Gadhafi out of my Torso! – 20 Massages in 2 Months (Massage #18)

 "If 6 turns out to be 9, I don't mind!" - Jimi Hendrix

I received Massage #18 from Karen Joy at the Well-Being Center for Health in Monroe, WA.  Click here to see a picture of Karen.

During Massage #17 it became clear that an overthrow of ruling energies – one paralleling the populist movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya – was happening within my own energy field.  In this personal revolution, my inner-attorney plays the role of Mubarak or Gadhafi – overbearing energies that do not take into account the true needs of others, and that rule, it seems, without true awareness of the suffering they inflict.  In my case, my inner-attorney wants to enforce a lifestyle that for me spells the death of the soul and importantly, in the past, led to persistent physical illness and emotional imbalance – in short unhappiness, a decline in health and emotional imbalance as well as a host of other challenges.

To date my inner-attorney, through an unwillingness to let go, has brought numbness in the right arm and shoulder and tightness to my right lower back or QL muscles.  (Importantly, while work on these muscles  revealed my inner-attorney ranting about the impracticality and even danger of a spiritual calling, work on the left side has shown a female ballet dancer.  She has not danced in a while but knows that it is time.  While my inner attorney argues and refuses to gives way, she quietly ignores his protests, shuts herself in her dance studio, straps on her ballet slippers and begins to stretch. When she does speak it is only to say, “I want to dance.”)

At the end of yesterday’s blog post, I wondered if and how the violence of upheaval in the middle east might show itself in my energy field during this personal revolution.  Parallels between individual and collective change and revolution are not merely symbolic.  Both involve the breakdown of outdated consciousness.  Both involve the movement of kundalini energy which brings lost power back into conscious awareness thereby enhancing our ability to affect the realities in which we live.  Finally, both processes are potentially volatile.  This is because as forces push from the bottom – whether repressed people as in social upheaval or repressed energy as in the personal revolution – and gather strength and determination, if energies from above refuse to yield, the pressure of upward movement with no relief will create an explosion.  This explosion can take the form of violent protests or, in the case of the personal revolution, injury to body or energy field. 

This is I learned firsthand as my question about how the violence of upheaval might show up in the personal revolution was answered shortly after finishing yesterday’s blog post.

After drafting the post I was feeling the spirit of change taking hold in the middle east.  I put on one of my favorite songs of rebellion – one I used to listen to frequently when I practiced public interest law:  Jimi’s Hendrix’s “If Six Was Nine.”  What stands out about this song for me is Hendrix’s defiance and his refusal to be defined by a social reality that does not serve him.  Key lyrics go something like this:

“If the mountains fall in the sea, let it be, it ain’t me… if all the hippies cut off all their hair, I don’t care… I got my whole world to live through and I ain’t gonna copy you...!"

I’m sure you get the point. 

And yet, even within Hendrix’ defiance, one that helped to define a epoch of social change - including advances in the rights of women and people of color - there was an element of destructiveness – or rather self-destructiveness - that could or would not acknowledge that energy which harms and represses from the outside is a reflection of what we carry inside– witness the early demise of this great artist. Therefore, the revolution will be most complete and successful when outer and inner transformation is achieved. 

As I danced to “If 6 was 9,” at the place in the song where Mr. Hendrix says with gusto, “I don’t care!,” I flipped my head and something popped in the right side of my neck.  My neck seized up and I was caught in a loop of pain and restricted mobility.  All night in my sleep the right side of my neck throbbed.  Today, at 5:15 pm, my neck was still sore and very stiff, when I reported for Massage #18 with Karen Joy.

(for more, see next post)

20 Massages in Two Months - Massage #2 (continued)

Lobby and waterfall at Center for Well-Being in Monore, WA

Karen Joy is not only an experienced massage therapist she is also Reiki practitioner. Between now and last Tuesday my arm has become numb again.  To have this numbness recur is not unusual but I am determined to find some new tools to tame this old challenge.  I ask Karen for a shot of Reiki to my right shoulder to see if this will loosen things up.

 

(To me Reiki is a fascinating and versatile healing tool. In some parts of the East, Reiki is so well developed you can see Reiki practitioners for treatments customized to specific ailments! For those not familiar with Reiki  it is a type laying on of hands but don't let Reiki’s typically gentle nature fool you – it is a powerful healing tool that leaves most feeling relaxed, well- cared for, and healed. Even better, Reiki not only causes a feeling of healing, it actually brings healing!).

As a healer myself, I know that emotional patterns underlie physical ailments. I have wanted to blame this numbness – which first occurred during law school as I studied for final exams one year – on writing alone but the truth is I write more with my left hand which I use to do the bulk of longhand writing. The burden of any typing is shared equally between right and left. Yet, I do not experience numbness in my left arm. I am beginning to see that while the soreness in my arms probably comes from muscle use the numbness it is likely caused by emotions and thoughts which influence how emotional and mental energy is processed on the right side of my body.

Karen seems to have similar suspicions. “Are you nurturing yourself enough?” is her first question. The question rankles and not because she is wrong but because I keep hearing this same question from a variety of sources. I’ve tried riding my bike in the rain, eating delicious food, taking hot salt baths, laughing with friends, spending time with family, seeing movies, massage, painting, dancing, energy healing, playing with kids. My discomfort is a cryptic code whose meaning I have yet to decipher.  In which self-nurturing technique will I find the magic button?  This is my question.

“I’m trying,” I respond.

20 Massage in 2 Months - Massage #2

A large Geode filled with naturally occurring amethyst and citrine sits inside the front door of the Center for Well-Being in Monroe, WA.

I received massage #2 in this series of 20 in two months from Karen Joy from the Center for Well-Being on Hill Street in Monroe, WA. I’d actually hoped to wait a few days for my next massage and then I discovered that Karen is leaving for Hawaii tomorrow. While there, she will act in her capacity as lay minister and marry a friend she has known since childhood. In order to catch Karen I scheduled my next massage for 4 pm today.

Karen is amazing in many ways. Least of all because more than one person, without really thinking about it, has found themselves calling her by her last name, Joy. I think this is because of the strong healing energy that often radiates from her. I am one of those people who calls Karen "Joy".  I also call her the James Bond of massage world, Agent 007, because she always seems to have at her disposal a fascinating new gadget or gizmo that she is using to extend new benefits to her clients. (In case you’re wondering, as of this writing, my relationship with the folks at the Center for Well Being is professional – I experience great massage while I’m there – so I want to write about it).

My favorite gizmo so far is the Amethyst Biomat by Richway. The mat is a kind of heating pad with some amazing extras that always enhance the quality of the massage. I looked the mat up on line.  It – along with a few accessories - retails for about $1500.00. (As far as I know there is only one mat in the Center so if you go there for a massage you may have to request it. If you can get it, it comes free of charge with the massage). To call the Biomat a heating pad does not begin to do it justice although keeping the massagee toasty, comfortable and relaxed is part of its function. With the mat I can feel the difference. I notice that I am both more relaxed and energized.  

The mat is filled with something like 25 pounds of crushed amethyst crystal. That’s a lot of amethyst! I’m guessing that the sheer quantity is part of why it’s effective.  I’ve used amethyst in my own healing work and it is a rock of some power. By analogy, as a microwave heats water, amethyst helps rid the body of toxins that can contribute to tension or disagreeable moods. Part of the way it does this is to help open the body to healing energies while neutralizing influences that are not so helpful. (Though you definitely wouldn’t want to put your body in a microwave, it’s safe to do so with amethyst!)  (Speaking of amethyst ... pictured above is the large geode filled with naturally occurring amethyst and citrine crystal positioned just inside the Center's front door... a rock which undoubtedly adds to the good vibrations of the place).

The Biomat has some other features which I will save for a later post. On to the massage!

Karen Joy is also Reiki practitioner. I have found that between now and last Tuesday the numbness has cropped up in my right arm again. To have numbness recur is not unusual but I am determined to find some new tools to tame this old challenge...

(for more see next post)