’"

Say yes to Life with all it's different parts. Don't banish anything. Out of the struggle comes new knowledge and new Life.

Have you ever seen these sentiments expressed on a commercially manufactured Valentine? What do you think of Valentine's Day? Do you give others Valentines? Let me know by replying to this email or commenting on blog comment section. I love to hear from you!

Thank you for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall


John Welwood quotes in italicized bold print.
 Inward/Outward is a project of the Church of the Saviour in Washington DC. January 8. 2016

 

A New Kind of Seeing - #201

My eye is healed. Many thanks for all the support and love this week. I appreciated your personal stories describing problems you were having with various body parts. Together we were exploring the mystery of body parts!

In Post 200, I quoted David Ulrich* who spoke of  the exchange of energy that occurs between us and what we are paying attention to.

Ulrich continues: "In losing the sight of my eye, I learned to depend to a greater extent on efforts toward self-awareness and connecting with my own body and feelings."

Three days in the dark, nursing the corneal abrasion, made me wonder what life would offer if I couldn't see.

I remembered Kate, my massage therapist, mentioning when she needs to evoke feelings of love, she gazes at a picture of her favorite dog.

Thinking of Kate's technique, I  remembered a deckle edged black and white photo of my first dog Yip.  I was on my knees with my right hand reached out touching his back.

Lying in the dark, I felt my way into a memory of that relationship with Yip.

It was an experience that didn't require my eyes.  

What do you see with your eyes closed? Remember the movie Eyes Wide Shut? What did that mean? Do you take care of your eyes? Tell us about your relationship with your eyes. Or your first pet. Or anything you want us to know about seeing.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of seeing - Nicky Mendenhall



*The Widening Stream by David Ulrich (2002).

Seeing - #200

Today, corneal abrasion meant most of my day spent with eyes closed. Lacking energy tonight which is because:

"Seeing is an exchange of energy that takes place between ourselves and the perceived objects of our attention."

Do you appreciate your eyes? Do you realize how much energy they provide you?

I do!

Quote from David Ulrich, 2002.

Are You Awake? - #199

If you befriend a Buddhist, you will learn that the Buddha vowed to sit beneath the Bodhi tree until he became enlightened (woke up).  

Pessoa (Post 198) reported that upon waking up, he needed time to know if he existed.   

Joseph Mauricio spoke for Daily Dharma Gathering on January 2, 2016. His topic: Becoming Awake.

My eyes squinted as I experienced a mini enlightenment flash when I heard Mauricio say, "Thinking is not being awake."

The implication is that while we are in our in our heads thinking, we are not awake. What do you think of this idea?

Being in our bodies, feeling sensations and feelings may be when we are truly awake. This is not my usual state but since working with a Somatic therapist to correct kyphosis (rounded shoulders), I have more awareness of my body sensations - which sometimes are uncomfortable.  Sometimes I'd rather not be awake.

What do you think constitutes being awake?  Do you want to be awake?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

        

Another Wild Fernando Pessoa Quote - #198

"I'd woken up early, and I took a long time getting ready to exist."*

*Long term readers may recognize the name Fernando Pessoa. Fernando was many authors in one having numerous selves, each with a distinct biography, ideology, and horoscope. This quote is from The Book of Disquiet, Page 31.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of existence :
                                                  Nicky Mendenhall

True or False - Aging Causes Stiffness -- #197

"Age does not cause stiffness."*

According to Burras there are five key reasons why the body hardens and stiffens as we get older. None of these reasons has to do with the aging process itself.

1. Trauma

2. Repression

3. Stress

4. Inactivity

5. Contractive Movement

Burras explains each of these reasons in an article you can find on his website: JonBurras.com. Click on articles and find Aging Does Not Cause Stiffness - it is #13 on the list.

As you get older, do you have more stiffness? What do you think causes it? Do you think Burras' ideas about stiffness have merit? If you have questions, ask me in an email or in the comment section.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Image is from booklet that came with my model skeleton last year. I received permission to use it!

Where Do You Look For Happiness? - #196

"The good news is that genuine happiness is not out there in the marketplace to be purchased or acquired from the best teacher around. 

"One of the best-kept secrets is that the happiness we’re striving for so desperately in the perfect spouse, the great kids, the fine job, security, excellent health, and good looks has always been within and is just waiting to be unveiled. 

"Knowing that what we are seeking comes from within changes everything."*


*Daily Dharma, January 16, 2016, B. Alan Wallace, "What is True Happiness?"

Photo: Restaurant in Riquewihr, France. Look closely at the awning for a surprise!

Toss Chocolate Feelings vs. Win Lottery Feelings- #195

Post #194 stirred readers up -  three readers self-described as rebels and refused to discard their chocolate. Does this mean they were afraid of feelings?

I'm going to leap out on a limb* with a challenge for all of us, especially the rebel trio:

Acknowledge the layers of feelings you hold in your body, mind, & psyche. Get to know them. Laugh at their extreme ridiculousness when needed. Honor the pain that fuels them. Do whatever you need to feel and observe feelings.

Please remember, bringing feelings to light doesn't make them true. Doesn't make you a bad person for thinking them. Feelings give you information about a deeper level of self. Feelings are like dreams - don't take them literally.

Zonker (one of Garry Trudeau's main characters in Doonesbury*) won a $23 million dollar lottery.

Reporters ask him how he felt when hearing the good news.

Zonker; "Well, at first I didn't feel anything. I just went numb."

Next panel: "Then I felt a rush of giddiness, followed by feelings of disorientation, queasiness, shortness of breath.

Last panel: "Hunger, rage, sexual longing, vertigo, boredom, and finally a tingling sensation."

That, my friends, is a thorough answer to the question of what you feel. If you can contact as many feelings as Zonker, you are on your way to mental health.

Let me know if you are re-thinking your relationship with feelings or if you have questions. Email me by replying to this message or go to comment section of blog.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of feelings - Nicky Mendenhall

*Influenced by acrobatic squirrels in my backyard.
**Doonesbury, Des Moines Register, 1/15/2016.

Wanna Meditate On Chocolate? - #194

"Understanding one’s emotions is seldom taught at any level."

"You cannot get it from a book."

"One of the techniques I created in a workshop was to tell the students that we are going to do a chocolate mediation. I pass around a box of Sees chocolates and have every person take a piece and hold it in their hand."

"I then have them close their eyes and visualize what it might be like to eat it." 

"After a short visualization of how the chocolate is going to make them feel better I surprisingly tell them to take the chocolate and throw it in the trash." 

"Now the emotions begin. Many people are sad. Some are angry at me for taking away their joy."

"We now have a chance to process their emotions. In order to learn about your emotions you have to have practice feeling them and not just analyzing them."*

Remember that to heal our feelings, we need to feel them  - not act them out.

 Dysfunctional families teach us to disregard the complexity of our feelings. It takes time to really get to know our feelings.

Let me know if you would throw away your See's chocolate. What feelings would bubble up if you did?  Is it difficult for you to know what you are feeling?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

 *The first seven paragraphs are from an email message I received from Jon Burras, January 9, 2016. Thanks Jon.

Return To Nature (Burras' Book) - #193

"We develop most addictions and many degenerative diseases because we have stored energy in our bodies. When we cannot feel and express what our natural human nature wants us to feel and express, we then store the energy of those feelings in our body."*

Burras names the process of storing the energy of feelings in the body repression.

He continues: "Chronic pain is often the result of repression. This pain is the direct result of our inability to allow ourselves to feel and to have a relationship with our pain."*

"Recovery means being willing to experience your feelings, as intense as they might be, and learn from them. It is not necessary to try to change these feelings; simply accepting them is enough."*

Burras doesn't offer this but my experience has been that accepting less than desirable feelings is very difficult.

Burras believes that if our mind can feel painful feelings, our body will learn that we will not die from them. 

Does this sound like blaming the ill person? Does any of this resonate with you? Do you think the mind and body are this connected? Please let me know by sending me an email or going to comment board.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*All quotes from Burras in Return to Nature (2011)

More Burras At Last! - #192

Practically every page I open in Return to Nature, by Jon Burras, offers something I want to share with you. I pick one thing but then think - no this other thing is more important. Time passes and I then pick a topic that is not from the book because it seems less complicated. 

Tonight, you are going to receive a few sentences from Burras that I'm not going to elaborate on but just offer them because time has again escaped me. I hope you will let me know if they are helpful or confusing; it you want to hear more from or not.

Here goes with a quote from Peter Levine that Burras highlights:

"In our exploration of trauma we have learned about the primordial energies (italics mine) that reside within the reptilian core of our brains. We are not reptiles, but without clear access to our reptilian and mammalian heritage, we are not able to be fully human. The fullness of our humanity lies in the ability to integrate the functions of our triune brain.


"We see that to resolve trauma we must learn to move fluidly between instinct, emotion, and rational thought. When these three sources are in harmony, communicating sensation, feeling, and cognition, our organisms operate as they were designed to."

I guess I have to comment! Mostly the word 'energies' excites me. Do you have friends that talk about 'energy'? Thinking that energy is primordial, (with primordial meaning original, primary) and has been with us forever is exciting to me. 

Now time is really up - so let me know if you have any idea what Levine, Burras, and I are talking about! Do these ideas excite you?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

I feel most creatively alive when....- #191

Roger Housden's  email message greeted me this morning, the first message of a month long e-course.* 

The assignment for today was to use the sentence stub that is the subject of this post and write for ten minutes to see what you can learn.

Here's a few of my answers:

I feel most creatively alive when:
...looking for images to illustrate blog posts.
...thinking of ideas for blog posts
...making something for dinner using odds and ends from pantry
...creating little altars of art for beauty
...preparing for and working with clients
...waking up parts of my body that suffer from somatic amnesia
...having the impulse to do something and actually doing it

Normally I resist these exercises but hey - it's a new year! I actually enjoyed it today. I encourage you to sit down and try it yourself. Change the sentence stub to something more interesting to you if you like or leave out the word creatively.

Email me a few of your treasures.
Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

The image is my Garden Goddess on back deck with her snow blanket.








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