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]]>What is heart therapy?
It is a physical adjustment of the heart in the mediastinum as it relates to the great vessels, the lungs, and the thorax.
It is a biodynamic revitalization of the energetic heart space, that portal which is the fulcrum between the physical and energetic realms.
It is the reconnection of the self to the emotional body with all of the sensorial, neurovascular and hormonal implications that are involved.
For myself personally, heart work is an offering made in love out of service to others. It is my purpose, during my time here, to help others plug into themselves so they may live a richer, fuller life.
Contrary to what most of us believe, the heart is more than just a pump. It is an intelligent, discerning sensory organ that adapts to both internal and external stressors. Physiologically speaking, it behaves more so like a vacuum than a pump, sucking fluid rather than propelling it. Rudolph Steiner noted this observation as a necessary truth to accept in order for the human species to evolve.
Sometimes, in order to evolve, we have to flip things upside down and take a fresh perspective. Evolution involves breaking down preconceived notions about ourselves, others, and our narrative. It requires courage and vulnerability. Sometimes, it requires taking ourselves apart so that all we have left are our fundamental building blocks. Our value systems. Our handful of Universal truths. And then the work of putting ourselves back together begins.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés wrote that one could not put themselves back together unless they had all the pieces. She said one had to collect their bones before they could be whole again.
Collecting our bones can be an arduous, lifelong process involving many trials and tribulations. It involves cleaning out the messes we’ve been ignoring in the corners of our minds. It is the work of separating who we are from who we are not. Chipping away at the bits that do not belong. And in doing so, revealing and discovering our True Nature in the process.
Art is often the process through which people find themselves. Creative expression allows subconscious thoughts, feelings and beliefs to surface. The act of any creative expression is a vital force that comes from the soul. It allows us to express the emotion behind subconscious thought, and more importantly, it is a tool we can use to let things go.
Denise Benison, student of Art Therapy with the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute (VATI) specializes in using an arts-based approach to counsel caregivers and children experiencing medical and behavioural challenges.
“Art Therapy is one of our first forms of communication – much in line with play for children. Its beauty is that it provides a non-verbal language to express and explore ourselves. It starts with the senses, the textures the mediums provide – muddy paint, gritty clay, or smooth but structured oil pastels. Moving beyond the sensory aspect, Art Therapy activates both a mind-body response. We connect our making with our physical movement.
The focus in Art Therapy is entirely on the art-making process rather than the product. It can often take clients a little time to let go of the idea that their work in session needs to be aesthetically pleasing. What is important is the journey and the movement that occurs as the client begins to express freely and explore inner emotions.
Now, when it comes to the heart, research shows that allowing ourselves to freely express ourselves through the art-making process reduces cortisol levels and alleviates stress.”
Watching the personal progression of an artist is a beautiful experience. They allow us to witness their own evolution, which takes courage and dedication to their personal growth. In some cases, the art is so powerful it stimulates the evolution of a culture, a nation, an entire generation.
I recently had the honour of treating Bengali artist S. Korey Steckle, a collage artist, painter, and writer who’s work is currently featured at Barber Glass Gallery 1883 as well as the Art Gallery of Guelph.
Korey symbolically posted a photograph taken in Cape Breton on his social media the day of his treatment, subconsciously and notably breaking from routine. After observing the remarkable shift in his work from monochrome to colour after his heart treatment, I reached out to follow up on his experience, which had turned out to be pivotal for him.
“I came to Amanda having finished the writing of my memoir; weak and broken, feeling unworthy and lost. The heart focused care Amanda facilitated was like light pouring through my cracks and over the damage. It gave me the inner strength to push beyond my burdens.
With Amanda’s guidance, I found myself able to feel, address, and tear down the layers that had been built up around my heart from external pressures and an internal survival instinct that kept me afloat at times, but ultimately left me adrift. I unloaded the weight of my trauma, guilt, pain and shame.
I reclaimed my purpose and the beginning sketches of who I am truly becoming on this journey called life. Amanda’s care and precision were felt deeply throughout. In the moments I wanted to retreat and reclaim my former self out of fear is when I felt her closeness to walk with me through the dark chapters and obstructions to a safe place of replenishment and renewal.”
Khalil Gibran wrote that our children are the sons and daughter’s of life’s longing for itself. Many artists create in an effort to know themselves. Heart work, like art work, increases the depth of how we experience ourselves and our world.
When art comes from a place of honesty and openness, the results can be transformative for ourselves and those around us. A therapist, like an artist, has the ability to touch others in a deep way and influence the trajectory of their life. Both professions have the ability to be a spiritual practise, if done consciously.
We collect our bones so that we may pull ourselves back together and become whole, integrated, heart-centred individuals capable of caring for ourselves and for others with empathy and compassion. We collect our bones so that we can accept our trauma as a part of ourselves, rather than living in a dissociated state in order to survive.
Art is everywhere we look. And always, when art is practised honestly, it speaks through the heart from the soul.
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]]>My loves, in no particular order, are:
The ocean
The sight and smell of lavender
The teachings of Alan Watts
A tight heart against heart hug from my children
French wine
The humour of Ram Dass
The crescendo in E minor of Ludovico Einaudi’s Oltremare
Chanting Kirtan in Sanskrit
The lyrical content and musical composition of Lateralus (both the album and it’s namesake song) by TOOL
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]]>The post Desire appeared first on Scroll Tree Osteopathy.
]]>I really admire Buddhism for its simplistic and unapologetic approach. It’s chock-full of brutal psychological truth bombs.
In a nutshell, Buddhism says that suffering is a natural part of life, and that we essentially create our own suffering by getting too attached to people, places, situations, and things. We can dramatically reduce our suffering by taking responsibility for our actions and work to attain a neutral, open minded attitude towards our lives. Buddhism even gives us a step-by-step instruction booklet called the eight fold path, which gives us specific ways and tools we can use to reduce our suffering. Brilliant.
Most people stiffen up at the idea that their suffering is a choice they make. It’s much easier to pretend life happens to us rather than accepting that we shape our lives with our actions and choices.
So if suffering is due to attachment, how do we begin to address it? What exactly does attachment refer to, in this context?
In one word: desire.
Ah, there’s nothing that traps the mind like desire.
Desire to be richer…fitter…more successful. Desire to live in our dream home, to date a certain person, to belong to a certain social circle.
Craving.
Wanting.
Wishing.
We’ve all been there. Most of us have taken up permanent residence there and settled in quite nicely. A little uncomfortable, but hey, it’s worth it.
But is it?
Desire is a tricky state; always starting in the present and skipping forward into the future without you noticing. Pulling you out of the present moment, into a wishful state that is not rooted in reality.
Similar to Buddhist philosophy, Vedanta also lectures on the pitfalls of desire. A stoic Swami once told us that desire is the root of all evil, because it highjacks the mind.
The Swami had a way of lightening up lectures through humour, like the time he urged us to pack our sweaters and sleeping bags for that chilly afternoons’ shavasana. He had a slideshow for this particular lecture on desire. I paused for a moment to wonder how a devout man of faith would come to own and operate a MacBook Pro with the efficiency he possessed…and then I reminded myself that he was, in fact, just a human like the rest of us. A human who was likely a fellow slave to Apple storage, who like us, had no idea what he was even paying to store.
The first slide was a picture of a rich, moist chocolate cake. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t salivating as I gazed upon it. Especially after a week of lettuce and lentils.
Desire.
I desired that cake so much my body physically responded. My mind responded. My freaking soul responded.
The Swami let us suffer and salivate for a while before reminding us that we seek to fulfil desire in order to pause our suffering, for that one brief moment where our expectation meets our reality. That first bite. That mental orgasm, where time and space cease to exist, and all suffering is alleviated.
Then reality sets in, and we realize we’ve eaten half the cake and we will have to prolong our stay at the ashram another 2 weeks to work off the caloric repercussions.
But that sweet, brief moment in time where our desire is met: oof. So good.
Because we experience stillness.
The desire is quenched and for a fleeting moment, our mind is at peace. Then the mind resets to a new desire, and the cycle of suffering continues.
We do this all our lives. We pine after everything from our dream job to our dream wedding to our dream family. We work for it. We SUFFER for it, happily. We believe we can’t go on unless we have certain relationships or situations in our lives.
We are subconsciously programmed to believe we must suffer to earn what we desire. Why do we do this? Because we believe happiness and contentment will be ours after we achieve our desires. We pass months and years building expectations of that moment the stars will finally align and life will be good.
But it’s a trap. We forfeit our present joy when we get lost in the desire of longing for a specific future.
And the irony is that we miss the entire point because we are too busy caught suffering in a suspended wishful state of desire. In the end, we are left depleted, resentful, and bewildered. Then we wistfully wonder how ‘life has passed us by’ when the truth is, we were so distracted by our desires that we didn’t really experience or appreciate anything fully.
Once we realize we’re hooked on desire, it gets easier to spot. Then it gets easier to unhook from it. Slowly, slowly, it leads to a life with less stress, more humour, and less suffering, despite external life circumstances.
For efficiency (inspired by my techy Swami), I’ve listed a few points on how to ease suffering. The Coles notes to detaching, if you will:
- Expectations breed disappointment.
- Focusing on what you don’t have rather than what you have brings more of the same and vice versa.
- No person or situation is worth your joy. Ever.
- Joy is a natural by product of non attachment.
- Letting go and surrendering to difficult situations rather than clinging or resisting is the trick door out of the suffering.
- If you find yourself miserable for any reason, lose yourself in service to others to regain your balance.
- Devotion will open your heart and restore peace.
There is a profound difference in ‘understanding’ your way through life from the level of the mind vs experiencing your way through it with an open heart.
Most importantly: a controlled amount of detachment to life’s experience is healthy. This does not mean you are numb, or aloof. In fact, you can be detached from the outcome of any particular situation, while being completely engaged and attentive to it. The difference is in the surrender. You don’t try to control or manipulate the situation. Instead, you allow it to unfold. You are engaged without being attached. You are curious.
And you take delight in all the unexpected twists and turns life takes you down. We are characters in our own motion film, and we have no idea what plot twists will find us.
Buddhist philosophy helps to remind us that while we can’t always control the ride, we can always control our response to it.
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]]>The post Transcending Mortality appeared first on Scroll Tree Osteopathy.
]]>Herein lies the age old question: ‘How do I live happily ever after forever and ever in health?’
Physically speaking: You can’t. Sorry.
Metaphysically speaking: It is possible to maintain wellness despite the physical state of the body. In fact, you existed long before you got the body you’re currently living in. You’ve been around since Christ was a cowboy, as the Canadian sages say.
The trick to living fully (and dying well) is understanding the relationship between the body, the mind, and the spirit (my fav topic).
So how do we transcend all the aches and pains and limitations of our bodies? We stop allowing our minds to identify with the mortal body, and start identifying with the underlying primordial essence that animates our physical bodies. In essence, we zoom out. We put the body into larger perspective.
(Crickets chirping)
Obviously, this requires a bit of an overhaul of our mental faculties. The mind doesn’t like so much when we realize we can exist without it…actually, without the constant chatter of the mind, we can enjoy what the guru’s call ananda, or bliss. Our egoic mind would have us believe that we are a body that happens to have a soul (or like, something in there, that makes us think and walk and talk), instead of believing we are a soul that happened to receive a body in order to function on this planet.
Sounds blasphemous to some, but this is the belief underlying such ancient religions such as Buddhism and yoga (note that I am a cheerful agnostic who enjoys sampling all sorts of religious philosophy).
So what does this hippy dippy philosophy have to do with the fact that your steady march towards the grave is upsetting you? Quite a lot, actually.
Several billion people on Earth believe in the concept of reincarnation (the belief that the spirit continues on in a new form after biological death). In physics, the law of conservation supports this possibility, stating that energy can neither be created, nor destroyed, only transferred from one form to another. But I’m not here to talk about physics (you wouldn’t learn much, believe me).
The point is: most religions agree that there is some sort of life after death. If this is the case, the body dying is not the main issue…In fact, it might be an upgrade if you’ve played your karmic cards right. Yogi’s call the identification with mortality ignorance. Ouch.
Ram Dass used to casually refer to death as “dropping the body,” which he described as the feeling of relief one gets after removing a tight shoe. NBD.
If we spend our relatively short lives here worrying about death, we sort of miss the show, as it were. Osteopathically speaking, my job is to boost overall wellness in people. That involves not only consideration of their physical health, but the consideration of the biopsychosocial model, which is to say, our life experiences and conditioning (which have an effect on our biology). Our mental health impacts our physical health. And we could go one step further to add that our spiritual health impacts our mental health, especially if we’re constantly low-key stressed about our inevitable demise (cue Jaws music).
We’re all in decline. This world was never meant to sustain us forever. Eventually, all life completes its cycle and goes back to where it came (the great unknown, in any case). But if our underlying vitality is omnipresent and omniscient, then we really don’t have much to worry about. We’ll be around again. Maybe with better legs, or straighter teeth. So why not enjoy our moments while we’re here? And hey, if you get tired of visiting planet Earth, you can work on improving yourself each time you visit in order to burn off your ego and reach moksha (liberation from the cycle of life and death).
But how can we enjoy ourselves if we’re constantly distracted by all of the things that irritate us?
It’s hard to sustain joy if we’re constantly weathering the physical ups and downs of our ever-changing lives. If we base our happiness on our external circumstances such as our careers, our houses, the car we drive, the body we got, then we are unlikely to be happy all the time. Mainly, because all of these factors are shifting all the time. But if we switch gears and go inward, connecting with the deepest part of our being (much silence and meditation, or like, insanely excellent concentration, is required to touch this sacred place), then we find that our true nature is actually joy, and that it is not dependent on whether our partner took out the garbage this morning. Imagine!
The future is a projection. It’s a fib your mind is telling you to reassure you that you’re going to continue to make it just one more day. In a mortality based view-point, the ego saves itself to see tomorrow time and time again…it is the director, protagonist, and audience in lila, the ever unfolding drama of our superficial lives. But in reality, tomorrow never arrives. All we have is right now. I would suggest we accept a change in mental attitude and not sweat the small stuff. The cost is too high.
Transcend the idea that you will cease to exist when your time is up. It will take a real mental load off, and give you space to breathe. It will put your piddly physical aches and pains into perspective at the very least. I mean, at least you’ve got a body to complain about, am I right?
Work with connecting to the underlying light that shines on the mind and floods your body with vitality. Go straight to the source. When you work on wellness from this deepest level, you will see a significant boost in physical and mental wellness.
Time spent in nature and meditation and gentle contemplation of they mystery of life will lend itself to this practise of connecting to yourself. It will be a slow and gradual peeling away of ego, one layer at a time, but it will bring you bliss.
Worth it.
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]]>When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
-Alexander Den Heijer
Every couple of years, I like to hole up in a yoga ashram for a week or so, to take a break from my normal routine and recharge. The focus at the ashram is to purify the mind and body through a series of ritualistic daily exercises consisting of Pranayama (breathing exercises), asana (postures), meditation, Kirtan (devotional singing), and lectures on Vedic philosophy. The days are full, but nourishing.
Like osteopathy, yoga aims to treat the triune of man: mind, body, spirit. There are many similarities in the philosophy of both sciences, which is why the regular practise of yoga can enhance the osteopathic practitioners skill set. Mastery of the mind and body in order to enhance health are the object of both philosophies.
Todays lecture was on the nature of mortality; a ripe topic for any body worker. We considered the phenomenon of time as it relates to health and healing. Time is a man-made concept, brought about by the mind’s attempt to control and pace our ever changing and shifting external environment. The example of greying hair was used to illustrate the impact of time passing. People tend to complain about their greys popping up, when in reality, they’re just a symptom of aging. The hair itself is not the problem. The same can be said for degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis; we tend to complain about a specific symptom of a deeper issue.
“The body is falling apart in every moment, it’s just doing it slowly enough that it doesn’t shock you,” The Swami reminded us cheerfully this morning. Symptoms such as grey hair and creaky joints are hints to systemic processes unfolding slowly under the surface. If the body aged too fast, it would be difficult for the mind to accept it, and thus it unfolds slowly and deliberately, all in the present moment. I hate to break it to you, but you’re developing grey hair and joint pain as you read this, even if it hasn’t presented itself yet.
Yoga says, there is nothing but the present moment. The present is defined as the interval between our past and our future. The future is merely a projection living at the level of the mind, while the past is a series of impressions, or ‘scars on the mind’ left behind from experiences.
I love this explanation of the past. Just as the body wears scars as reminders of past experiences, so does the mind. Just because we don’t see these scars doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
So how do you treat a scar on your mind? First, you accept that it is likely here to stay, in one capacity or another. Just like you can’t magically rid yourself of your appendectomy scar, you cannot just pluck out your mental scars. But you can work them…you can soften them.
In bodywork, we approach scars by applying gentle and progressive stretching to the hard collagen tissue in order to realign the fibres. When we achieve this, we find that the scars are more pliable, causing less pain and disruption to the surrounding tissues. It doesn’t pull anymore.
Similarly, if we examine our mental scars with compassion and acceptance, we can realign these scars with the greater whole. So that even though they’re still present, they don’t hurt anymore. So that they’re no longer impacting our present moment.
Conventional therapy including psychology/psychiatry can help us to understand how our minds work the way they do. Although we can’t change the events in the past, we can alter the way we look at them and shift our perspective from one of suffering to one of acceptance. Mindfulness practises such as yoga, tai chi, and chi gong are gentle ways to soften tension in both the physical and the mental realms.
Managing pain is one topic; but transcending it altogether? Now that’s a good topic for a future post 
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]]>The post Devotion appeared first on Scroll Tree Osteopathy.
]]>Rumi said: You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.
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]]>The idea of teaching has been rumbling around my brain for several years now.
To fully master a subject, you must be able to teach your craft competently to others. To convey your catalogue of accumulated knowledge, if you will. What has kept me from charging full tilt ahead was the doubt that I had very little original material to share; that my knowledge was borrowed from the giants upon whose shoulders I stood. And trust me, over the years, I’ve met and learned from enough giants to cast a GOT HBO special.
What I’ve realized is that I have almost twenty years of learning under my belt. I’ve always been that keener academic, 3 rows down, a little to the right (so that I could observe not only the instructor fully, but the entirety of the class). I spent years quietly watching how my classmates digested the information we were fed, and I noted that it was important to cater to all types of learners: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic.
I also committed as much as I could to my long term memory banks. To this day, I couldn’t tell you what I had for supper yesterday, but I can give you the degrees of flexion that the vomer and coccyx posses, and the relationship between the two. I can tell you that the temporal and ilium share a relationship, and that the talus and the occiput are the Romeo and Juliet of Osteopathy, forever distant but intimately related in function. I can describe the essence of vitality and juxtapose it against the stark mechanics of the lever/pulley system our bio mechanical texts have reduced human physiology to. You wanna talk anatomy? I’m your gal.
But although it’s been a cool trip, I know that the biomechanical texts aren’t giving us the full story.
You see, for as long as I’ve had a body, I’ve wondered how it operates. Down to the minute detail. This curiosity keeps me fully engaged and excited about the inner workings of the human being, not only in body, but in mind and spirit as well. What a fascinating package we have been gifted for this limited time on this precariously balanced planet. It keeps me up at night! If I were a celestial student of the cosmos, I’d probably be a silent, unassuming moon…a few planets down, tucked slightly behind Saturn.
So I thought to myself “Self: What makes a good teacher?”
And the answer I came to was: “One who cares very deeply about their subject matter. One who has devoted their existence to knowing and honouring their calling. One who is at once satisfied and dissatisfied with the answers they’ve uncovered, which causes them to dig even deeper.”
Diploma/degree/doctorate in Osteopathy = DO = Dig On
And so it appears, I fit the criteria for being an Osteopathic manual practitioner. And one who might very much enjoy teaching.
And I am terribly excited to embark on this new journey to help others become just as engaged, just as excited, just as devoted to the profession that has gifted us not only a livelihood, but a deeper life purpose. I firmly believe we find ourselves when we lose ourselves in selflessness. When we serve others.
And so it is with great gusto that I invite you to share in all the knowledge I have collected over these 20 years from all the giants that have come before me, so that one day I may elevate you just enough for you to see your own potential. My colleague and friend Carl York has co-founded our new seminar company: Ostegenics and we are very excited to begin.
Let’s go. Class is in session
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Our summers are usually hectic, and jam packed with thousands of plans we’ve coveted and cooked up over long snowy winter days. We maximize outdoor living as much as possible at this time of year…We BBQ, we bonfire, we live our lives to the fullest and stockpile every ounce of summer goodness to keep us fortified over the winter.
This summer, I decided to try something new. Our long-term tenant who had been with us for several years gave us notice that she would be moving, leaving our apartment vacant for the first time ever. I had some repairs and renovations to tackle in the rental unit before I could rent the space again, and I didn’t have much wiggle room in my budget to work with. Since we are rarely in the house during the summer months (weekends are spent at the cottage), my partner suggested we rent out the main house and move into the apartment so that not only could I renovate it at my own pace, but I would be able to finance it this way as well. I mulled it over and decided it made too much sense not to do it.
Here’s what my family and I learned over the course of our 12-week summer downgrade from a 3 bedroom house to a studio apartment a third the size …and why we will likely repeat it next summer.
The Purge: Prepping to Rent
First off, we had to clean the main house to prepare it for listing. And I mean…we had to CLEAAAN. Not a drawer went untouched, not a cupboard overlooked. It took several hours a day for almost 5 weeks to complete the task. God bless my neighbour and my partner for helping with everything from re-wiring lights to scrubbing walls to cleaning the hot tub. Every closet was combed through, every toy bin was dumped. Bags upon bags of donations and trash left the house. Screens were scrubbed and repaired. Pampers boxes of files and paperwork dating back over 5 years were combed through and burned (the neighbour joked that the smell reminded him of his wife’s cooking). I mean, this was the purge of the century. The house hadn’t been in this shape since the first year it was purchased (pre-kids). It was beautiful. I almost didn’t want to let anyone enjoy it now that it was amazing and immaculate.
The Downgrade
The first 2 weeks of living in the apartment were an adjustment as we navigated living in a space that was in the process of having the floors replaced. We lived for just under a week walking on and sticking to industrial grade adhesive that coated the subfloor…several pairs of shoes and much cat toe hair was lost during this initial phase of the reno. Luckily, children are resilient and adaptive, especially when you turn things into play. I stuck a few vinyl tiles over the very sticky subfloor and told the kids we would play ‘The Floor is Lava’ until the new flooring was installed. They enjoyed hopping around the apartment until the flooring was done. I did not. The children slept at their father’s house during that week, and I crashed on a couch in my clinic and showered in a totalled bathroom before work. It was hella glamourous.
Next came the painting. Most of the painting was done the day after receiving my second covid vaccination due to poor planning on my part. Much sweating and heaving was involved. Just as I finished the last wall, my youngest got into the paint bag (attempting to use it as a cape) and so things were paused to scrub latex out of his eyebrows. He sported frosted tips for a week after that.
Finally, the furniture assembly: Immense amounts of cursing and loud singing (and wine) supported this final phase of the reno. I managed to assemble, drag, and stand up the last piece, a large kitchen shelf, as the grand finale which my hernia really appreciated. Finally, we were ready to occupy the space completely.
The Adjustment
The children were allowed to pack one Tupperware bin of toys to take to the new space and I took only the clothes we would need for 12 weeks.
The apartment itself was minimalistic. It had one bed, one sofa, and one desk. Oh, and no TV. The kids had been prepared for this low-tech summer over the spring since they had just completed a 4-month TV hiatus after breaking the new flatscreen with a yo-yo on Easter. We refer to that incident henceforth as ‘The Time Mom Went Crazy’. The kids had to earn their new TV by doing household chores until their birthdays rolled around in June. One child participated dutifully, the other folded 3-4 towels before knocking the pile over in defiance of the chore rule.
The new TV was hung in the main house 10 days before their birthdays but they were not allowed to watch it until their birthday because LIFE LESSONS. They enjoyed the new TV for approximately 3 weeks before we moved to the basement. The Life Lessons continued.
Was it insane to lock myself inside a shoebox with no TV and 2 young children for 3 months? Yes. But did I regret going for a low-tech summer lifestyle? Also, yes.
Although they had tablets for desperate moments, they were happy to be outside rather than in front of a screen, something that pleased me very much. I got to journal and work on creative writing over this period. I also could keep my eye on them since you can’t get into much trouble in a 400 square foot space (unless you hang like a monkey from the bathroom towel rack and rip it out of the wall which proved me wrong).
The kitchen was small with 90% less counter space than we were used to which meant food prep was a drag. Over the weeks, we shopped for small amounts of groceries every 2-5 days, only buying what we needed. Not only did we have virtually no food waste, but we also saved a ton of money compared to the massive Costco runs I was used to doing every 2 weeks in order to stockpile. Fruits and veggies no longer rotted on my counters and went to the green bin.
We also ate better: We stuck to finger foods and picnic style eating. Fruits, veggies, crackers, cheese and lean sliced meat were our go-to, especially since we could throw a meal together in no time this way. It also meant fewer dirty dishes and less packaging. We took advantage of Mezza’s Family meal which fed us well for several days, and we saved the Tupperware for packing our beach picnic foods. I learned the hard way to do the dishes immediately after eating each of our meals since I didn’t have the luxury of a dishwasher anymore. Because the space was so small, it was easy to tidy up daily. Our Roomba which we affectionately named Paul Ruddba did the circuit along the floors every day which meant I didn’t have to vacuum anymore. It was magic.
We were on the road a lot, driving 4 hours to Cape Breton to enjoy our teeny cottage by the Ocean. When we were in Halifax, we enjoyed our backyard more than we ever had before, playing in the stream, walking the park behind the house, and having bonfires. We finished my workdays with trips to the lake so the kids could cool off before a bath and bed. We were outside as much as possible.
When the kids weren’t at their fathers or at the cottage, we piled into the one bed with the laptop and watched cartoons and ate popcorn. The kids are at the stage where they’re pretzel sleepers and I didn’t get much rest crammed between them, but the sofa was always free for a nap when necessary.
The Lessons
Overall, we learned some valuable lessons over this period: We learned not to be attached to things but rather focus on experiences and relationships. Being crammed in one large room as opposed to living in a large house was challenging at times but also meant we had to compromise and be respectful of one another in order to live peacefully. Either that or I restored order by yelling at them like a maniac (whatever works).
We got used to cleaning daily and kept our small spaces orderly rather than living in chaos all week then having to spend half the precious weekend rage cleaning. Also, when we are ready to head back upstairs to our house it will feel so much bigger and cleaner than what it felt like before the purge.
We learned that everything must have its place since we had no counter space to pile things on. Things that did not have a place were donated or disposed of. Time was no longer wasted searching for everyday items like hairbrushes and other specific objects.
We saved money on groceries, earned money with rental income, and renovated the entire lower floor of the house, increasing the property value.
But most importantly, we worked on our adaptability and let go of the lifestyle we were accustomed to. We developed an appreciation for our life and all the privileges we enjoy. Often, it’s only after we lose something that can we fully appreciate it. It’s important to me that the kids grow up humble and grateful so that they learn the value of hard work. If everything is given to them and they never feel a pinch, they are less likely to develop ambition and drive, qualities that are required for success.
This experience was so successful that we will likely repeat it next summer. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback about what I’m doing which has been encouraging. My favourite story is of the mother of 3 who threatened that if her children didn’t start cleaning their rooms, she would force them to live in the basement like her Osteopath was doing with her family.
I’ve become a cautionary tale and I LOVE IT.
Kids don’t need stuff. They need time with family and friends in the great outdoors.
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]]>“The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away”.
-Pablo Picasso
Osteopathy is a philosophy, a healthcare system, and for some, a spiritual practise in its own rite. It is a practise that encourages healing for the self and for others. When I discovered Osteopathy, my years-long journey to discover a spiritual practise with which to identify and belong to ceased.
Osteopathy, I learned through my training, is a practical hands-on application of functional anatomy, physiology, and life philosophy that respects the process of human development in a physical, energetic and spiritual sense. It considers the whole person, as they are in the present. Regular Osteopathic practise encourages a deep connection with and development of oneself while simultaneously serving and helping others.
Viola Frymann, an American Osteopath was famously quoted as saying:
“The whole patient needs a whole physician.”
Personally speaking, Osteopathic practise requires me to show up for my clients as my best self: Available, attentive, and devoid of judgment. I strive to accept and work wholeheartedly without bias for the betterment of each and every person that chooses to spend their time on my table. The conversations I have with my clients are illuminating, sometimes humorous, and always meaningful.
This daily practise reminds me that people are a process, a coming into being, and that I have the privilege of working with them to soften and remove restrictions that prevent them from being their best self. In this way the practise of Osteopathy supports both the practitioner and patient in discovering their deeper Self.
I have always thought of practising Osteopathy as a gift, that my actions and application of treatment was an offering, and that ultimately it is up to each patient whether they will choose to receive this offering. Healing, I’ve learned, cannot be implemented by the therapist, but only made as an offering by way of setting conditions that are conducive to healing.
A teacher once told me that to accept accolades for my successes with clients meant that I would also have to accept responsibility for their set-backs, flare ups, and frustrations. Over the years I have come to understand that a therapist must never accept responsibility for either, so long as they strive to do no harm, as the outcome of the therapy belongs solely to the patient.
A respected friend once asked me why I refused to take credit for the positive results of our work together and so I explained my reasoning to them. I added that because the therapeutic energy of the session in actuality passed through me and not from me, it was unethical to try to claim ownership of my results. My friend initially viewed my reasoning as self-depreciating and encouraged me to step into my power properly so that I could reach my higher potential.
I admitted to them that a small part of me was uninterested in doing this because I felt it was a violation of the gift I had been given and that I was concerned this gift would leave me if I tried to manipulate it for my personal gain. Disappointed in what they perceived as a false humility, my friend determined that this fear arose from a “peasant mentality”.
Interestingly, this assessment of my mindset felt demeaning and so I mulled it over for some time to determine what bothered me about it. Our conversation left me unsettled and wanting to explore why I felt the way that I did about my work. Was my avoidance of taking ownership of my therapeutic impact fear-based or humility-based? And what was the difference?
Months later, I finally found my answer. My self-directed informal studies of yoga led me to discover the Siddhis, or advanced abilities that can be developed by Yogis who have a deep devotion to the practise of yoga and meditation. Siddhis take many years to develop for most yogis, and lifetimes for others. They allow the practitioner seemingly supernatural abilities such as living with limited food or water for extended periods of time while in meditation, or resistance to extreme cold like with the Tibetan monks that are able to dry wet sheets in Himalayan subzero temperatures with their body heat during meditation. Some Siddis include highly advanced perceptual skills such as those of clairvoyance which can also be developed by advanced healers.
But although the Siddhis are undeniably impressive and considered miraculous by today’s standards, their singleminded pursuit are seen to ultimately be a distraction from the path to enlightenment. They can be attained as a by-product of attaining enlightenment but should not be pursued in and of themselves, as those who get sucked in by developing their skills are often restricted by their fixation on those same skills.
Similarly, if a therapist falls victim to their own ego along their journey, they prevent themselves from being a truly great healer. They have moved from a patient centred approach to a therapist centred approach and begin serving their own needs and insecurities over the needs of their patients.
“Energy is not a play-thing. It should come to the hand who wants to help others, not to show his power to others.”
– Kria yogi
The attainment of the ability to stimulate the healing process is a skill that anyone can master with enough practise and devotion. But becoming entangled in the idea of being a healer ultimately moves the therapist further from their purpose because they become attached to the outcome. They are engaging the mind which means they are engaging the ego.
Ironically, the best healers are those who are able to be intimately engaged but simultaneously detached from the result. The focus is not on the outcome, for the outcome exists in the future. The focus instead is on the process, the intention in the moment, within the connection between the giver and the receiver. What the patient chooses to do with the offer is irrelevant. The intention itself is what acts as a catalyst for healing. When mind overrides heart wisdom, knowledge counts for nothing. Healing is a full body experience, not a thought process.
Another teacher once said “If we could think ourselves back to health why wouldn’t we have already done so?”
“It’s not about how many books you read, you can read all the books in the world, have all the information in the world, and not know anything. Because you only can know something when you’ve experienced it”.
-Krishna Kaur Khalsa
This quote from Kundalini Yogi Krishna Kaur Khalsa resonates with the philosophy that a therapist can only bring their patient as far as they themselves have been willing to go. In this way, experience outweighs knowledge. And experiencing hundreds of humans having the courage to be vulnerable and raw in my treatment room has brought me humility through respect, not fear or avoidance.
I no longer feel mildly shamed by the idea of having a peasant mentality when it comes to my work. Peasants are humble, simple, and often hard working and giving people. They take only what they need, and they do not concern themselves with winning the game of life, nor do they invest much energy in that task. They believe in equality and fair dispersement of resources. Historically, peasants did not distract themselves from the real purpose of life with the attainment of what they determine to be outward success, and wisely so. Success is a subjective, ever-shifting state. Instead, they saw value in investing their time in relationships and work. Expecting very little from life, they are appreciative of every gift they get. Such as the supreme gift of being able to help guide others in healing themselves.
So in the end, my well intentioned friend is indeed a Guru, asking hard questions and helping me to define my value system. Challenging me so that I can show up stronger for myself, but more importantly, for others. And that experience confirmed what Ram Dass meant when he said:
“When you know how to listen, everybody is the Guru speaking to you. It’s right here…always.
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]]>For the patient, once we take inventory of what has happened to get them where they are at today (often, mapping a chronological timeline of all contributing events helps the patient connect the dots and make sense of their current state of health), we must then start the task of having them coming back to themselves. They must drop the labels and stop identifying with their Pain Body. As patients, they must make an effort to come back to a neutral place within themselves from which they can operate actively in the healing process. In this phase, it is common for pain to intensify before it gets better as they are coming back to themselves.
Once we have helped our patients to synchronize their physical bodies with their psychoemotional beings, healing can commence. In this case, the ol’ adage ‘You gotta feel to heal’ rings true.
It is an illusion that we are separate beings. It is an illusion that we can heal our body without dipping into our emotional and psychological bodies and vice versa.
We are whole, complete sandwiches with many slices of existence in between our meat suit ends. In this phase of treatment, we spend time digesting. Dysfunction is often rooted in unresolved trauma to varying degrees whether they be physical injuries or emotional trauma (Levine, 1997).
Physical and psychological treatment is helpful in conjunction with one another to work through the backlog of unresolved issues most of us carry in a heavy pack on our backs. In this process, it is important for the patient to allow themselves to be vulnerable. Walls are helpful in keeping out more trauma, but they’re also great at holding in past trauma. In this stage, we slowly and carefully help the patient deconstruct their walls in a controlled manner so that they can come home to themselves. Treatment is impossible if our patients do not invite us in.
It is important to respect the emotional and psychological changes that have occurred during the course of the patients chronic pain journey. There is still serious stigma around CPS because of the lack of science to back it up, and the insidious and seemingly invisible nature of the varying syndromes. Issues of worthiness and shame are common in complex cases of CPS. Enter our support system: Our patients will need support and love and encouragement as they climb out of the darkness and re enter into the light. They will have setbacks and moments where their Pain Body overtakes, but this is when their loved ones will pull them up again.
In the Babemba tribe of southern Africa, for example, it is normal to help troubled members of the tribe be accepted back into their community not by punishing them, but by surrounding them in a circle and taking turns expressing their affection for the person and recounting stories where they displayed integrity and goodness in their actions. The entire community takes turns in this ceremony that often lasts for days in order to remind the individual of the good within them, until the person finally breaks down, comes back to themselves, and is accepted back into the arms of their community (Zunin, 1972). In a similar way, we must all come back to ourselves in order to return to our inherent health.
The most efficient way to transmute our pain and transcend it is to use self love as our catalyst for change.
Chronic pain has many facets, so it stands to reason that we need a multi dimensional approach to helping our patients return to health. Along with therapy (physical, psychological, etc.), it is important that the patient keep in mind the benefits of healthy sleep routines (despite sleep challenges that come with most chronic pain syndromes), good nutrition, daily activity, and stress management. Without proper fuel for the body, fatigue is exacerbated and energy levels are affected. If the client is in a perpetual state of tissue inflammation, little progress can be made until an internal balance can be reached. Probiotics play an enormous role in serotonin production which help mediate stress hormones and support the immune system which is key for overall health (Pedre, 2015). We also need daily activity to release natural endorphins which have been found to be more powerful and effective than most available pharmaceuticals (McMurray et al., 1987). And the bonus is that there are nothing but positive side effects to natural endorphins! Walking, dancing, and pilates are great ways to get the heart rate up and the endorphins pumping.
Activity based in mindfulness practises such as yoga, Tai Chi, and Chi Gong are even more effective since they merge mindfulness practice and movement for a powerful effect on our nervous system. Modifying activities for mobility restricted patients is always an option, the point is to get the circulation moving. Finally, reducing stress is probably the most important thing a chronic pain patient can do to help themselves, whether it’s reducing the amount of time spent at work, making an effort to do things that bring them joy, or limiting time spent with toxic people and situations. Stress reduction plays a massive role in our overall wellness. The effects of stress reduction are not immediate; it’s important for the patient to remember that it took years to get sick, and it might take months or years to return to optimal wellness.
Cultivating healthy mental hygiene habits are key in overcoming chronic pain.
Cultivating a meditation practice is incredibly beneficial in treating chronic pain syndromes. The mind, like a muscle, benefits from regular exercise. Meditative practice helps to calm the autonomic nervous system, increase heart coherence, and rewire the central nervous system which greatly helps improve the root cause of CPS (Hanson and Mendius, 2009). The greatest obstacle in the path back to ourselves is often ourselves. Once we become comfortable in our vulnerability and remove the physical, emotional, and psychological stressors, healing is a natural occurrence. Health and vitality are inherent. They are ever-present.
Health is our natural state of being. We just have to remove the tensions that obstruct it from expressing itself.
We look to newborns to remind us of how to be. A baby doesn’t know how to be stressed or neurotic. Their natural state is joy. Only when they experience a disruption in their health processes do they complain. They are a beautiful example of pure consciousness. That state of joyful being is what we should aim for as much as possible.
In closing, as health care professionals, we can accompany our patients to the bridge, but we cannot cross it for them. At the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own level of health. Taking an active and motivated role in our treatment is key on the path to healing.
To summarize, the most effective approach to chronic pain treatment for health care practitioners seems to be a patient centred treatment model within the confines of a safe, non judgemental environment. A patient and compassionate approach bodes well for making progress. Setbacks will occur. Persist and remember to empower your patients.
For the patient: it is important to remember a time when you felt well and to set attainable goals with that in mind. It is important to feel empowered and supported in this process, and not to be hard on yourself during flare ups or times of setback. The path to wellness is not a linear one. It will take courage, determination and a lot of self love to get you back to you. But in the end, what could be more worth it?
Tips for Managing Chronic Pain:
- Build a support network of health care professionals, support groups, friends and family
- Space your appointments and keep them short, too much of a good thing is a bad thing when it comes to CPS
- Start a health journal in order to observe patterns in your health
- Talk to your pharmacist or Naturopathic Doctor regarding the benefits of probiotics and nutrition to support your microbiome
- Initiate a meditation practice: 20 minutes per day is a great goal
- Get outside for some fresh air and gentle activity 20 minutes a day
- Cultivate healthy sleep habits: Limit stimulating activities before bed, restrict screen time 60 minutes before bed, aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time daily to create routine
- Reduce physical and psychological stressors
- Do not identify with/as your pain
References
Addison, G., (1984). Chronic pain syndrome. The American Journal of Medicine, 77(3)
Forget, G (2017). “Chronic Pain”. Course presented in Toronto, Canada, Canadian College of Osteopathy
Hanson, R, Mendius, R (2009). Buddha’s brain: the practical neuroscience of happiness, love and wisdom. Oakland, California: New Harbinger Publications Inc
McMurray, R.G., et al (1987). Exercise intensity-related responses of beta-endorphin and catecholamines. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Levine, P, Frederick, A (1997). Waking the tiger: healing trauma. Berkely, California: North Atlantic Books
Pedre, V (2015). Happy gut: the cleansing program to help you lose weight, gain energy, and eliminate pain. Toronto, Canada: HarperCollins
Tolle, E (1999). The Power of Now. Novata, California: New World Library. Vancouver, British Colombia: Namaste Publishing
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