Relax, NO RELAX!

It’s a word I don’t use with clients as it tends to generate tension

I prefer the idea of letting go, as holding is something we do a lot of

I have just returned from a 9 day meditation retreat; held in silence with no stimulus what so ever, I had lots of opportunity to let go. And it’s not easy. I found that I hold onto many things; ideas of who I am, ideas of what my body is, opinions, thoughts, the breath, muscle tension, memories oh just lots and lots and lots

Letting go is something that I aim for my clients to do, when I first treat them it’s often a good indication for me of how the session and the relationship is going. As we gain experience together letting go or the lack of it is a great diagnostic tool

I want clients to let go within the session because it’s so good for them on lots of levels, but my main reason is so they can experience the letting go and take it into their ever day life.

So much suffering is caused by holding onto things we do not need to. We then suffer what Jack Kornfield calls ‘mental rope burn’, a lovely way of describing the suffering  that comes from holding or clinging.

If we can take the feeling of letting go that we have on the futon and practice it when we are angry for being cut up in our car, when we are bored at work, when in an argument with our children/relative/friend, then we can change the situation in a really radical way.

It seems that letting go is a transferable skill, if we can let go of muscle tension then it feels very similar to letting go of our fixed opinion of ourselves and other. You have to see the holding but once we do the letting go feels very similar.

Like most transformative things it’s a simple process that needs applying over and over and it’s the application which is difficult. 

MindbodyBodymindMindbodyBodymind

I have been very focused on the body for the last 10 years or so. Firstly through Kempo, then Shiatsu. I have come to develop a good understanding of experiencing the world with and through my body. The process has not always been easy, actually it's never been easy and has often been way ugly. My relationship with my body had been rocky for decades. Experiencing eating disorders and very poor self image, the journey to a better relationship has never been boring.

Whilst doing the Shiatsu course I have, I think, been feeling more and more that the body was all. I think that my perspective has maybe become a little too body based. I may have become a little off balance.

My reflection on this has been as a result of my recent study of the Anapanasati Sutra. A very important early Buddhist text from the Pali cannon. Great weight is given to the body, the breath, sense experience but also the mind and emotions. The link between the body and the mind is very clear within the sutra.

I will continue to have the body and the breath as my primary focus, both in my own meditation practice and with clients through Shiatsu. But I feel that it's time to integrate more mind also.

My feeling is that body based practice is still the most appropriate for 99% of western people, we have such a head based culture. It remains the most effective way of tackling so many issues but I'm just allowing a little more space for the mind but through the body.

This experience of mind through the breath/body is so different to our normal way of being in the mind, as ruled by the monkey mind.

If you have not experienced the quite, sharpness, focus and peace of experiencing ones self and the world through the body, then I can't recommend it enough, the Buddha saw it as the road to liberation. I experience it as a road to better understanding, of myself, the world, others and of course my old friend, my body.

A good place to start is with meditation, there are lots of great places to study (see the links below)
Of course I also think that Shiatsu is a fantastic way to connect with the body in a really positive, powerful and different way.


The Buddhist society is a good safe place to search for meditation spaces and classes http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/

I have attended Yamyang off and on for the last 15 years http://www.jamyang.co.uk/

Amaravati are very lovely http://www.amaravati.org/