Bonsai are fabulous, aren’t they! Those twisted, dwarfed trees, trained through the process of cutting the tap root and wrapping limbs in heavy wire, seem still to capture the beauty of natural process, trees compensating for wind and soil to continue living. When I was younger, I wanted to cultivate bonsai; I think, as the… Continue Reading Pain: A Very Special Form of Resistance (or, How To Shrink Your Life)
Category: resistance…is futile
“It’s just pain:” Turning the mountain into something more like a mole hill
Learning to manage, and not avoid, pain is a crucial life skill. In doing healing work, our bodies learn both to tolerate discomfort better, and to rebound more quickly from the pain that life continues, at times, to bring. And it is in the tolerance to pain, the ability to move to the edge of… Continue Reading “It’s just pain:” Turning the mountain into something more like a mole hill
Pain as my teacher
Stephen Gaskin, cofounder years ago of a commune in Tennessee called The Farm, once said the degree to which one is enlightened is revealed by what one says when one hits one’s thumb with a hammer. Metaphorically, even literally, that hammer threatens all of us: divorce, termination of employment, violence, illness, and a host of… Continue Reading Pain as my teacher
Ouch! Just saying “no” to pain…and the cost of doing so
Bonsai are fabulous, aren’t they! Those twisted, dwarfed trees, trained through the process of cutting the tap root and wrapping limbs in heavy wire, seem still to capture the beauty of natural process, trees compensating for wind and soil to continue living. When I was younger, I wanted to cultivate bonsai; I think, as the… Continue Reading Ouch! Just saying “no” to pain…and the cost of doing so
Resistance: Talking to the Hand
Resistance gets a bad rap. Without air resistance, we couldn’t fly. Without water resistance, our sailing days would be over. Without muscle resistance, we’d be rolling helplessly on the floor. And without emotional resistance, we’d have no boundaries. Sitting ducks for any jerk that wanted to take advantage of us. Let’s face it, in this… Continue Reading Resistance: Talking to the Hand
Learning to love the “resistance”
I’m going to show you something. I also know that once you see this, you might wonder why you ever thought I might be a good therapist! And I feel my resistance now, as I know I will feel it right before I post this. It’s a picture of me, in all my overweight glory,… Continue Reading Learning to love the “resistance”