Personal News for March 2021

Wow! I hope your world is still safe and habitable. I'm happy to report that Gloria has had both COVID vaccinations and I've had the first shot, with the next one coming soon. We hope to be able to travel back to Crete one day, but who knows?

Gloria enjoying a restaurant break.

Gloria’s father

In sad news, we lost Gloria's father, George Galanes, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in February. It was time—at 97 he could no longer live at home alone, so after moving from hospital to rehab to independent living to hospice to quarantine to a double room to an assisted living apartment in three months, he passed quietly after saying goodbye to us all. A fine man, and he will be missed. So we've also been back and forth to Ohio quite a bit in the last several months. Considering we don't travel these days, we have been burning up the roads!

Next book work

I'm still working on the self-publish aspect of the sixth book; now titled "The Essential CORE: Bodywork with Hands, Head and Heart.” The first half is devoted to philosophy of good deep tissue work and the second half explains and teaches my five-session blueprints for good work. No publication date in the offing. I now have the photos created, still waiting on illustrations. One day…

A fixer-upper project

My daughter Molly has bought a “fixer-upper” in Lockhart, Texas, and is in the process of rehabilitating a house that hasn't been lived in for 25 years! I've therefore made about four trips down since last July to help with the remodel—a learning experience for us both since we're so different and so alike! Not sure when I'll be back to work with her again.

Daughter Molly’s fixer-upper house project

Back to traveling for fun?

Sadly, will I ever get back to Crete at again? I'm beginning to hope our time is coming, as many more are getting vaccinated, and Europe seems to be relaxing some of the standards…we'll see. We did make a pretty safe vacation in late September/early October—a non-stop drive to visit a nephew in Colorado, a view of Devils Tower in Wyoming and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota before driving home, quickly.

What IS the New Normal?

We're all beginning to have lockdown fever and wanting to get back into the world as soon as possible. Do we call this condition COVID fatigue? Whatever it is, it certainly makes us all realize how much we've been missing face-to-face socialization and the ability to get up and go when we feel like it. However, do we want to return to the 'old normal'?

I've found over the course of the lockdowns that I rather like the new world where I spend much more time in the quiet, in the yard and garden, tending nature and my spirit. I hope it's the same for you! And I hope the experience will give you what it's given me—that ability to slow down and appreciate where I am in the moment instead of rushing to get to some moment in the future. This may be easier for me than for you; simply because I'm pretty much retired and less worried about making an income to tend to my “needs.” Making less money has also made me more aware of how much of my money went to unnecessary expenses. This is a lesson we probably all need to remember.

Years ago I found a poem that stuck in my head. It was called “My Name Is I AM” and was written by Helen Mallicoat. I called Helen and got permission to write a song using her words. The content goes something like this:

I was talking to the Lord and looking for an answer; guilty from the past and fearful of the future. I'd forgotten my trust; needed someone to save me, when I heard a still small voice and the words that it gave me: My name is I AM it said.

When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets it is hard, for I am not there. When you live in the future with its worries and fears, it is hard; for I am not there. My name is not I was; my name is not I will be; my name is I AM, and I AM that I AM.

So calmly I'm sticking my toe back into the river of life; offering a few sessions to past clients, reaching out with the vagus class at the invitation of Rose Grotjan, making tentative plans for what the spring, summer and fall may or may not look like (possibly a III/IV in Crete this fall!), and thinking hard about just how far into the world's drama I want to place myself. I hope you have the opportunity to take the pandemic as a reset button; like the vagus nerve, we can reset what we believe our lives must be like, simplify and enjoy more while working and worrying less, enjoying more and living in the I AM, not in the past or future. My wish for you, for me, for us all.

Personal News for October 2020

Back to Crete?

Beginning in September or even late August, I had hoped to move to Crete until January. Sadly, will we ever get back to Crete at all? The pandemic, and the U.S. response, has made it clear that we're the outlier in the world in terms of how NOT to deal with a pandemic. VOTE.

Going forward

Remember, if you're still looking for bodywork now that I'm retiring, Garrell Herndon has his training from the Guild for Structural Integration and sees clients at Bodysmith on St Louis Street in Springfield. He's also taken CORE II with me. His phone number is 416-871-4709. Call him now that I'm not seeing clients.

Okay, I hope you'll take the time to find my Facebook pages or in some way stay connected. May we all live through this next month, this election, the pandemic, and this crazy world we have right now!

Keep breathing.

Don't go off half-cocked! Ready, fire, aim, isn't the way to go!

Pandemic is now officially the least favorite lifestyle for most of us. It's also hitting closer to home as our daughter's sister-in-law has now passed away after three weeks on a ventilator. My grandson is something of a basket case these days, worrying about catching virus, not wanting to return to school, or even see us anywhere closer than across an outdoor space. I don't blame him. What a crazy world we're leaving these children!

Meanwhile, I've been thinking, both for myself and for clients about the title above. It's fairly easy these days for me to have a simple life; I can see myself as retired and don't have to make a living anymore. I can enjoy the yard, even when the lists I make of the "to-do's" simply don't get done. I have the luxury of taking my time, deciding what's important to me, and only doing those things that serve that need. I am lucky indeed.

Yet many people are still trying to participate in a world that I'm not sure exists anymore. They're trying to figure out how to manage lives in an unmanageable world. And for too many of us that goes back to what I say in the title. I see too many people these days who seem to be operating from that phrase "ready, fire, aim" instead of "ready, aim, fire." I believe too many of us stand and go into action BEFORE we take aim. Put in simple terms: What would it be like if we chose an action, stood, thought about the action and primed our body BEFORE we acted? What if we aimed ourselves first, then "fired" on the world?

The upside of COVID-19 for me is that it is letting me have an ability to be more single-minded—if I get one thing done in a day, I feel there's been a success. I'm happier working on a single project instead of looking around at all the "shoulds" I've given myself. And I'm happier with the idea of accomplishing a small goal or two instead of trying to save the world. It's an interesting concept: Are you in the ready/fire/aim category, or the ready/aim/fire one? Do you allow yourself to stand, collect yourself, and find your line before you go into the world, or are you still scurrying to keep up with this new and crazy world? Choose wisely!

Mindful Movement, Where You Are

Most of us make those New Year's resolutions: I'll lose fifteen pounds, I'll work out regularly, I'll settle the old score, I'll make more money, etc, etc. Too many of us don't seem to get those resolutions to resolve into something new and better. In my head, one of the reasons for that is because we set goals too ambitious, too difficult, and too hard to reach instead of setting smaller and more achievable ones. To that end, I'd like you to think about your expenditure of energy in terms of how and how often you move during a day. It seems to me that most of us don't move nearly enough, and that when we finally do move we effort a bit too much in our desire to fix everything quickly. Neither of these 'fixes' will fix anything, and in fact, just may make things worse.

Let's start with that second idea first: It's a New Year, and we're going to trim off the fifteen holiday (or before) pounds, then we're going to get the new wardrobe, then the new job, etc, etc. We set very lofty goals, then stop fairly quickly when we feel defeated by the goals we've set, and we begin to feel like a failure. How to change this? It's simple, really. We merely set smaller and more achievable goals instead of lofty grand ones. Instead of forcing self to lose fifteen pounds, why not focus on eating a bit healthier with more of the good foods—vegetables, fruits, fiber and more water in the diet? Without going kamikaze and feeling the need to monitor everything that goes through the lips, we can simply start being a bit mindful of the things we ingest, and mindfully and gratefully absorbing them and their nutrients?

The second idea above also bears thought: 'mindful movement, where you are' suggests that anything and everything around you can be seen as exercise equipment. Instead of buying a beautiful new workout suit, then a membership in that fancy gym, why not decide to walk 2500 steps around the house or neighborhood every morning when you get out of bed? Why not decide to purchase five pound weights and use them for fifteen minutes each morning in twisting, lateral flexing and forward and backward bends? Why not purchase a $40 rebounder (small trampoline/circulator) and spend ten or fifteen minutes each day with this type of equipment? We don't need more expensive equipment, clothing, and such things to move better; we just need to move better. Think of this: Why not try using big toe push-ups while standing at the kitchen sink to do dishes, or at the counter while preparing vegetables? Why not put hands on the counter, lift self up and allow the arms to both stretch, but also allow the spine to hang from the shoulders instead of the shoulders hanging from the spine? Why not pay attention to going up and down steps, trying to spend less time depending on the railings and more time maintaining an upright posture and paying attention to the tracking of the feet and the resilience of the knees as you go up and down? Why not choose to stand and move gently while watching TV, or the first thing when you get out of bed, or the last thing at night? Adding simple and small routines that you can achieve and feel better about having achieved will help you to move to more ambitious goals, and let you be a winner as you try to self-improve.

So begin to see everything around you as potential exercise movement equipment—your desk and computer can help you remember to stretch and open every few minutes. Your car can remind you to shift your bottom from side to side, change the parts of your back that contact the seat, and adjust your posture as you drive (and take breaks). Your favorite chair or couch can still allow you to find ways to sit up, or lie down, or twist side to side, in a more resilient line instead of lying down to read and cramming self into a fetal posture with your head over the arm of couch in a way that gives you a headache when standing after two hours of reading in that posture. Your stair railings can be your assistant, but not the doer of the action as you climb or descend stairs. Simple attention to posture, movement, breath, and the idea of exploring new postures and movements instead of getting trapped in the old ones, can give you the better new year we're all after.

My new book coming out in January is called “The Self-Care Guide to Surgery” and has a good chapter called “Mindful Movement, Where You Are.” In this chapter we talk to these ideas about what you can do, in smaller and achievable increments, that put you on the path to health instead of the path to static. With or without the book, we can make a choice in this new year, to move more, eat more sensibly, breathe deeply, not let the stresses of the world get to us, and best of all, choose to explore health instead of working so hard to achieve it. Over-achievement sets us up for failure! Exploration sets us up for success...may you find your success by exploring the new you instead of trying to achieve that new you in a way that makes you feel like a failure.

Happy New Year!

Update Time

I tend to forget to look at my own website. I’m guilty…I just don’t seem to find the time for all the things that need to happen these days. But overall, moving forward slowly is preferable to moving backwards!

In the past several months I’ve certified several new CORE Level III practitioners: In Scotland, Joanne Polding and Fiona McKenzie, and in Arkansas, Abigail Showl. Abigail also received her additional training and certified as a Level I Instructor. She plans to begin offering courses in northwest Arkansas soon. Congratulations to all three!

And several folks are now teaching CORE work around the world! See the directory, but we now have instructors in the UK, US and Malaysia, so we’re quite excited that we can offer CORE work around the world. I also teach occasionally in Crete, so we’re covering the earth (quietly).

In other updates, my fifth book called “The Self-Guide to Surgery” will be released in January of 2020. This one was difficult on several levels, but has come out nicely, I think. The target audience for this book is anyone on the planet! We’re all faced with choices in every day…choices that can help us remain healthy, or have better outcomes from medical procedures, or even learn how to ask appropriate questions with our practitioners. I am pleased to be joined in this book by Dr. Ralph Harvey who offers a doctor’s perspective on several occasions, and friend Dan Kuebler, who as a physical therapist facing a surgery was able to share his good and bad experiences as well. I hope it will help people make wise choices before surgery is necessary, when it’s inevitable, and once it’s happened.

And I’m still traveling, still working and teaching a bit, and still moving less quickly more of the time! However, currently Gloria and I seem to gravitate to our Crete home in spring and fall, stay in Springfield in the summer and winter try to find a bit of warmth in the middle. We hope to visit Australia in January before returning to Malaysia to offer courses in February of 2020.

So life is full! Another birthday coming soon, and aging isn’t all graceful, but gratitude seems to make all work better so I affirm gratitude for all the good in my life!

Globe Trotting Has Its Rewards

I'm sitting in a hotel in Bali, cursing poor internet service, but finishing up a three month trip that's taken me to Greece and its big island Crete; then on to London, Edinburgh, and Brixham in Devon; then to Kuala Lumpur and Miri (Borneo) in Malaysia and Bali in Indonesia.  Tomorrow I leave to spend a few days celebrating Christmas with friends before moving on to good old Springfield, MO on 29 Dec.  Ready to be home; traveling since 26 Sept!

But it's been great in so many ways.  Primarily I'd have to say because student/personal assistant/media queen Elizabeth Buri, my Malaysian connection, has pushed me to learn to spread the gospel of CORE around the world.  I've been learning so much from my students all around the globe on this trip.  First, from Liz, the concept of getting the word out.  I came close to dying last March/April as a result of old plane wreck problems, and coming back has made me determined to spread the word of the work as I see it to good teachers, so that CORE ideas and ideals don't die with me.  Liz has been shadowing me for much of the past two years; observing my teaching style, assisting and taking over as needed, and continuing to push me to really understand what I'm trying to leave behind and why.

Credits also to Pam Martin in Edinburgh.  While assisting me with a large CORE I group there in November, Pam had two 'aha' moments.  The first showed her that she needed to honor my goals for the work as she taught, but that those goals had to come from her center and experience, not mine.  Good advice for all my instructors. And the second, possibly most profound realization of the entire trip, and one that I've been preaching since that day, is that I really want students to understand the philosophy of CORE.  When they 'get' the 'why' of the work, the 'how' takes care of itself.  If one understands how and why this touch is important and different from other touches, the techniques fall into place.

Credit to Chris Mowen, East Grinstead (Sussex?), who is the second person I've certified at Level II instructor (Liz being the first).  He's taught me how to incorporate his style into the work I do, in some ways subjugating what he'd like to teach to keep the basic recipe of the work intact, so that students get the classical training.  He's also taught me the value of silence, of following the hands and letting the recipe rearrange itself, and the value of presence.

Pentony O'Hagan!  Another thanks....Pentony is already operating a school in London, so has been through lots of organizational challenges and is guiding the rest of us in terms of learning how to accredit courses through one of the UK bodies, how to pursue teaching credentials, how to get down to business!  In addition, she's one of the quickest studies in terms of the work we're doing, and simply an amazing worker, all while preparing to bring forth her second child!  I'm in awe. Every body needs a brain and good hands; she's got both!

Nicola Reed, newest CORE IV certificant in London, and now a Level I Instructor as well.  When Nicola began this process several years back, I didn't expect to see her complete.  I'm so delighted she both stuck with me through hard spots, but also that she now feels 'she's finally found her family after 25 years of doing the work.'

Richard Rollings in Brixham; I've asked Richard on occasion to become an instructor and am met with a firm 'no'....yet, he's always available to listen, to comment concisely, and to offer good advice.  A treasure.

Roxanne Portman in Arkansas...my first US Instructor certificant, soon to be Level II Instructor.  Her anatomy skills show me even an old dog can learn new anatomy given a good enough teacher. Excited to have her share her skills with this community.

Robert White in Teesdale, UK, who inspired my/our fourth book, BodyMindCORE Work for the Movement Therapist, and who continues to hold a space for CORE relating to Pilates and physio work, even as he transits from one business to the next.

Carl Dawkins in Jamaica, Naomi Lalonde in Arkansas; soon-to-be Level I Instructors, and eager to take the work forward with their own slants.

Chi, Tamas, James, Jo, Julie, Ong, Lydia, Zul, Nate, and other students on three continents who have challenged me, absorbed me, and wrung me dry, but in such a fulfilling way because I know they 'got' the ideas and their worlds have been changed....and even the students who didn't get me or my ideas, and pushed me therefore to be more effective in my work.

And best of all, first and last, he-whom-I-consider-my-rock, Fran Kehoe, now of Ireland but maintaining business in London: for believing from the first, for shepherding me around England, for providing space, encouragement, advice and love through many years.

Yes, I've learned much from my students; easily as much as they think they've learned from me.  I treasure them all, am excited to see where this 'Next Generation' takes the work.  I'm feeling weary from the travels, but blessed for having met the fellow travelers.

Think Global, Act Local

Years ago in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, one of my students (I believe it was you, Heather Huber!) watched me working on a model, and saw how I tried to pay attention to the entire body, no matter where I was working with that client. She observed me, then said, “I see what you’re doing; think globally, act locally.” Bingo! The old environmental slogan applies, and marvelously, to bodywork. It’s something I’ve drilled into students since, and it’s currently re-surging in a large way, as I realize how much more can be accomplished with a body when we keep the client present in the entire global situation instead of just the small patch where we’re working.

I remember an old country song whose tag line said something like “…but your heart’s not in it, and I don’t want your body if your heart’s not in it.” Exactly! If the client has checked out, or has run away, or is fighting me, I can’t get much done. But the interesting bit is that if I watch closely, I’ll see  the client may be present with me and accepting work in the costal arch, or the feet, or the neck, or wherever I’m working, but another part of their body is defending against my touch. Their heart’s not in it, and globally, they’re hiding from me.

Once, I was young. We smoked some cheap marijuana and were constantly worried about getting ‘busted’. We’d have a place to hide our goodies, which we called our ‘stash’. It seems to me that many of us hide our goodies, and ‘stash’ them somewhere in the body to defend and therefore not release when we’re challenged.

And my point is: A good bodyworker will look at, feel, sense, and intuit what else is going on up and down the line of the body; not just right on the spot where they’re working. A good bodyworker can put fingers in the costal arch, or the tibialis posterior, or the neck, and notice the client has stopped moving and breathing in the other end of the body or somewhere in the middle. Various tools can tell us this is so:  We might feel or see the lack of breath movement. We might see that little ‘flick’ in the corner of the eye that tells us someone is struggling mightily. We might see fists curling up, or inner arches sucking into the stomach. We might see the low back lifting off the table or couch; we might see the chin reach toward the sky as the back of the neck tightens. We might notice that breath has stopped entirely. These are some of the easy-to-read signals. As a practitioner, closing eyes and trying to determine what body part has stopped participating can be difficult when one begins, but the longer one works with the concept, the better the practitioner becomes at reading the entire body, not just the part under the fingers or elbow or knuckles or hands. Becoming aware of the small and subtle signals can allow us to take clients to a far more productive level.

Recently, I blogged about Ida Rolf supposedly saying that maturity is the ability to discern finer and finer distinctions. This is absolutely true for bodyworkers—the more they can discern when a client is holding against their touch, and where, the more they can coax that client into finding, identifying and releasing that holding pattern.

I’ve long taught that stretching a rubber band from one end only just doesn’t work. One needs to stretch from both ends. If one twists the ends while stretching, even more movement occurs. If one puts a hand or foot in the middle of that band while stretching, even more happens. We’re like that rubber band in our bodies; the more we learn to stretch in more directions while working that client, the more we’re likely to get movements we’d never dreamed could happen. And the more we keep clients present to the places they’re trying to ‘stash’ their tension, the more tension can be released. The more we practice this simple environmental formula, the better we become at our body craft. If we think global while working local, great things can happen in terms of release and resolution of client bodies. So remember to look at, feel, observe, intuit the entire picture when working on the specific problems.

Maturity

Lately I’ve been remembering a quote that either Peter Melchoir or Emmett Hutchins attributed to Ida Rolf: “Maturity is the ability to discern finer and finer layers of distinction.”  (This is as I remember; it may be slightly differently worded).  I’ve been sharing it with students and clients quite a bit over the past month, because right now, it feels very important to me personally.  Similar to a fine craftsman who puts his or her best work on creating the flawless finish, I’m more interested in showing clients, but more importantly myself, how to achieve finer and finer distinctions in my body.

I’ve mentioned to students that somewhere around 15-20 years into my practice, I looked at a picture of psoas, iliacus and quadratus lumborum, deep muscles of front of back and hips. Though I’d been looking at it for perhaps 15 years, I realized that though I’d been looking for all that time and teaching from it for a long while, I hadn’t realized the quadratus was so deep as to attach to the front of transverse processes as well as to the tips and back!  Maturity.

In my own body, this attempted maturity currently translates in two major ways. First, I’m aware my left foot doesn’t like weight in the middle toes.  I’ve been experimenting with adding weight to the front of that foot, with the result that I feel springier in that foot and leg.  Maturity.

Likewise, my right foot has its own pattern. I prefer to turn it out slightly as I walk and stand, and the inner arch is higher than the left.  This height translates into a pulling all the way into the adductors, groin, and a couple of sites of surgeries on my right side from years gone by.  And, when I twist my body and arms to the right with weights in my hands, the right arch pulls up even further from the floor…unless I mind it, and ask it to stay grounded.  Maturity.

So, currently I’m asking students to sharpen their observation skills….to learn to watch the entire client body to see more maturely where that client is holding, hiding and defending when they receive work. I challenge them to make their clients more mature in their bodies. If I’m teaching to students, I obviously need to learn for myself as well….still.  So with my clients I challenge myself to get more mature, more aware, more subtle, more in tune with who they are (and who I am).  I seek maturity for everybody that crosses my path.