Howdy folks,

First of all I wanted to let you know I'm offering a holiday discount on
gifts certificates for that special everyone in your life: $20 off for
untimed sessions and $10 off a 1 hour. As always, this special is good from
now until Boxing Day.

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Last month I compared developing physical awareness to listening to the
white noise in your room. (If you want to read it, click the link at the
bottom of this.) The point was that often the signals our bodies are sending
us are right there in front of is, but difficult to notice because they are
constant and mundane. I mentioned that I could think of two main elements
that can help us notice those signals more subtly, which I would talk about
today. Those two elements are a) quietness and b) something that breaks up
the physical and mental patterns of the body.

Unless you happen to be a monk, quietness probably is the first thing that
will break up patterns. But it's easy to do; just lie down on the floor and
listen to yourself the way you would listen to the white noise in the room.
(Note: don't be afraid of the nap; if you take it you probably need it
(note: this rule also applies at the opera...this rule especially applies at
the opera)). Sorry, I digress. Lie down and listen to yourself like white
noise. When you do this you aren't going to have any revelations that you
can put into words. You are probably going to be more like a novelist
looking at a blank page 1, with no real idea what sort of world is going to
slowly unfold over the next 5 years. I'm not a novelist myself, but I
usually can't write anything until I've stared at blankness for about 20
minutes. I often hate that period, but have come to realize that my brain
is reorganizing itself during that time, and if I let it happen, things will
slowly start to flow. It's the same thing here. Just by taking the time,
the way you notice things will slowly change.

In order to break up physical patterns, I usually recommend some system like
yoga because it's done me a lot of good, but I never seem to say how I
recommend yoga. Classes and teachers are important because they can open up
your mind to new ways of looking at things, but in the end it is not
possible for a teacher to give you the right information to rebalance your
body (that's a subject for another month). It's up to the individual to
make the practice their own. You can do this coming from the place of
quietness you acheived in the previous paragraph. Standing up, do the most
simple forward bend possible, bending your knees so you are doing no stretch
really at all. From there you might feel some muscles wanting to flex and
release a bit, which might straighten the knees by millimeters and then
release them again. As the muscles start to wake up, feelings like this
will probably increase, so that lots of different muscles will start gently
flexing and releasing, leading slowly into a deeper stronger stretch. But
the point is you are not dictating to the body, it is dictating to you. You
can break any yoga pose (or singing technique, or golf swing...) down to
this level of simplicity, and over time you will start noticing all kinds of
things.

The most important thing to mention again with this sort of process is that
any immediate revelation is likely not accurate, or at least out of balance.
But we all want some measure of self-assessment, so I tend to go with a two
year rule. I find looking back two years is sufficient to see where I've
come from and make decisions about where I'm going. Much less than that and
it is easy to get obsessive.

I've rambled on enough. Have a good month and a great holiday if I don't
see you before then.
cam