How the Mysteries may save us

Well, it’s Sunday, and I have a bunch of stuff on my mind. I’m hoping that as I write, it starts to morph into a coherent throughline, but I’m not making any promises! I totally understand if you stop reading this right now and go play outside. BUT, it might be worth it to stay with me. We’ll see.

I’ve been picking up on a current in the ether lately that is capturing my interest. I’m noticing a few different threads, actually, but I think they are all part of the same rope. Or wave. I think I started to mix metaphors there.

Thread #1: Slow down to save yourselves and the world

I recently finished the book Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future. It is written by 4 uber-distinguished individuals – Peter Senge (MIT lecturer), Otto Scharmer (another MIT lecturer), Joseph Jawarski (cofounder of the Global Leadership Initiative), and Betty Sue Flowers (Director of the Johnson Presidential library). And – OMG – I just realized my copy is signed by Peter Senge. Whoa.

ANYWAY

This book by fancy schmancy super smart people basically reiterates the yogic sentiment that we are all parts of whole, and we need to start thinking less about Me and more about We; otherwise, life as we know it will end (aka The Requiem Scenario). HAPPY SUNDAY! But to do this, we need to develop presence. We need to observe the world as it is and as we are, we need to retreat and reflect and allow inner knowing to emerge and become a vehicle for something new to arise, and we need to take action on what arises.

That first step is critical – we MUST develop self-awareness in order to break out of the matrix of our conditioning and see something new. But guess what! Just like we talked about last week in the post about Somatic Experiencing, in order to develop self-awareness you have to slow the f*ck down!! (Don’t ask me why I am more comfortable using a euphemism for “f*ck” than the actual word. I probably need to do some self-reflection on why I feel it necessary to use the word at all if I am not comfortable using the real word. Brains be weird!!).

Thread #2: There is still some magic left in the world.

We (and me) are made of Mystery. We think that because we know why the sky is blue and where rainbows come from, there is no more magic in the world. But oh boy. We could not be more wrong!

Two examples from Presence really struck me:

On page 200, the authors discuss a study that showed that random number generators (RNGs) around the world behaved in HIGHLY NON-RANDOM WAYS on 9/11/01. The RNGs are protected from forces that could affect their randomness, yet, on 9/11 the non-random behavior began at 5AM and peaked at 11AM, EDT, matching the timelines of events that day. WTF?! Me affects We.
On page 247, the authors discuss a study done by a Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto. He used MRIs to take pictures of the crystals formed when water freezes. As you read the following, please remember that we humans are about 70% water (and the earth is covered about 70% by water). Mr. Emoto took photos of water from sacred sources, from polluted sources, and from distilled water. The crystals formed by natural springs and sacred sources were GORGEOUS. They looked like beautiful stained glass works of art. The crystals from the polluted water looked like a slug, but uglier. The distilled water had no structure to it – it looked just like a nebulous blob. UNTIL. When they played music around the distilled water, the water formed crystals that “seem to visually reflect the essence of the music – the geometric precision of Bach, the balance of order and flow of Mozart, the beautiful simplicity of folk music.” They also had a priest pray over some distilled water for an hour, and when they took new pictures, the water formed amazing 7-sided crystals. The priest had prayed to the Seven Bezaiten, the Goddesses of Fortune.” WHOA. (I want to note that his work is controversial – some experts think it’s quackery and others think it’s legit. And maybe, both things are true??).

What’s the point of me sharing this with you?
1. To give you hope. The world is full of strife and pain and potential destruction, but it’s also full of joy and wonder and the infinite creative possibility.
2. To remind me and you that by taking care of our own body, mind, and spirit, we can literally positively impact the entire network of life (we’re all part of a connected field).
3. To reinforce how powerful our thoughts are. If thoughts (aka prayer) can change the crystallization of water, and we are 70% water, what are we doing to our bodies (and our pain experience) with our thoughts? You can find more science related to this concept in this article I wrote a few years ago.
4. Changing our thoughts can be super difficult, especially patterns of thought that have been with us since we formed our impression of the world as toddlers. But an accessible first step is to participate in a contemplative practice like meditation or journaling, so we can start to build awareness of our mind stream.

There you go. I found the book very inspiring and really enjoyed its message of hope, so I wanted to share it with you.

I’ll leave you with a quote from a recent interview with Dr. Roger Walsh on the Neurohacker podcast. This quote reminded me that it’s OK (and actually a good thing) to sit in confusion and paradox.

“All is mystery, and here is our best guess.”

We don’t know what we don’t know, and what we know is probably going to end up being proven wrong some day. It’s all just an educated guess.

Space to be Human Lab

If you are interested in developing more presence, either by developing a meditation habit or by exploring embodiment practices, I can help! You can book a 60-minute embodiment session here: Booking link. I also am currently offering free 30 minute sessions focused on the Somatic Experiencing work.
If you have a friend, coworker, or loved one who is in pain, and you would like to help them feel better, please let them know they can use this code for $10 off their first session: FEELBETTER.

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Pain is weird.

We often think that the cause of pain is due to something “wrong” with our bodies. We blew out that knee in a skiing accident in high school. We have “horrible posture” while we sit at our desks all day. My dad had a bad back; his dad had a bad back; I therefore have a bad back.

All these things could be true.

And they could all be contributing to the experience of pain in your knee, your shoulders, your back.

But what else could be true?

Could you have knee pain because when you went to the doctor back in high school, he told you, “Someday you’ll get arthritis in there”? Would you have pain if that thought seed had never been planted by a trusted authority figure?

Could it be true that you thinking all day, “Ugh, my posture is horrible. I really should sit up straight” is causing unnecessary tension in your traps and jaw and gut, thereby increasing your pain?

Could it be true that since your lineage is riddled with back pain, at the first twinge of something… interesting… in your back, you start to restrict your movements, start to baby your back, and start to become hyperaware of any possibly dangerous sensations in your back? You move less (and therefore lose out on the amazing benefits of exercise) and train your system to get really, really good at noticing pain.

Pain is weird!

I had a first-hand experience with how weird pain can be a couple of weeks ago. I am in a 3-year Somatic Experiencing Trauma Resolution training program, and as part of that program, I have to do several sessions with trained practitioner. During my last session, with a woman named Erin Diedling, I asked if we could work on the pain in my low back. As Erin helped me stay present with the sensations in that area, I noticed that while, at that exact moment, I wasn’t noticing anything in my back, I DID notice a slight area of discomfort at the tip of my tailbone. We spent some time noticing the sensation, describing it (it feel like brown sludge), and then Erin asked something like, “What do you hear, what message do you get when you focus on this sensation?”

Well, first of all, I had to tell her that when I work with therapists, I have this huge impulse to try to figure out what they WANT me to say. It’s SO hard to figure out how I really feel, what I really think. I just want to make the therapist happy and give them the RIGHT answer – the RIGHT answer about how I am feeling and what I am thinking. Yes, I know it sounds nuts, but well, that’s me. J

I told this to Erin and she assuaged my anxiety by telling me that wanting to please the therapist is actually a pretty common thing. She added (and I’m paraphrasing), “If you DID know the right answer (and you do). What would the answer be? And remember, whatever answer you give is perfect and is 100% correct.”

Well, that helped me dive under the shell of people-pleasing and become more open to what my body had to say. And the message I heard was “Get off your ass.”

We spent the next few minutes talking about how “getting off my ass” by excelling in school, by being the good girl, and by doing what I was told and making my parents and the authority figures in my congregation proud of me served me well as a youth, and how that action-orientation helped me differentiate myself from the beautiful and talented group of ladies I hung out with.

So, this Part of me served a vital purpose in my life – it got me attention and love. But do I still need it? Erin asked if I wanted to retire this part of me, and I noticed I was reluctant to let it go away completely. I decided to put it on the shelf, so I can bring it out again when needed – when I really need to get some Sh*t done!

And you know what?

At the end of the session my tailbone pain was gone.

I haven’t felt it again since that session on 6/8.

Pain is weird.

What is your pain trying to tell you? Why is it trying to get your attention? What stories are you telling yourself about your pain that might not be true? What would happen if you took a pause and opened a non-judgmental, open-hearted chat with your pain? You might find out something interesting!

Space to be Human Lab

If you would like some help in figuring out what might be contributing to your pain, you can book a session with me here.

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Category: Pain

Don’t Read Me if You’re a Muggle

How the Mysteries may save us

A message from my butt…