It all began roughly one year ago during a retreat that I was planning for a group of people.  I was setting up massage sessions and yoga sessions and art groups and who knows what else...in this process, I met someone; a woman who was offering to lead a session of Zen Touch.  We sat at a table in the middle of a large meeting room; a place where people come and go all moments of the day.  As I sat with her I felt this bubble around us and it was as if it was only the two of us talking in the midst of all the activity.  Have you ever had that experience with someone you meet?  It hasn't happened very often for me so I knew that this lady was something special or at least that we had a very good connection.  We talked about everything under the sun...my work, her work, our dreams, hopes and wishes.  I learned that she practiced homeopathy and massage therapy and that she worked as a doula.  We parted company and she was set  to lead the Zen Touch session. 

The retreat came and went and I knew that I needed to see this lady.  I had a fairly chronic problem with some female issues and was in great need of bodywork as the woman I had worked with for years had recently moved out of state.  So I set an appt. with her for bodywork.  When I entered her office ready for a massage, I quickly discovered that there were other plans in place.  She took a physical, mental,emotional and spiritual history querying me about the origins of my cycle issues, life history, patterns and much, much more.   As the story unfolded, it became clear that I wasn't there for a  massage but that what I really needed was her wisdom around homeopathy.  I left her office with a feeling of hope and excitement.  I knew that she had really heard the fears, worries, dreams and physical manifestations that result from those thoughts and I knew that she would work hard on my behalf to help me walk this journey. 

What I have come to learn is that Homeopathy is not only science but also artistry. This kind of work takes time and reflection.   She spent a month reviewing all my indicators, matching them to homeopathic matrices and provings and at the end of that month, she had made a decision about which remedy would be best for me.
 
 
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I can often be heard asking people to tell me their story.  I'm interested and I know that I can learn so much from hearing other people's experiences...with this in mind, I begin my next series of entries to tell you about a new and yet old story unfolding for me.  It is my hope that the telling of this story may help others in some small way...

I have been on a bit of a journey for a little while now and more recently have been working with an amazing woman who specializes in homeopathy.  While not entirely serious or grave, I have struggled with some physical symptoms that require my attention.  What is beautiful about the homeopathy process is that, like my orientation, homeopathy believes that illness originates in mental and emotional processes.  Certainly there are "organic" origins but much of what ails begins in our noodle!  She took a history unlike any that I have ever experienced.  This woman knows more about me inside and out than any other practitioner I've met.  She can now listen to something I say and tell me what my core feelings are in absolutely accurate terms.  She uses all of this data to analyze what my constitutional needs are and to recommend a remedy to help support me in moving towards greater balance.  There is amazing science behind this and I will, in the next few posts, insert links to this fascinating research.  In any case, the journey that I would like to share with you over the next several entries will tell the story of what it has been like to walk this road.  The remedy brings to the forefront of your experience a you like you might not have known or seen in awhile.  The lessons are immense.  This is not a magic pill that erases all symptoms but rather a natural counterpoint that requires the user to do their work.  It has taken me into interesting art, writing, dream work and reflection.  The intelligence of the process is astounding.  My commitment is to write a little each day for the next couple of weeks until I get the story out.  Much more to come...
 
 
My two lovely children have been battling a little with each other of late and while this may not seem like a topic for this expressive arts site....it is!  Both children complain that the other never listens to him/her.  They feel quite strongly that they would be happier if the other would only do what he/she wants them to do. Sound familiar?  I find that when am in a situation that feels bad to me, I've usually got a should story running.   Someone or  something is not as I deem it should be and of course, I am right.   Well,  how does that work for you?  Not so well  for me either.

Well....here is what I told my children.  When someone is bugging me,  I have to ask myself, ' what have I been focusing on'.  I used an example from a few years back when my husband and I were in a less happy place.  A friend asked me whether I was focusing more on what bothered me about my husband or more on what I loved about him.  The answer was a resounding...what bothers me.  Here's the truth:  What you focus on, you get!  That is just the way it is.  Here is the proof.  I sat down after that and wrote down all the things I loved about my husband. I read it in the morning, I read it during lunch,  I ready when I had a break, I read it in the evening and I especially read it when something was happening that I didn't like.  I talked, breathed, lived all that I loved about him.  With a little bit of effort and some dedication to focusing on what I loved, I got more of what I loved and less of what I  don't love.  Even now, when something happens and say for example, he takes a stronger tone than I love...he'll stop and apologize explaining that his level of frustration was over the top and he had to let it out.  So even the not so desirable is even easier to take.  My kids were surprised by this and a little resistant.  They wanted to be right more than they wanted to feel better.  I feel that way sometimes too.  I recently went through something where I didn't want to hear anything about shifting my focus and that sometimes there are situations that are just wrong...true, but if I hold on to it and hold on to it, then I am the one who suffers.  So try it,  Shift your focus and see what happens.  If you need help doing it,  create some art around it...the visuals are really powerful!!!!  Create art all about what you love about your partner, your life, your kids, your boss, your....  Then let the image fill your mind every time you find yourself in that situation.  See what happens.