Time for a New Chapter

"Healing may not be so much about getting better,

as about letting go of everything that isn't you -

all of the expectations, all of the beliefs -

and becoming who you are."

~Rachel Naomi Remen

Happy New Year. Here we are at the start of a new year, the time for New Years resolutions, setting intentions and taking positive steps toward a path of  well-BEing and an empowered life.

One of the traditional Jin Shin Jyutsu ways of getting a fresh start-body, mind and spirit, is to schedule yourself a Week-long Healing Intensive.

This special accelerated healing process involves having three or more Jin Shin Jyutsu treatments in a week. Receiving a series of sessions close together brings harmony on a continued basis for the week and allows us to affect a change in patterns of disharmony, and the habits and attitudes that create imbalance.

Each session builds on the last since the healing process works in layers. As some parts of your body begin to heal, new underlying patterns become exposed and can also be addressed. Over a period of time, we clear more and more issues and learn how to operate in a new and healthy way.

You know that it takes awhile for us to get out of harmony. The amount of time it takes to heal depends on how long and how elaborately your energy system has been adjusting to the disharmonies in the energetic pathways of the body and how out of balance you are - body, mind and spirit. The goal of each healing session is to focus on the harmony and to return the body, mind, and spirit to a place of balance. By releasing the blockages of your flow of energy, the life-force energy in your body is increased. Each healing session allows us to find and release energies that you may have tied up in a specific project, such as health issues, relationships, emotions and attitudes or anything else you wish to work on to bring more joy and harmony into your life.  It is in this place of balance and free flowing energy that healing occurs.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is cumulative, so having several sessions in over a short period of time is a dynamic way to move energy, to clear out, deep clean, and harmonize our total BE-ing. This intensive treatment series can breathe new life and energy into our depleted physical being and bring about a reconnection with our essence. The goal is to bring about deep relaxation, to restore a sense of beauty and harmony into body, mind and spirit and to unleash the inner healer. When we find balance, we set into motion the power of our innate ability to heal which brings about profound changes to our vitality and sense of well-being

When more time is spent receiving healing, the healing patterns are set more strongly, so your body begins to heal faster. The effects of regularly returning your body to balance are cumulative and lead to deep and sustained changes in the your life. These effects can become long lasting with a program of regular Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions paired with daily self-help.

I invite you to experience this rejuvenating and refreshing treatment, that brings balance, harmony and clarity to the many layers of your life. A week-long healing intensive brings the opportunity for deep cleaning and gives you access to the benefits that come from having a number of appointments in close succession. When we have an opportunity to keep the body’s systems clear and balanced without the time in between to fall back into unhealthy patterns, we actually give ourselves a fresh start on a clear path, we bring to our BE-ing a mindful, go with the flow way of coping with whatever life brings.

Schedule your sessions Online, By Email or give me a call. Pay just $55/session when you schedule 3 or more sessions in one week and pay in full at the first appointment of the week. Repeat as often as you like through February 28th .

"Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it".


~Marcus Aurelius

On The Healing Path

On The Healing Path 

"Habitual recurrence to the harmony
will increase your mastery of it".
~Marcus Aurelius

    Our bodies are designed to heal themselves, we need only find ways to bring the body back to harmony and balance so that healing can happen.
    A common question people have when they first set off on the healing path is, "How many sessions will this take?" Well, it varies depending on the nature of the your project and what you want to achieve. Each of us is unique, so consequently, there is no set number of required sessions that works for everyone.
    Know that the body wants to heal itself. The amount of time it takes to heal depends on how long and how elaborately your energy system has been adjusting to the disharmonies in the energetic pathways of the body and how out of balance you are - body, mind and spirit.  

    It takes awhile for us to get out of harmony. The goal of each healing session is to focus on the harmony and to return the body, mind, and spirit to a place of balance. By releasing the blockages of your flow of energy, the life-force energy in your body is increased. Each healing session allows us to find and release energies that you may have tied up in a specific project, such as health issues, relationships, emotions and attitudes or anything else you wish to work on to bring more joy and harmony into your life.  It is in this place of balance and free flowing energy that healing occurs.
    The process of change and transformation can happen quickly but it does not run on a fixed schedule. The rate of improvement is specific to you and may include a reduction in pain, deep relaxation, an increase in energy, or an improvement in overall health. If the condition is acute, it will usually resolve in fewer treatments, while chronic conditions may take longer. Your rate of healing is also dependent on how much energy or change that your body/being can withstand at any given time. Each session builds on the last since the healing process works in layers. As some parts of your body begin to heal, new underlying patterns become exposed and can also be addressed. Over a period of time, we clear more and more issues and learn how to operate in a new and healthy way.
    When more time is spent receiving healing, the healing patterns are set more strongly, so your body begins to heal faster. The effects of regularly returning your body to balance are cumulative and lead to deep and sustained changes in the your life. These effects can become long lasting with a maintenance program of regular Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions paired with daily self-help.
    You might even consider having an INTENSIVE series of treatments. An “intensive” consists of a series of several treatments over a short period of time...Your intensive can be tailor-made for your own situation/schedule/needs. It could be 2 sessions a day over a week, 2 sessions a day for a few days, 1 session a day for a week or 2, every other day for a week or 2, or any other combination that works for you.      
     Receiving a series of sessions close together brings harmony on a continued basis for the week and allows us to affect a change in patterns of disharmony, and the habits and attitudes that create imbalance.  This is a dynamic way to move energy, to clear out, deep clean, and harmonize our total BE-ing.
     An intensive treatment series can breathe new life and energy into our depleted physical being and bring about a reconnection with our essence. The goal is to bring about deep relaxation, to restore a sense of beauty and harmony into body, mind and spirit and to unleash the inner healer.
    When we have an opportunity to keep the body’s systems clear and balanced without the time in between to fall back into unhealthy patterns, we actually give ourselves a fresh start on a clear path, we bring to our BE-ing a mindful, go with the flow way coping with whatever life brings.

Send me an email or give me a call to schedule your Healing Intensive. 

"Healing may not be so much about getting better,as about letting go of everything that isn't you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are."
~Rachel Naomi Remen

Restore and Regenerate

  As winter made one more blast this weekend, I found myself thinking of the promise of rebirth that is just around the corner. The regenerative cycle that is always at play, all year, everyday, just below the surface... 

"Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes." 

~Carl Friedrich Gauss

“Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul
None is more gladdening or fruitful than to know
You can regenerate and make yourself what you will.”
~William James 

     How do you get back to your best self? What is it that recharges your battery? How do you restore and regenerate? It is important that we take the time to know what recharges/refuels us and that we find ways to enhance our well-being by always supporting ourselves and especially during times of stress. 

    The dictionary defines REGENERATE as
1. formed or created again
2. spiritually reborn or converted
3. restored to a better, higher, or more worthy state

     For me, it is all of the good things that I do for myself regularly that recharge my batteries-yoga, meditation, eating good healthy food, fresh air, mindful breathing, loving my family, reading uplifting and inspiring books, daily self-help, etc. And to really restore and regenerate, regular Jin Shin Jyutsu keeps me on the path to harmony and balance.    

   The following Self-Help Tip is a great way to Quietly Regenerate Body, Mind and Spirit.The key to Quietly Regenerating is Safety Energy Lock #25. It is located at the sit bones. Anatomically part of your pelvis (the ischial tuberosity), the sit bones are quite literally the bones under the flesh of the butt that you sit on.

Holding the 25's will relieve bodily tensions, lower back tensions, knee and leg discomfort while helping you maintain alertness and memory. This flow filters out all toxins released during physical activities and removes tiredness from the body to enjoy the benefits of exercise. The 25's relieve mental tension, bring us an energetic mind and a sound body, and takes care of our overall sense of vitality.

It is said that holding the 25's for 20 minutes per day does the equivalent for maintaining the body and mind in good shape as an hour and a half hour jogging session! The 25's can be helpful in appetite balance, to support weight loss and will clear out the colon. 

Simply Sit on your hands (with the palms up or down, which ever is most comfortable for you). I do this simple flow myself most nights while watching TV with my family. If it is too hard on your hands to sit on them, I find that doing this while lying in bed is pretty easy too! The longer you can sit on your hands/hold your 25's, the more grounded you'll feel.

"Be gentle first with yourself if you wish to be gentle with others."
~Lama Yeshe

Forest Fires and Flu

Forest Fires and Flu

"Fever itself is Nature's instrument.
Fever is a mighty engine which Nature brings
into the world for conquest of her enemies."

~Dr.Thomas Sydenham (1624 - 1689)

You might ask, what do forest fires have to do with the flu?

     When everyone around me is getting sick, I rarely succumb. If I feel something coming on, I boost my immune system with Jin Shin Jyutsu, herbs and Vitamin C and D, and I usually manage head IT off at the pass. In fact, it has been so long since I had the flu, that I can't even remember when the last time was! 

     But as the year turned from 2012 to 2013, I could feel it coming on and even though I used all of my tools to head it off, it was coming. Once the flu hit, it was like being in a long dark one-way tunnel.  So I crawled in bed for the next six days....seems that my body needed a vacation! I focused on keeping hydrated and sleeping. I drank lots of water and herbal teas with lemon, honey and ginger, and Miso soup with garlic and cayenne.  My fever started at 101°F but then hung just below 100°F for 3 days. 

     After recovering, I found that I felt lighter, more expansive as if some of the old junk got burned off! What a great feeling!  

     Most people look at the flu as a bad thing, but Dr Sherri Tennpenny says, "If everything on this planet is here for a reason and there are no mistakes, perhaps an episode of the flu, with the increased mucous, cough, nasal drainage, and diarrhea is the act of cleaning out the internal dross. Supporting the body through this elimination process with homeopathy, herbs, and Chinese medicine, instead of suppressing the symptoms with Western medicine tools may be the key to long-term health and longevity. From this perspective, instead of being the problem, viruses may be part of the solution, the clean-up crew. It should be noted that the human race evolved because of its relationship to microbes, not in spite of it. What a novel thought! Instead of fearing the flu and doing everything possible to avoid it, including spending billions of dollars to create an experimental vaccine, it may be okay to spend a week or two in bed, clearing out accumulated toxicities." 
     Fever is an important part of the body’s defense against infection. Most bacteria and viruses that cause infections thrive at our normal body temperature of 98.6 °F. A fever signals that a battle might be going on in the body. It is considered an ally and a beneficial partner in the healing process.  By manifesting a fever, the elevated metabolic heat can burn off toxins and pathogens at a faster rate. During the higher body temperature the production of immune cells and the blood circulation is increased, sweating helps to eliminate toxins, not feeling hungry saves energy that would be otherwise needed for digestion and the resting helps recuperation and healing. After the fever has served its purpose the body returns to normal. As long as the fever doesn't rise too high or too quickly, holistic practitioners prefer to support the fever rather than suppress it. Fasting, rest, drinking plenty of fluids and beneficial herbs are used to encourage the purposes of a fever.

     All of this has me thinking about forest fires. Like the flu, they are another one of those things that we often think of as destructive and to be avoided at all costs, but recent research shows that forest fires are actually beneficial to soil because they play an important role in helping to maintain the earth's nitrogen cycle and serve important ecosystem functions. Some trees have fire resistant bark and cones that require heat to open and release seeds for regeneration.  Fires typically move through burning lower branches and clearing dead wood from the forest floor which kick-starts regeneration by providing ideal growing conditions. It also improves floor habitat for many species that prefer relatively open spaces. Fever is Nature's instrument indeed! 

     It is not surprising that I felt lighter, more balanced and regenerated after my bout with the flu! 

     Optimal nutrition and hydration, exercise, reduction of stress with Jin Shin Jyutsu, yoga and meditation,  and proper rest are some of the things you can do to boost your immune response. It is recommended to seek medical care if one’s fever is above 104 degrees for over six hours or in any fever in an infant under four months of age.

"The best and most efficient pharmacy is within your own system."
~Robert C. Peale

On BE-ing Grounded

Self-Help Tip: 
On BE-ing Grounded

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."
~Kahlil Gibran

     What makes you feel grounded? Surely there are things you know that help you to feel connected to your center. "Ah yes, people say, there are things I do to feel good, to bring calm and ease to my life, BUT I never have the time to do them these days what with all the stresses in my life." Well, with all those stresses, it is imperative that we take the time!
     Just like the trees, we need to reach into the earth and up into the skies to nourish body, mind and spirit. We are at ease when we feel connected both upward and downward.   It is our strong roots, our groundedness that allows us to get out of our heads and gives us the freedom to go with the flow. 

     What makes you feel grounded? My idea is that you take a little time to really think about what makes you feel good, what helps you to cope better. Chances are there are a number of things you already know work for you.
     Here are a few suggestions to get you started: take a yoga class, get a jin shin jyutsu session or massage or other bodywork, meditate for 15 minutes, take 36 conscious exhalations, do the main central, go for a walk, lay in the grass, sit on a mountaintop, bake bread, take a bath or a shower, walk barefoot, lean our back against a tree, just stop and be still.
     Make a list of the things that help you. Write each item on a separate piece of paper or index card-put them in a jar or box. Each day, choose one to do and give yourself a grounding break. It need not take very long. Make this a daily ritual and priority and you will be well on you way to groundedness on no time at all! Being present and grounded will give you great resources of energy, improve your overall well-being and help you to feel connected in the big picture. 

 "In your lifetime the most sacred space you will ever need to create is the space within yourself – the place deep within your soul where you go to find peace and serenity."
~Nancy Santo Pietro

Get Out in the Woods

Self-Help Tip:
Get Out in the Woods 

“In every walk with nature
one receives far more than he seeks.”

~John Muir 

         Now that Summer's heat is receding, a walk in the woods in definitely in order. I love to walk in the woods in any season, but for me there is something primal about walking as the season changes. Being a witness to the changing season inspires me to get out of my head and go with the flow.
       The following is by an unknown author, from New York Times editorial, "The Walk," 25 October 1967, “How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, and the hills and the sky?  Anyone knows they are.  How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm, the rhythm of the day and the season instead of the hour and the minute?  No, you cannot explain.  So you walk.”   

      From the Mayo Clinic website: "Walking is a form of exercise accessible to just about everybody. It's safe, simple and doesn't require practice. And the health benefits are many." 

• Lower your blood pressure
• Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes
• Manage your weight
• Improve your mood
• Stay strong and fit

 I can't think of a more enjoyable way to get some exercise, improve your health, and reconnect with nature. Go take a hike! 

“The longest journey begins with a single step, not with a turn of the ignition key. 
That's the best thing about a walking, the journey itself.
It doesn't much matter whether you get where you're going or not. 
You'll get there anyway.
Every good hike brings you eventually back home.
Right were you started.”


~Edward Abbey 

Take Time

Self-Help Tip:
Take Time 

“In order to keep the lamp burning,
you have to keep putting oil in it.”
~Mother Teresa  

      Wholeness or "health" is our natural state of being.  But many of us spend our lives burning the candle at both ends. We allow ourselves to get worn out and run down, and then we wonder WHY nothing is working with ease. We give, give, give without refilling our tank and then wonder why we struggle with burnout. Just like our cell phones and other devices, we need to pause and recharge to ensure that we maintain a healthy balance for personal well-being and harmony. 

    My regular clients find that their sessions are more than a frivolous indulgence. The treatment calms the body and helps relax the mind which in turn helps to reduce stress, recharge energy stores and return to harmony and balance.

    There are many ways to recharge your battery, to refill you lamp. Take time for you. Take time to relax, to enjoy life, to interact with your community. Take time to take care of yourself with self-help and with regular Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions. Take time to get outside, to get some exercise and to smell the flowers. If you don't take the time to take care of yourself, how can you take care of anyone else? This is always the question I ask myself. I know that when we are working with a "full charge", we receive what we need from the universe with ease and we can achieve our own true potential.

"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths."
~Etty Hillesum

Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands

Mudras:
Yoga in Your Hands

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."
~Hermann Hesse 

     Mudras are the birthplace of what we now call Jin Shin Jyutsu. One hundred years ago, when Master Jiro Murai was diagnosed with an incurable illness, he asked to brought to the family cabin in the mountains of Japan. His family was instructed to come back in 7 days to see the outcome. It is said that the intense use of mudras while sitting in meditation and fasting turned his life energy around. He passed through fevers and chills during those days before losing consciousness and subsequently coming back to himself, feeling that he was free of whatever had caused him to be so ill. Murai believed that the simple act of joining right hand with left hand would bring about a unity between body and mind. 

     Unlike animals who primarily use their noses and mouths to experience their environment, we explore our world with our hands. Touch is important to our human experience thanks to 17,000 tactile receptors on the hand. We have about 4000 nerve endings at the tips of our fingers, giving our fingertips one of the densest collections of nerve endings in the body. The nerve endings connect with the energetic pathways of our organs and can influence them, relax, stimulate or balance them. Our hands are therefore an energy map of our consciousness and health with areas of the hand corresponding to different systems of the body as well as our various attitudes. Through the simple act of  curling, crossing, stretching, and touching the fingers and palms, we access the energetic pathways that connect body, mind and spirit. All of this is what makes mudras effective tools for balance and well-being.

     Anywhere you are, while on a break, sitting at a red light while in your car, waiting at the checkout, at your office or home, stillness can be yours. Mudras are easily learned and with a little practice you can do them at any time and place. A knowledge of these mudras allows us to send energy to any part of our being.

     The mudra pictured above is one of the 8 mudras that are part of the Practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu. It is known in our tradition as "Inhaling the Purified Breath of Life." This finger pose relieves asthma, back tension/stress and brings general well-being to the whole body. It aids in easier breathing allowing us to receive the purified Breath of Life. This pose helps us to bring harmony to our total being. 

     Cynthia Broshi, International Jin Shin Jyutsu teacher, says, "Through their relationships the Mudras excavate, untangle and dissolve tensions. Singly and as a group they work with the relationship of Exhale and Inhale, building and breaking down. Some poses emphasize one or the other aspect of Breath, and utilizing each pose with the left and the right hand amplifies and blends these actions of Generation and Regeneration." 

     Our power to harmonize, balance, and heal is literally in our own hands. Learn more about this practice and awareness in MUDRAS and MINDFULNESS , a six-week course beginning on February 22. This course is an indepth study of Mary Burmeister's Self-Help Text, FUN with FINGERS and TOES: Jin Shin Jyutsu Physio-Philosophy. Join me for this in-depth study of harmonizing our energy channels through fingers and toes and the 8 Mudras of Jin Shin Jyutsu.

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths."
~Etty Hillesum
 

The Power of Self Help

The Power of Self Help

"But from whence comes the healing?
...the healing comes from WITHIN."
~Edgar Cayce 

      Self-Help is the cornerstone of the Jin Shin Jyutsu and is the pathway to healing and continued balance. It is this Self-Help aspect that initially attracted me to Jin Shin Jyutsu. Through Self-Help, I have witnessed miracles of healing in my body at my own hands. I truly believe that with Jin Shin Jyutsu, time and an open mind, all things are possible. 
 

      I love that Jin Shin Jyutsu empowers us to take responsibility for our own healing, that it allows us to know ourselves in ways that connect us with our awareness and enables us to create balance for ourselves. I know so many people who present themselves to a medical professional and ask to be "fixed" by them when in actuality the body seldom works that way. 

      The Self-Help aspect of Jin Shin Jyutsu gives us the means to identify and deal with stress in our bodies and clear that stress so that healing can occur. It enables us to awaken our own personal inner healer. It is the time one puts into self-help/self-reflection that strengthens the pathway for healing. Attending to our personal healing needs on a daily basis is the way to balance and ease.

     I find that the most effective self-help is self-help that is done with the least amount of effort. It can be as easy as holding a finger or doing a one-step "quickie". You can do an entire flow or just the steps that feel good to you. Whatever you do for yourself will be beneficial. 

     The only time Jin Shin Jyutsu is not effective is when you are not using it. So pick something simple and do it every day. Make a daily goal of 20 minutes to start with and build up to more time eventually. The time spent with self-help need not be continuous, but can be 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Make it work for you however you can. Do not be discouraged. Remember that the results are not always immediate, nor do they always come in the form that you are looking for, but on some causal level they are working for you, peeling the deep layers and clearing the way for balance and healing.

     How do you learn self-help? As part of each healing treatment, I share personalized self-help routines to practice at home. These tips are meant to support the work that we do together. I share self-help tips in this newsletter and on my blog. I invite you to join me for a class or workshop to really get jump-started with your own Jin Shin Jyutsu Self-Help Healing Practice. 

"The human body is predisposed to heal itself and to exist as a healthy, thriving organism.
It's amazing, but true, that many of the most effective healing therapies (even for grave,
life-threatening disease conditions) are simple things that you can do for yourself at home. You simply have to educate yourself and take responsibility for your own health."
~Ken Adachi

Time to Emerge from Our Winter Cocoon

Time to Emerge from Our Winter Cocoon

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle,
a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  
And the anticipation nurtures our dream." 
~Barbara Winkler

Even though the calendar still indicates that we are deep in winter's embrace, our recent weather says otherwise. The daffodils are pushing up, my quince bush is blooming and the air smells like Spring. And even though I know that we are likely to get more cold weather and even a snow or two, my thoughts are turning to Spring planning for the garden and my life. 

The smell of Spring in the air brings to mind the process of Spring Cleaning, that age old tradition of  cleaning the house from top to bottom which is conducted in the first warm days of the year. Windows thrown wide open to let the fresh Spring air blow through the house to clear out the staleness that comes from being shut to the winter cold, to clear out the dust and darkness of the winter, and to make a fresh start.

As we emerge from the cocoon of Winter, besides cleaning our houses, we have a need to clean out physical being and to restore balance.  One of the traditional Jin Shin Jyutsu ways of Spring Cleaning-body, mind and spirit, is to do a Week-long Healing Intensive.  An “intensive” consists of two one-hour sessions per day for 5 days in a row. Receiving a series of sessions close together brings harmony on a continued basis for the week and allows us to affect a change in patterns of disharmony, and the habits and attitudes that create imbalance.  

Jin Shin Jyutsu is cumulative, so having ten sessions in one week is a dynamic way to move energy, to clear out, deep clean, and harmonize our total BE-ing. This intensive treatment series can breathe new life and energy into our depleted physical being and bring about a reconnection with our essence. The goal is to bring about deep relaxation, to restore a sense of beauty and harmony into body, mind and spirit and to unleash the inner healer. When we find balance, we set into motion the power of our innate ability to heal which brings about profound changes to our vitality and sense of well-being

I invite you to experience this rejuvenating and refreshing treatment, that brings balance, harmony and clarity to the many layers of your life. A week-long healing intensive brings the opportunity for deep cleaning and gives you access to the benefits that come from having a number of appointments in close succession. When we have an opportunity to keep the body’s systems clear and balanced without the time in between to fall back into unhealthy patterns, we actually give ourselves a fresh start on a clear path, we bring to our BE-ing a mindful, go with the flow way coping with whatever life brings.

Send me an email or give me a call to schedule your Week-long Healing Intensive. This is a special accelerated healing process involves 10 Jin Shin Jyutsu treatments in 5 days. On each of the five days you receive two treatments, one in the morning, and a second later in the day. The fee for this series of treatments is $450 for the total package, paid in one payment at the start of the week.  

"The best is yet to be." 
~Robert Browning

Running on Empty?

Running on Empty?

“There is more to life
than increasing its speed.”
~Gandhi

     As I sat down to write last week's newsletter, I discovered that my computer was running on battery power, the power supply was not working and the keyboard and track pad were going haywire. This computer issue made me aware, in a very tangible way, just how important it is that we have ways to recharge our batteries. We just can't run indefinitely on battery power!

     The fix for my computer was easy, I just had to buy a new battery and put it in. That fixed everything! I found myself thinking alot about recharging, refueling, and regenerating and wishing that it was this easy to recharge my personal battery. Our lives seem to demand that we be on the run all of the time, always on the move. And we end up running on empty. We can only run on fumes for so long. 

     How do you get back to your best self? What is it that recharges your battery? How do you restore and regenerate? It is important that we take the time to know what recharges/refuels us and that we find ways to enhance our well-being by supporting ourselves during times of stress. It will make everything you do so much easier.

     For me, it is all of the good things that I do for myself regularly that recharge my batteries-yoga, daily meditation, eating good healthy food, fresh air, mindful breathing, loving my family, reading uplifting and inspiring books, daily self-help, etc. And to really recharge my batteries, regular Jin Shin Jyutsu gives me a jump start back to harmony and balance. I love that I have so many ways at my fingertips to bring balance to my BE-ing.

   Jin Shin Jyutsu is likened to a pair of jumper cables applied to a dead battery. To restore the natural flow of energy and release the safety energy locks, our hands are used as jumper cables. The battery comes to life when the “jumper cables” are attached, and our engine can run once again.
   
   The following Self-Help Tip is a great way to Quietly Regenerate Body, Mind and Spirit. Give it a try. 

Self-Help Tip:

 The key to Quietly Regenerating is Safety Energy Lock #25. It is located at the sit bones. Anatomically part of your pelvis (the ischial tuberosity), the sit bones are quite literally the bones under the flesh of the butt that you sit on.

Holding the 25's will relieve bodily tensions, lower back tensions, knee and leg discomfort while helping you maintain alertness and memory. This flow filters out all toxins released during physical activities and removes tiredness from the body to enjoy the benefits of exercise. The 25's relieve mental tension, bring us an energetic mind and a sound body, and takes care of our overall sense of vitality.

It is said that holding the 25's for 20 minutes per day does the equivalent for maintaining the body and mind in good shape as an hour and a half hour jogging session! The 25's can be helpful in appetite balance, to support weight loss and will clear out the colon. 

Simply Sit on your hands (with the palms up or down, which ever is most comfortable for you). I do this simple flow myself most nights while watching TV with my family. If it is too hard on your hands to sit on them, I find that doing this while lying in bed is pretty easy too! The longer you can sit on your hands/hold your 25's, the more grounded you'll feel.

How Many Sessions Does Healing Take?

"Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity."
~Hippocrates

A common question people have when they first set off on the healing path is, "How many sessions will this take?" Well, it varies depending on the nature of the your project and what you want to achieve. Each of us is unique, so consequently, there is no set number of required sessions that works for everyone.
Know that the body wants to heal itself. The amount of time it takes to heal depends on how long and how elaborately your energy system has been adjusting to the disharmonies in the energetic pathways of the body and how out of balance you are - body, mind and spirit.   

"Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it".
~Marcus Aurelius

It takes awhile for us to get out of harmony. The goal of each healing session is to focus on the harmony and to return the body, mind, and spirit to a place of balance. By releasing the blockages of your flow of energy, the life-force energy in your body is increased. Each healing session allows us to find and release energies that you may have tied up in a specific project, such as health issues, relationships, emotions and attitudes or anything else you wish to work on to bring more joy and harmony into your life.  It is in this place of balance and free flowing energy that healing occurs.
The process of change and transformation can happen quickly but it does not run on a fixed schedule. The rate of improvement is specific to you and may include a reduction in pain, deep relaxation, an increase in energy, or an improvement in overall health. If the condition is acute, it will usually resolve in fewer treatments, while chronic conditions may take longer. Your rate of healing is also dependent on how much energy or change that your body/being can withstand at any given time.  Jin Shin Jyutsu energy healing meets you on your own terms, never pushing you more than you are ready for. Each session builds on the last since the healing process works in layers. As some parts of your body begin to heal, new underlying patterns become exposed and can also be addressed. Over a period of time, we clear more and more issues and learn how to operate in a new and healthy way.
When more time is spent receiving healing, the healing patterns are set more strongly, so your body begins to heal faster. The effects of regularly returning your body to balance are cumulative and lead to deep and sustained changes in the your life. These effects can become long lasting with a program of regular Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions paired with daily self-help.

"Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn't you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are."
~Rachel Naomi Remen
 

More Main Central Flow

“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”
~Lao Tzu

The Source of Life Force Energy for our bodies is known, in Jin Shin Jyutsu, as the Main Central Universal Harmonizing Energy Flow or the Main Central. It is the primary harmonizer for all body functions and is responsible for renewing, maintaining and sustaining our manifested form on all levels-physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. This energy pathway runs down the center of the front of the body and back up the spine.

The Main Central can be compared to a sensitive antenna as it connects us directly to Universal Source Energy, maintains our connection to Source and serves as the energetic blueprint for our total being. It is the energy flow that created and sustains us, setting our other energy flows in motion and becoming a strong regular force for our bodies when it is allowed to flow freely down the front and up the back.

When energy circulates easily and abundantly, body, mind, and spirit are all nourished. But when the flow becomes blocked, constricted or stagnant, disharmony results.

Whenever there is an imbalance from one side to the other side of the body, doing the Main Central  Flow can harmonize it and bring it back into balance. All other flows in the body connect with this main source of energy in the body, returning to the Main Central to connect back to Source and to recharge. By following the simple directions each day, we can strengthen this flow in ourselves and bring about an increased state of well-being.

Harmonizing the Main Central regularly helps you to feel centered and ensures that you will have plenty of energy. Some people find it calming and use it to fall asleep, while others use it to clear their minds upon waking.

I see the Main Central as my primary self-help tool. It has become my daily basic energy tune-up.  I love to do this flow in the morning before I get out of bed and at night before falling asleep. When I am abusing my body (gardening, dancing, painting, computer work, etc) during the day, I will take a break and do this flow. It re-centers me and takes the kinks out of my body.

I am so completely fascinated by the value of doing the Main Central Flow every day, that I wanted to dedicate this issue its benefits. I shared my Thyroid Success Story with you a few weeks ago and included in that issue the steps for the Main Central Flow. The Main Central Flow is super for balancing the endocrine system, but I wanted you to know how valuable it is for so many aspects of our lives. As you follow the steps below, you will find that I have included the functions of each step.

Follow the steps in the above picture. Start with Right hand on top of head and Left hand between eyes, Left hand moves down the body through each step, then at the end, Right hand moves to tailbone. Do these steps in whatever manner is easy for you-sitting or lying down.
 
The Main Central Flow:

Step 1: Place the fingers of the right hand on the top of the head (where they will remain until step 6). Place the fingers of the left hand on your forehead between your eyebrows. Hold for 2 to 5 minutes or until the pulses you feel at your fingertips synchronize with each other.
Function: Harmonize blood pressure, nervous conditions; revitalize the brain, dissipate senility; support pineal and pituitary glands; hold for insomnia; hold when there is lack of ambition; ease headaches; aids deep body energy, memory and mind, balance body fluids, tuning into situations.
Step 2: Now move the left fingertips to the tip of the nose. Hold them there for 2 to 5 minutes, or until the pulses synchronize.
Function: Support the pituitary gland; influence rejuvenation and reproduction of cells and life (both partners hold when having difficulty conceiving); aids superficial body energy, reproductive organs, facial
muscle relief, sinus, eyes, hormones, renewing cells and thoughts.
Step 2a: Move left fingers to mouth area... hold one finger above mouth, other fingers below mouth on chin. (optional step/not pictured)
Function: clears jaw tension; supports mental clarity.
Step 2b: Move left fingers to hollow space in middle of collarbone. (optional step/not pictured)
Function: Support thyroid and parathyroid glands; aid reproduction, larynx and speech problems; strengthens artistic expression, creativity; hold when feeling irritable; supports sinus, breathing, ears, expressing feelings, neck/shoulder muscle relief, stroke prevention, calcium balancer, thyroid gland, clear speech: strengthens our defense against environmental allergies.
Step 3: Move the left fingertips to your sternum (center of your chest between your breasts). Stay there for 2 to 5 minutes or until the pulses synchronize.
Function: Strengthen the circulatory system and revitalize lungs (breathing) and pelvic girdle (hip energy); support the thymus gland which is the master gland of the immune system - hold as a prevention against illness; support heart function, growing children, our "inner child",  fertility, emotional balancer; release old traumas and hurts.
Step 4: Move your fingers to the base of your sternum (center of where your ribs start, above the stomach). Hold them there for 2 to 5 minutes, or until the pulses synchronize.
Function: Strengthen builders of the blood and harmonize red blood cell/white blood cell ratio; control secretions of digestive enzymes & hormones; strengthen the lymphatic and nervous system & improve muscle tone of arms and legs; harmonizes spleen, adrenals, kidneys, liver, gallbladder and pancreas; help breathing control; strengthen small & large intestines; physical digestion and assimilation and revitalize adrenal glands; mental balance, all bleeding problems, dispels violent emotions.
Step 5: Move your fingers to the top of your pubic bone. Stay there for 2 to 5 minutes, or until the pulses synchronize.
Function:  Help influence growth, mental competence and the lymphatic system; harmonize reproductive glands and strengthen the spine. Stomach/digestion, (deeper) breathing, physical balance, helping body and mind rid itself of impurities.
Step 6: Keep your left fingertips in place and move your right fingertips to cover your coccyx (tailbone). Hold for 2 to 5 minutes or until the pulses you feel at your fingertips synchronize with each other.
Function: Help balance the reproductive organs, emotional balance, confidence, warm feet and legs, spine, white blood cells, vitality,
energy for physical body.
Note: The right hand remains on the top of the head while the left hand moves down the body until the final step.

“Truth lies within ourselves: it takes no rise from outward things, whatever you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness and to Know rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape  than in effecting entry for light supposed to be without.”
~Robert Browning

Your Body is Precious

"Your body is precious. 
It is our vehicle for awakening. 
Treat it with care."
~Buddha

     Self-Help is the cornerstone of the Jin Shin Jyutsu and is the pathway to healing and continued balance. It is this Self-Help aspect that initially attracted me to Jin Shin Jyutsu. With Self-Help, I have witnessed miracles of healing in my body at my own hands. I truly believe that with Jin Shin Jyutsu, time and an open mind, all things are possible.

      I love that Jin Shin Jyutsu empowers us to take responsibility for our own healing, that it allows us to know ourselves in ways that connect us with our awareness and enables us to create balance for ourselves. I know so many people who present themselves to a medical professional and ask to be "fixed" by them when in actuality the body seldom works that way.

      The Self-Help aspect of Jin Shin Jyutsu gives us the means to identify and deal with stress in our bodies and clear that stress so that healing can occur.

      For many years now I have been able to have several Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions a month with a local practitioner. My practitioner is currently unavailable, so I am back to relying entirely on Self-Help. I practice Self-Help every day and often throughout each day. I can't imagine my life without this daily practice of tuning in and tuning up. It is in hindsight that I now realize the benefits of those weekly sessions! I always felt great after my sessions  and more capable of dealing with whatever life had to throw at me. But after a few months without sessions, I am more aware of the deeper health benefits of those treatments.  I look forward to my practitioner being available again!

      Regular sessions are more than a frivolous indulgence as the treatment calms the body and helps relax the mind which in turn helps to reduce stress by lowering the body's cortisol levels. Considering that stress is responsible for most illness, alleviating stress can make a major difference in overall health and attitude.

     The combination of daily self-help and regular healing sessions with your practitioner as part of your wellness routine will help you to maintain physical, mental and emotional well-being while instilling a sense of empowerment for your own healing. The many important health benefits of regular Jin Shin Jyutsu treatments include:

• Stress Relief
• Managing Anxiety and Depression
• Coping with Change
• Dealing with Pain
• Minimize Stiffness
• Blood Pressure Control
• Sports-related Injuries
• Boosting Immunity
• Promote Healing from Surgical Procedures
• Ease Negative Effects of Cancer Treatment

     Studies continue to show that the power of touch has miraculous effects with its ability to relax, heal, and help release emotions and tension without the aid of drugs. We all have an innate need for touch and the power of touch is the power to heal.

"Healing is a matter of time,
but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity."
~Hippocrates

Quietly Regenerating

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."
~Andrew Wyeth

We would do well to welcome Winter as the season of reflection rather than fight its stillness and darkness. We are invited to celebrate the light within during this time of quiet regeneration.

In Winter, all of nature is called to rest. While the earth appears to be dormant, amazing stuff is happening below the surface. Preparation for the next growing season, the coming of spring, the bursting forth of life, and brilliant rebirth. This rebirth does not simply happen in Spring, rather it gestates all Winter, deep underground. It may appear on the surface that nothing is happening, blanketed in fallen leaves and snow, but know that often the most profound layers of growth occur underground. The soil rests while the decay and composting of organic matter along with the melting snow add nutritive elements to the earth, ensuring growth and fertility.

Winter is the time to go within and as humans we naturally slow down. Winter is supposed to be slow. It is the very nature of this quiet inner reflective time of winter, a hibernation of sorts, a time of rest and rejuvenation, to restore and regenerate the body systems.  We are quietly regenerating to be ready for the coming Spring and the creative energies that are required of us.

Nature is within the rhythms of our own bodies. By tuning into these rhythms and observing the changes that take place during the winter season, we can attune ourselves to a healthier Winter as we embrace the stillness and quiet regeneration. When we can find a way to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, we find inner strength and deep reserves of energy and creativity.

"When we follow this season’s energetic impulse, the soul unfurls like a blanket of snow."
~Sheryl Paul

Self-Help Tip:
To energize and balance the rhythm of the winter months hold the index finger with the opposite hand for a few minutes or until you feel a rhythmic pulse. Holding the index finger will help us to go with the flow.

Self-Help Tip:
The key to Quietly Regenerating is Safety Energy Lock #25. It is located at the sit bones. Anatomically part of your pelvis (the ischial tuberosity), the sit bones are quite literally the bones under the flesh of the butt that you sit on.
Holding the 25's will relieve bodily tensions, lower back tensions, knee and leg discomfort while helping you maintain alertness and memory. This flow filters out all toxins released during physical activities and removes tiredness from the body to enjoy the benefits of exercise. The 25's relieve mental tension, bring us an energetic mind and a sound body, and takes care of our overall sense of vitality.
It is said that holding the 25's for 20 minutes per day does the equivalent for maintaining the body and mind in good shape as an hour and a half hour jogging session! The 25's can be helpful in appetite balance, to support weight loss and will clear out the colon.
Simply Sit on your hands (with the palms up or down, which ever is most comfortable for you). I do this simple flow myself most nights while watching TV with my family. If it is too hard on your hands to sit on them, I find that doing this while lying in bed is pretty easy too! The longer you can sit on your hands/hold your 25's, the more grounded you'll feel.