Greetings and salutations lovely peeps
I trust you are all finding ways to keep warm and fuel costs low. One of the things I’m doing is putting my washing machine timer on to do my washing in the early morning – catch the most economical rates.
I’ve know for a long time that there’s always a consequence to my actions but never really paid much attention. Until the consequence wasn’t one that I would have chosen consciously. This month hearing the same story from someone around me has led me to think of this differently - to change the order of action-consequence to consequence-action. If I want a certain consequence [to be able to do a headstand into my 90’s] then I need to take certain actions to be able to achieve that – specifically practising the headstand several times a week. If we want robust and resilient health what are the actions that need to happen upstream of that? I imagine it will be different for everyone. Whatever the case, consequence follows action.
Stress and CST (Reference: the Craniosacral Association)
“Not all stress is damaging, and not everyone experiences stressors at the same level. What may be extremely stressful for one person could be invigorating for another. However, although some stress may be enjoyable and an essential part of our survival, if it occurs in doses that we can’t easily process, it can also lead to problems.
Stress stimulates changes in the body, such as the release of chemicals or the activation of the inflammatory response. Our bodies are usually very efficient at maintaining homeostasis in the face of many challenges, but when the burden of either external or internal stress becomes too great, this automatic self-regulation fails, and symptoms arise.
Diverse symptoms such as headaches or stomach problems, and/or feelings of anxiety and restless. And… sometimes feeling unable to cope as a constant bombardment of challenges result in stress hormones flooding the bloodstream. There may be changes to the immune system, blood pressure and nervous responses. When internal events like this are experienced you may feel subtly ‘different’ without knowing why. Another classic sign is tiredness and an inability to concentrate, which may contribute to confusion about your condition. Perhaps you just don’t know what is happening to you - you just feel awful’. Over time, tensions can become chronic. As defence mechanisms are weakened, the body becomes less able to deal with further stress, creating a cycle which can manifest in symptoms such as insomnia, digestive problems, panic attacks, [arrhythmia and heart pains] depression and anxiety.
What matters is how we deal with it - how we look after ourselves, or conversely whether we learn to be helpless in the face of stress and allow it to become a habitual state. Stress becomes a negative, destructive factor in life when it exceeds our ability to adapt to it. As we all differ in our emotional and physical makeup, we have varying degrees of susceptibility to stress overload, and in our ability to rebalance ourselves. Once stored in the body, stress can lie dormant, only to be triggered again at a later time by a sound, a word, or even the tone of someone’s voice. Our body unconsciously remembers and reacts to the new stimulus in the same way it did to the first event, even though this reaction may be out of proportion to what has just happened. Reacting automatically to the past, rather than responding appropriately to the present can keep us trapped in a pattern that forces us to re-live the original stressor again and again in a variety of forms. It is one of the reasons that we feel so powerless to change a situation, and can lead to feelings of helplessness and impotence.
Bodywork such as CST can be a powerful tool for shifting out of the reactive stance of chronic stress, and into a space where we find freedom not only physically, but also allowing agency and choice to become real possibilities as the grip of our habitual stress responses are lessened. When the body slows down during a session, it can begin to untangle its confused responses and reactions. CST can provide a space where further stimulation is limited and homeostatic rebalancing is enabled. Responses can be re-educated to become more co-ordinated, more flexible and more appropriately responsive. A body/mind system that is integrated like this is more able to resist depression or disease, and more able to attend to and repair itself in times of need.
By stimulating the rest and recovery systems of the body, the subtle work of CST allows the body to re-source its powers of rehabilitation and revival.
This gives us an opportunity to avoid familiar mental barriers and to let go of accumulated physical tensions.”
Negative emotions are like unwelcome guests. Just because they show up on our doorstep doesn't mean they have a right to stay.
-Deepak Chopra
This month’s book “Who Moved My Cheese”, by Spencer Johnson.
Who Moved My Cheese? is a tale about the dangers of complacency and the importance of embracing change. It’s a parable about change that takes place in a Maze where four characters look for “Cheese”—cheese being a metaphor for what we want in life.
The four imaginary characters depicted in the story—the mice: “Sniff” and “Scurry,” and the Littlepeople: “Hem” and “Haw”—are intended to represent the simple and the complex parts of ourselves.
Whatever parts of us we choose to use, we all share something in common: a need to find our way in the Maze and succeed in changing times.
“Remember, the moment you accept total responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you claim the power to change anything in your life.”
May you find ways of supporting re-balance in your being and your world.
Blessings
Trishx