I’ve been hearing about this great mixed drink. Unlike most mixed drinks, I hear the more you drink, the clearer you get. Heavy indulgence doesn’t result in getting tanked or a crippling headache the next day. You don’t have to wait in line at the liquor store to get some, and even minors can indulge freely. How do you make it? Two fingers hydrogen, one oxygen…
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…Feeling hungry a lot? Down a big glass, wait 15 minutes, and then see if you’re really still hungry. We’ve grown so chronically thirsty for so long, we sometimes mistake our body’s signal for more water as a call for food.
– “A Great Mixed Drink”
Cultivating an intent to face the emotions that can be stirred by continuous proper breathing allows one to begin the journey toward clearing the impediments to greater oxygen intake and resultant cellular health. When we intentionally breathe deeply, we stir the held fear, grief or anger in the rib cage and internal organs such as the lungs, heart, stomach, spleen and liver. This is a good thing if we have acceptance for the possible emotions that intentional deep breathing might surface.
Moving the lungs more fully with deeper breathing also assists in lymphatic fluid moving through the body. Only physical movement, including but not limited to deep breathing, can move lymphatic fluid through the glands and thereby eliminate wastes and toxins much more easily from the body. Besides physical movement, there is no other pump to keep your lymphatic fluid moving, as, for example, the heart is for the blood.
– “Breathe, Breathe In The Air”
Don’t want to exercise? Don’t “should” on yourself. Follow your body’s urges as unconditionally as you can, and pay attention. Ask Body if s/he wants to go to that dance, or hike the mountain today. Ask, and listen inside. If the answer is no, follow that — don’t let your mind lead. Mind has led the way long enough. Body has rarely, if ever, been given the chance to lead! If the answer is yes, go for it. Every body’s need is different, there isn’t any “right way”.
As always, when intending and moving toward balancing any part of the self, moderation is key. In addition to not pushing Body to work out if you really don’t’ feel like it, bodies are also made of muscle and muscles enjoy working, so giving Body a chance to move and exercise when desire is present keeps the heart healthy, muscles stimulated, lymphatic fluid moving and energy flowing. Over-disciplining or under-utilizing Body are extremes which do not serve the health of the whole Self.
– “Exercise, Movement and Inner Listening”
Bodies need to be touched — loving, safe, healing touch. Touch is as important as breathing or exercising. Being touched with healing, honoring intent encourages the body to thrive and want to live, and live fully. Being touched aids in warding off depression and is a wonderful preventive for the dis-ease and dis-comfort that untouched bodies sooner or later manifest….
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…Slow, effortless breathing, especially extending the exhalation/outbreath, aids in muscle relaxation and is most called for during deep tissue massage of a particularly tight or painful muscle. This can be most efficacious by imagining you are located inside the muscle being currently worked, then breathing “through” that muscle slowly, deeply and as effortlessly as possible, as though there was a mouth on that spot inhaling and exhaling. On the exhale, it helps to consciously “let go” of the tension on that spot as it gets worked by the practitioner; in other words, surrender that tension to the touch on a physical level, allowing the muscle to relax as deeply as possible as you breathe out. Let the breath simply fall out of you, do not push it out, and do not be too hasty in reaching for the next inhalation. In other moments, it may feel best to simply let go of managing the breath in any way and allow a completely organic breathing response.
– Chapter 2, “Bodywork”
When the physical body presents pain and thereby reveals imbalance, the pain stored is often rooted in old emotional pain. If I participated in every suggestion thus far in this section of the book on a daily basis, I still would not manifest health and balance if I did not do the emotional, mental and spiritual work necessary to manifest overall health within the entire Self. All layers of the being must be healed, and when healing and dealing is applied, old habits are eventually discarded for new, healthier changes which begin to flow in naturally.
If we were to merely focus on healing the symptoms of physical body imbalance alone while ignoring other layers of the self, the body would need constant, repetitive help. Body would not be able to become self-sufficient in any way or clear itself of backlogged pain, make strides and evolve. It therefore becomes crucial to deal with underlying causes for physical issues. This part of Healing and Dealing represents one layer of taking full responsibility for our own healing into wholeness and balance.
– “What is the Physical Body?”