Christmas Wish

"May you have 
the gladness of Christmas which is hope;

The spirit of Christmas which is peace;

The heart of Christmas which is love."

~Ada V. Hendricks

Honor the Dark before Calling in the Light

Self-Help Tip: 

“We all walk in the dark 

and each of us must learn 
to turn on his or her own light.”

 ~Earl Nightingale

          And here we are at the Winter Solstice which is both the shortest day and longest night of the solar year. December 21st may be the the longest night but it carries the promise of Spring. The Winter Solstice is the day that the Sun’s light begins to grow again. The diminishing of the Sun’s light ends and the days begin to grow brighter and longer again until warmth and fertility return to the Earth.

         The word Solstice literally means the sun stands still. It is the extreme positions of the sun at midsummer and midwinter, that makes the rising and setting of the sun appear to take place in the same position on the horizon for three or four days in succession. The Sun's path north or south appears to come to a magical stop before reversing direction. It’s also the day, if we are attuned to the rhythm of the seasons, that we know we are heading toward more daylight and this manages to lift our spirits and has been a cause for celebration way back into the most ancient of times.

         In the Jin Shin Jyutsu philosophy, it is not surprising that the color associated with this Winter-time of darkness is blue/black. The attitude of imbalance is FEAR and the harmonizer for fear is LOVE. (Hold your index finger to balance.)

        This moment of transit from the old light to the new provides an opportunity for each of us to reflect on our experiences through the year and to set our intentions for the incoming year. Take this opportunity to embody the light, the love, and the consciousness that is your birthright as a Spiritual Being having this Human Experience. I invite you to embrace the darkness, to welcome the returning light and to share this love with all around you.

"With mounds of greenery, 

the brightest ornaments, 

we bring high summer to our rooms, 

as if to spite the somberness of winter come." 

~Margaret Starkey

Remember, We are the Tree

"We are like the little branch 
that quivers during a storm,

doubting our strength 
and forgetting we are the tree—

deeply rooted 
to withstand all life’s upheavals."

~Dodinsky

     To balance and harmonize our total being we can simply hold the palms of the hand. Holding the palms puts us in direct contact with the energy that determines the blueprint for our manifested form, the human body. As we are burdened with the trials of our everyday life, it is helpful to remember that we are indeed SPIRITUAL BEINGS having a HUMAN EXPERIENCE. With this in mind, I find it easier to deal with the mundane aspects of being human and to remember that I am the tree, rooted to the earth as I reach for the skies.
     Since this energy puts us in touch with SOURCE energy, it is small wonder that throughout human history, people have clasped their hands together in "prayer" position. The ancients knew that this was not just a symbolic gesture but a practical way to connect with SOURCE  and find harmony with the universe.
     As a total harmonizer, holding the palms, one at a time or together, will enable us to feel a profound sense of peace and oneness with ALL. Harmony is bestowed upon diaphragm and umbilicus energy. This energy helps to regulate temperature and breath. It is the source of our personal life energy. Holding the palms can serve as a recharge for your rundown "battery".
     This energy is ours to access at any time of the day or night. Sit or lie quietly with hands held together, either fingertips in palms or palms together in whatever way that you find most comfortable. Breathe. Inhale, Exhale. Relax the shoulders. Allow the shoulder blades the slip down the back any amount. Continue breathing with awareness and feel the pulse of the universe in the palm of your hands. Remember that you are a Spiritual Being having a Human Experience and SMILE. Know that all you need is already there, inside you.

"I am the Cosmic Rhythm, 

which is the Breath I receive, 

all knowledge/wisdom is within. 

So simply BE the awareness/knowledge 

and the understanding/wisdom." 

~Mary Iino Burmeister

Self-Help Tip: Stop the Swirl of Holiday Stress

"The time to relax 
is when you don't have time for it."

~Sydney J. Harris 

         We forget sometimes that the time to take time for ourselves is when we seem to have no time at all! I love this quote and was reminded of it when I offered a session to a stressed-out friend. Her response was, "Oh, that sounds so nice. Maybe when things calm down, I will be able to take you up on your offer." I knew that a session would have helped to calm things down for her.
         In my experience, when we come at things from a place of balance, everything calms down, we cope better and move through our lives with more ease. We need to find ways to replenish our energy, so that we can continue to take care of our kids, spouse, job, family and friends. An indicator that we need to take time is when we feel that we have nothing left to give to the things/people that we care about! When our emotional and energetic bank account is overdrawn life becomes a downward spiral.
So, when you find yourself caught up in the swirl of holiday stress, just Stop. Hit the Pause Button. Remember your Breath. Take a moment in the peaceful center of the storm. And then Go with the Flow.
          I encourage you to remember that peace and calm are indeed possible in the midst of the holiday season.

"Every day brings a choice:
 to practice stress or to practice peace."

~Joan Borysenko

Take Charge

"The day always looks brighter from behind a smile."

-Unknown

Take charge of your ATTITUDES. 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. Refer to the image above for the finger to hold to balance each attitude. If you don't remember which finger to hold, I suggest that you take a quick inventory of your fingers... hold each finger for a second or two, as you go through each finger see which one REALLY wants to be HELD. Then go back and hold THAT one. 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 take charge.

"Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would come to be different."
~Katherine Mansfield

Philosophy and Spirit

   “Living life becomes art, 

when the phenomenon we call man realizes he just appears 

to be an object in the phenomenal world, 

whereas in fact he is the Original Source, the Divine.” 

~Mieke Berger

       More than just a healing modality or style of bodywork, Jin Shin Jyutsu provides us with a philosophy for life. It gives us tools for living a balanced life and makes us more aware of our connection with Source and with our true nature. Often, it is the philosophy and spirit of the work that attracts clients and practitioners to Jin Shin Jyutsu rather than the technique.

       Jin Shin Jyutsu is the study of the life energy that pervades the universe and gives life to all things, our personal creation story. Through the study of Jin Shin Jyutsu and Self-Help we gain an awareness of the energy centers of our bodies, such that we can consciously utilize our breath and our hands to dissolve the blocks to the natural flows of our energy, and release stress and pain.

       Healing is the process of becoming WHOLE, a harmonizing of body, mind and spirit and a reconnection with Source. The word HEAL comes from the Greek word Holos; to make whole, entire, complete. This Source or power that brings us into being has the power to heal. It is this sense of balance and well being to the whole body-mind-spirit that Jin Shin Jyutsu emphasizes and that we experience as remembering wholeness.  

       Mary Burmeister called Jin Shin Jyutsu a "physio-philosophy". She believed the understanding of Jin Shin Jyutsu by many people would be facilitated by calling the art PHYSIO-PHILOSOPHY - KNOW MYSELF IT IS. (PHYSIO, meaning Nature, or Creator’s Art / One Order; PHILOSOPHY, meaning Effortless Reality, or Being the Non-being). She also referred to Jin Shin Jyutsu as the "Cosmic Artless Art to KNOW (Help) MYSELF", or “NATURE - THE EFFORTLESS REALITY, KNOW MYSELF IT IS”.

      The study of Jin Shin Jyutsu puts us on a path toward understanding ourselves and our relationship to the cosmos while giving us a deeper understanding of the energy that animates our being and brings us awareness of complete harmony within the self and the universe. Through both physiology and philosophy, Jin Shin Jyutsu teaches how to take the physical understanding and apply it to our circumstances.  Jin Shin Jyutsu teaches the wisdom of life, to know myself, to be in harmony. Our health and harmony depend upon the free and even distribution of this life energy throughout the body, mind and spirit. When we live in the moment with the breath of life, we have all the energy we need.

“For those of us addressing existing stress or health disharmonies, 

or for those wishing to participate actively 

in maintaining health, vitality and well-being, 

the Art of Jin Shin Jyutsu is a simple powerful tool, available to all. ”

~Mary Burmeister

Take some "ME Time"

“Don’t sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there’s nothing else you can give and nobody will care for you.” ~ Karl Lagerfeld

I say this all of the time, "If I don't take care of myself, how can I possibly take care of anyone else?" But HOW do you find the time to take some ME Time? It is so easy to allow the needs of our family, mate, jobs, clients, co-workers, and everything else to take the lead in our lives! But when we neglect ourselves, the result is additional stress and an empty well. For a lot of people, "me time" simply doesn't exist. It is often hard to see beyond the tasks on the to-do list each day. Randy Kamen Gredinger, psychologist and life coach specializing in women's issues, says "There's a tremendous amount of stress and pressure put on women: being parents, being daughters, mothers, wives, professionals. All of these roles combined leave many of us not taking adequate care of ourselves -- which is what sustains us and gives us the energy to take care of all these other responsibilities that we have." So then the question becomes, "How can I NOT take time for ME?" We MUST make ourselves a PRIORITY and make ME time a HABIT! Schedule some ME Time every day. Even if you only take 10 minutes a day to recharge, you will feel a difference. And if you start by taking 10 minutes a day, I bet you'll soon be able to find even more time for ME time as you get better at it! What exactly is ME Time? The Free Dictionary says that me time is "the time a person has to himself or herself, in which to do something for his or her own enjoyment." ME Time gives us the opportunity to caretake our inner world, to tune in to what feeds us and to reconnect with ourselves. When we take the time, we find that we are more productive and motivated throughout the rest of the day. How do you make ME time a habit? Here is what I am doing… Because it is my plan to make ME time a priority, I have begun to keep a ME Time Journal, similar to the idea of a gratitude journal, and often including the things I am grateful for in my life. Each day I write down 1-3 things that I did for ME. Sometimes it is as simple as "I asked for help in the kitchen." And sometimes it is that I had a JSJ Session or a Massage, took a walk, meditated or did some yoga! It is my goal to come up with 3 things each day that I did for ME. I have to admit that some days, it is really hard… but because I have this commitment to write it down each evening, I am working towards creating a Habit of taking time for ME. I encourage you to join me in keeping a ME Time Journal. Let's check in from time to time with each other and see how we are doing.

“There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by my self.” ~Brian Andreas