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41. Pain-Strain and Auto-immunity 1/22/04
“Based on some psychotherapeutic research, there is evidence that some of our emotional traumas are literally “stored” in the body. They correspond with or are correlated with sensations in particular body locations, and those locations are usually in the torso….when you get into the belly, the heart, etc., you are in potentially active areas.” MIND SCIENCE by Charles T. Tart p.141-2
The somatical experience can be very problematical for most people, due to the
basic fact that the majority of us human folk don’t have a good sense of how to
treat or listen to the body. Those that achieve the mystical union with time and
space are at home in the body and access the states with form. Being respectful
of the body by understanding both its basic needs and the structural
efficiencies is a message we are getting every day.
Being able to work with our body through the pains and strains of living, to me, requires a very fresh look at what is understood about our body. Michael Murphy’s book The Future of the Body gives a fairly clear picture of different methods developed for opening the body and maintaining the body in the most optimum of fashion. Along this line Shamanic or mystical practices are also useful.
For me, to awaken the Auto-immune potentials we have, our trust in the body and our intuition could use some tweaking. Understanding the structure of the body with the application of alignment principles and breathwork provide a root understanding for working with the messages of the body. Any active outer form that we choose to pursue also improves.
The natural body has, I believe, an immune system that is both internally and externally efficient. The body naturally throws up what is distasteful to the internal system and throws off what is adaptively unsound. I feel this is true along the different levels of development also. The adaptive body resonates to what is true while the ignorance’s create nausea and knots to the system.
Let us look at golf as an outer activity for appreciating how the use of information can help us put a little ball in a small hole 450 yards away in four swings. When we practice the sport of golf we are in search of structural feelings so that when we stand up to the ball the most natural and efficient swing can occur while we are balanced and relaxed. We are looking for the natural power in our swing, which, as if by magic and with out effort, sends the ball on a flight that is awe inspiring.
Knowing the elements of
alignment and breathing before hand can make perfecting the golf swing a very
friendly process. Without this, the golf swing may take years of frustrating
effort to come to some reasonable outcome. I have had the good fortune to work
with some professional golfers. After one session with, a winner of the Honda
Classic,
Fulton Allem, said that he was delighted
with how well he played the next day. I also did a session with the winner of
the Masters in 88,
Sandy Lyle. He had a very nice change in his
legs, which did have some alignment problems.
As a subject, physical alignment has it own recognizable features. When applied
the results are experienced directly, for after all, alignment is natures design
feature we are born with. The strains, to our natural experience of being
physically open, come from the external misinformation systems that we also
inherit.
Breathing practices are very rewarding because they reveal the many ways that we can use breath to remain grounded, balanced/centered and spontaneous. Working with alignment, breath is used for expansion and maintenance of our system (form/body). The focus becomes one of opening up the natural spaces in the body that shut down from the abusive aspects of much of the external ignorance.
How we deal with the many pains, strains, tensions and other hidden conditioning factors is, to me, a useful investigation. As the body ages we will experience quite an assortment of sensations that lead us to seeking solutions in a verity of ways. If we were to make a Common Sense list of how we are to approach visiting somatics my list would read;
1. Start Breathing.
2. Feel the sensation.
3. Locate the sensation in the body
4. Be aware of the Emotional Content. (fear, apprehension, mystery, concern,
worry, and or glad to have another somatic to work through.)
If the somatic persists, continue to breath and put it under ‘breath surveillance’, by repeating the first four steps.
5. Seek natural solutions.
6. Find accurate information and authentic friends.
7. Study and practice your findings based on life affirming evidence.
8. Know we are all with you in this endeavor.
9. Unify the inner and outer.
Since our body has an auto-immune system that nature has provided, when we have
our bodies natural openness in place, this auto-immune system can function as
designed. Our own informed participation with our body is a joy to behold.
(The Buddha asked Jesus while sitting and having tea together;) “What can I do to help you, my brother?” “How should we design the practice so it will be understood, accepted and effective, in order to rebuild what has been shattered, to restore what has been lost: faith, courage, and love?” Going Home by Thich Nhat Hanh. Page 198.
Peace
Posted by harmon at January 22, 2004
Comments
This blog is certainly
apropos for the moment (and any other time), as I have recently made some
discoveries leading to major change through simple awareness. I spent the last
three months in excruciating pain in my lower back and hip, as well as my right
foot. I became very distraught for a while, thinking that this was never going
to end (not a very good Buddhist thought!) and then Harmon gave me some simple
alignment exercises, which I then went on to explore further (only to find the
next day, that all my discoveries were laid out clearly in the Hathaway
Alignment book). I discovered, while waiting for a subway, exactly what my
alignment problem was. The next day, after three months of pain, I woke up with
no pain in either my feet or back. I think what was the turning point for me,
was that I seeked help from good friends with expert knowledge, who gave me hope
that I could pull through this, and that gave me the courage to work on this
"problem" with a new, fresh look, and with enthusiasm and lightness. When I was
on the subway platform, I was just playing around, (and getting a lot of
stares), but it was this willingness to abandon all preconceptions, and start
fresh, so that I could truly LISTEN to my body. Thank you Harmon for your simple
and wise words.
Chris
Posted by: chris chalfant on January 23, 2004
Chris I am glad that you were able to work through the problems so directly. What is noteworthy is that we make discoveries because of the difficulties that the body can present. In this respect, we can uncover new methods for handling the same old problems more efficiently, in the present integrative climate. I thank you for sharing this with us and the kind words. Peace
Posted by: Harmon on January 24, 2004
There is a lot of potential reserved within our body. We just need to unleash it. I belong to the movement of people who restore their energy from outerspace. There are so much we don't know about our body. Live and learn, they say.
Posted by: Mark on August 9, 2004
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