the confluence with Becky Ballard

Hi All

I just watched the Becky Ballard fireside chat at the Members' Theatre. "Now where shall I post my response?" I thought. It is about Emotional Issues, but it is equally about Bodywork. It made me realise how easily we can become confused about the Spiritual Issues, which can disguise themselves as Emotional responses, and hide themselves in the way we utilise our bodies, in our world where we have to perform and monitor and self-criticise, and continually improve our Performance to justify our existence.

Whatever happened to simply being? It is too hard to unwind. Just being is a waste of time, and our heads fill up with all the other things we could have been *doing* instead. I am too busy to simply be. People rely on me. I don't want to let people down. Bad me. Bad me. Bad me.

Can we separate the two? Surely, separating the two is part of the problem, but fortunately there are practitioners like Becky's acupuncturist, whom she chose carefully, that can acknowledge the link, and help us to bring the two together.

We need time to do. We need time to think. We need time to simply be.

Unwinding each from the other seems to me to be a very valuable way to cut the cords that bind us up into a tight bundle, in order to protect ourselves.

I am increasingly becoming aware of myself when I am walking along very fast, with tight body, and small steps. Just slowing down and taking larger strides, allows my muscles to get stretched out with every stride. I can feel my psoas muscles extending when my trailing leg is just about to spring off for another stride. I can feel my shoulders relax and my chest rise, and my chin recede as I stop pushing into the next step and become more upright in my walk. All this hurrying perplexes the natural rhythm of my walking. When I am tense I have to curtail each stride so I can take another stride. It seems like I am driving a car with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake, and wondering why it is such hard work.

What happens to all the energy when I have to brake in this way. I guess it gets turned in on itself.

We can only be who we can be, no more. I am guessing that it is easier on body, mind and spirit to simply take your foot off the brake, and lighten your other foot on the accelerator, and just cruise steadily through the day, with a little space left to notice the flowers along (in the space around) the thorny path we sometimes pick our way along each day.

Thanks Christine, and especially thanks Becky for this illuminating video.

Louise