Category Archives: blogging

Announcing the Chronic Stress and Trauma Recovery Challenge

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On February 2, after completing the 21-day gratitude challenge, I am starting a new challenge, the Chronic Stress and Trauma Recovery Challenge.

One topic that consistently draws people to this blog is David Berceli’s trauma releasing exercises, as described in his book, The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times, and seen in his video, Trauma Releasing Exercises Step by Step Video Instruction and Demonstration.

I’ve posted about them several times and done them at least a dozen times.They aren’t hard to learn or do — you just have to be able-bodied.

Although I have experienced trauma in my distant past, my take on these exercises is that they are very helpful for releasing chronic stress, which is much more common than trauma in today’s world.

It’s been estimated that as many as 90 percent of doctor’s visits are for problems related to stress. So let’s do something to decrease stress!

Besides, I need to do these exercises consistently, and I want to make it fun and useful for others, so I’m inviting you to join me in creating an online resource of anecdotal reports about the effects of doing these exercises. I would love to have your input!

  • Ever had a job you disliked or got burned out on and couldn’t just leave because of your mortgage/insurance/retirement? That’s chronic stress.
  • Ever had a difficult colleague/customer/boss/partner who seemingly loved to make your life miserable, whom you couldn’t just tell off because you’d get fired/dumped? That’s chronic stress.
  • Ever tried to work and take care of your spouse, kids, and aging parents, putting yourself last? And throw in a difficult commute or special-needs family member? That’s chronic stress.
  • Ever been consumed with worry, so that your health suffered? That’s chronic stress.

Ask yourself this:

How relaxed am I?

Is relaxation a distant memory?

Is relaxation something I only experience with alcohol or an expensive vacation or pharmaceuticals?

What can I do to release tension from my body in a healthy way?

Do I do this often enough to experience life for most of every day in a relaxed state?

If any of these questions hit home, please consider participating in this challenge. Your participation doesn’t have to exactly match mine. Do what you can, and I’d love to hear about your experience.

Trauma recovery experimenters are welcome to take part and report too. That is what this process is designed for.

Here’s how the challenge works (and if I am the only one, I will happily be the lone nut curious enough to do this and learn something useful to share):

  1. If you don’t have the book or video, order them now. The links above will take you to Amazon.com.
  2. On February 2, do the exercises. They take 20-30 minutes. I’ll be doing them and reporting here, and you can share your experience in the comments.
  3. For the rest of February, do the exercises on even-numbered days. Report as needed.
  4. In March, do them twice a week on your own schedule. Report significant changes in the comments.
  5. At the end of March, notice what has changed in your body, attitude, sense of well-being, emotions, vices, and other aspects of your life that may be attributable to doing these exercises and letting go of stress. Share in the comments!
  6. Learn to recognize what your unstressed body feels like and what the signals are that you need to do the exercises. This is a skill.

That’s it! This is qualitative research, health and well-being improvement, and community service, folks. I’d love to receive and share your contributions. Maybe we can make the world a better place while benefitting ourselves!

Any questions before we start? Feel free to email me at mareynolds27 at gmail dot com.

Day 10: Tim Ferriss and The 4-Hour Body. I love teaching yoga. YES!

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The three things I’m grateful for today (day 10 of 21) are: Tim Ferriss, teaching yoga, and the word YES.

If you don’t know Tim Ferriss, you should. He wrote a groundbreaking book called The 4-Hour Work Week, which was a huge bestseller. He shared how people can get out of the rat race of working long hours for someone else and find a new lifestyle where the work is mostly remote and delegated.

Tim chose to travel, learn tango, compete in martial arts contests, and write a bestseller after setting up a health supplement company that practically ran on autopilot, which allowed him the time and income to do those things.

I haven’t followed his formula, but it inspired me to come up with a business idea that I could do anywhere I have access to a phone for a few hours a day, with fairly low start-up costs. I may do it yet, so it’s a secret!

What I love about Tim is his plain ol’ brashness. He’s incredibly curious and likes to find out for himself. He’s a pioneer, an explorer, an adventurer, a seeker, a finder, and a sharer. He’s got the energy of a barrel of laughing monkeys. What’s not to like?

He blogs about his experiments in lifestyle design, too.

Tim is back with a new book, The 4-Hour Body. I’ve just started reading it, and I can tell you now, I will learn a lot from it. With access to doctors, scientists, elite athletes, and state-of-the-art measuring equipment for his own personal experimentation, Tim has hacked the secrets to losing weight, gaining muscle, sleeping well, increasing testosterone and sperm count, running faster, reversing “permanent” injuries, and having 15-minute orgasms. So the cover says, anyway!

He shows you how to make tiny changes, starting from where you are now, that are the most effective changes. His key question is:

For all things physical, what are the tiniest changes that produce the biggest results?

(No wonder this appeals to me: It’s a Maximizer strategy. See my earlier post about finding your strengths.)

I love key questions and will blog about them in the future.

I peeked ahead to see how to lose 20 lbs in 30 days. His formula is:

  • Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white).
  • Eat the same few meals over and over again.
  • Don’t drink calories.
  • Don’t eat fruit.
  • Take one day off per week and go nuts.

And then he gives the fine points.

(Can’t wait until he hacks enlightenment in his next book, The 4-Hour Brain. You listening, Tim?)

Another thing I’m grateful for is that I finally took yoga teacher training and am teaching yoga. It is so gratifying to help motivated people find their way into yoga. Whether they are beginners who want one-on-one personal attention and instruction as they learn, or just want to unwind from stress and experience some deep relaxation, I’m enjoying teaching.

At present, I have one class on Sunday evenings, a restorative class in Oak Hill, and I have a private student who comes to my home after work one evening each week. (Bonus: My cat Mango curled up on top of her during savasana this week! He knows where the good juicy energy is.)

I’d like to teach more. My rates are very reasonable. Private classes are $25 an hour now, and group classes are $10 for 60 minutes, $15 for 90 minutes. If you want a trial session, call me.

You can read more on my Yoga offerings page on this blog.

I am grateful for the word YES. I’ve been getting some very nice YESes in my life lately. Two offers on my house this week, one of which I am getting ready to say YES to — and some folks who were looking at it last night loved it too. Affirmation!

Oh, and according to Patrice,

No is just another way of saying Yes.

So basically, it’s all Yes!

New year, new blog look, seeking feedback

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Okay, I’ve decided to get better at this blogging thing I do. Not only have I changed the name, but I’ve also changed the look.

Please tell me if you like it and how it could be better. Thanks!

Thank you! 2010 review, changes for 2011

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I want to sincerely thank you for reading my blog. Some of you are regular readers, some occasional, and some stumble on blog posts through search engines.

However you got here in 2010, thanks for reading.

My year of sitting daily has drawn to a close. I won’t say it was 100 percent successful, because I didn’t sit every day, as I had intended. But in another way, it was very successful! Meditation has become part of my near-daily life. It’s not just the time I spend on the cushion, either. I find myself more and more having the courage to really be present as I go about my daily life — to myself and I hope more to others.

I really knew my meditation endeavor had succeeded when I sat on my zafu one day recently and realized that sitting on the cushion and taking that first breath had become an anchor for bringing my awareness completely into the present moment.

I couldn’t have imagined that happening at the beginning of the year.

2010 Blog Stats

Comparing minds want to know: What’s the data on your year of blogging?

  • I had 3,910 views of posts and pages on my blog in 2010. Back in the summer, I hoped aloud that I could reach 3,000 views by the end of the year. Well, you exceeded my expectations! I reached that goal on November 14. Thank you!
  • Back in January 2010, I averaged 6 views per day, with a total of 181 for the month.
  • In December 2010, 21 viewers per day on average visited my blog, adding up to 658 for the month.

Top 10 Hits

The top ten original blog posts by number of views for 2010 were (drum roll, please!):

  1. Trauma releasing exercises
  2. Cranio-sacral therapy, brain waves
  3. Book review: Buddha’s Brain
  4. Holotropic breathwork compared to trauma releasing exercises
  5. Buddha’s Brain: supplements for brain health
  6. Pain and pleasure, pleasure and pain — side effects of living
  7. 12 states of attention
  8. Cleansing the colon, liver, and gallbladder
  9. Trauma release heavy heart
  10. The three centers of intelligence: working with my gut, heart, and head

New Blog Name

Since my year of experimenting has ended and I want to keep blogging, I decided to rename this blog and change its purpose. The new name, The Well: bodymindheartspirit, reflects my interest in a variety of topics related to wellness, well-being, and wholeness (as you can see from the top 10 posts listed above), and my desire to connect to the Source as a well of nourishment both in living my life and writing for this blog.

You can expect more blog posts written by guest writers (let me know if you’re interested in contributing) and fewer poems (intellectual property rights are important for poets — if you like a poet, please buy his or her books and CDs). A new look is also in the works.

Thank you, and I hope you’ll stick around.

When meditating triggers presence, like Pavlov’s dog #reverb10

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Brene Brown, whose TED Talk I blogged about the other day after discovering Alan Steinborn’s recommendation on Facebook, does this thing on Twitter that she explains here on her blog. She calls it #Reverb10 and describes it as:

an online initiative that encourages participants to reflect on this year and manifest what’s next. It’s an opportunity to retreat and consider the reverberations of your year past, and those that you’d like to create in the year ahead.

As I understand it, it’s a group initiative. Thirty-one writers post prompts for writing and reflection on Twitter using the hashtag #reverb10. Brene is one of the writers. Anyone can get on Twitter, search for #reverb10, and respond.

Because not everyone is on Twitter, Brene has graciously made space on her blog where people can respond in the comments (with more than 140 characters!) to any or all prompts, and/or leave a link to their blog.

This is social networking at its most awesome!

Here is Brene Brown’s prompt for Dec. 27:

Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year?

Click the link above to check out Brene’s response to her own question, and those of many others.

And here is my response.

My most joyful ordinary moment is about something that I became aware of recently, and to understand it, I need to share a little background for new readers.

I started this blog as a year-long project to help myself develop the habit of meditating for 30 minutes daily. I’d meditated for several years, but not consistently. I’d do okay for a couple of weeks, then get derailed (sometimes for another couple of weeks).

I knew meditation had all kinds of beneficial side effects, and I wondered:

If I could put a little (or a lot) more effort into meditating every day, how would my life change?

Well, I failed. I did not meditate every day. I could not meditate with a stuffy nose (mouth breathing just doesn’t get it for me).

I also went through a period of rebellion a few months into the year. I was laying this demand on myself, and it felt burdensome. I rebelled, took a break, plunged inward with questions, and came back wanting to do it, recommitted.

I also had a sort of breakdown/spiritual awakening in November that resulted in me quitting my day job after six years. I was so distressed, I couldn’t sit. A lot of things in my life came to a head. I had planned to leave my job at the end of May in order to start acupuncture school in July, but circumstances actually made it the perfect time to leave (and my gut said I had to, besides).

Other than that, oh, and la-di-dah, a few days of just pure laziness, I have meditated daily in 2010.

End of background.

My most joyful ordinary moment came a week or so ago when I realized that as soon as I sat down on my meditation cushion and took a breath, that I was there. In the present moment. It felt like all considerations of the past and future just dropped away, leaving just the moment and the breath and the quiet bliss.

I am now like Pavlov’s dog, only instead of a bell triggering salivation, sitting on a meditation cushion triggers presence.

I created that in 2010.

This will go to Twitter, and I’ll comment on her blog as well. She’s giving away copies of both of her books and her DVD! I wouldn’t mind having those at all!

I love this project!

Guest post: Opinions Are, by Carin Channing

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Note: I am opening up my blog to occasional guest posts from other bloggers. This first one is from Carin Channing, who blogs at Stay Open: Spiritual and Self-Care Space.

I get the sense of dragging myself forward from the chest or the gut into some unknown where I think I should be arriving.

I read this tonight:

“My judgments, my ego-tripping, my attempts to plan and to know what the future holds or to try to drive the future in any way — all futile and hung up on a desperate mind, clinging to an image of importance that simply cannot stand against the field of a quiet mind.”

I wrote it a few months ago on the Be Here Now blog.

It continues to be relevant. Especially about the attempts to plan and to know what the future holds. I really know nothing about anything. I write about stuff, but it’s playing. It’s creating if I’m not thinking about it and it’s just coming out my fingers. So. The image of importance. There’s this thing that thinks there is such a thing as good/bad. And it’s a noisy voice, and not only is it noisy within, but also in the supposed without – that is, that which appears outside of us. The straddling of the two worlds, said a friend to me, is the hell you are in.

The world where there’s right/wrong. This pulls on me. Wants my attention. Wants to hold my head under water.

Today the Text Support message that I sent out said:

“The overall ‘why’ doesn’t matter. How would you know anyway? All you need to know, and will always know, is the next right thing to do. Even if it’s do nothing.”

And as I sit here and type and mess around a little on the internet, I keep feeling these pulls (as mentioned above). The thoughts are about 1) eating, 2) exercising, 3) taking a bath. The pull keeps telling me which one I’ll do when and justifying its existence by asserting that there’s a should out there somewhere about the order of things and about anything else beyond sitting here typing.

I exercised every day no matter what for two years. Even if I just did a little movement or stretching, it counted. Some months ago I let it slip and now, well, I exercise when I do. And what I’m faced with, what’s left, is this massive judgment, insisting that something other than the natural flow of the moment is what’s necessary and somehow even morally correct.

I remain healthy and am not stagnant. A shifting occurred. Nothing occurred. All of that is past. All of everything is past except the exhale I’m doing right now and the gnat that is flying across my field of vision and the heat of the laptop under the heels of my hands.

What is it that I don’t trust?

See? The two worlds. Being guided by the mind, or simply being guided.

Not like either is right or wrong. {giggling now} It’s just that opinions are. Look, there goes one now.

To continue the conversation with Carin, please also visit Stay Open: Spiritual and Self-Care Space. Become a fan of Stay Open Facebook Page. Submit questions to (submit questions to carina@nowstayopen.com).

More on following deep impulses

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Almost as punctuation to my post earlier today, I read Bindu Wiles’ own blog post today, entitled Following Your Gut. Click the link to view the magical photo.

Bindu has been nominated as a finalist for the Blogisattva awards for excellence in English-language Buddhist blogging. She’s nominated in the category of best engage-the-world blogging. Check her out.

Here’s the quote:

“Joy and growth come from following our deepest impulses, however foolish they may seem to some, or dangerous, or even though the apparent outcome may be defeat. ”    – A.J. Muste

Leaving a job, embracing the unknown

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How much change do you need or seek?

I need a certain amount of change in my life, and I’ve worked in an environment for the last six years where people often stay in the same job for decades.

I gave two weeks’ notice at my job on Monday.

I once worked at the same place for eight years, although that job involved promotions, various managers, and several reorganizations. In my current job, I have done the same thing for the same manager for six years. I’ve liked working with her. She hasn’t been perfect, but I’ve felt comfortable with her supervising my work. She’s a literate technologist, and I appreciate her. Now she’s retiring, and I’ve come to see it is also the best time for me to leave.

Even though giving up a secure job brings insecurity, I feel strongly that I did the right thing anyway! I feel exhilarated and insecure, free and scared and adventurous.

I’m excited about the new opportunities I have — to work in a health food store, to work in a garden center, to spend more time with my granddaughter, to catch up on my reading, to devote more time to improving my blogging, maybe travel a bit, take some workshops that intrigue me.

To rediscover my own biorhythms instead of those artificially imposed by an employer’s needs — yippee!

And of course as I’ve mentioned before here, I’m selling my house, planning to downsize into a vintage trailer, and have been accepted into the Academy of Oriental Medicine of Austin with a summer start date.

I am witnessing doors open — like being asked if I’d be interested in teaching an “old men’s” yoga class!

I notice a kind of shedding that accompanies leaving this job. My mind feels sharper and more resourceful. I feel more alive.

I am not who I was six years ago. Dang, but I have done a lot of yoga since then, substituted for my teacher, and finally trained as a teacher.

I’ve taken two levels of NLP training and presented on NLP topics, with plans to do more and some coaching again.

I finally read all the Carlos Castaneda books and discovered some great poets and took up the pennywhistle.

I’ve traveled to Maui twice and discovered West Texas.

I’ve been in and out of relationship a couple of times.

I’ve been a support for my daughter while she’s gone to nursing school.

I’ve been an integral part of my granddaughter’s life.

I’ve worked hard on several health issues with a lot of success.

I’ve made some friends at work and gotten kudos for my work.

And of course, I started meditating and started this blog.

Really, I cannot count all the changes I’ve made while working in this same steady job. The job has made it possible for me to grow and change, and now it seems I’ve outgrown the job.

I’ve come to accept that truly, life is change, that change is the key characteristic of life. I walk towards it now.

3,000 views! Thank you, readers!

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Just a quick note to share my gratitude with you, the readers of my blog. Today my odometer rolled over, so to speak, and I have reached the milestone of 3,000 views!

Last summer, after a jump in readers, the number 3,000 came to mind as a goal I hoped to reach by the end of this year.  Now I’ve reached it a month and a half early. That means the rest of this year is pure lagniappe! Or icing on the cake, or gravy, if you prefer those metaphors.

Thank you for stopping by.

The number doesn’t really tell me much. It’s just the number of people who have viewed my blog.

It doesn’t tell me which posts and topics you like most or which titles whet your curiosity. I do know that a few of you are subscribers, some are occasional readers via Facebook and Twitter (@zafu_report), and some find my blog by accident, searching for information on, say, trauma releasing exercises or brain waves.

I posted an analysis on October 1st, and the way I put it all together bears repeating:

What I get from this analysis is that you guys, my readers, are curious about body/mind/emotions/spirit connections. You want to read about discovering/returning to some kind of integrated state of healthiness and wholeness. You’re interested in ways to frame experience, to give it context and perspective. And reading about geeky brain wave states does not put you off!

The brain geeks among you have something to look forward to. I’ve been experimenting with theta waves and will post about it before too long.

Writing and reading are a reciprocal exchange. All I can ask is that you come back, enjoy yourself, and please do not hesitate to give me feedback and comments!

Again, thank you for stopping by.

My yoga page on this blog

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Just letting y’all know… If you’re curious about my yoga classes, look under the banner photo, and you’ll see a row of links to pages. Click “Private yoga classes” to go there. Or just click here.

I just noticed yesterday in my blog stats that it had only been clicked three times.

I’ve finished the class part of my yoga teacher training and have a humongous test to do on my own time, as well as lesson plans for my 12-class series, Beginner’s Yoga, Beginner’s Mind, currently getting ready for the 9th week, to turn in.

I’ll post more about the Oak Hill restorative yoga class when it’s all worked out. Right now I’m focusing on the test and lesson plans.

I’ll let you know when I officially finish my training, and we’ll celebrate!