the baby healer uses what she has learned,
she focuses on technique because her confidence is low.
she has love in her heart,
but fear keeps it from flowing.
She touches with hesitation.
When she feels wonderful things happening
she opens up to the possibility,
'maybe I can do it.'
the mature healer does not hesitate.
She knows she can do it. Her hands
are full of love, and her first touch puts at ease.
In her confidence, she may get lazy, her mind may wander.
Then, when she notices it not working,
her confidence can be shaken.
So she must focus harder;
She must heal in constant prayer.
the master healer knows
that it is her loving mind and heart that heals;
the healing is accomplished by her presence
when she enters the room.
There is nothing more to do.
Therefore, technique does not matter; she makes it up.
Whatever is fun and feels good.
She has practiced the loving heart;
it cannot be affected by feeling or doubt.
She knows the love of god is with her, and so with her receiver.
She does not look for proof.
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Friday, April 9, 2004
be still my beating mind
If your mind races out of control, there are 4 basic approaches that can calm it down:
1) Get away from the stimulus.
By removing ourselves from the source of stressful thoughts, we can get the space we need to decompress and re-center ourselves. This involves a manipulation of our external environment, which is not always easily under our control.
Examples: leaving the crowd, quitting the job, breaking up with the boyfriend, stopping reading the newspaper.
Problems: Sometimes there is reason for us not to leave. We need the money, the relationship is worth it despite some problems. In which case, the next three ways help us manage ourselves in whatever external circumstances.
2) Move your body.
When the body moves, energy that fuels thinking comes down into our body, leaving our mind clear.
Examples: Exercise, cleaning.
Pitfalls: We have to put 100% energy into moving our body in order to purge a thought. If we half-ass push-ups, or are distracted during sex, thoughts will hide in the part of our mind that abstains from the activity.
At the same time, if a meditative activity (such as walking or folding) is sustained long enough, we experience a calming effect that can help us increase our awareness and process our thoughts more clearly.
3) Increase your awareness
Becoming aware of our thought process can give us more power in relation to it. When we see things from a higher perspective, we can identify patterns, perspective, and appreciation that do not branch from the thought process itself.
God is the most common context used to broaden our perspective, reduce anxiety about a situation and forgive ourselves. However, many less overarching approaches can help us in the same direction.
Examples: Prayer, journaling, meditation; talking or thinking it out.
Pitfalls: Mental awareness usually relates to our physical energy level. Awareness can get us through moments of confusion or crisis, but for a more stable change in thoughts or in faith, we must also change our behaviors (i.e. via moving your body; see # 2).
Often, flashes of awareness help us to see positive changes we would do well to make. To maintain higher awareness, we must act to make those changes, consistently over time. (Tiger woods practices a swing 1,000 times for every minor correction).
4) Distract yourself.
A cut on your finger can hurt like hell, but you'll forget about it if the room behind you is on fire. When something important to us seizes our attention, the problems we think we have are reduced in importance.
Examples: Pouring yourself into work or a project, being faced with a crisis, helping those in need.
Pitfalls: This tactic can look a lot like denial. Be careful to consult your heart and distract yourself only to the degree that you truly want to forget about something. Sometimes, distraction can become compulsive, as in the case of addiction. Be careful to be aware how much and with what you distract yourself.
Note: In order for these tactics to work, we must have taken action all we can or is wise to do, and be at a place of wanting to interrupt the thought process itself in our mind. If we believe the problem still needs to be “solved?- and sometimes it does - then our minds will have trouble letting it go. The above tactics work only when thinking itself is the problem and we realize it is our minds that must be dealt with.
1) Get away from the stimulus.
By removing ourselves from the source of stressful thoughts, we can get the space we need to decompress and re-center ourselves. This involves a manipulation of our external environment, which is not always easily under our control.
Examples: leaving the crowd, quitting the job, breaking up with the boyfriend, stopping reading the newspaper.
Problems: Sometimes there is reason for us not to leave. We need the money, the relationship is worth it despite some problems. In which case, the next three ways help us manage ourselves in whatever external circumstances.
2) Move your body.
When the body moves, energy that fuels thinking comes down into our body, leaving our mind clear.
Examples: Exercise, cleaning.
Pitfalls: We have to put 100% energy into moving our body in order to purge a thought. If we half-ass push-ups, or are distracted during sex, thoughts will hide in the part of our mind that abstains from the activity.
At the same time, if a meditative activity (such as walking or folding) is sustained long enough, we experience a calming effect that can help us increase our awareness and process our thoughts more clearly.
3) Increase your awareness
Becoming aware of our thought process can give us more power in relation to it. When we see things from a higher perspective, we can identify patterns, perspective, and appreciation that do not branch from the thought process itself.
God is the most common context used to broaden our perspective, reduce anxiety about a situation and forgive ourselves. However, many less overarching approaches can help us in the same direction.
Examples: Prayer, journaling, meditation; talking or thinking it out.
Pitfalls: Mental awareness usually relates to our physical energy level. Awareness can get us through moments of confusion or crisis, but for a more stable change in thoughts or in faith, we must also change our behaviors (i.e. via moving your body; see # 2).
Often, flashes of awareness help us to see positive changes we would do well to make. To maintain higher awareness, we must act to make those changes, consistently over time. (Tiger woods practices a swing 1,000 times for every minor correction).
4) Distract yourself.
A cut on your finger can hurt like hell, but you'll forget about it if the room behind you is on fire. When something important to us seizes our attention, the problems we think we have are reduced in importance.
Examples: Pouring yourself into work or a project, being faced with a crisis, helping those in need.
Pitfalls: This tactic can look a lot like denial. Be careful to consult your heart and distract yourself only to the degree that you truly want to forget about something. Sometimes, distraction can become compulsive, as in the case of addiction. Be careful to be aware how much and with what you distract yourself.
Note: In order for these tactics to work, we must have taken action all we can or is wise to do, and be at a place of wanting to interrupt the thought process itself in our mind. If we believe the problem still needs to be “solved?- and sometimes it does - then our minds will have trouble letting it go. The above tactics work only when thinking itself is the problem and we realize it is our minds that must be dealt with.
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