I am sharing Damion Williams’s eloquent interpretation of the value word ‘cooperation.’ He is sharing an understanding of how this word is used for different effects in our Western culture. This is a seed of understanding that lit up my consciousness during a process of conversational groups gathering to integrate values. No one knew their inner definition and understanding of universal values or each had a different interpretation. I loved Damian’s eloquence in explaining this experience in the use of the value word cooperation that I had to share for educational purposes.
Today the Moon goes into it’s full phase.
Today, Sept 17, 2024 is the last full moon before Fall Equinox. It also reflects the phases of my goal setting program that is structured around the eight phases of the moon that reflects when he intentions set during he new moon phase are set. I suggest it is the phase where, ‘it is done.’
Here is a little clip of a moment in time on the eve of this full moon that happened on my desk as I was working. It was a moment to pause and reflect. I hope you enjoy it.
Overthinking lacks balance of functional alignment: example are diets
Recently I had to admit the bread substitute I was purchasing wasn’t my favorite and it was too expensive. Admitting this to myself created an incentive to consider something different. Then I forgot about it. Online, a recipe and picture crossed the screen and I was attracted to it. It had few ingredients and would provide a protein source for my eating plan. There was no energy put into thinking, strategizing or searching except in my own cupboard prior to bed last night. That involved putting the lentils on to soak. Here is the result. Will it taste okay? Have to wait until it cools. However, it leads to a topic I have been wanting to introduce with a more concrete focus………..
Making a decision to explore living foods about 8 years ago led to a discovery that wasn’t in my mind’s eye when making this choice. The focus was on what foods are available in front of us that we are overlooking. In the course of taking this action, the exploration led to creating recipes that were known such as growing cultures and making sourdough bread, apple cider vinegar, sauerkraut, kombucha and kefir. As these cultures began to coincide with more fresh greens through edible weeds and homemade dressings something odd began to happen. All old cravings vanished and something else replaced it. There was a physical incentive that inspired organic motivation that was new. When recognized as a shift in behaviours I knew it wasn’t a familiar one when it came to food choices, preparing food and even making time for it. My experience has been that when someone is developing a career or has been food shamed or controlled by a partner this experience mentioned above is not an organically felt somatic experience. It is certainly one I appreciate.
Having this experience and entertaining it for a good length of time allowed it to manifest as a baseline experience. One that I began to observe and engage with when working with functional integrative sessions with students. I began to observe the connection between food and function. As a communication mentor and empathy coach, I extended this same observation to behaviours. I discovered there is a correlation to the balance of health and well-being connected to functional movement, emotions and mental focused dominance when it came to food and diets.
The main takeaway has been that when the diet has a scientific or trending focus the likelihood for success in integrating it into a lifestyle is minimal. It remains an outside strategy versus the inner incentive that motivates one into long-term habitual changes. However, I can say that a habitual lifestyle diet can be interrupted by a change in influences. For example, being on holiday and eating completely outside of ones wheelhouse for an extended period. The discovery is that it only takes a short period to develop new food habits and it somehow shifts an inner messaging system toward that last pattern of eating. What you put in for extended periods is what the body wants to continue eating. Diets focus on the mental and emotional states of being that lend themselves to self-judgements and those of others. However, it is a physiological condition as I discovered. However, each time one taps back into the foods that feed their organs and body functions the easier it is to get back into it. The mental, emotional and physical aligns to make it easier to achieve through experience versus a focus on thinking about what it should be, and how it should be, it seems more organic. My goal is to grow this in my own experience.
I can only imagine this is how people once connected with their food and landscape before organized food availabilities and current luxuries. They would gather what was available and create meals with it spontaneously unless dried and packed along with them on their journey.
This journey of food discovery that began as a personal eating plan has given more insight into environmental influences through coaching others and shifting my own lifestyle habits that I will share over time. I hope you will be motivated to join me in this exploration.
A self care life hack that has merit by shifting the dimensions between pain, struggle & effort to softening, ease & effortlessness
Peace and Harmony
In the last post called; Lifestyle Hacks – Reverse pain, stiffness and aging in fingers, hands, wrists & lower arms naturally the focus is on a physical shift in the felt sensations through a pattern of self-care. In the same self-care pattern there is an emotional release that is available. The tough connective tissue like the skin, facia, flesh, muscles, ligaments, etc., all create a felt sensation that stimulates tension, anxiety stress, impatience, irritation, and angry feelings. The softening and release of inflammation in the same connective tissue creates a different range of emotions through the felt sense shift. The softening can create an enjoyable range of emotions like an increase in tolerance, joy, playfulness, peace and harmony. The self-care that was suggested in this post focused on one’s hands. Our hands have a huge map in our brains due to their constant use. Each time we move our fingers, hands, wrists lower arms and elbows it deepens the groove in the neural pathways in the brain. The lack of micro-movements in the same functional areas will reduce the grooves in the neuro pathways and eventually they will be lost. This is when the saying, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it, applies.
The Feldenkrais perspective has focused on patterns to introduce these lost movement patterns and reintegrate them. This self-care would increase the felt senses in an Awareness through Movement Lessons. This means one could feel a difference in the movements of the joints and bones differently. The muscles around the joints and flesh would be softer increasing the range of motion.
From my perspective of a Nonviolent Communication Educated Communication Specialist please note I do not have the perspective that we carry stories in our physical function. Rather the short and long-term memories are stored in the prefrontal cortex in the hippocampus area. However, the tension or held patterns in the functional physical body can stimulate the stored memories. A Western trend currently is to fixate on memories as a way to resolve issues and shift movement patterns. Unfortunately, the story memories are a function in the brain that has an alignment with another function which is physical movement. Physical functional movement can be stimulated by memories, and memories can be stimulated by movement. Stories cannot be held in the arm, the belly, etc. They however can stimulate emotional responses that would influence these areas. I have come to call these environmental influences.
An example I would like to share it with a student who had worked with a therapist to resolve physical pain through processing emotional trauma by having the body part held while releasing the story. This was called somatic therapy. The person had been doing this work for a few years when I began to work with the actual physical function from a somatic perspective in movement transitions. The person’s habit was to defer to the stories as trained by the therapist so I suggested we focus attention on the felt senses in the movement. In two visits the arm was functioning normally pain-free. No stories, only micro-movements with an increase in rotation and getting other joints and bones to participate in the movement. The student had been off work for a few years due to this injury and soon they were back at work.
From both a Feldenkrais perspective and a communication perspective I work with what is in the present moment. This is a focus of attention on the felt senses now, not in the past and not in the future. If I can bring a mindfulness focus like this into the lesson the student begins to train their minds in the same way as in mindfulness meditation. The difference is it is in movement, focus and sensing, not sitting in meditation. It’s more of a mindfulness function where the physical, mental and emotional are aligned to experience the present.
Disclaimer – words, phrases and sentences have similar use however, they can have different definitions depending upon the context. The English language is limited and such that it is left up to interpretation. Each person has different resources for forming memories to shape opinions, beliefs and interpretations from.
Posted in Aging well, Self - Care
Tagged #physicalfunctions, Emotional Functions, Feldenkrais, Mental Functions, Self Care
Lifestyle Hacks – Reverse pain, stiffness and aging in fingers, hands, wrists & lower arms naturally
Sometimes the greatest gifts are unexpected. While testing some oil mixtures for my face I had left overs in the bowl and decided to put them on my hands, wrists, and lower arms. Then I read about how an inexpensive face mask could hold the moisture during the facial. I decided to try it and remembered I had vinyl gloves. Wearing the gloves over the oils made a significant difference in the effects of the absorption of the oils.
When taking the gloves off and rubbing in the oils there was a significant felt sense difference in all the joints and soft tissue. This is when my Feldenkrais Practical mindfulness kicked in. Working with students in chronic long term pain in these areas has been a huge focus of attention in teaching Awareness through Movement Lessons and in personal Functional Integration sessions. This little hack could have the potential to soften the connective tissue that has become habitually inflamed and hardened. This harden and stiff tissue becomes the environmental influence of how the bone and joints are used. As it softens the bones and joints have more range potential in their movement patterns and this reduces the pain.
The bonus is the oils also reduce the look of aging in the skins appearances. One of the oil I use in this combination is Caster Oil. It removes, lumps, bumps and supports scar healing. The other oil is Sea Buckthorn which I have successfully used to remove pigmentation spots. The other ingredients is what gives it the aliveness and luxuriousness effect.
Here are the ingredients:
- Caster Oil
- Sea Buckthorn Oil
- Aloe Vera Gel
- Facial Mask
- Vinyl Gloves
I added a small amount of Aloe Vera Gel, 1 teaspoon to tablespoon, with a teaspoon or less of Caster Oil and 6 to 8 drops of Sea Buckthorn Oil. Mixed together and applied. Remember the Sea Buckthorn Oil is orange. Don’t wear good clothing. It may appear orange on your face however doesn’t stain your skin orange, unless you lave it on. I usually do this in the evening or on a day off for self-care.
It takes less than three minutes to mix the ingredient and I leave on for twenty minutes. It’s the best 1/2 hour you’ll spend. I wouldn’t wait until later in life to take action. I would begin early in life. My mother-in-law had be start paying attention before I was 21! I would say you can start at any age, however the habitual behaviour is important. It’s easier to follow a habit than it is to start something new.
Castor Oil
This is a versatile oil. It is used as an antibacterial moisturizer, to reduce scars and skin spots, and bumps of all sorts. It reduces scar marks and supports major organs when used as a poultice. Also used to regrow hair.
Here is a link to Caster Oil on Amazon
Sea Buckthorn Oil
A skin moisturizing oil to reduce pigment spots and rough raised spots.
Here is an affiliate link to Sea Buckthorn Oil on Amazon
Aloe Vera Gel
This is a brand that can be used in juice and for skin.
Aloe Vera Gel affiliate link on Amazon
Vinyl Gloves
For use in hand treatments with oils, etc. Link to Vinyl gloves on Amazon.
Silicone Facial Mask
Keeps in moisture during an oil facial. Here is an affiliate link to this Mask on Amazon.
Aging Well from an embodiment perspective to reduce facial lines
In the space between my eyebrows I have some developed muscles from squinting. These muscles have created up and down grooves. You an see the fine lines in this picture and the grooves in the one below.
As a Feldenkrais Practitioner of Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education one of the learning points is the build up of muscles from repetitive use. In this situation it is deep grooves that are being created were I don’t necessarily want them. What I have begun doing to shift this is learn to let go of the habit. When I sense that I have contracted these muscles and hold them, I release it. The use of the silicone patches has supported this ability to consciously notice it.
Even though I was suspect of these at first these silicone patches are shifting the muscle memory that hold the contraction giving the appearance of the grooves. Instead of using fillers like Botox, I am changing the habitual behaviour of engaging these muscles. The other step I am taking is using Caster Oil. I began testing Caster Oil at the same time as using these silicone patches. I have read the benefit’s for skin using Caster Oil and find that it is making a noticeable difference in the quality of my skin.
I used the silicone patch on my forehead between my eyes for three evenings and it flattened the up and down groves creating a face surface. This lasted for a week. One morning I woke and the muscles had returned to the former shape that created grooves. It is a worthwhile hack in my opinion.
Here is a link to getting some inexpensive silicone patches to experience with.
For a link to Caster Oil and more suggestions go to Aging suggestions
This information is for educational purposes’ only. I only give suggestions that I try myself and have noticed change through the exploration.
Listening – Weekly Culture of Values Focus
Culture of Values Focus for this week – Sept 8 to 14, ’24 – Dialogue. Read more @ https://atomic-temporary-16610124.wpcomstaging.com/…/dialogue-weekly-culture…/ #communication #cultureofvalues #universalvalueeducation #feelingsandneedslanguageineducation
Sept 8th to 14th ’24
Definition of Listening:
Listening is an action of hearing the sounds in the surroundings. This includes other people’s voices. Hearing what others are saying is a way to get to know what is important to them and to learn from them.
Remember Dialogues definition from last week:
Dialogue is a conversation with others that increases understanding, addresses problems, and questions thoughts and actions.
Dialogue and Listening are needed to have a balanced conversation of meaning. This balance brings success and achievement for all in relationships equally. When someone speaks they are leading the conversations and the listener is following. To have equality the speaker becomes the listener. This means the listener becomes the speaker. Leadership is a balance of giving and receiving in dialogue.
This pattern was developed from a talking circle. The format was to go around and ask each participant what the focused value word meant to them. Sometimes a definition from the dictionary was read out first. People often did not know the definition meaning. ‘Renee Lindstrom’
Weekly Feeling Observations:
Feeling Observations this week
The Culture of Values educational program is available through Amazon. The program includes:
Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning 