You have been going through a lot Emily. Definitely, as it is said, "the Full Catastrophe." May your body be well. May your mind be free of troubles. May your spirit be at peace. May your life be at ease.
I'm not big on cranial sacral, shamans, or spirit guides. Been there, done that, burned the t-shirts. I hope it helps you and does no harm. You seem to like to read and ponder, so here is a link to Jon Kabat-Zinn's very well known book. http://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Wisdom-Illness/dp/0385303122/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1/188-8456725-2027335 http://goo.gl/kkuCX Feeling out of control not a good place to be. The MBSR folks use a working definition of Mindfullness as "being aware of the present moment, fully, non-judgmentally, and with acceptance." I personally like mine sprinkled with a lil Theravada Buddhism, but find it fascinating how easily it translates to the 21 century secular world view. Best wishes and let us know, ok? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn <emilymae.reyn@...> wrote: > > Thank you Azgrey, really.  Thank you.  There is a lot to digest here and I > am going to go away and do just that.  It is time for Phase 2 of the > recovery process.  Yes, there was a perfect storm of work stress/corporate > death spiral, teenagers, adrenal system collapse, menopause / hormone > imbalance, anti-depressant side effects, rapid weight gain (15 pounds of > which in a single month, without even eating), personal trauma, loss of close > relationship(s), family fracture, existential crisis, constant brain fog, > health issues, major depressive episode, insomnia, etc., etc., etc.  I > prepared for the end and dragged myself and my children to go see Amma in > complete desperation.  PTSD?  Let me count the ways and I haven't even been > to war.  I could not sage the house enough to rid it of the negative energy. >  I could not down enough Rescue Remedy to ease the pain.  > > But, it appears that I don't have as much control as I might have thought. >  It looks like my job as a parent is not over.  It looks like I might have > to get another job, as much as I'd like to retire.  It looks like I might > have to pull myself together and carry on.  This was a very timely post, > actually.  I see other practitioners.  Today, I had another cranial sacral > appt. with a guy with over 20 years experience, who is vegan, who has studied > with one of the 14 grandmothers (a shaman who lives in the Brazilian amazon) > and who, aside from giving me certain plants essences to take, has informed > me he is assisted by "spiritual guides", and would I give permission for the > "guides" to help me, because they are telling him they think they can.  This > was after last week, when he pulled a Byron Katie inquiry move on me..."do > you really know?....." > > Hmmmm....O.K. then...and lo and behold, a shift.  I don't know how or why, > but he was pulling shit out of me while I was almost catatonic on the table > and working to clear the untanglements to help bring a better clarity to one > of the situations in my family life that has created nothing but chaos.  I > subsequently called my older daughter - she was having a good day, she agreed > to see someone "objective" to help us, if I go to the trouble to find and > screen family therapists and have a shortlist ready for her to interview this > summer. (Because, after all, there are an amazing number of unqualified > therapists out there and we need someone smarter than us.) Amazing really > that she would agree.  "Yes, honey, I will do that for us...and maybe you'd > like to see this cranial sacral guy too?"  "And , O.K, you may live here > this summer."  (I understand how upsetting it might be to have one's > SuperMom descend into a nervous breakdown right in front of one > within a few short months.)  "Oh yes, that was nice you let your 15 year > old sister borrow your boots; she needs shoes."  "And no, we are not going > to Whistler this year :)" > > Alright, I dedicate this post to the wine and the song.  I have to go listen > to some blues now.  I will say that this forum has saved my fuckin' ass in > many ways and I hold nothing but gratitude for it.  I had no context, zero, > when I got here.  I thought I had lost my mind and looked for things to > relate to.  There weren't many.  I couldn't decipher any of the > conversations in whole.  I remember reading something that Judy wrote, where > she acknowledged that she read *all* the traffic.  It gave me courage as I > thought there was someone out there who would read my posts, no matter how > stupid or confused they were.  I was barely even acknowledging my own > existence, so that was important to me.  Ravi also replied to me in the > beginning.  This forum is a gift, the way I see it, and I appreciate every > last insult and insight, in the end, and find all of it worthwhile.  But, > that's just me and the wine talking.  It's not as bad as it sounds. >  Regards, ~Em. > > > > > ________________________________ > From: azgrey <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2012 3:10 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Trend Analysis For Dummies > > >  > My opinion is that SeattleInsight, being connected to the Insight Meditation > Society and the Barre Center in Massachusetts, will provide you with > excellent instruction at a reasonable price. The group in Mass. has an > excellent reputation and surely has some quality controls in place regarding > teacher training in allowing the Seattle group to link the name. Thich Nhat > Hahn is excellent. I was also aware of Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Saltzberg and > others when "Stu" (s2ness is a cool dude who shows up here on FFL once in a > blue-moon) posted a link here on FFL to insightla.org. > > You could learn it from a book such as one of Thich Nhat Hahn's, but there is > great value in gaining instruction in a structured environment. There are > countless techniques of Mindfullness and a formal class will ground you in a > handful. Others are easily added later as you wish. Have you ever read about > the bell that rings at random times at any of Hahn's centers such as Deer > Park near San Diego? Powerful stuff. > > If you want all Buddhist flavor stripped away while getting exactly the same > instruction you could look here: > > http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/home/index.aspx > > http://w3.umassmed.edu/MBSR/public/searchmember.aspx > > This is a very well known program begun by Jon Kabat-Zinn over 30 years ago. > > The standard MBSR program is 9 classes over 8 weeks. Each class about 3 > hours. There is a full day class, about 7 hours long, after week 6 in which > you practice a variety of techniques while spending an entire day in > Mindfullness. Cost, I believe, is usually a sliding scale based on income, > but maybe that is up to the teacher. You are given a lesson each week and you > are asked, for the 8 weeks, to make a time commitment of about an hour toward > developing your practice. After that, you are on your own. > > At the end of that class you could certainly attend one of the other > InsightSeattle "sits" and not feel like awkward. The experience, I believe, > is universal. Universal but subtle. Once attained, you can dial it up in > enumerable ways any time you wish. Then, in time, you learn what the Insight > part is. > > I value my TM practice also. I'm not obsessive about it. It feels good for > me. I practice it when I choose. I find it impossible to recommend to others, > currently, because of the nature and behavior of the organization that > promulgates it. Bevan and his toadies have, IMO, ruined the spread of a nice > simple relaxation technique. > > Life's demands always seem to get in the way, huh? I am recommending learning > this meditation technique because you have often mentioned stress and PTSD. > Go to the MBSR siteand read up on the benefits and then go do it with them or > the Insight folks. The medical research cited by the U of Mass is, IMO, much > more reliable than that promulgated by the TMO. > > I have an ulterior motive Emily. After you experience formal Mindfullness > instruction you may very well see, as others such as Curtis and TurquoiseB > have pointed out, how utterly and completely bullshit the criticisms of Vaj's > knowledge of TM is. All he is doing is reframing the experience in different > language. TM meditation is not Mindfullness meditation. Mindfullness > meditation is not TM. But, there is most certainly Mindfullness used in TM. > The demonizing you see here of Vaj is a result of not being able to see the > forest for the trees. Oh, and maybe Vaj has learned, over the course of > nearly 2 decades, just exactly which buttons he can push when ever he likes > to see someone who holds great animosity toward him to dance like a monkey on > a chain in a very predictable manner. Every time. Without fail. > > Go do it Emily. Don't let life get in the way. I believe you will feel better > for it both physically and mentally. > > Please let us know how it goes. > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn <emilymae.reyn@> wrote: > > > > Azgrey, thank you for asking. àI followed up far enough to look at their > > schedule, because I wanted to take the class for beginners, but it > > conflicted with my school schedule and then the holidays arrived and my > > daughter was home for 6 weeks, precipitating another need for a family > > counselor. à> > > > The next class also conflicts with my last quarter in school, so I may not > > be able to pursue participation until the end of March. àIt's on the > > list however; do you have an opinion? àThis post reminds me that I have > > a couple of books by Thich Nhat Hanh that I could go search for. > > > > ________________________________ > > From: azgrey <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2012 11:08 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Trend Analysis For Dummies > > > > > > à> > > > Emily, sometime back, perhaps in the Fall, you mentioned that you were > > going to take instruction the following week at seattleinsight.org. > > > > Did you ever go and get instruction in Mindfullness meditation? > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn <emilymae.reyn@> wrote: > > > > > > "When you get to Nirvana, you find that thereÃâàis no other side." > > > > > > This I like. ÃâàI also started watching Rick's latest Batgap > > > interview and ended up reading about the method of self-inquiry last > > > night and the concept of "I", which I found very interesting. > > > ÃâàThere was a picture of Sri Ramana Maharshi behind Eli > > > Jaxon-Bear; Ramana was the "teacher" of his teacher, Papaji. ÃâàI > > > don't know if he put that up on purpose or if it was coincidence > > > :)Ãâà> > > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-enquiry > > > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > From: Richard J. Williams <richard@> > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2012 8:01 AM > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Trend Analysis For Dummies > > > > > > > > > Ãâà> > > > > > > > > Emily Reyn: > > > > Barry! You responded to my post - maybe > > > > I'm not on your DNRL after all - so good > > > > for my ego to be acknowledged in the > > > > world of virtual reality - thank you :) > > > > > > > Emily - Watch out, you've elected to dialog > > > with two informants that have posted more > > > disinformation on the internet than anyone > > > I know - virtual reality. Turq believes in > > > a 'self' - Vaj does not - both mixed up. :) > > > > > > Go figure. > > > > > > "In order to reach Nirvana, you must cross > > > over to the other side. So, you use a boat > > > to cross over. > > > > > > When you get to Nirvana, you find that there > > > is no other side. So, you will look silly > > > carrying a boat around on your head all the > > > time." - Shakya the Muni > > > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana > > > > > >
