The holidays have been a quiet time at the Center with a lot of people out of town, but as of next week, we will be in full swing again with our regular classes. We will also be welcoming some new guests for our third Sound Healing event: Yeyette San Luis and Ishilta from Manila, on 17 January (more info on this here ).
Before that, there will also be a Reiki level 1 class on the 14th. The beginning of the year is a great time to learn something new, especially if it has the potential to be life-changing, as Reiki has been for me. I always tell my students that there is a well-defined “before” and “after” Reiki life for me. Learning about the energetic dimension of the world just opened up a whole new universe with different, mind-blowing, and fun rules! There is also a 21-day detox or cleansing period following the class which will help you in adopting a new set of habits or getting rid of old ones that no longer serve you, so you get a double benefit there.
Whether or not you choose to check out these events (or any of our other ones), January is a good time to look back at the past year and at what stands out that you want more of, and what didn’t work so well, that you would like to get rid of. Personally, 2017 was extremely challenging, with changes in career, ending of friendships, loss of loved ones, but also a huge period of growth through overcoming doubt, fear, anxiety, rejection, self-esteem, insecurity, to mention only a few. I do feel clearer in some important areas of my life, but I also feel I have such a long way to go and 2018 will be equally demanding. Good thing the rewards are usually commensurate to the energy expended, and that we have many tools to help us go forward. A daily or at least regular practice of some sort of meditation is helpful.
I started using EFT or tapping, which I alternate with meditation if I don’t’ have time for both. Reiki self-healing is also very meditative and calming, as is Yin Yoga, all of which are offered at the Center. Tarot is another fun way to stay centered and grounded when faced with confusion or disarray. I have been playing around with a twelve card New Year spread that leaves customers filled with wonder and anticipation.
Wishing you all a 2018 filled with magic!
About thirteen years ago, I was living and working in Geneva, Switzerland. My daughter was a toddler and I was starting a new relationship. I felt overwhelmed and lost enough to warrant an appointment with a life coach (I couldn’t commit to the months and years required from me by potential psychotherapists at the time). I divulged that I failed my marriage and didn’t want to fail at this new relationship. After a few questions about the state of my life, the coach concluded that what we needed to work on was not my relationship, but my BOUNDARIES, in particular with my two-year old daughter.
This was probably the first time I had heard of that word applied to me in such a manner. Fortunately, it was far from the last, as it has been a recurrent theme in my work as a healer over the past two years now. People, for the most part women, but not exclusively, come to me depleted, because they are following a path that they don’t want to follow, a path that is imposed on them by others. For the younger women, this is of course the parents. These type of issues are boundary issues. Boundaries are defined by best-selling author Brene Brown simply as “What is okay and what is not okay.” We define our own boundaries. People often confused having clear boundaries as being selfish, when as a matter of fact, the opposite is true. Self-care is the most compassionate gift we can give ourselves and others, and it cannot exist without clear boundaries.
Ever since that session in Geneva thirteen years ago I have been acutely aware of my boundaries. This does not mean that I have mastered them: at times they are too rigid and at other times they are too weak. Just like everything else, they require attention, and the more attention you give them, the easier they are to manage.
As one of my favorite topics to explore, we will be discussing them during my upcoming course next month: Wake Up Call! Discover the Superpower of Mindful Living. Mindfulness brings to light more than boundaries of course; it deepens our relationship to ourselves, others, and the present moment. The holiday season is often a crucial time to be mindful as emotions run high and are triggered by traffic, lack of sleep and rest, and close contact with more of the people we don’t usually choose to hang out with, for some of us. But then again, no need to wait for the course to start a mindful practice! You can go back to your breath and re-center today, or even now, after reading this post.
Boundaries and mindfulness are particularly important during this holiday season, where we can get easily overwhelmed by festivities and responsibilities. Are you giving your power away by saying yes to more alcohol or food than your body is asking for? Are you feeling constantly guilty as a result of family expectations? Be mindful of your boundaries and give people back what is theirs and not yours (figuratively, that is). That will keep your Christmas merry and bright! Happy Holidays everyone.
You can find more information on this course at www.gasshocenter.com/workshops
Last Saturday night we celebrated our Christmas party at the center. During the latter part of the evening, I received an SMS from my husband, informing me that our beloved kitten Caramel had been killed by the neighbor’s dogs. The news came like a thunderbolt, and I had to come to grips with the reality of my hosting my guests and attending to the tragic event that had just befallen my house and family. One of my guests asked for some sage sticks which happened to be at home so I found that excuse to run there. Fortunately, my house is located right behind the center and in a few minutes, I was there, while the reality of Caramel’s fresh demise slowly crystalized in my living room.
This event, now one week old, generated a host of emotions within me, contributing to a week of grieving, reflection, suffering, lots of releasing and finally gratitude. A year ago I would have easily fallen into anger, perhaps hate and resentment. The guards said that they tried to stop the owners of the dogs, saying that the cat belonged to me, and that after the carnage, Caramel was tossed in the garbage. Just the thought of this violent death provoked a wave a nausea, but somehow I was able to shift to a higher vibration, more loving thought without too much difficulty. Each time the sadness would arise, I would just be with it mindfully, acknowledging it without judgement, not pushing it away and not getting attached to it either.
Mindfulness practice is not about numbing ourselves to pain or the outside world. On the contrary, it is being one with the emotion, whether pain, fear or joy. This is the secret to fully living in the present, in our bodies, acknowledging the paradox of frailty and power that makes us both unique and human.
I would like to share with you a poem I read at our Serene Weekend retreat last month, by the master of mindfulness himself, the venerable Thich Nhat Han.
Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow because even today I still arrive. Look deeply: I arrive in every second to be a bud on a spring branch, to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile, learning to sing in my new nest, to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower, to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone. I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, in order to fear and to hope. The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river, and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time to eat the mayfly. I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond, and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence, feeds itself on the frog. I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks, and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda. I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate, and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving. I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands, and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to, my people, dying slowly in a forced labor camp.
My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life. My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans. Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once, so I can see that my joy and pain are one. Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up, and so the door of my heart can be left open, the door of compassion.
