Let Go of Anger

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else;
you are the one who gets burned.”
~Buddha

    The graphic image that I used last week about Worry was so powerful for so many of you that I searched out this Flow Chart of Anger to go with today's article. I love how the chart brings us from the feelings of powerlessness that leads us into Anger to the "situation changes" and back to Powerful and Healed! It also indicates that if we do not change our strategy, we recycle the anger and so the vicious cycle continues. Which just goes to show you that Letting go of Anger is the path to Healing. Here are some statistics about ANGER for you from the Web. When it comes to anger, studies have shown that:

• Almost a third of people polled (32%) say they have a close friend or family member who has trouble controlling their anger
• More than one in ten (12%) say that they have trouble controlling their own anger
• More than one in four people (28%) say that they worry about how angry they sometimes feel
• One in five of people (20%) say that they have ended a relationship or friendship with someone because of how they behaved when they were angry
• 64% either strongly agree or agree that people in general are getting angrier

     Wow! While anger is unpleasant, we must remember that it is a completely normal emotion. As a normal emotion that you simply pass through, letting the feelings flow through and away from you, anger is not particularly harmful. It is when we allow ourselves to fill with anger that it becomes harmful to our being and our relationships.
     The attitude of ANGER is destructive to balance and harmony in the body. IT is the feeling of "I'm not getting my way and I don't like it!" ANGER is a force that can separate the soul from the body as it creates such an intense, destabilizing energy within.
     According to a study of more than 1,000 people at a Western Electric factory in Chicago, over a 25-year period, those with anger management problems were at a high risk of dying from coronary problems, as well as cancer. Chronic anger is also linked with weakening of the immune system, leading to life-threatening illnesses.
    Anger affects the function of Liver and Gall Bladder Energy in the body as well as Blood Essence and can manifest in alcohol addiction.
    The opposite of ANGER is Harmony & Balance. To balance anger, HOLD the MIDDLE 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.
    As you hold the MIDDLE FINGER, the destructive feelings of anger begin to dissipate. The Middle Finger is the General Harmonizer of the body. It is powerful for the respiratory system and promotes good digestive function while releasing tension from the knees. As we come into balance, we increase our capacity for compassion and reinstate harmony.
    Hold your middle finger whenever you feel "out of balance." As Tomas Merton once wrote, "Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." Holding the middle finger will remind you that balance is where you really want to live. Funny, isn't it, that often the middle finger is used to express Anger!  Why not use it to balance and clear anger?

"Two things a man should never be angry at:
What he can help, and what he cannot help."
~Thomas Fuller

Then Don't Worry

"Worrying is like a rocking chair,
it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere."
~Glenn Turner

    The graphic image above has been floating around on Facebook recently, and I just had to share it with you as a follow-up on last week's article. I love how all paths lead to "Then don't worry." Here are some statistics about Worry for you from the Web. When it comes to worry, studies have shown that:
   *40% of what we worry about never happens – so in essence we are wasting our time by worrying.
   *30% of what we worry about has already happened. Learn to “let go” and forgive yourself and others.
   *12% are needless worries, such as what someone else thinks about us.
   *10% are petty and unimportant such as we worry about what’s for dinner, we worry about being late, we worry about what to wear.
   *8% of what we worry about actually happens. Of this percentage:
   *4% of our worries that happen are beyond our control. These worries may include our health, the death of a loved one or an impending natural disaster. Often times the reality of these events are more bearable than the worry.
   *4% of what we worry about we have some if not all control over the results and are the consequences of our actions or inaction on the problems and challenges we face.

    Worry is engaging in chains of thoughts and images of a negative and uncontrollable nature in which mental attempts are made to avoid anticipated potential threats. It is a preoccupation with past or future bad events. It makes you feel as if you were reliving a past event or living out a future one, and you cannot seem to stop those thoughts from happening.
    Worry encompasses depression, hate, obsession, anxiety and self-protection. Worry is the attitude that affects the function of the Spleen, Stomach, and Skin Surface. It inhibits our ability to obtain sustenance. It is associated with an addiction to sweets.
    The opposite of worry is Happiness, the feeling of security in our capacity to be nourished and loved, a confidence in our ability to be sustained in our life. Sustained body, mind and spirit. 
     To balance worry, HOLD the THUMB 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.
     As you hold the THUMB, all worries begin to melt away, daily fatigue is unloaded, digestive discomfort, bloating and weight problems are released and you facilitate the flow of life energy throughout the body. Headaches are relieved by holding the THUMB as well as stress in the shoulders and lungs.  Smile. De-stress. Have a great day!

"I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free."
~Thich Nhat Hanh

Principles to Live By

  "Smile, breathe, and go slowly."
~Thich Nhat Hanh

    Many years ago when I began my study of the Japanese art of Jin Shin Jyutsu,  I was introduced to the idea of a Universal Energy that animates everything. One of my favorite quotes became this George Leonard quote:

“At the heart of each of us,
whatever the imperfections
exists a silent pulse of perfect rhythm
which connects us to the universe.”

Ahhhhh, I just love it!

   Over the last few years, in addition to Jin Shin Jyutsu, I have begun studying other forms of Energy Healing and ways to access this Universal Life Force Energy (Cranio-Sacral, Chakra Balancing, Soul Focused/Esoteric Healing, Clearing Ancestral Lines, Reiki, and others). I am loving the deeper understanding that grows in me about how the layers of our BE-ing interact with each other and the universe. I will always first be a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, but both my own personal practice and my healing practice are informed by these deep studies of Universal Energy.

     Today I wanted to share with you the "Reiki Precepts" which are so applicable to life for all of us. As Reiki Practitioners, we are given these Precepts as principles to live by. For me, they are an expanded form of the traditional "Golden Rule".



     The precepts invite us to be mindful, to let go of worry and anger, and to learn to honor and appreciate the wonder of our lives. I especially love the reminder to live in the moment, "Just for today". Somehow, focusing on the precepts on a day to day basis makes it easier to dwell in the present rather than obsessing on the past or future. I always say, "NOW is what we KNOW we have, this very moment." The Reiki Precepts help me to remember to honor the NOW, and to live a conscious lifestyle by taking small bites instead of looking ahead to all of life where it is easy to be overwhelmed. They remind me to treat others as I would wish to be treated myself.

     I invite you to take some time with these precepts each day, perhaps on waking in the morning and just before bed in the evening. You could start with one and gradually add on the others. Say the precept to yourself or out-loud. Say it over and over again and feel its vibration in your BE-ing. Use the precepts in your meditation practice.

     You could use the precepts in conjunction with holding your fingers as we are taught in the practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu to balance the limiting attitudes that disharmonize our bodies and support balance and transformation. (For more information on the Jin Shin Jyutsu practice of balancing by holding the fingers, READ THIS.

I will let go of WORRY. Hold the THUMB.
I will let go of ANGER. Hold the MIDDLE FINGER.
I will do my work honestly. Hold the LITTLE FINGER.
I will give thanks for my many blessings. Hold the RING FINGER.
I will be kind to every living thing. Hold the INDEX FINGER.

     I invite you to see what a difference the Reiki Precepts can make in your life and your ability to return yourself to BALANCE.

“The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.”
~Albert Einstein 

Time

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”
~Albert Einstein

Happy Labor Day

"Tension is who you think you should be.
Relaxation is who you are."
~Chinese Proverb 

Here's wishing you a happy Labor Day filled will relaxing and rejuvenating activities. Bertrand Russell said, "One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important."  While I know that our work is important to us for so many reasons, it is also important that we take the time to nourish ourselves so that we have something left to give to our families and our work.  I always say that if I don't take care of myself, no one else will. So I make sure to schedule regular time for ME, to de-stress and enjoy the pleasures that life has to offer and to remember that I am about ease, not tension! I encourage you to find ways to do the same. 

Inner Peace

"Peace comes from within."
~Buddha

      Inner Peace awaits. It is always amazing to me how often a client gets up from my table at the end of a session with new insights and clarity about a particular situation/decision or about their life direction. As a healer, I am the "holder-of-space", giving you the opportunity to go deep within to see the divine unfold before you and to connect to that calm, centered, place of knowing. 

Calm In the Eye of the Storm

“The secret of success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore.”
~Cyril Connolly

It is said that you cannot fully appreciate the tranquility of a calm sea until you have lived through a raging storm. Over the last few weeks, my family has been in a whirlwind of activities: packing, traveling, camping, music making, dancing, working, gardening and just plain dealing - everything has been back-to-back with little time to switch gears and just BE. Throughout this crazy time I have marveled at my ability to find moments of calm and remain in balance!  I simply imagined myself in the eye of the storm. Allowing it to rage and swirl all around me while I maintained a sense of calm deep in my BE-ing.

In a hurricane, the "eye of the storm" is quite still, the fastest winds are in the wall surrounding the eye and the further out the lesser the winds become. But in the center, the 'eye of the storm’  everything calms down. The wind decreases in strength and a sense of tranquility exists over the place that was just enraptured in the throes of a storm. The eye remains calm, immune to what happens around it.

Nature provides us such wonderful metaphors for life. The ultimate challenge is separating oneself from the stresses of everyday life, to  live and work from a place of peace, centeredness and balance. To think our best thoughts or create our best ideas, to solve our problems in the most resourceful way, we need to operate from a place that’s “centered” and calm. A peaceful mind is essential, it keeps us calm no matter how crazy the situation is, and it allows us to stay joyful and present.

For me, it is my practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu the helps me to be the calm in the eye of the storm. This connection is achieved through daily Jin Shin Jyutsu self-help and a deep awareness of my breath in the midst of the raging storms of my life assisted by my new mantra,  “I am the calm in the eye of the storm”.

Developing a daily Jin Shin Jystsu self-care routine will help you learn to be the Calm in the Eye of the Storm. Regular Jin Shin Jyutsu Sessions will bring you to a place of balance, growth and enlightenment. Learn to let the the winds swirl around you, while you maintain that calm stillness in the center of you, your place of power.

“He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.”
~Plato

Reconnect to the calm inner you with a relaxing Jin Shin Jyutsu healing treatment.