Sunday, November 25, 2012

With an Attitude of Gratitude


Self Help Tip: 

With an Attitude of Gratitude
     
"If you don't like something change it;
if you can't change it,
change the way you think about it."
~Mary Engelbreit

 
As I woke up on Thanksgiving morning, I held my fingers, as I do most mornings,  and thought about the gifts that Jin Shin Jyutsu brings to my life and how easy it is to access those gifts by holding my fingers. In the practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu, we are taught that by holding our fingers we can harmonize the attitudes that dis-harmonize our bodies. Each finger harmonizes an attitude as well as the organs that are affected by that particular attitude. Hold your fingers not to suppress attitudes but to express or release them. Holding our fingers to harmonize limiting thoughts and attitudes is the simplest, most readily available tool we have to cope with whatever life throws at us. This simple act not only keeps us from getting stuck in those limiting attitudes, but brings us in touch with the limitless, positive and harmonious gifts that BALANCE brings to us! 

I wanted to find a way to emphasize these gifts and was inspired to created this Thanksgiving turkey hand as a way to show what we bring in as we harmonize those attitudes! At the same time giving me a chance to express my gratitude for each of these gift that my practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu brings to my life each day.

thumb - worry transforms to into harmony, a healthy sense of self, profound security
index - fear transforms into love, flow, perfect circulation
middle - anger transforms into peace and balance
ring - sadness and grief transform into joy and happiness
little - try-to's/effort and pretense transform into ease, laughter and BE-ing
palm - despondency transforms into equilibrium, balance, intuition and connection to Divine Source


HOLD each finger for about 5 minutes or until you can feel a gentle rhythmic pulsing, even and clear. Breath easily. Relax the shoulders and smile from the very heart of you.

Take charge of your ATTITUDES and bring GRATITUDE into your daily practice. Remember that the simple act of holding your fingers will balance all of your Attitudes and transform them into the positive emotions that we all thrive on. It really is that simple. We are in charge of our attitudes and nature has given each of us an easy and accessible way to do so.
"Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would come to be different."
~Katherine Mansfield

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving


As I woke up this morning and held my fingers, I thought about the gifts that Jin Shin Jyutsu brings to my life and how easy it is to access those gifts by holding my fingers. We often talk about how holding fingers harmonize the attitudes that dis-harmonize our bodies-thumb/worry, index/fear, middle/anger, ring/sadness, little/try-to's. So I drew this Thanksgiving turkey hand to show what we bring in as we harmonize those attitudes! Enjoy!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Write Yourself a Letter

       This afternoon my eleven year old daughter got to work on her own newsletter. I was so impressed with her article that I asked if she would be my guest writer this week. She agreed, so I have included her article here. I love her ritual of writing herself a letter and leaving it in her seasonal clothing box when it goes out to storage. Last year when David brought in her clothes he found a note she had written to herself - an note from the "past Rebecca" to the "future Rebecca". We didn't know that she had had this ritual for a while. We were so amazed by her letter and her ability to be tender with herself. I have included that letter at the end of her article. I hope that you will write your future self a letter. Seems like a great Thanksgiving Ritual! ~Beth 


Self Help Tip: 
Write Yourself a Letter
by Rebecca G.  Molaro
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~Aristotle
I was thinking about the things I should do this weekend and I saw a big box full of my summer clothes in the middle of my room. I had been putting off sending my clothing out to the storage shed because of a personal ritual have. I always write a little personal letter to myself and put it in the box for me to find the following season. I decided that I was done having this big box in the middle of my room and so I decided I should write the letter today. Then I got to thinking that it would be helpful to everyone if they wrote a letter to themselves each year or every season or so.

Writing letters to yourself is a great way to get in tune with your feelings and emotions. It helps you to understand yourself and what you were thinking about when you wrote the letter. You can also set goals for yourself and then see when you open the letter if you completed your goals. You can talk about your dreams and plans for life and how you want to go about things.

I encourage YOU to write a letter to yourself. If you have certain seasonal decorations that you get out each year, at the end of the season you can put your letter in with those things or you can put it in a box that you will find one day. It is so special when you forget about writing the letter and then find it. I hope you enjoy this ritual as much as I do! 
All the wonders you seek are within yourself. ~Sir Thomas Browne

Monday, November 12, 2012

No Regrets


"If we are to live together in peace,
we must come to know each other better."
~Lyndon Johnson
     Happy Veterans Day. Today as we honor and THANK all Veterans for dedicated and loyal service to our country, I want to tell you about a very special program that I volunteer with here in Asheville. Helios Warriors is dedicated to bringing high quality holistic therapies to all veterans in a safe and supportive environment for their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Read more about Helios Warriors here
    I am honored to get to know these heros and to be part of their healing stories. Helios Warriors has become a lovely community of Veterans, Healers, and others who care, making a difference in all of our lives. Each day we all get to embody this wisdom from the Dalai Lama, "We must each lead a way of life with self-awareness and compassion, to do as much as we can. Then, whatever happens we will have no regrets." Together we are changing lives, easing pain and bringing balance and hope. It is such a good thing. 
      Consider paying tribute to our Veterans by supporting Helios Warriors with a tax-deductible donation. Your donations enable Helios Warriors to provide services that continue to support, educate and heal our service men and women. Many of these veterans have limited or no income and do not have the funds to pay or the insurance to cover these therapies. Helios Warriors chooses not to turn anyone away and therefore depends on your generous support. You can make a donation via the Paypal and the Helios Warriors Website. 
    Helios Warriors is always in need of volunteer practitioners and helpers, as well as donations of money and things on the wishlist. Contact Helios Warriors to share yourself with this amazing program, I know that you too will have no regrets! 
Email:  helioswarriorswnc@gmail.com
Phone:  (828) 299-0776
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday, November 11, 2012


Self Help Tips:
Expect to Be Well and Minimize Winter Woes

"Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions,the gates of the soul open."
~B.K.S. Iyengar 
Wow, it looks like Winter weather is coming to town this week! As I write tonight, the wind is whipping outside but we are snug and warm in our cozy home. As we make our way into winter, I encourage you to Expect to Be Well. I know people who not only expect to get sick all winter but they worry and fear that they will get sick and they do, often.  The attitudes of Fear and Worry dis-harmonize the body and dis-ease of one kind or another creeps in. So set the intention  to BE WELL, it will go a long way to keeping you in Balance.

We prepare our homes, gardens and vehicles for winter by doing regular preventive maintenance. If we are smart we will do the same thing with our bodies. Every Jin Shin Jyutsu session boosts your immune system and prepares your body for whatever life throws at you. Daily 
Self-Help and Regular Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions will also help you to heal faster if you do catch something and a session when you feel something coming on can often prevent a cold from taking hold. 

Here is a wonderful Daily Self-Help Flow to help you to stay healthy. It is especially helpful if you feel something "coming on." Don't explain the feeling away as tiredness, because chances are if you are tired, then you are more susceptible to whatever is "going around." This self-help is used to build or increase immunity for colds and flu.

Place your left hand on your right neck/shoulder area (the soft muscle area where your neck and shoulder meet). Place your right hand at the fold of your right leg at the groin. Hold until you feel a rhythmic pulse in both places. Then switch: place your right hand on your left neck/shoulder area. Place your left hand 
at the fold of your left leg at the groin. Breathe and Be Well. 

Maintaining a healthy energy system is the best preventive for keeping the body from being invaded by colds, flu and other illness. Jin Shin Jyutsu leads to better sleep, strengthened immune system, reduced aches & pains, reduced depression, minimized effects from stress, improved moods. The benefits of Jin Shin Jyutsu are cumulative. The more regularly you practice self-help and get sessions, the more benefit there is for you. Those aches and pains go away faster, stay away longer or go away entirely.
“Take care of your body.
It's the only place you have to live.”
~Jim Rohn

Our Right and Responsibility



Self Help Tip:
Our Right and Responsibility

“Although our interests as citizens vary, each one is an artery to the heart that pumps life through the body politic, and each is important to the health of democracy.”
~Bill Moyers
     I imagine that you are wondering why I have listed this piece about voting as a Self-Help Tip... well, voting is a participatory way of taking care of our interests and our well-being and is just as essential as daily self-help. Voting is important for a working democracy. Our democracy only works when we all participate. Our vote is our voice. It is our right AND our responsibility to vote. Countless men and women have fought hard to protect this fundamental right.
     American Novelist, David Foster Wallace, said, "In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote."
     Be an active member of your community and take action this week. We all have a choice, but you lose that choice if you miss the opportunity to vote! So Inform yourself about the Issues and Get out and Vote on Tuesday. 
"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting." 
~Franklin D. Roosevelt