Posts filed under Healing

Integration of Mind & Body

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by Julie Jeffery Peale

Hellerwork Structural Integration is a form of deep tissue bodywork and movement education designed to realign the body and release stress and chronic muscle tension. Whether from an injury, repetitive strain, or traumatic event in life, it is the belief of Hellerwork that pain is usually the result of an overall pattern of imbalance in the body. Rather than treating the pain or symptom of this imbalance, Hellerwork focuses on bringing the entire body into a state of balance and alignment, thereby addressing the source of the pain. This is achieved through three main components: deep tissue bodywork, movement re-education, and self awareness dialogue. 

““Hellerwork focuses on bringing the entire body into a state of balance and alignment, thereby addressing the source of the pain.””

We are complex beings with layers of injury, emotional stress, and repetitive patterns, so it only makes sense that a complex and integrated approach is needed to sift through those layers of stress and strain. This is a process of awareness that touches both the physical and emotional patterns of our body. 

““Hellerwork, for me, has been a convergence of my mind and my body; the integration of the mental and physical well-being.””

Being a young woman in her early twenties with chronic pain and depression, I had only been offered solutions that compartmentalized me and disassociated the mental and physical aspects of my being. It is during this time that I sought out different forms of treatment. Hellerwork, for me, has been a convergence of my mind and my body; the integration of the mental and physical well-being. As these two came together the vitality and joy of moving through life had more meaning and continued to develop. Now, over a decade into my own professional private practice of Hellerwork, it is rewarding to facilitate that movement toward the integration of the mental and physical aspects being for my clients.  It is a rewarding experience to be a part of and it also helps deepen my own movement towards integration.  

Julie Peale owns Body Balance of Ann Arbor, L.L.C., where she practices a combination of Hellerworkand structural medicine in one-on-one sessions with clients. Body Balance is located at 708 W. Huron Street, Suite 3, Ann Arbor 48103. Contact Julie at julie@bodybalance4u.net or at (734) 395-6776. We interviewed Julie in our January- April 2014 issue. You can read that interview here. 

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Posted on April 2, 2014 by Julie Peale and filed under Healing, Health and Wellness and tagged Julie Peale.

Won’t You Sway...Just A Little Bit Longer: A couple more thoughts from the tree talking man...

By Lenny Bass

In the two articles I wrote for the Crazy Wisdom Community Journal entitled “Swaying In The Sangha Of Trees” (the second one being “The Tree-quel”), one of the basic ideas I was hoping to convey through my conversation with the tree was the possibility, through meditation practice, of cultivating the ability to persevere through difficult situations, whatever they might be. 

“When the storms come,” the tree told me, “we trees sway.  In this swaying, the soil beneath us is loosened and our roots are allowed to grow.” 

Human beings, of course, are very different than trees. When the storms come, trees have very little choice other than swaying. They cannot “get into their mobility carts,” as the tree liked to call it, and flee. Human beings, however, can do just that.  They can get into their mobility carts and flee whatever storms come their way. 

If you stop to think of it, the premise of this very country itself was built upon this simple formula. It is based upon a group of people — in this case Europeans — fleeing in their “mobility carts,” otherwise called boats.  They fled the hardships imposed upon them by an uncompromising monarchy and sought to create a better situation for themselves elsewhere. Somehow, somewhere in this country’s DNA since the time of its inception, is the notion that the way to make things better is to get into a mobility cart and flee. There are umpteen bazillion versions of this, if we really look with any amount of depth and honesty. 

“It begins with a perception: what ‘is’ is not good enough. What ‘is’ could be made better. What ‘is’ makes us suffer. What ‘is’ is unsatisfactory.”

It begins with a perception: what “is” is not good enough.  What ‘“is” could be made better.  What “is” makes us suffer.  What “is” is unsatisfactory.  And suddenly, we are off.  In our mind’s eye, we have a strategy for improvement; a better education, a better job, a better marriage, a better house, a better climate, more sun, less snow, and on and on.   

We create a plan — a life plan, if you will — and we are on a path to get there, wherever it is our mobility carts are taking us. 

The true gift of a meditation practice in which we become adept at learning how to sway is that it shows us in no uncertain terms the fallacy of the formula. If we track the process from beginning to end, we see the very same progression of events manifesting  time and again. At first, we are happy to have found a path through which life may be made better. We follow this path with all due diligence until we have achieved our goal. Suddenly, we have it...whatever “it” is.  We have the better job, the better house, the better husband or wife, the better climate.  And then...it is “honeymoon” time.  We happily relish whatever it is we have accomplished to make our lives better. Everything is wonderful and new and exciting. Then, continuing to track it, it grows, over time, to become “common place.” The sparks wear off, the cracks start to show.  The new boss is a jerk, the new wife has wrinkles. We’re sick of the sun and wish it would snow.  The new house has that much more maintenance we hadn't counted on. And so...we’re back to square one. How can we make it “better”? What is our new strategy? Move back to the old climate? Get a another new job? Find a new country to call home?

On and on it goes....until finally, somehow, sometime, we catch on. Getting into our mobility carts just isn't working. The process is always the same.  The outcome never lasts.  We’re always, time after time after time, back where we started. Dissatisfaction. 

“It is from this place that I believe ALL true meditation practice is born. And, it starts with a kind of commitment NOT to flee. To hang in. To persevere with whatever it is that is dissatisfying.”

It is from this place that I believe ALL true meditation practice is born.  And, it starts with a kind of commitment NOT to flee. To hang in. To persevere with whatever it is that is dissatisfying. In sitting meditation for long hours, the mind does everything it can think of to try to get us to flee. It’s boring. Our knees are hurting. It is a waste of time just sitting here doing nothing. It is “unproductive.” It won’t make things better. On and on, the mind keeps sending us these thoughts hoping to get us into another round of the formula we know just doesn't work. Sometimes we acquiesce; it is a habit, after all, this perpetual fleeing we have learned to do.  Learning to “sway” with our circumstance just isn't in our vernacular. It’s never been taught to us. It is counter intuitive to “do nothing” about a bad situation. 

And yet, as we continue to sit with whatever our circumstance happens to be, a transformation begins to unfold and a whole new way of life starts revealing itself to us. The longer we hang in there, the more we see it.  No circumstance in life will EVER make us happy, for it is in the very nature of a circumstance to always be the victim of impermanence.  Everything is forever changing.  Nothing lasts forever.  We are simply on a wild goose chase if we think our lives can be made better through a ride on a mobility cart.   

We awaken to the moment, whatever that moment may hold.  We embrace the moment,  with everything it has to offer, the goodness, the badness, whatever it happens to be.  Our circumstance is just a circumstance.  Whatever it is, whether we like it or dislike it, it will change.  Suddenly, we are free of the impulse to flee whatever it is.  We gain the capacity to simply work with it, deal with it, negotiate with it, dance with it.  By doing so, the circumstance itself becomes more pliable, more receptive, more amiable and amendable.  What we thought was so very awful transforms before our eyes.  Likewise, that hefty pot of gold becomes “eh, so what?” That too will change. 

This is the gift of learning how to sway that I think would make the world a “better” place to live in (there he goes again....I hear you say!)  Okay, maybe better isn't the right word. There is a temporary happiness that comes from changing a circumstance in our lives. There is a permanent happiness that comes from going beyond circumstances and embracing the moment. There are a thousand strategies to be temporarily happy....but just one to find a way that lasts. May we all learn to sway....just a little bit longer!  

Lenny Bass is a long time meditation practitioner with deep ties to the Zen Buddhist Temple of Ann Arbor. His essay "Swaying in the Sangha of Trees: The 'Tree'-Quel" appeared in the January through April issue. You can read the first installment here. Leave a comment for Lenny below or contact him at oneononemeditation@yahoo.com.

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Posted on March 11, 2014 by Lenny Bass and filed under Healing, Winter 2014 Issue, Meditation and tagged Lenny Bass.

Waiting for Spring

By Julie Jeffery Peale 

As we head into our third straight month of record-low temperatures and snowfall, I find myself torn between my love of the stillness and beauty of winter, and my yearning for the warmth and new growth of spring. I gravitate to soups, herbal teas, cozy blankets, and slippers to take the chill out of my body, and bundle up in warm coats, scarves, and hats to brave the elements. 

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Posted on February 27, 2014 by Julie Peale and filed under Healing, Health and Wellness, Winter 2014 Issue, Alternative Medicine, Naturopathy and tagged Julie Peale Essential Oils Spring Healing Winter aromatherapy.

Art Therapy Stories Continued

By Sibel Ozer

The arctic cold has taken a toll on many of us. The psyche desires to retreat with a cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a book in the other, preferably in front of a fireplace, all the while reality demands that we continue attending to our responsibilities and enter the cold over and over.

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Posted on February 21, 2014 by Sibel Ozer and filed under Art, Healing, Winter, Health and Wellness, therapeutic healing and tagged Sibel Ozer Art Therapy art expression depression.

Let’s Talk About . . . Death

By David Lawson 

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what a wonderful practice it can be to acknowledge to yourself that you and everybody else in this world are going to die! You may say, “Well, of course, I already know that. Why is it necessary to dwell on such a morose topic?” But as it turns out, we don’t really act as if we know it, do we?

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Posted on February 5, 2014 by David Lawson and filed under Winter 2014 Issue, Spirituality, Meditation, Healing, Death and Dying and tagged Compassion The Five Remembrances David Lawson.

The Value of Community

By Roshani Adhikary 

Author John Green once said, “In the darkest days, the Lord puts the best people into your life.” I’ve recently started leading yoga classes at the Cancer Support Community (CSC) of Greater Ann Arbor and have seen this for myself — how, in one’s most trying times, comfort can be found within a sense of community.

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Posted on February 5, 2014 by Roshani Adhikary and filed under Winter 2014 Issue, Local Organizations, Healing and tagged Community Support Cancer Yoga Roshani Adhikary.

Accessing Your Inner Doctor

By Brian O'Donnell 

A fundamental shift of perspective is needed if we are to have access to the “inner doctor” that I referred to in the article Threading the Eye of the Needle. This “inner doctor” possesses a much broader and deeper resourcefulness than the limited and fragmentary perspective of the everyday egoic mind.

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Posted on January 22, 2014 by Brian O'Donnell and filed under Winter 2014 Issue, Health and Wellness, Healing, Psychology and tagged Alternative Medicine Cancer Intuition Meditation Brian O'Donnell.

The World of Images, Symbols, and the Unconscious: A Source of Healing

We are definitely a product/progress/accomplishment oriented society and most of our psyches are deeply craving the opposite as a result. The permission to enter and stay in the non-doing is often a gigantic challenge for most of us, let alone someone who has spent a lifetime doing what is expected of her, since it meant survival.

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Posted on January 22, 2014 by Sibel Ozer and filed under Healing, Psychology, Therapy, Art and tagged Art Therapy Carl Jung Sand Tray EMDR Watercolor Sibel Ozer.