In today’s episode of Healing from Within, our host Sheryl Glick, author of The Living Spirit: Answers for Healing and Infinite Love, offers through personal experiences as a Reiki Master Energy Teacher and Medium the way to discover our intuitive and inner soul. Joining her today is our esteemed guest Jeannine Wiest author of The Alchemy of Self Healing who will show us the value of creative noticing to all aspects of life as we explore ways to listen to our bodies and utilize the tools now available in a sensory way to re-program those cellular stories lodged in our bodies and minds that no longer serve us.
Jeannine Wiest grew up in New York City where she attended the famed High School of the Performing Arts and as a younger child wanted to be a detective or a dancer on Broadway. She became a dancer on Broadway moved to Los Angeles created a successful design firm and began to make unusual connections that aided the detective and the artist to discover a way to listen to the body and to self-heal what was unable to be healed through the years of enduring pain and misdiagnosis by the medical community. In seeking alternative treatments Jeannine discovered and studied Craniosacral Therapy became a Reiki Master and holistic coach. Today we will discuss how to transform old stories that dwell in the body and drain well-being, how to reconnect with body wisdom to access creative resources and how to respond to challenges with calm and focused energy so we may transform into a more extraordinary version of self.
Jeanne writes “When I became extremely ill and was misdiagnosed with cancer, I came to realize I had to listen to my body, employ my intuition just as I had in my work…Ultimately Craniosacral Therapy taught me methods for seeing past physical symptoms…I realized my body was indeed listening to me. She discovered the human body is in effect another fabric much like the textiles she worked with in her design shop and within that fabric can be found a Direction of Ease.”
Jeannine writes, “I discovered through combining energy work and creativity we can open our eyes to the significance of having a nature based and metaphorical relationship with one’s body…so our energetic body connected to Universal Energy or wisdom offers us ways to understand our physical world and how to adapt to all situations either via the Brain or the Mind…one belonging to the physical needs of the body and the mind attending to higher vision or higher life laws.”
As Joseph Campbell wrote, “The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the Universe, to match your nature with Nature…”
“The discovery that your body not your mind is listening to you will transform your life. Your mind runs old programs defaulting to what is familiar, even when the familiar is pain.”
These symptoms and conditions imply to this happening:
- High levels of stress resulting in loss of focus and depression
- A sense of disconnection
- Illnesses based on syndromes that doctors can only medicate
- Endometriosis
- Repetitive injuries that seem to recur just when they are getting better
Our bodies have become patterned and conditioned to use ineffective ways to deal with stress painful experiences in childhood or traumas overwhelming us as the stress is locked in at sites of inertial which then affect the natural rhythmical movements of the Breath of Life, hindering our ability for health to manifest at a cellular level. Tissues become imprinted with the memory of unresolved experiences and act like videotapes that replay whenever stimulated. Tools to read bodily signal and resources to heal them are possible.
QUESTION AND EXAMPLE OF BODY HOLDING PAINFUL MEMORY: Jeannine tells us a story of hip pain that she was having for 40 years and during a Craniosacral session found out the incident that paved the way for this pain to manifest. Jeannine writes, “All of a sudden I’m in 6th grade…and shift into a Somoto Emotional state. I am in the bathroom and we are both looking into the mirror..Heidi has long blond hair..her features are angular and she is a child model who looks and breathes the part fully..She’s putting on makeup..I tell her I left my make-up at home but actually I don’t even have any makeup.. I FEEL LESS BEAUTIFUL AND VALUABLE THAN HEIDI..I FEEL SO STUPID LIKE SHE KNOWS THINGS I’LL NEVER KNOW.. I witness the trauma unraveling and know this sorrow has been internalized at a cellular level the hip where fear of going forward resides and my fear of growing up normally was challenged.”
Knowing that Alchemy is the process that transforms something ordinary into something extraordinary and that Self-healing is a birthright and we all the option of taking our pain and suffering and transforming it into a different terrain which allows for a more considered or conscious view of self and health is the eye opener to developing a relationship with your body that can alter adversarial thoughts and practices that might be sabotaging your well being…Example did someone every say to you… “You have a beautiful smile and you respond with…Oh but my smile is lopsided…. Or.. “You look so fit and in shape and you respond with.. “Really?, I hate my stomach… You have heard that” You become what you think” or “Change your thinking, change your life” are appropriate ideas to make important changes for well being and for a clear observation of your situation and to understand possible causes for any dysfunction you may be experiencing. However if an old story or belief system is imprinted or trapped in the body’s tissues or organs you will struggle to make necessary changes and get the results you need.
The Alchemy of Self-Healing is a two part process of change. Thinking new empowering patterns and removing blockages at the cellular level. As a Reiki Master Teacher, Sheryl employs the same process for change and for creating a new environment for being present now and not in past situations and for trying to encourage clients to explore new activities and friendships to enlarge their view of Self, the World and to find their greatest potential.
There are four parts to the Cranial Alchemy System Jeannine describes.
- Create personal Touchstones—the basis of healing is noticing.
- then identify energy that is not yours so you can work with it deflect it, or thrive around it.
- Navigate the Three Levels of Awareness, to help you respond to challenges with calm focus and ease.
- Track Neutral—a key practice, a game changer to stop you from knee-jerk reactions. Tracking Neutral will guide you to cut through fog to better decision making thereby creating a life laced with gratitude and abundance.
These eight questions help track how integrated you are with your body at the moment…your body is instant messaging all the time.
- What part of your body do you love without reservation?
- How long did it take to answer that question.
- Which of the following best describes how that loved body part feels A Flowing like a waterfall B Glistening like sap on a tree feels C Smooth as a rock D Sparking like a crystal…(Heart open with cool breezes and lightness flowing through it Eyes bright clear and twinkling like the stars above
- Now what body part frustrates you most…my stomach and feet
- How long did that take you to answer…
- If you could have a conversation with the part that frustrates you what would you say.
- My daily level of stress is A Off the charts B Medium C Low D Stress What is Stress?
- If my spine were an animal I image it would be A A quick gliding fish B A buzzing bee C A fossilized turtle D An Octopus
Craniosacral therapy is an educated specific non-invasive touch that supports your body’s innate ability to heal. This therapy is a cornerstone of the alchemy of self-healing as you develop a conscious relationship with your central nervous system…no other body system has the kind of powerful influence over your well being as does the central nervous system. Becoming still and focusing on your body as you become more aware to energy patterns given off by other people places and your own body can help you make better choices to all situation.…Example You can scan your body and begin with the feet ankle moving up and becoming aware of where any pain or dysfunction might reside…you can then through visualization practices begin to release the tensions of that area through meditating and allowing more peace and balance into your entire essence. This practice can be done often and may prevent further blockages and build ups of unwanted negative energy to even begin.
Sheryl says “In my new book, The Living Spirit I share what I have discovered about the energy within that gives us a greater view of our purpose in life and the intuition that aids us in achieving our greatest goals. I share many different processes and energy healing modalities where you may discover higher energy and how it connects us to each other and to eternal life forces…I wrote….. There are several types of energy healing. Some, like Reiki and acupuncture have been around for thousands of years: others have been developed or recognized more recently. Their methods may differ, as well as certain aspects of their ideologies, but they all operate on one basic premise: there is more to us than our physical bodies. Energy sessions focus on the life force—or “qi” that flows within all living things, the goal being to release, dissolve or transmute negative feelings that block this force and cause imbalance and illness in the body. All of these methods have benefits that range from improving or healing the physical body to clearing past painful memories and negative thought pattern.”
The Four Tenants of the Alchemy of Self-Healing system are;
- The body is a unit
- The body is a self-regulating self-correcting mechanism
- Structure and function are inter-related
- Movement is health Although movement does encompass the larger exercise moves and gross motor skills…we rely on the fluid, cellular movement, the tiny yet powerful movement of each cell in our body that keeps us healthy or sets us up for dis—ease .
We then discussed Spear Carrier Energy which refers to focusing on how you focus… Jeanne wrote, “Is yours too narrow like the third spear carrier’s in the play Hamlet…Hamlet is the story of the third spear carrier who longs to be recognized by Hamlet and is given an amazing quest to accomplish…but he’s stuck holding a spear at court. In other words this illustrates the idea of our lens, of what we choose to focus on and how we choose to interpret a story. Is your focus too narrow like the third spear carriers and thus missing the larger picture. Still we all have had at least one spear carrier moment, a victim moment, “a stuck in the pity party moment”. Perhaps we’re simply watching as life passes us by or assuming the larger picture has nothing to do with our personal situation. Remember the adage…There are no small parts only small players..It is in the perception of wholeness or lack of wholeness that we create our daily lives So if the perception is everything and the third spear carriers perception were grounded with a touchstone or aid to assist different thinking and neutral in the body yet flexible to a larger awareness you have created a new approach to that particular moment and to living life more fully.”
Jeanne discusses another important part of your spiritual and emotional arsenal for functioning well in difficult experiences. Being neutral sounds dull but Jeannine says it’s an important weapon. “Neutral is a magical state of awareness that we often whizz past when we rush from daily drama to daily drama. Neutral isn’t static In other words you can’t acquire a neutral state once and be done with the work. Rather, neutral requires a shuffling of awareness that becomes a practice or means for your continued self growth. In life there is constantly incoming information. To maintain Neutral in the face of emotional or physical triggers you must learn to check in frequently with your body. Neutral is not the same as burying or ignoring or understanding that a story has passed, the danger is gone, and the shock or pain to your emotional and physical body is no more. That is denial and denial can be a comforting way station however, it is not a destination Cognitive understanding is valuable but if you are still stuck from the neck up your physical and energetic field will be out of balance and you’ll overlook innovative solutions..in order to live in our authentic present we want to capture unseen solutions see the broader choices. To do this we need to drop into our sensory selves, and allow for Neutral. Neutral therefore is a ready state with no attachment to outcome”
Sheryl’s story of Neutral: “Many years ago when working in an office there was a worker who created many dramas and problems for the other professionals working there..no one could understand why the owners didn’t set up better boundaries and behavior requirements to improve the functioning of the office…After repeated efforts to bring about an awareness of the problem to no avail…I said to one of the people who was allowing the offensive behavior, I have to stay Neutral and remove myself from the mix as was affecting me physically and made me unable to remain calm and focused which was necessary for my development and for helping my clients. I may have not fully been using the word to describe what you are setting up here but to me it was a necessary part of my spiritual practice to remain positive and energetic and not allow others to break my level of higher connection to Self. My body was talking to me and asking me to find some way to be comfortable in a difficult situation”
Jeanne tells us about three styles of relating and what we can do with this information… The three levels of awareness that relate everyday to experiences are;
The Physical Level : Helping the body’s natural healing mechanisms dissipate the negative effects of stress on the central nervous system is part of this process…developing the habit of starting a conversation with your organs and surrounding soft tissues and fluid will help. Stress related dysfunctions such as fatigue, headaches, poor digestion and anxiety can dissipate. We want to root out the cause of an issue rather than mask symptoms.
The Metaphysical Level The term metaphysical means what comes after physics or we’ll refer to it here as the integration of the physical and mental state. Integration helps circumvent the fatal flaw of the primitive brain as it relates to the mid-brain and the neocortex. The Metaphorical Level is defined as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of object or action is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them. The metaphorical level is the creative juicy level where you can make leaps of connection while remaining grounded and aware of Neutral. Here we strengthen our intuition and imagination muscles.
Craniosacral Alchemy and Reiki focus on the idea of spending more time experiencing and cultivating empathy bringing that down into our body and experiencing art and nature as often as the time we spend memorizing mathematical tables….because the world economy is so hyper-competitive much of the focus on education is on science technology engineering and math and while important it is short-sighted
The mid brain deals with feeling…the primitive brain often can’t tell the difference between perceived and real threats…and stand offs without resolving situations often happen….the neo-cortex part of brain has little use for feeling and encompasses personality higher intellect cognition and abstraction …people who lead only from this area are the neck-up types…working with all parts of the brain would be most beneficial….
We have seen how JeanneWiest a leading expert in combining Craniosacral energy therapy concepts alongside her Reiki energy healing work offers creative principles to help people heal themselves by learning about and developing a nature-based relationship with their bodies. As most alternative healers interested in the metaphysical philosophical and creative approach to life and healing…. Sheryl included…. have explored many additional modalities. There are answers to every medical condition and to the thought processes which hinder us from achieving our most desired goals. It is often necessary however to realign ourselves to our inner innate wisdom and to leave behind those limiting thoughts and belief systems which cause us to develop negative views of ourselves and our possibilities for success. Letting go of limiting or fearful thoughts or ways of dealing with situations which create repetitive patterns and poor outcomes is the way to begin to build new healthy positive perceptions and behaviors that work for us. It means to think of ourselves as having the capacity and ability to know ourselves and to focus on values and issues that bring us happiness and joy not on those that bring us worry or sadness. The choice is always ours… but it is in recognizing our responsibility not blaming others that we access the personal power to affect our own life and to move forward.
In Sheryl’s book The Living Spirit, she wrote…. “Finding true happiness and joy is the natural outcome of self-investigation. There are no short cuts. No one can make you happy or unhappy unless you give him or her the power to do that by surrendering or giving your own power away….most people want to be loved and accepted by a group regardless of the cost to their own individual character. Therefore they tell themselves many stories in order to be accepted by others…..they may even chose to blame parents, spouse or children for any unhappiness they experience or any delays in achieving their immediate goals or desires. However, it is not only by our own efforts and choices that each of us develop a sense of accomplishment and self-growth but by recognizing the greater whole of our being… and the role we play in creating everything in our lives.”
Jeannine and Sheryl would have you begin to see that you are the masters of your own life and the possibilities for change are there even in the most unlikely scenarios…open your heart and mind to health and happiness and ask for help when needed…amazing efforts will bring about amazing results. |
