Suggestions for Healthy Living and How Shiatsu and Transformational Healing Sessions Can Assist You In Accomplishing Your Goals

It is hard to believe that it has been so long since I last posted. When I started this blog I was having trouble with insomnia so all of my entries were made late at night when I was awake and my mind was active. I stopped writing when I transcended the imbalance, started sleeping well and the busyness of life took over. I am now recommitted to making an entry at least once a month. Please note: All past entries to my blog are informational so they remain relevant no matter how old. Please review old posts for inspiration and information. Thanks - Nancy

1.    Become conscious of the lifestyle habits that make you feel great (Expansive, happy and full of vitality) and of those that deplete. (Fatigue, stressed, depressed): The first step to transforming anything is to increase awareness, acknowledge what is and set a conscious intention to shift for the highest good. Try to observe your habits without judgment and honestly ask yourself ”Is this working for me?” If not, you can choose to transform an issue or situation yet you must be committed to the process. You do have choice in change but it must come from within. Receiving regular shiatsu/transformational healing sessions assists the body and mind in developing awareness and brings balance, which helps in the process of recreating your life.

2.    Notice your emotions. Are you holding onto anger, fear, resentment, sadness, guilt, blame or shame? Feeling emotion is part of the beauty of being human. All emotions are valid as a response to certain situations. As long as an emotion is processed and expressed in a healthy way it dissipates and resolves. Emotions and issues not adequately processed can be held in the internal organs, muscle tissues and cells of the of the body and may cause an imbalance of energy. This can lead to fatigue, depression and if held long term – disease. Learn to let go and let live. Forgive and forget. Having fun assists this process. Allow yourself to enjoy life and indulge with moderation. Treatments help to unlock the tissues and release issues and unwind stuck emotions from the cellular memory.

3.    Take action now (Just do it!): Shift the mindset of “ I will do it later (tomorrow)” Set healthy deadlines that are doable and allow yourself to appreciate your accomplishments. Don’t stress and enjoy the process. Shiatsu recharges the adrenals, which is the energy in charge of impetus, which allows you to move forward and accomplish things efficiently.

4.    Frugality and simplicity as a lifestyle: Eliminate what is not needed in life. Anything that weighs you down and gets in the way of living fully. Removing excess leaves room to expand and feel energized. Saturation creates heavy energy. Being frugal can also mean buying high quality items but being more selective. With food it may mean eating better quality and smaller amounts. Treatments increase awareness and help you to identify what really matters.

5.    Be present and breathe: Live in the present moment. Breathe in the air that supplies us with vitality and life. Breathing helps you to be more in touch with yourself, your body and your priorities. It brings clarity of mind, inner peace and focus. Realize that the past is just a memory that cannot be changed. Choose to release anything from the past that gets in the way of creating your future. The future is yet to happen and cannot be predicted so there is no sense worrying about it. You can begin to take steps to create your future, which begins in each new moment. Live and enjoy the “Now” Appreciate what you have instead complaining about what is missing. Notice the simple things that can satisfy. . Shiatsu and transformational healing increases breath capacity, which in turn increases your capacity for living. Treatments assist in the process of going within, of being in the” here and now” allowing you to be more present and open to a whole new realm of possibility.

Acknowledge your spiritual self: We are spiritual beings having a human experience. It does not matter what you choose as your belief, religion or practice. As long as it resonates with your personal truth. Embracing your spiritual self helps you to develop a better relationship with your body, mind and emotions and the process of life itself. Treatments act as a conduit for the discovery personal truth and finding a personal spiritual focus and path.

Winter / A Time For Renewal

Eastern Philosophy reminds us that we are an integral part of nature, not separate from it. When the energy of nature turns inwards to rest and replenish as it does in the winter months it is a time for renewal. Winter is a time to be kind to yourself. To work on recharging the adrenals, which act as an inner battery for the body.

If you feel drained or depressed in winter it may be a sign of imbalance caused by not being able to adapt to the flow of the season. For some people it may be due to the shorter days and lack of sunshine causing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) In this case a light box often helps.

By far the  most common cause of low energy is the stress that comes with living in our modern world. Coping with everyday stress takes away a lot of our vital energy. When energy is drained it is hard for the adrenals to recharge. This can get magnified in winter. It will be easier to cope the rest of the year if precautions are taken to restore in this season. The fact that we should slow down and replenish ourselves this time of year is easier said then done. Shifting a few lifestyle habits can go a long way to combat fatigue and help you to restore. Try  going to bed a little earlier then your usual even if it is only by 15 to 30 minutes. This time adds up and gives your body an extra boost of vitality. An exercise program is extremely effective at helping you to manage chronic stress and promote energy flow within your body at any time of the year. Be careful not to over do it in winter as it is better to exercise for 30 minutes a day and leave the more strenuous workouts for the warmer seasons and longer days.

Eastern Medicine advises eating warming food in the winter to increase energy. Soups and stews made out of root vegetables are comforting, warming and grounding. There are many healing foods you can eat to give your energy level a boost. Poor diet is a big contributor to low energy levels, as many people tend to eat foods that provide a rapid energy boost that burns out quickly rather than foods that have a sustainable energy content to support you throughout the day. Especially this time of year you should consider starting the day with a high-quality protein breakfast, which will stay with you longer and provide the energy needed to keep you warm and healthy. This way you are supporting your energy level needed for season. 

Big winter energizers are nuts and seeds, daikon radish, legumes and different sources of seaweed. Drinking green tea and adding chia, flax and hemp seeds to your food, supply protein, fiber and healthy omega oils help support healthy digestion. Antioxidant rich berries like cranberries, blueberries, and cherries along with the use of lemon added to water, tea and food, help remove toxins from your system, which are often a root cause of low energy. Lastly, make sure you drink plenty of water each day to flush your system and stay hydrated. Many people drink less water in the winter because of the cooler climate. Pure water is essential in every season.  Overall, if you take extra time to care for yourself now, you will be rewarded with renewed energy in the spring as nature begins anew and starts to expand.

The New Year & the Restorative Energy of Winter

Let the New Year and the restorative energy of winter provide you with an opportunity to renew. Be present to the energy of the season: contemplation, rest, tranquility and peace. Let go of the surface stress and look within and embrace your personal wisdom. Honor yourself by realizing how you have grown and acknowledge what you have learned in the past year. Consciously release anything that does not serve your highest good. Let go of anything that weighs you down or follows you around and interferes with you living fully and designing a life you love so you can start fresh in 2012.

This can be done in a number of ways. You can write down what you wish to let go of and burn, bury or rip up and throw it away metaphorically releasing it. It can be done with affirmations, intentions and prayers. Having a conversation with friends, supporting one another in the process and vowing to hold each other accountable for creating what you desire. Life is a continuous flow of new beginnings and endings. Every day and each year is a new opportunity to celebrate life. A time to start fresh, create anew and to manifest the next year of your life.

Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi is the name used to represent the Japanese “Zen” viewpoint on the acceptance of the transformation of all things, including the flaws within beauty and the wisdom of natural simplicity that shifts over time. The mind set is to find beauty and perfection within imperfection. It honors asymmetry, irregularity, simplicity and the integrity of natural objects and processes as they age as well as the shifts in the human body that take place over a lifetime. It involves the acceptance of the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death.

The concept of Wabi Sabi nurtures all that is authentic. It acknowledges three simple realities: 1) nothing lasts, 2) nothing is finished, and 3) nothing is perfect. What would the world be like if we were self-accepting and honored these simple truths? Instead we struggle with the effects of time and the beauty of the wisdom of age by replacing old objects with new and trying to alter our bodies. The concept of Wabi Sabi encourages us to be respectful of age, both in things and in ourselves. It teaches us to be content with what we have rather than always striving for more. Too many people live in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction, which prevents us from fully living.  Wabi Sabi doesn’t mean settling for less than you deserve and it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to improve your situation. Instead it’s about balance and contentment rather than striving for the unattainable. It encourages us to accept our own flaws as well as our wisdom and gifts.

The word “Wabi” refers to rustic simplicity, harmony, peace, tranquility, and balance. It can be applied to nature, man-made objects and the human body. It refers to a life style of being humble and satisfied with the simple things in life. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction in an object, which adds uniqueness and elegance. It is a concept of seeing value in the many differences in cultures, appearances and lifestyles. 

The word “Sabi” means the beauty or serenity that comes with age or the bloom of time. When the life of an object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs. It involves the understanding that beauty is fleeting. It is the lines of wisdom that appear on our faces as we age and the ability to do so naturally with dignity and grace.

Understanding Wabi Sabi is seen as the first step to enlightenment or “Satori. It is a way of living life through the senses and finding fascination in differences, instead of fault and judgment. It is a concept of engaging in life as it happens, rather than being caught up in unnecessary thoughts. When you open up to being surrounded by simple, natural, changing, unique objects, people and experiences it is a vehicle to connect to the real world and escape the potentially stressful distractions of everyday life.

Transformation, Healing and Resistance

Genesha: Overcoming Resistance and Life Obstacles

Resistance is a common human response to the process of change. It almost always shows up as a response to something that is forced. You may find yourself in resistance to many different aspects of your life including your lifestyle, relationships, environment and your reaction to work, the opinions and actions of others, exercise, food and health. This includes your own response to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual issues and may affect your ability to heal. It is often an unconscious response that the mind uses to protect itself from a shift in consciousness that may be perceived as threatening.

Resistance is a contractive form of energy that may show up as anxiety, depression, disease, fatigue, lack of motivation, blame, procrastination, excuses, forgetfulness, confusion, being confrontational and argumentative. What you resist continues to persist. With awareness you can learn how to use resistance as a tool to find inner balance and peace. The key to transformation and healing is to surrender to resistance. If you can anticipate, honor and do the work to rise above resistance, it is an opportunity for your energy to expand and your consciousness to shift. You begin to be open to new possibilities. Expansive energy is happy, hopeful motivated, harmonious and grounded. As you become more aware you begin to catch yourself in your resistance and have the ability to choose a new behavior around it.

One of the most common reasons for resistance is fear. This includes the fear of loss, fear of change, fear of the unknown. Trust is a key component to overcoming resistance as trust helps to overcome fear. From a health standpoint, many people unconsciously identify their illness with who they are. They are unconsciously afraid of what life would be like if they actually felt good. Others are afraid of the illness itself and do not trust that the wisdom of the body has the ability to heal. This causes internal resistance that may impede the healing process. The rational mind makes up reasons for resistance and avoiding change, which supports denial. You cannot transform anything that you do not acknowledge.  Denial and resistance sets you up for an entrenched pattern of imbalance that may lead to disease.  The payoff of being in resistance is that you do not have to take responsibility for yourself, your actions, your life, or your health.

What is most interesting is that when resistance is at its strongest it is also the best catalyst for transformation. It is the last barrier to break through before permanent behavior change takes place. The greater the resistance to an issue is, the more profound the transformation around it can be. Each individual’s lifestyle, belief system and conditioning will determine how threatening a change will be perceived and the amount of resistance is in direct proportion to that perception.

Reality Shift / Letting go of Resistance

When resistance is released it makes energetic space for a reality shift, which can happen due to a new experience that has the potential to radically change a learned belief system. It can also happen around healing when one has the conviction to release resistance concerning an illness. If you can embrace and love whatever is going on in your body as a divine part of yourself and not treat it as an enemy that you must wage war against, you have a much better chance of finding peace with it. Disease is a message from the body that something has gone awry and needs not only medical attention but also loving care. Finding inner peace is a big aspect of healing. Identifying and letting go of those thoughts, actions and things that you resist will assist you in developing a new relationship with yourself, your body, your personal truth, and the spirit that you hold within.

Transformational Healing: Unwinding Cellular Memory & Setting your Spirit Free

Transformational Healing: Unwinding Cellular Memory & Setting your Spirit Free

Unwinding Cellular Memory & Setting your Spirit Free

Are you aware that the body retains physical, mental and emotional trauma and stress in the cells, tissues and organs? The Eastern Medical model works from the standpoint that your state of well-being is equal to the sum of your constitution, genetics and all the experiences and emotions you have felt and processed over your life time. If you do not process emotions and other stressful life events efficiently and do not have the tools to let go and release trauma when it happened, your internal organs can record and absorb the energy, emotion and stress associated with it. This can set off a psychosomatic reaction every time something in life reminds the subconscious of the original stressor. If your system gets overloaded by multiple traumas it can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (PTSD)

Each organ in the body is connected to a specific emotion and linked together by the energetic matrix of meridians and chakras. The organs react and are affected differently depending on the intensity and duration of stress and what emotions are involved. Depending on your personality type and constitution you may have a vulnerable or weak area.  A physical stress can trigger an emotional issue or emotions can trigger a physical response. Symptoms can vary greatly and can include muscular tension, fatigue, digestive issues, headaches, insomnia, depression, breathing issues and beyond.

Emotional Connections to the 5 Elements / Copyright Nancy Web 2011

The first step to healing is to develop an awareness of the psycho-emotional connection to your body. Knowledge is a vehicle that sets healing in motion and allows you to start consciously letting go. This creates a clearing for transformation of past issues and a more optimum state of well-being.

The power of touch, which assists the balance and movement of energy can help to release cellular stress from the body/mind. One of the goals of eastern and energy healing techniques is to unwind layers of tension so they do not become entrenched within the body causing imbalance and dis-ease. Shiatsu, Acupressure, Craniosacral Therapy and Somatic Emotion Release techniques work to access and let go of layers of cellular stress held in the organs, body tissues and subconscious and prevents new layers from forming. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) allows the mind to let go of the charge around past issues. The past becomes the past as a memory but without the emotional/physical response. The goal is to connect and facilitate healing of the body, mind and spirit.  Being empowered to let go of the past, to have the freedom to stop worrying about the future, to feel great as you enjoy the present and to set your spirit free!