Blossoming without competing

 Every year, I experience great joy when I see the snowdrops pierce through the old leaves that are still on the ground from the year before.  They come up with their fresh, white and green heads - modest, pure and bringing new life.  The shiny white petals and the fresh light green stems are so exuberant.  They bring a message of hope and determination after a long, cold, internal winter.  They are the first ones to announce the Spring season.
    Snowdrops come up in patches like little communities.  And upon closer scrutiny, as in every community, there too we see twosomes, threesomes and foursomes.  There are those that hold on too tight, and those single one’s sticking out and being a bit aloof, even as it is with individuals and relationships in communities.  From the outside a community, or patch of snowdrops looks uniform and united in their “snowdropness” (or purpose/idealism).  But on the inside the dynamics reveal themselves.  Some blossoms are more tender, others strong.  Some are more twisted, some lean on each other and yet others seem to support many stems and blossoms.
    In human communities, this is, of course, also the case.  So snowdrops as the frontrunners of Spring, ask us to look carefully to enjoy both their individuality and their uniformity!
      I heard this lovely phrase this morning in Yoga class: “A flower never competes with the flower next to her.  She just blossoms”.  Can we do this in our respective human communities?
    In Spring nature begins it’s long and ever increasing exhale until it is all out at the height of summer, after a deep, internal winter inhale.  What an incredible process to witness!
    Those were some of the things I was thinking about as we started to clean up the fallen trees in our yard, picking up sticks, cutting and stacking wood for the next winter to come.
    Nature has our back all the time.  I feel embraced and connected through the activities the Season’s bring.  And I feel the little snowdrops are my Spring buddies helping me to transition into a new time.
  

~Claudia

Go Spring!

 Spring’s harvest naturally offers us the foods that we need to cleanse and stimulate our bodies to enhance fat metabolism after a long, cold winter.  In the Winter it is appropriate to eat more warming and oily foods to keep us warm.  It is often common to put on a few pounds during this time of high protein and high fat winter foods.  In the Spring then, fresh greens sprout up and offer us exactly the low fat, detoxifying and mucus removing foods that we need!  To the extent that we get dried out in the winter by not eating enough warming and oily foods, to that extent will we produce excess mucus which will express itself through spring colds, coughs, allergies, asthma or the proliferation of yeast in the intestines.
Being mindful of the seasons’ harvest brings health and variety into or diet.
Bitter greens and roots such as onions, garlic, echinacea, goldenseal, burdock root and chicory scrape the mucus off the intestines and clean the blood while helping the liver to do it’s big spring cleaning job.  Signs of a happy liver are better sleep, less indigestion and gas, a more relaxed mid back and clearer and less dry or oily skin. Pungent vegetables like onions and chillies increase metabolism and digestive strength to burn off excess protein and fat.
Dark leafy greens are nutrient dense, packed with minerals and vitamins and high in fiber.  Some benefits from eating greens are blood purification, improved circulation, strengthened immune system, promotion of healthy intestinal flora, improved liver, gall bladder and kidney function and cleared congestion, especially in the lungs, by reducing mucus.  Dark leafy greens also promote a subtle, light and flexible energy that lifts our spirit and helps eliminate depression.  In Spring there is an abundant array of greens to choose from:  kale, collards, watercress, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, arugula, beet greens, napa cabbage, green cabbage, endive and more.  Find the one’s you love!  Once you integrate greens into your diet on a daily basis you’ll never will want to miss them again.
My two favorite Spring greens are dandelions and stinging nettle.
Dandelion, a diuretic, has compounds that may improve liver function, promote weight loss, and improve blood sugar control.  Overall dandelion has a toning effect on the body.  It has a slightly bitter taste, delicious as a salad by itself or mixed in with other lettuce, but also delicious steamed, drizzled with a little oil, or wilted with salmon.  The name Dandelion comes from the French “dent de lion” meaning: tooth of the lion, referring to the shape of the leaves of the plant.
    Eating stinging nettles is much less known in America.  My mother in law, who is German and 86 years old, goes out every Spring to pick stinging nettles when they first shoot up.  She wears gloves, of course, and so do I when I give them a rinse before lightly sautéing them with a little olive oil and tamari.  They quickly wilt and have a very delicate, tender taste.  You can prepare them as you would spinach, or use them in a soup.  Cooking and drying nettles for tea takes away the sting.  Stinging nettles are a kidney tonic with diuretic properties.  They relieve allergies, enrich the blood because they are very high in iron and thicken the hair.  Nettles are good for hypoglycemia, as they help reduce blood sugar levels, and they also ameliorate high blood pressure.
    As we know, nature has enormous wisdom.  This is exemplified by the foods nature offers us in each season.  Now is the time to start enjoying the spring greens.  Go for it and enjoy!

~Claudia

The dancer in us

The person in the picture is apparently me when I was fourteen years of age.  I was overweight, unhappy, unable to learn in school and lost.  Nobody knew what to do with me.  Like all teenagers I felt that nobody understood me.  But really nobody did!  My passion was dancing; nothing else really had as much charge for me as dancing.  But because I was overweight I had been told I could not continue to go to dance school.  Dancing was the only thing in my life that I loved; I felt alive, fully myself, energized, happy and whole!  With my friends we would go to evening dancing clubs which was great fun, but it was not the same as getting trained in a school.

This old poem below gave language to my feelings about dancing or any other deliberate, conscious movement such as eurythmy (movement informed by word and music) and taichi (movement informed by martial applications).  The joy of liberation, the promotion of health, the transforming potential of moving something or being moved, the community aspect, being in balance with all forces and most importantly, to be anchored in one’s center are all experiences of soul growing wings.

One of my teachers recently said how easy it is to be thrown off center.  It does not take much for most of us to get out of alignment and most of us spend a lot of time to be balanced so we can be the best we can be.
How delicate all this is!

Dances have always been part of mystery centers, and old folk dances were based on star constellations.  It means that there has always been a sacred aspect to dance as well.  Maybe because finding one’s center has to be continuously renewed?  Because to be in one’s center lets the essence of our being be present and unencumbered for as long as it lasts.  The practice of centering in movement lets us feel what it is to be fully integrated.  Light in the darkness. 

Dancing, taichi and other forms of moving have my back.  It is a primary source of renewal, nourishment, and a way to understand many other things in life.

Have you discovered the dancer in you?

I praise the dance,
because it liberates us
from the weight of things-
uniting the single with community.
I praise the dance,
that claims everything and promotes:
health and a clear spirit
and a winged soul.
Dance is transformation
of space, of time, of us,
who are continuously in danger,
to disintegrate, to become all brain, volition or sentiment.
Dance on the other hand challenges the whole being,
anchored in it’s center.
And who is not possessed by desire
for people and things and by the
demons of abandonment in our own I.
Dance asks for the liberated,
the swinging me
who is in balance with all forces.
I praise the dance!
O human, learn to dance,
or the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you.

(Augustinus, 354-430, translated from the German by Claudia Pietzner)

~Claudia

"Talking back to Dr.Phil"

A client recently described to me how the tensions she was experiencing around her eyes have opened an entire new path for her.  Even with Massage Therapy she continued to strain and tense around her eyes and she realized that she needed to do more.  She looked into Qi Gong exercises for the eyes and other ways to relax this area during the day.  She discovered the many reasons why she was tensing up around her eyes, one of them being that her eyes are her weak point in the body (as she put it).  An inner world of “things to work on” opened up for her, leading her to understand other aspects of her life that she had neglected or been unaware of.  Instead of suppressing her symptoms she picked them up, worked with them and discovered important aspects of herself that needed attention and led her to a fuller experience of her life.

I am describing my client’s experience because it demonstrates a loving approach to herself rather than an approach that says “what’s wrong with me, why can’t I relax my eyes!”.

The book: “Talking back to Dr. Phil” by David Bedrick, which I want to bring to your attention, is a very well written and easy to read analysis of how mainstream psychology, which is rooted in allopathic medicine, seeks to do away with or suppress symptoms, rather than exploring their underlying meaning.  This latter approach can lead to greater self knowledge, self and psychological awareness.

Bedrick uses episodes of the Dr. Phil show to illustrate how mainstream psychology, in essence, shames people instead of helping them;  Bedrick then proceeds to show how a love based psychological approach could have helped the person and educated the audience.   A “love- based psychology views people and their difficulties through a lens of love.  Like a naturalist, who assumes that nature reflects order, intelligence, and beauty, those with the perspective of a love- based psychology assess people’s feelings and behaviors with respect, compassion, and radical belief rather than judgment.  Respect, as the word implies, is the willingness to look (thus the root “spect”) and then look again (thus the prefix “re”).  Respect entails a careful and caring examination of people’s experiences, precluding a rush to diagnosis, awakening curiosity about what is observed and how it might reflect their deeper needs and potential for transformation.  Compassion guides this loving examination, resulting in appreciation for people’s experiences and an inclination to resist judging, stereotyping, and marginalizing what might be deemed disagreeable.  Radical belief is the faith that even our greatest difficulties and most disturbing behaviors are meaningful and informed by intelligence - and thus contain the seeds of important future developments.” (Bedrick, p.xix)

Here is one example of how Bedrick illustrates this compassionate pathway towards one’s difficulties.  A woman on the Dr. Phil show was unhappy about her own judgmental approach towards bikers and tatoos.  Dr.Phil arranged for the woman to spend a day with a “friend” of his, a man with long hair and tatoos who drove a Harley-Davidson.  The meeting of the two of them had the desired effect, and on the next show it was apparent that the woman was, to some degree, relieved of her prejudice and feeling more generous-spirited.  However, the deeper meaning of her judgmentalism was never explored.  The targets of our judgments usually represent aspects of ourselves that we are unaware of.  Denying these aspects in ourselves makes it easier to see them in others.  Only focusing on the habit of being judgmental fails to explore the deeper meaning of this woman’s projection.  Instead, helping her to claim “the biker woman” in herself would have empowered her moral and spiritual development.

If you’ve had it with the “something must be wrong with me” approach, or have felt intensely uncomfortable when watching even just a glimpse of a Dr. Phil show, then you will want to read this book!  Bedrick’s etymological explanation of respect, to look again, is in itself a gesture of love.  Bringing out this deep respect will give psychology a much needed face lift.

~Claudia

Hot, hot, hot...

Stones have an amazing capacity to store heat.  Since ancient times, around the globe heat and massage have been used to heal and ease ailments.  The Chinese regularly used sharpened stones, called Bian Stones in an early form of acupuncture.  The energy of stones is another important factor.  They may be placed on specific meridians or along the chakras depending on what the needs are.   Native Americans use hot stones in their sweat lodges.  They heat grandfather rocks until they are white, then pour water over them to create steam.  Hot stones can be wrapped in leaves with certain therapeutic properties to infuse the body with these properties and enhance healing, to mention just a few of the uses of hot stones. 

According to the American Massage Therapy Association the most common reason for a person to get massage is for stress reduction, particularly to manage mental/emotional symptoms such as anxiety, depression, irritability and worry.

The recipient of a HOT STONE MASSAGE will experience the warmth from the stones penetrating the body which allows for deeper work.  Relaxation is achieved much quicker, the circulation increases immediately, the blood and lymph exchange is accelerated and soreness is reduced.

On the picture above you see my new set of Basalt Stones, or also called Mexican Beach Pebbles.  They are dark in color.  In fact the darker and bigger they are the better and longer they store the heat!  They are round and smooth to assure smooth gliding along the muscles yet at the same time they add pressure naturally.

The songwriter and singer Jon Michaels sings a song I like very much called “Stones”, but he just forgot the hot stones...
They are magical!  Treat yourself to this warming, peaceful and deep experience of a HOT STONE MASSAGE at Destinations Salon and Spa (http://www.destinationsalonandspa.com) or in the comfort of my private practice.

~Claudia

Free as a bird

 My last blog entry was about “letting it snow”.  Well two months later it is still snowing!  Repeatedly I have been in awe, watching the transformations taking place around me this winter.  Most memorable was the recent ice storm.  The way the frozen branches of bushes and trees reflected the light of the sun in such colorful ways and made the entire landscape sparkle is unforgettable.  It had an eery look too, of life captured by death, a moment on hold, unhinged from reality, free.

“Think of Zen, of the Void, of Good and Evil and you are bound hand and foot. Think only and entirely and completely of what you are doing at the moment and you are as free as a bird.”  

As adults we often wish we could be as free as a bird. We love to spend time with children catching some of the priceless innocence, engaged presence, absence of self consciousness and  the undivided attention to playing.
It seems that growing up can lead us to be “bound hand and foot” until we recognize that we long for what we had when we were children: this undivided attention to the one thing we were doing.  Deep down we know that “to find the kingdom of heaven we have to become like children again” (St. John).      Think of a range of images: from young children’s delight in blowing bubbles; or their full engagement in listening to a story at their grandparents side, to the wood worker lovingly sanding the final edges of a new table, to the artist infused with inspiration to complete a painting.  This ability to fully be occupied with what one is doing is common to these images.
    I like to think that playfulness helps us stay in the moment.  The charm and lightness we experience when we are playful with one another is uplifting and joyful.  On the wings of playfulness we can feel free from the bondage of over thinking or worry that might trap us.
    To be playful we need a sense of humor.  Humor allows us not to take things seriously all the time.  Humor understands deeply while providing perspective at the same time.  With humor and playfulness we can laugh at ourselves with others and feel the humanity of our shortcomings and other bondages with warmth and a sense of free space from them.
      I hope this Valentine’s Day includes moments of playfulness and good humor to ease the seriousness of life, and the strength to be entirely focused on what you are doing at any given moment, including being playful!


~Claudia

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

There are many silences: the silence after meaningful words or beautiful music, the silence in nature which is hardly ever really silent due to a breeze, the rushing of a waterfall or sounds from animals; the awkward silence of a misunderstanding, the silence of a group partaking in the same experience, the silence of heartbreak or loss, the silence after saying grace, the silence after a storm or the silence of deep communion.  But there is nothing quite like the silence when it begins to snow. 
Every year those of us who live in a seasonal climate have the privilege to experience this winter wonder again and again.  For me it is magical.  A blessing coming down and covering the earth in white.  Each snowflake is a different looking crystalline star, and when the sun shines on it the snow cover glistens and glitters in many colors.  The surrounding I look at throughout the year suddenly gets covered, the branches, fences, stones and roofs soften and have a new dress on!  Everything calms down, the landscape looks innocent and peaceful until one makes the first step into the snow or begins to shovel... a scene we often don’t want to disturb.  For those of us who watch birds, their colors are more vibrant against the white of the snow - a special highlight each year.  And their quick moves and liveliness are such a contrast to the deep peace and quiet the snow brings.  And as the earth gets covered, we too like to hover under the covers.  We experience warmth very differently than in the summer.  We have to work for it by keeping active and on the move, getting the wood for the fireplace, wearing sweaters, hats and socks.
When there is enough snow, as occurred a few days ago, schools close or open late and people get snow days!  I am always happy for everyone when that happens because then there is a chance to experience the magic and peace, even if it is only for a short time.  The reality of the challenges of snow, ice and cold sets in early enough!
    Snowfall evokes so much in us; especially if we have choices about how long we can be in it!  It impresses most of our senses: feeling, seeing, hearing, touching - our experience of snow’s effect on us can be enriching.  Our senses and emotions are very engaged when we stand outside as the snow falls, or when the wind has stopped after the snow storm has passed, or when all noise has disappeared.  The silence of the snow experience is full -  full of all the elements in us that are engaged with the experience!
    Snow silence is embracing and richly nuanced, because of what it draws out in me.  And here comes more snow!

~Claudia