BE YOU

It is not so easy to pinpoint what this feeling of being oneself really means.

So I asked a few people to tell me in what situation(s) they feel most themselves.  All described activities (and it included their work), that they are good at and that they love to be engaged with.  They described situations in which they felt in “their element”.  For the one it is fly fishing...being in the stream, casting, experiencing nature around and only having eyes for where the fish might be.  For another it was being able to be of help.  Helping another person allowed him his strongest connection to himself.  Another person described her joy in teaching.  She had originally wanted to become an actress which for many reasons did not come about in her life.  As a teacher now she has an audience and gets to perform.  Yet another person said that she feels most herself when she is engaged in any fun and creative activity such as baking, gardening or painting.
All said that confidence and expertise played a big part in feeling oneself.  As my friends were speaking and thinking about it, their excitement and enthusiasm sparkled!
I like to call this part of ourselves our ‘day self’.

No one I spoke to mentioned silence, not doing anything or simply breathing.
In these experiences we can find our ‘night self’, our less conscious and developed self.

Rudolf Steiner describes how the macrocosmic breathing process in the heavens is connected to the microcosmic breathing process in the human being.  It is a celestial rhythm called moon node that expresses itself in 18.6 years and that can influence human biography greatly.  We can all look back at our life and ask what was happening for me at 18 and a half years, or around 37 and some and then again around 56 and onwards.  Steiner says that important things are happening for the human soul at these times.  And that it is the nights at these points in time that are the most important nights in a person’s life.  At these times a window to the spiritual world is opened that lets us look at the original and deepest life impulses that we incarnated for.

To find out what our deepest life impulses are, never mind base our life on it, we need to do inner work to have the awareness and opportunity to grow our self with our day and night elements.

Body work and skin treatments can be a bridge towards this work.  A space is created that protects the receiver from outer demands and stimulation.  The silence allows the client to hear him or herself think and feel.  Breathing deepens as relaxation gradually sets in and new energy, new ideas, renewed strength for life can appear.

Taking time for oneself, shutting out and/or working with disturbances, silence, deep breathing, thinking and feeling are elements of inner work that ground us in who we really are and can be.

I hope that treatments with me are refreshing, renewing and help you be you.

~Claudia

RENEW

Refreshing was easy... renewing cranks it up a notch!

In order for something to be renewed, something else needs to be let go of or die away.  For this to happen on the conscious level, there needs to be a willingness, reason or longing to do so.

On the organic level, it is a profound reality that all the cells of the human body take seven years to completely renew.  This process assures optimal functioning of the organism.

Massages and skin treatments are always refreshing but to what extent can the client expect renewal?

Massage treatments activate the circulation of blood and lymph which enhances the overall metabolism (the tummy grumbling is an expression of this stimulation).  Each cell is helped to better rid itself of waste.  To the extent that this process is accelerated -and we always recommend to drink lots of water after a massage to flush out stirred up toxins - the body gets renewed.

In skin treatments it all lies in the exfoliation techniques.  There are a variety of ways and products with which we can exfoliate.  Many can be done at home; others only in a salon.  All have the aim to clear the skin surface of old skin cells which enhances new cell production and gives you that renewed, youthful glow.

How can treatments supporting such a fundamental process still be considered a luxury?

It is no luxury.  With these treatments and others we optimize and care for the life processes in our organism so that we can be our best.  New life emerges after death.  New cells can only come forward when old cells are shed.

Massage and skin treatments can be healing and they are life supporting.  This process is key to becoming more and more oneself...and can be very renewing!

Stay tuned!

~Claudia

Refresh

Do you know where this is?

 How do you refresh in any given day?

A short power nap?  Internal Arts?  A spritz of rosewater over your face?  A spin around the block?  Computer games?  Art?  Music?  Calling a friend?  Spending time in nature?  Playing with children?  Connecting with animals?  Cooking, baking, eating or drinking?  

For me it is cold fresh water.  The fresher and colder the better!
Splashing cold water in my face or taking a cold shower when I am tired completely refreshes me.

When I was four years old my mother took me up a 4000 meter high mountain in Austria.  It was a hot summer day and above us was an impeccable blue sky.  It was my first major climb.  My mother, who grew up in that area, wanted to show me the beauty of the mountain, it’s life and waters.  Whenever we came across fresh mountain water we would sit down and take a break.  We drank and splashed the fresh, cold and lively water all over us.  I never forgot the refreshing and vivifying effect of it.
A few years later, on another mountain, she encouraged me to take a dip in a mountain lake.  OMG!  14/15 degrees Celsius, I thought I would stop breathing!  I did not stay long and afterwards I experienced the pulsing circulation, the prickling sensation on the skin and the gradual warming of the body.  I loved it!

 A cold shower changes the chemistry of the body.  It is like turning the page.  Tiredness, moodiness, sluggishness can be turned around and the need to transition from one activity to the next can be helped with a little cold water.

Mountain lakes and waters are hard to come by here in Chester County but when I turn on the faucet or the shower for a short refresher during the day or after a long day to get ready for the evening, I imagine the quality of the waters in the mountains, and I see the spritzing, bubbling, white crested flowing and moving of the water and I am grateful for every droplet.

Like roses after the rain are plumped up, refreshed and are even more beautiful, so I feel the beneficial enlivening quality of cold water.

Try it!

The first one to tell me where the above picture was taken will get a free massage.


~Claudia

Late summer images of Tuscany

garlic and onions on market day

ready for picking at the end of September-San Giovese grapes

shoe flower pots gracing a window

home made pizza with olive oil and rosemary

Morning light in the olive groves

ripening olives ready for picking at the end of November

Evening clouds over the Tuscan hills

late summer mood

The autumn colors are appearing gently.  It is still hot but the nights and mornings are crisp.  This is the last fling of summer.   Being surrounded by the ripening fruit reminds us of our own maturing.  It helps us to transition and be ready for the Autumn.
~Claudia