The Breath of Life

Open to the Magic of Flow

There is a tidal flow within you. This tide was the first motion within your tiny baby body as you formed in your mother’s womb; its gentle waves actually helped your physical body to grow. Many Craniosacral Therapists and Osteopaths call this flow the “Breath of Life”  because it is so important to human development.

This rhythmic tide flows around and within your brain and spinal column for your entire life. This motion within your cerebrospinal fluid has a profound impact on the performance of nerves throughout your brain and body. Small restrictions in the tissues around your brain and spine can inhibit the flow and block the breath of life. And a restricted flow can cause severe sensory and motor problems such as chronic pain, palsy, loss of sensation or movement, hyperactivity, headaches, insomnia and sucking, chewing or speech difficulties. 

CranioSacral Flow has been part of my healing practice for 20 years. I have synthesized many of  the teachings of Sutherland, Becker, Sills, Upledger and Milne into my energetic version of CranioSacral Therapy because I believe that helping your nervous system return to its healthy, flowing and juicy state is absolutely key to healing. 

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“Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.”

~Lao Tzu in Tao Te Ching

fractal flame

Nancy Lankston
Elemental Flow

Holding Space for You

I’d like to share a potent mindfulness practice with you today.

In this 10 minute exercise, I guide you through creating and holding a sacred space for yourself. Holding space is simple yet so powerful!  It is about being as grounded in your bones as a mountain is to Mother Earth. And at the same time being as open and spacious as the sky, and as flowing and reflective as a lake.  Relax and just play with the guided imagery…

Heart Power

Open your Heart!

I want to share a great Video on the Power of the Human Heart, Center of Unity Consciousness. The value of energetic coherence is explained. And tons of info from the Institute of HeartMath is shared.

This new research into the energies of the human heart is amazing. And it’s quite different from what I learned about the human heart in Nursing School. Feels expansive and true to me. What else is your heart capable of? 🙂

Do Conscious Beings Get Triggered?

Hideous Swamp, Beautiful Swamp

Emotion is as natural for humans as breathing.  
I don’t make my breathing right or wrong, so why do it with my emotions?

It’s been an interesting week; I have spent more time than I care to remember in my swamp.  By swamp I mean a sticky, tangled, mess of uncomfortable emotions within myself. I don’t like my emotional swamp much – a lot of what I experience in the swamp sucks – it hurts. And then I add to my pain by judging myself for feeling this sticky, yucky crap in the first place. I would love to avoid my swamp.

Isn’t life supposed to turn into bliss and pure joy when I open up to more consciousness?  Have I failed because I still get triggered after all these years of mindful awareness training?  Am I doing this consciousness thing wrong if I still get pissed and sad and scared?

But, wait a minute!  All humans emote about their experiences – even beings as aware as Gandhi and Jesus felt emotions. Our bodies are wired to flow with emotion.  Emotion is as natural for humans as breathing.  I don’t make my breathing right or wrong, so why do it with my emotions?

Every experience I have can trigger emotional reactions, not just the yummy experiences.  Where did I get the idea that becoming conscious meant never being triggered, never feeling “yucky” emotions?  Isn’t that just a really sneaky way to judge myself and find myself lacking?  Just what I need – another way to beat myself up and make myself bad or wrong. NOT!

And what if being more aware in each moment elicits even more emotion within me?   All those sensations about this moment that I used to block or ignore are now available to me in my new state of awareness. What if those sensations trigger MORE emotions as I respond to all the new information I am now aware of? Is that somehow wrong?

And isn’t it just another form of judgment to label emotions  good or bad, acceptable or repulsive?  How is it going to help me to label my emotions as OK and not OK?  Can I let go of the idea that some human emotions are a sign of unconsciousness or inferiority?

We are emotional creatures. Trying to stop emotion is like trying to halt the flow of water. Can I allow my emotions to flow without stuffing them?  And can I stop judging myself right or wrong for feeling the way I feel in each moment?

What happens if I embrace it all – my grief, my anger, my fear?  Can I allow my emotions to be waves washing through me? What happens if I embrace ALL of me – even the parts I don’t like – in every moment?

“It’s not that you won’t be triggered anymore.
It’s that you won’t have a problem being triggered anymore.”
–Panache Desai

Instructions to the Cook

What I’m reading now: Zen lessons in working with whatever life presents

I found this little gem of a book 10-15 years ago. Time for another read!

AND…

What I’m eating as I read this fabulous book… a mixed greens salad with left-over beef tossed in and drizzled with Newman’s Own Tuscan Italian dressing. I’m sipping on a strawberry margarita, made with the last few strawberries in the house.

(Can you tell I didn’t need to cook for my hubby and daughter this evening?!)