Tricks and Treats

How do you trick yourself?  How do you treat yourself?

There are a few common “tricks” that come to mind.
Procrastination is one of them.  Thinking that there will still be time to do or decide something later, is a trick that my mind plays on me when I am insecure and undecided.  Some situations warrant a little waiting, but most often not doing what is necessary or making the decision for a prolonged period of time leaves me feeling inactive, weak and unsuccessful. 
However, the remedy is a trick too.  I set a time for myself by when something has to be done and then tell somebody.  This becomes a matter of public self respect to be true to my word, which then motivates me to spring into action.

One of the slyest tricksters is fear.  Being afraid of something will make my mind come up with very plausible reasons why I have to avoid exposing myself to whatever is intimidating me.
It is well known that most people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death.  This was also true for me, until I decided that I could not go on living with myself unless I overcame this fear.  The trick I used, apart from preparing well for the speech, was to tell myself that this moment will pass.  It is just one moment in time that would (and did indeed!) pass.

Finally tricks can be played on us when our self perception is fragile.  From a poor self image stem misunderstandings and misinterpretations leading to confusion and negative self talk. 
The trick that helps here is to recognize that one may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting, and therefore one must go back to clear up the situation and ask.

The trickster in us feeds on the parts that are unconscious.  As soon as we begin to recognize our fears and unintegrated parts they can’t trick us in the same way anymore into inactivity, negativity and fears.  Instead we begin to strengthen our self and individuality.  We are now consciously using tricks to accomplish our goals and manage some of our challenges.
As a result we feel better about ourselves, experience more fulfillment, understanding and strength of character.
What a treat to ourselves and to the world!

We celebrate Halloween by externalizing our fears and shadows.  We give them personality through various costumes and decorations, thereby acknowledging them.  We can see them, feel scared and thrilled by ugliness or unexpected images.  At the same time we can make an effort to absorb them into ourselves.  The more we own our less attractive parts, the more we shine from the inside and people in our presence will feel good, embraced and safe.  This is beauty from the inside out!  And, I might add, the beginning of true love.

A perfect example of this is beautifully presented in the film “Enough Said”.  James Gandolfini in the role of Albert has his heart broken by people who have not integrated their shadows and therefore see the shadows outside of themselves, namely in him.  Examples of those shadow judgements are that he is overweight, picks the onions out of the guacamole and other irrelevant little things.  He himself knows all about his shortcomings.  They are part of him.  That’s who he is also, but not only.  The woman he meets is attracted to this big and warm hearted man but their closeness gets poisoned by others, and then she, judging him.

Love people as they are. 
As a rule of thumb-when we are irritated by some little (or big) thing another one is doing, chances are it is something in us that needs work.

If you need to, use tricks in order to be a treat!


Happy Halloween!

~Claudia

Muscle spasms a Yin and Yang experience

Many years ago I had muscle spasms all over my back.  Muscle spasms are involuntary contractions of the muscles.  Whenever I tried to move, muscles in my back in different locations would spasm so badly that any action was impossible.  It was completely unpredictable and about the most physically painful thing I have ever experienced.  I didn’t dare to breathe, never mind laugh, and spent days sitting in a chair with a heating pad avoiding to move or talk.

My doctor came to help me out and suggested the following which ended up being the only thing that eased my discomfort.

You take an ice cube and put it directly on where the spasm occurs.  This causes the spasm to contract even more which then allows the muscle to gradually relax.  We applied the ice cube therapy for a few days and it gave me great relief.

It makes perfect sense to me that when an extreme (in this case the contraction) is pushed to it’s limits to the point of no return, that it then tips over into it’s opposite.  A perfect experience of the Yin and Yang dynamic!

And as the picture indicates blood flow needs to be restored to overcome the energy crisis.

I wanted to pass this little wise trick on because I don’t think it is widely known.

~Claudia

Listening to the rain...

I was listening to the rain in the early morning hours.  I felt enveloped and invited to let memories and thoughts come and go, all held in the cleansing experience of rain falling and nourishing the earth.
Gratefulness filled my soul for the things we can do for each other.  When I lived in an intentional community with people with special needs we learned a perspective that, over the years, has become second nature to all who work with it - a renewed understanding of faithfulness which is described in this quote:

“Create for yourself a new, indomitable perception of faithfulness. What is usually called faithfulness passes so quickly. Let this be your faithfulness:

You will experience moments.... fleeting moments.... with the other person. The human being will appear to you then as if filled, irradiated with the archetype of his spirit.

And then there may be.... indeed will be.... other moments, long periods of time, when human beings are darkened. But you will learn to say to yourself at such times: "The Spirit makes me strong. I remember the archetype. I saw it once. No illusion, no deception shall rob me of it."

Always struggle for the image that you saw. This struggle is faithfulness. Striving thus for faithfulness, we shall be close to one another, as if endowed with the protective powers of angels”.  Rudolf Steiner


Maybe the sound of the rain reminded me of the “protective powers of angels” that surround us quietly and invisibly.  We may or may not notice when others struggle to uphold our higher self when we go through tough times.
But this mindful struggle of upholding the best in another person brings light into the darkness and strengthens us as individuals of integrity.  This practice is a real force in the world and with it we can become precious to ourselves, as this poem says so beautifully.

“The Recognitions” by Irving Feldman

Not the god, though it might have been,
savoring some notion of me
and exciting the cloud where he was hidden
with impetuous thunder strokes of summoning -
it was merely you who recognized me,
speaking my name in such a tone
I knew you had been thinking it
a long, long time, and now revealed yourself
in this way.  Because of this, suddenly
who I was was precious to me

What do you hear when you listen to the rain?


~Claudia

The importance of your nose!

Sense experiences have many facets.  The sense of smell impacts us profoundly on many levels.  Some smells remind us either positively or negatively of a past encounter with a person or place.  As the cooler days and nights of Autumn approach we anticipate the smell of spiced hot apple cider, pungent pies and musty leaves.  Winter brings us the smells of coniferous trees, roasted chestnuts and candles.  In Spring we experience smell overwhelm, flowers, bushes and freshly mowed grass.  And what is a typical summer smell?  Hay and grilling.  There are smells that attract us to food or tell us if something is good or not.  Smelling is an important diagnostic tool in Chinese medicine.  And sometimes the smell of someone we hold dear is an important part of who they are.  Scented oils and perfumes can intensify that smell.  And we make surprisingly many judgements based on what our nose tells us!

    Vanilla is an old time favorite of mine.  On my recent trip to Italy I found the following quote on a bottle of Vanilla perfume which captures many of the delightful aspects of Vanilla.  It also shows how a smell can open up a whole world of imagination.

“The sweet scent of Vanilla: The invisible thread of nostalgia.  Who could ever forget the fairs with the call of their roundabouts, that white vanilla cloud of candy floss, the vanilla ice-cream, the stalls where the sugar cooked, turned brown, became caramelized to stick pine-seeds and almonds together and then turned crisp, or the loose sugar that was spun into a long shiny string and then cut into “hard pieces”?  “Go on and cry, little children, Mummy will buy it for you!” the vanilla-scented sweet seller would shout.

Like a Gossamer dress it wraps round you, invisible, and yet is so real that it covers to give just a mysterious hint of things, of thoughts never entirely revealed that are held out like budding roses and that retreat like shy Acacias.  I would like to reveal who you are by entering furtively into your perfume.  I would finally know if your Vanilla is nostalgia for that lost paradise or a promise of intense love that has yet to come.  Let me find a place in your Vanilla Perfume: Invisible cloud of youth”.
(Profumo alla Vaniglia, Speziali Fiorentini, L’Essenza di Firenze)

Try for yourself to describe a smell that you love.  You will quickly find that you move into the space of imagination.  Smell is both illusive and very real.

The essential oils I use in my practice work deeply into the organism both through the nose as well as through the skin.  Imagine lying on my massage table thinking of lavender fields, roses or arnica flowers!


~Claudia