I love stories, and particularly enjoyed the one Jonathan Nunn told on the recent Breathing course. Here is my memory of it (how easy is it to remember and accurately reproduce what you have heard? And how often do we 'tell the story' of what happened to us....inaccurately......in our distorted version? But that's another story.....)
A man heard of a very wise guru that lived high up in the mountains, who was reputed to have the ability to give genies to people. This sounded amazing and highly desirable...so the man set off to find the guru. After much travelling he found him, and asked the guru if it was true that he could conjure up genies. The guru nodded, so the man said that he would like one. The guru declined to produce one for him. The man was determined to have one and began to use all his powers of persuasion to persuade the guru to produce a genie for him.
After several days of using his persuasive skills the guru agreed to produce a genie. The genie, the guru said, would do anything the man asked him to do, but he must take care to keep the genie occupied at all times; if he wasn't occupied the genie would produce a sword and cut the man to pieces. He checked that the man still wanted one, but it seemed he did.
So the genie was produced. At first the man asked him to build him a mansion, thinking that that would keep the genie occupied for a long time. But in the twinkling of an eye, he had his mansion. Quickly he asked the genie to build an orchard. Again, in an instant it appeared. As the man paused to think of something else he saw the genie take out his sword and move towards the man. 'And now make me a feast,' he said, becoming desperate to think of things to prevent the genie from killing him.
After a short space of time the man realised why the wise guru had been so reluctant to give him the genie; it was a nightmare! Thinking fast, he asked the genie to take him back to the guru, and in a split second they were there. The man begged the guru to take the genie back, saying that he couldn't keep thinking of things for him to do....it was impossible...and there was no peace.....and no rest. 'Please take him back!' the man begged.
Surprisngly the guru refused. But he was a very wise guru, and he gave the unfortunate man with the genie the following advice: When you have no work for the genie, ask him to build a helter-skelter and instruct him to climb up to the top, slide down to the bottom and keep doing that until you have another instruction for him.
The man smiled. He knew now how to control the genie.
What is the genie? Our active minds. As soon as we have finished doing some really useful or creative thinking what happens?
When we don't require our conscious mind to think, we can park it, rather like the genie on the helter-skelter, on the breath. As we focus on the in-breath, then the out-breath, our mind doesn't have time for all the unhelpful waffle it so often is tempted into.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Monday, 8 August 2011
Breathing and Bellies!
Recently I attended a fascinating two-day workshop at the beautiful Hawkwood College in Stroud, run by Dr David Beales and Jonathon Nunn. The subject: Mindfulness and the Breath.
I've been aware for some time that the way we breathe has a powerful physiological and psychological effect on our bodies, but wanted more detailed input on exactly how this works and how I can alter my breathing to further my own well-being.
I learned so much that it is a challenge to fit it all into one blog....so this might be the first of many!
On the second day David introduced us to a capnographer: a device that measures our carbon di-oxide levels in our outbreath. In turn we were invited to hook our nostrils up to a tube and simply breath. How difficult could that be? Well, in my case, very! How interesting to notice that when it was my turn to breathe and have the subsequent display of my carbon di-oxide levels on the screen for everyone to look at, I discovered I could do an old pattern of nervousness really easily. And of course my breathing reflected that. David used his lovely language to help me take myself back to a place of calm......to notice my feet as they connected to the floor....to recall the things we had talked about earlier....and it helped a little. Then he mentioned the 'soft belly' - the one that babies and children have naturally and easily. It was a bit like a switch for me. As I relaxed my belly, so I relaxed; my breathing slowed and became calm. David pointed out that this was a great anchor for me, which it was...and still is.
Since that discovery moment I have been intrigued to notice how much of the time I've been instinctively doing 'tight belly' (and not because my muscle tone is superb!) and how that effectively means I'm doing a degree of stress. Moving to 'soft belly' means that I can change my state really easily. It also means I have to eschew the notion of flat tummy which is so often held up as an ideal in our current culture. Doing so is an act of love for me; it means I am valuing myself and my own well-being above what other people might think of me.
An interesting side-effect of 'soft belly' is that after a few days, my belly became softer and smaller. Not surprising really, when you consider the effect of sending messages of love and relaxation to the gut area rather than stress. But I wonder if the same effect would have been achieved if I had done 'soft belly' with the express intention of reducing its size. I suspect not. Intention is all.
I've been aware for some time that the way we breathe has a powerful physiological and psychological effect on our bodies, but wanted more detailed input on exactly how this works and how I can alter my breathing to further my own well-being.
I learned so much that it is a challenge to fit it all into one blog....so this might be the first of many!
On the second day David introduced us to a capnographer: a device that measures our carbon di-oxide levels in our outbreath. In turn we were invited to hook our nostrils up to a tube and simply breath. How difficult could that be? Well, in my case, very! How interesting to notice that when it was my turn to breathe and have the subsequent display of my carbon di-oxide levels on the screen for everyone to look at, I discovered I could do an old pattern of nervousness really easily. And of course my breathing reflected that. David used his lovely language to help me take myself back to a place of calm......to notice my feet as they connected to the floor....to recall the things we had talked about earlier....and it helped a little. Then he mentioned the 'soft belly' - the one that babies and children have naturally and easily. It was a bit like a switch for me. As I relaxed my belly, so I relaxed; my breathing slowed and became calm. David pointed out that this was a great anchor for me, which it was...and still is.
Since that discovery moment I have been intrigued to notice how much of the time I've been instinctively doing 'tight belly' (and not because my muscle tone is superb!) and how that effectively means I'm doing a degree of stress. Moving to 'soft belly' means that I can change my state really easily. It also means I have to eschew the notion of flat tummy which is so often held up as an ideal in our current culture. Doing so is an act of love for me; it means I am valuing myself and my own well-being above what other people might think of me.
An interesting side-effect of 'soft belly' is that after a few days, my belly became softer and smaller. Not surprising really, when you consider the effect of sending messages of love and relaxation to the gut area rather than stress. But I wonder if the same effect would have been achieved if I had done 'soft belly' with the express intention of reducing its size. I suspect not. Intention is all.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
What can we learn from Harry Potter?
It's the end of an era. The last Harry Potter film has been celebrated, shown and viewed.
We went to the 2D version, the 3D having been fully booked up for ages. And it felt cathartic. The whole cinema applauded at the end - something that rarely happens - but which creates a rather delightful feeling of community and belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
Then I began thinking about what I could learn from this last filmic episode.
I was struck most of all by three qualities: intention, determination and committment. At the start of the film we re-connect with Harry's intention to destroy the horcruxes. This was the mission that Harry had been given by Dumbledore, and his strong intention is to carry out this mission. His intention set his direction rather like a rudder sets the direction for a boat.
How many times was he thwarted? I've lost count! There was the time in Gringott's vault when all the objects kept multiplying; there was the time in the Room of Requirement when he faced engulfing flames; the time when he was about to be discovered in Hogsmeade.....you know the rest. And what kept Harry going? I think it was his determination to complete the task, and his belief that the task was do-able.
And lastly there is Harry's committment. When he has to fight Voldemort he is totally committed to the task. You can tell by the expression on his face and his body posture. Total committment. He fights with 100%. He gives it, not a good shot, but his very best shot. And did he win the fight? Actually, no. At least not in the short term. But I think that when we operate with intention, determination and committment....then magic can happen. And it did for Harry.
Harry is a certainly a key figure.....but the other character that stood out for me was Neville Longbottom. Neville, who found learning how to do spells difficult; who had various mishaps throughout his school career; who was always losing Trevor, his toad; who never looked as if he would turn into a hero....is the one who comes up trumps in the end in a most spectacular fashion! It reminds me of a verse in the Bible I have always been fond of. It's from Corinthians and goes something like, 'God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.'
There are so many things we can learn from these wonderful books and films.....I imagine it's a subject that I will return to again and again......
Long live Harry Potter!
We went to the 2D version, the 3D having been fully booked up for ages. And it felt cathartic. The whole cinema applauded at the end - something that rarely happens - but which creates a rather delightful feeling of community and belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
Then I began thinking about what I could learn from this last filmic episode.
I was struck most of all by three qualities: intention, determination and committment. At the start of the film we re-connect with Harry's intention to destroy the horcruxes. This was the mission that Harry had been given by Dumbledore, and his strong intention is to carry out this mission. His intention set his direction rather like a rudder sets the direction for a boat.
How many times was he thwarted? I've lost count! There was the time in Gringott's vault when all the objects kept multiplying; there was the time in the Room of Requirement when he faced engulfing flames; the time when he was about to be discovered in Hogsmeade.....you know the rest. And what kept Harry going? I think it was his determination to complete the task, and his belief that the task was do-able.
And lastly there is Harry's committment. When he has to fight Voldemort he is totally committed to the task. You can tell by the expression on his face and his body posture. Total committment. He fights with 100%. He gives it, not a good shot, but his very best shot. And did he win the fight? Actually, no. At least not in the short term. But I think that when we operate with intention, determination and committment....then magic can happen. And it did for Harry.
Harry is a certainly a key figure.....but the other character that stood out for me was Neville Longbottom. Neville, who found learning how to do spells difficult; who had various mishaps throughout his school career; who was always losing Trevor, his toad; who never looked as if he would turn into a hero....is the one who comes up trumps in the end in a most spectacular fashion! It reminds me of a verse in the Bible I have always been fond of. It's from Corinthians and goes something like, 'God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.'
There are so many things we can learn from these wonderful books and films.....I imagine it's a subject that I will return to again and again......
Long live Harry Potter!
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Follow Your Bliss....
I can't remember exactly how long ago it was that I first came across and read Joseph Campbell's books 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' and 'Pathways to Bliss', but it was years ago. And the idea of following one's bliss seemed instincitvely appealing....and also practically unlikely.
I've been re-visitng this idea recently. Having worked as a Lightning Process practitioner for 3 years, I started noticing that, for me, there was a degree of unease about my role delivering, essentially, someone else's versions of how we move forward with our lives, and what needs to be in place to do that. As I continued to tune into this feeling and the possibility that it might be time for me to move on, I began to consider what I truly wanted to do with my life. What, indeed, constituted my bliss...and was it practically possible for me to follow it?
What happened when I started flirting with the idea of doing something else was interesting. First of all a couple of opportunities arose for me to work in a more spiritual context, which seemed to be a lovely way of amalgamating two aspects of me. Then I started finding myself becoming more creative and productive. Excitement began to grow....
When the decision to move on was finally made, I had already begun a journey of creativity and possibility. And this has continued and been blessed (yes, I use a spiritual word deliberately) by chance meetings with people, collaborative meetings, and what I might describe as an explosion of possibility.
The experience I wrote about in my last blog has been another milestone on the journey forwards, bringing an even greater awareness of love and compassion into the work I do and reminding me of the close links between mind, music and spirituality.
So, in some ways I am able to regard myself as an a experiment. What happens when we follow our bliss? At this stage in the experiment I can report that good things happen.
I think Joseph Campbell would approve......
I've been re-visitng this idea recently. Having worked as a Lightning Process practitioner for 3 years, I started noticing that, for me, there was a degree of unease about my role delivering, essentially, someone else's versions of how we move forward with our lives, and what needs to be in place to do that. As I continued to tune into this feeling and the possibility that it might be time for me to move on, I began to consider what I truly wanted to do with my life. What, indeed, constituted my bliss...and was it practically possible for me to follow it?
What happened when I started flirting with the idea of doing something else was interesting. First of all a couple of opportunities arose for me to work in a more spiritual context, which seemed to be a lovely way of amalgamating two aspects of me. Then I started finding myself becoming more creative and productive. Excitement began to grow....
When the decision to move on was finally made, I had already begun a journey of creativity and possibility. And this has continued and been blessed (yes, I use a spiritual word deliberately) by chance meetings with people, collaborative meetings, and what I might describe as an explosion of possibility.
The experience I wrote about in my last blog has been another milestone on the journey forwards, bringing an even greater awareness of love and compassion into the work I do and reminding me of the close links between mind, music and spirituality.
So, in some ways I am able to regard myself as an a experiment. What happens when we follow our bliss? At this stage in the experiment I can report that good things happen.
I think Joseph Campbell would approve......
Friday, 3 June 2011
Towards Silence
I have had a rather extraordinary few hours.
Last night I went to a performance of John Tavener's latest work 'Towards Silence' in Truro Cathedral. Four quartets positioned at distant points around the cathedral to form a cross; a Tibetan prayer bowl in the gallery. Sounds emerging, converging, creating, moving, gaps, voices, mantras, chimes......the vibrations of the prayer bowl left hanging in the air...until they too were sucked back into time and space. We sat whilst everyone left in silence, the dying sounds of footsteps part of the sense of exit. Eventually we too left, but confronted with the chatter of everyday life, quickly returned to the cathedral space, not yet ready to emerge from the womb of enchantment.
And today the sense of having met with another world remains. At lunchtime the privelege of listening to Prof Paul Robertson, Dr Peter Fenwick, Prof Ray Tallis in company with Prof Tony Pinching, discussing in the Knowledge Spa, a place of academic and medical learning, the subject of spirituality, mind and music; to hear doctors and consultants talk about the importance and value of love in all they do; to make connections.with people who just seem to have been placed in one's path; to share a new vision with new people.
A sense of wonder; a sense of awe; a sense of being so very blessed.
Last night I went to a performance of John Tavener's latest work 'Towards Silence' in Truro Cathedral. Four quartets positioned at distant points around the cathedral to form a cross; a Tibetan prayer bowl in the gallery. Sounds emerging, converging, creating, moving, gaps, voices, mantras, chimes......the vibrations of the prayer bowl left hanging in the air...until they too were sucked back into time and space. We sat whilst everyone left in silence, the dying sounds of footsteps part of the sense of exit. Eventually we too left, but confronted with the chatter of everyday life, quickly returned to the cathedral space, not yet ready to emerge from the womb of enchantment.
And today the sense of having met with another world remains. At lunchtime the privelege of listening to Prof Paul Robertson, Dr Peter Fenwick, Prof Ray Tallis in company with Prof Tony Pinching, discussing in the Knowledge Spa, a place of academic and medical learning, the subject of spirituality, mind and music; to hear doctors and consultants talk about the importance and value of love in all they do; to make connections.with people who just seem to have been placed in one's path; to share a new vision with new people.
A sense of wonder; a sense of awe; a sense of being so very blessed.
Monday, 30 May 2011
ME: Healing The Past
There comes a time when we feel ready to look at, and heal the past.
I've been musing over this recently. A few weeks ago, during ME awareness week, Dr Hilary Jones talked about the Lightning Process on the 'Lorraine' TV show. They featured a lady called Ginetta before and after she did the Lightning Process.
What interested me was the backlash from some ME groups and sufferers speaking out vociferously against this item. Such strength of feeling being expressed against the Lightning Process and Dr Jones! The fact that someone had improved their health and well-being was pretty much ignored.
The second casue for reflection was attending a reseach seminar where Prof Peter White talked about the results of the PACE trial. This RCT (randomised controlled trial) looked at 4 interventions for ME: SMC (standard medical care),Pacing, CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) and GET (graded exercise therapy). The two that showed most benefit were CBT and GET; Pacing and SMC seemed to have little positive effect. It seems that extending the boundaries of capability is a more effective way of improving the life of someone with ME than remaining within the boundaries. Crucially, the statistics showed that neither CBT or GET made people worse; this was specifically targetted becasue it had been one of the concerns of the ME community.
As well as explaining the research results, Prof White showed us extracts of responses from the medical community to the piece of research; these reflected that the research community held this research in high regard as a piece of research. He then showed us extracts from responses from the ME community via some, though not all, of the major self-help groups. They expressed anger and horror at both the methodology and results of the trial. Requests were made to The Lancet to remove the piece of research; they were declined..
I used to be one of the ME community, so I understand where these responses are coming from; they have fought for years to have their illness recognised, to receive benefits, to gain carers etc. It has been a battle. However, there appears, in the process, to have developed a huge mistrust between those who try to help them and the ME community itself. That mistrust has developed into, in some cases, bitter anger.
Is it now time to heal the past? What would need to happen for us to do that? Do we, as people who work with ME sufferers, need to listen even more carefully to them? Are they able to listen to us? What needs to happen for them to be able to rejoice in the fact that CBT and GET (and I would add Lightning Process - which has at least anecdotal evidence of people recovering) enable people to get better?
As a practitioner who works with people with ME, and as someone who once had that illness, I want to find a way of healing the past, and moving into a brighter future for us all. Is it now time to heal the past?
I've been musing over this recently. A few weeks ago, during ME awareness week, Dr Hilary Jones talked about the Lightning Process on the 'Lorraine' TV show. They featured a lady called Ginetta before and after she did the Lightning Process.
What interested me was the backlash from some ME groups and sufferers speaking out vociferously against this item. Such strength of feeling being expressed against the Lightning Process and Dr Jones! The fact that someone had improved their health and well-being was pretty much ignored.
The second casue for reflection was attending a reseach seminar where Prof Peter White talked about the results of the PACE trial. This RCT (randomised controlled trial) looked at 4 interventions for ME: SMC (standard medical care),Pacing, CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) and GET (graded exercise therapy). The two that showed most benefit were CBT and GET; Pacing and SMC seemed to have little positive effect. It seems that extending the boundaries of capability is a more effective way of improving the life of someone with ME than remaining within the boundaries. Crucially, the statistics showed that neither CBT or GET made people worse; this was specifically targetted becasue it had been one of the concerns of the ME community.
As well as explaining the research results, Prof White showed us extracts of responses from the medical community to the piece of research; these reflected that the research community held this research in high regard as a piece of research. He then showed us extracts from responses from the ME community via some, though not all, of the major self-help groups. They expressed anger and horror at both the methodology and results of the trial. Requests were made to The Lancet to remove the piece of research; they were declined..
I used to be one of the ME community, so I understand where these responses are coming from; they have fought for years to have their illness recognised, to receive benefits, to gain carers etc. It has been a battle. However, there appears, in the process, to have developed a huge mistrust between those who try to help them and the ME community itself. That mistrust has developed into, in some cases, bitter anger.
Is it now time to heal the past? What would need to happen for us to do that? Do we, as people who work with ME sufferers, need to listen even more carefully to them? Are they able to listen to us? What needs to happen for them to be able to rejoice in the fact that CBT and GET (and I would add Lightning Process - which has at least anecdotal evidence of people recovering) enable people to get better?
As a practitioner who works with people with ME, and as someone who once had that illness, I want to find a way of healing the past, and moving into a brighter future for us all. Is it now time to heal the past?
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Using NLP to deal with a cold....and work!
I was interested to read Justin Collinge's post in the latest Kaizen newsletter. This was a departure from Justin's usual contributions, in that he chose to write it in poetry. He has very kindly agreed to let me post it here. Another example of how we can use these fascinating NLP tools to enable us to live positive, fruitful lives. Here is Justin on colds......
"We know we're not at the mercy of how we feel and can choose our state. Just how much choice do we have? Below is a recount of a recent training event where I was faced with the chance to test this:
"We know we're not at the mercy of how we feel and can choose our state. Just how much choice do we have? Below is a recount of a recent training event where I was faced with the chance to test this:
The night before
I’d gone to bed sore
My throat on fire and my nose red raw.
The cold had been stalking me
And now, like a grinning gargoyle,
I welcome them back to day three
With great expectations,
hope and elations,
and a few reservations
they sat and they waited
for me to share my wisdom.
But my strength soaked away
like rain on dry ground
I found
I was shaking.
With my head full of cloud
there was no mistaking
I should be in bed
not in front of this crowd.
Then I recalled
that I could change my state.
Though my energy was stalled
I could create
the strength I needed,
and could choose how to feel
it wasn’t just ‘fate’.
Physiology – my shoulders back, and I breathe deep,
Put a smile on my face which I keep
as I step onto the floor.
Focus – not on my tale of woe,
I transfer my attention where I need it to go
On the eager faces and their readiness to throw
themselves in and learn even more.
Language – As I started, I choose not to bore
with tales of sickness
and nasal ickiness
But spoke of health and happiness -
And suddenly it wasn’t a chore.
The day went well,
and the evaluations were as good as any I’d ever got
My ailing health I simply forgot
and the show went on.
It was about half way home I remembered again
how I wasn’t well and my aching brain,
and nose, and throat - and now chest as well
needed looking after.
I no longer needed to excel
so I struggled home and took to my bed
Aware somewhere inside it was,
at least partly,
all in my head!"
Lovely blend of managing our state .... and common sense. We have a choice. Hope the last bit included a hot toddy....
If you'd like to find out more about Justin and the Kaizen team you can find them at www.kaizen-training.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)