Themes for October 22nd to November 19th

Welcome to the nitty-gritty of 2006. This is what you’ve all been waiting for all year. First, we get to play Shaman. Unless you live in AZ where the real Shamans are, next weekend most of the country will be reverting from daylights saving time to standard time. This is a cultural manipulation of our daily experience. Soon we’ll rise in darkness and head home in darkness each evening. It’s the first of three indicators that we’re entering the ‘dark side’ the cycle of transition. First we change the clocks, then the darkness envelops us, followed by the cold. We won’t emerge from this 'chill-ness' until the clocks are magically ‘sprung forward’ on March 11, 2007. That’s right, a month sooner. In our never ending attempt to manipulate our biological rhythms so we can extract some economic gain, next year we’ll have ‘more time.’ If we can print meaningless money, we can create fake time...

On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete. http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html

As an aside, I liked this little verbal jab at the name ‘daylight saving time’.

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time. Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Similar examples would be dog walking time or book reading time. Since saving is a verb describing a single type of activity, the form is singular. Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries. Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, but it is not as politically desirable. http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html

But let’s focus on this lunar cycle, an interval we can’t vote on. It’s a critical one in terms of how we want to align our relationships with our lifestyle as we wind down the Summer-Fall Cycle of Transition and prepare for the inner world musings of the Winter-Spring one set to begin December 13th.

By now you may or may not have grasped that the calendar we are conditioned to live in and the one we rhythmically move in are disconnected. By that I mean, we are all so indoctrinated into a linear, normative arrow of time by both our narrative coherence (see the first link below) and our social-shared ‘day of our lives’, that we hardly notice the cyclical, recursive nature of human experience. The 5th lunar cycle brings us in somatic contact with the boundary conditions we have formed with time itself. So it’s appropriate that I highlight a resource that exemplifies what I’ll call my Far Eastern Standard Time. Let’s get in touch with this…

The skills required to fully appreciate the subtleties of pulse diagnosis are developed over decades of practice by trained acupuncturists. What we want to do with this readily accessible bit of physiology is awaken some dormant sensitivity in ourselves. Here’s my tried and true method for that… I call it 'Tai Cheating'...

Now, once you get a ‘feel’ for this process you can use it to amplify the underlying theme of this lunar cycle. We’re heading into the phase of the cycle of transition that takes us, as I say in my YES Factors e-book “Beyond The Body”. It’s at this point in the year that we begin to internalize our social interactions and take them below our conscious awareness for integration with our life story. John Barresi’s work on identity points out that we all dovetails the events of our lives between the ages of 17 and 25 to form an autobiographical or ‘extended self’. He describes 4 core processes.

Temporal coherence
the ability to string out events in one’s life in a temporal order.
Cultural concept of biography
learning the rules of biography.
Causal coherence
explaining how events and personality relate to each other and account for change.
Thematic coherence
provide organization to threads of personal change and life-history.
http://jbarresi.psychology.dal.ca/Papers/Tucson2002.html

His work is based on some of the stirring work by English Romantic critic, William Hazlitt. He was one of the first thinkers to factor in the role of personal experience and the emergence of self-interest into human behavior. His ‘prescription for peace’ was concise. It takes a lifetime to do.

#1 The only way for one to connect to the future is through imagination.
#2 One must learn to give preference to ones own future self over that of another.
http://jbarresi.psychology.dal.ca/Papers/Tucson2002.html

So by practicing the Tai Cheating work as part of your entrainment this cycle, maybe doing it before and after your SIMPLES, you are bringing the core to surface. This is a form of what the Toltecs Sorcerers call ‘recapitulation’. We are constantly re-telling our past within ourselves. During this cycle we have an opportunity to embody a new harmomic. Carl Jung used to guide clients through a Western version of this called a Jungian Induction. I’ll leave you to employ this over the ‘time change’ weekend. It’s also a great nightly sleep prep to let the residue of the day dissipate and keep the arrow of time from piercing your kinesthetic bubble.

Jung used the inductive approach to help people access a state of self-knowing that was not fully conscious, yet undisputed by your surface experiences. It uses time.

The “target” for Jung was to expand the sense of self by using the chronological order everyone adopts to effectively “clean the heads” on the memory loops we live in that cause us to identify with our disempowered selves more often than not.

There are several ways to perform a Jungian Induction. Here’s a simple one…

1. Count from now to your birth year slowly to yourself…
2. The trick is to not stop, just observe the images {1980, 1979, 1978…)
3. Then count back to now. Stay in the awareness that you are here and here again.
4. Repeat steps #1 - #3 three times…
5. Now go forward from now the number of years you’ve lived (ex. 2003-2041)
6. Reverse from where you stop and count back to now. Again, you’re always here.
7. When you’ve done steps #5-#6 three times, you are now in that desired state…

This process is augmented by getting in a comfortable position, using all your other tools and by opening yourself up to the images that will present…

See you on the other side, MRF 10.22

Further Reading…
http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/LitEvol.shtml
http://www.hypnosisforyou.com/mind2.html
http://www.headless.org/
http://www.naturalskincare.ws/stuff-0898623820.html
http://www.newvision-psychic.com/bookshelf/ToltecPathof.htm
http://www.yinyanghouse.com/chinesetheory/theory-pulse.html#meridiancorrelations

Face Dances

Back in the stone age, when I first began to study somatics, one of the concepts that I hooked into right away was something called a neural image. In a nutshell, this is a global perception of the body based on the quality of the communication going on in it. For those interested in the fancier version of the story, here’s a short dip in that pool.

The authors of the remarkable book "Segmental Neuropathy," published by Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, proposed the concept of a "neural image," dependent upon the integrity of neural receptors and afferent pathways. If afferent input is compromised, efferent response may be qualitatively and quantitatively compromised. http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcj/1996/jun/jun1996kent.htm

What the neural image really taps into is the notion of ‘garbage in, garbage out’. What it implies is that if our sensory system is off, our motor system reflects that. This is a great thing to learn, since we can self-regulate our sensory systems by increasing our somatic awareness. So this is not an image we see at all; it’s one we feel. The tension patterns our body uses to adapt to it’s spatial environment are pathways for us to improve the quality of our neural image and establish a higher degree of coherence between ourselves and our extrapersonal or physical environment. The good news is that there’s only six tension patterns to learn (surprised?) and they fit neatly into what SIMPLES do.

First, I want to stick will the stone age theme and give my good buddy, DD Palmer some props. He’s the founder of chiropractic and was an extremely insightful EXO as well. What his far-reaching ideas foresaw was the intermeshing of body/mind into an integral whole. This led to his understanding of man’s intricate material and immaterial nature…

"The dynamic CAUSES of disease are traumas (mechanical), poisons (toxins) and auto-suggestion (psychological)." Realizing that the dictionary definition of the term adjust is, "To settle: to free: to bring to a satisfactory state: to bring into proper relationship, to bring into harmony or balance", it is just as ethical and as necessary to "adjust" the mental and toxic imbalances as it is the structural subluxations.”
“Dr. Palmer indicated that, "In auto-suggestion, which is also known as psychological suggestion, the will and judgment are more or less suppressed and auto-traumatic action is directed to any organ or portion of the body, thereby modifying bodily functions, exciting or relieving morbid conditions by mental processes independently of external influences. This condition is due to an underlying psychical impressionability exhibited in paralysis, contracture of muscles, impairment of vision, sensory and functional disturbances, more or less of the nervous system." Thus D.D. acknowledged that non-neural factors could be involved. He also said, "Thoughts produce disease - malice, revenge, remorse, grief, worry, spite, etc.." Although it is unfortunately not common in chiropractic, homeopathy often searches back to childhood for the source of the disturbance in the vital force.”

http://www.theprover.com/article.php4?id=110

He goes further out into the woo when he discussed how people’s ‘energy’ varied…

"Some persons seem to be surcharged with magnetism, [they] are highly magnetic. They are always giving off their life-force, they

affect not only persons, but animals and plants as well; while others seem to be shut up like clams and some are even absorbents - living upon (the energy) of those with whom they are associated. House plants thrive under the care of some persons, and whither and die by the hand of others whose very presence seems to be poisonous. Persons of a highly sensitive organization are affected pleasantly or otherwise by those whom they meet. Those who are delicate in health may be made to feel stronger or weaker by a call from a neighbor. Some persons seem to tire while others enliven; one person exhausts the invalid while another refreshes. These observations have been recognized for many centuries; they have survived all sorts of opposition, ridicule and argument." http://www.theprover.com/article.php4?id=110

Now you know me. I’m not a pathologizer. I accept that DD Palmer was compelled to use that language, not to label diseases, but to describe what we felt was loss of tone in the nervous system. So if anything, he was simply discussing the devitalizing side of the wave we travel on without including the revitalizing one. DD never met Irv Dardik, eh?

So we have this neural image in us that is pumping out this tension grid inside us. The only thing we need to know is the six fundamental tension patterns that compose it’s core. Once you have a sense of these, the wave of devitalization to revitalization gets more organized and your system can get more of the garbage out before it gets inside.

Here’s the list. Now relax. I have an easier way to work with this stuff. Just skim it fast.
1) Unilateral Tension Pattern

felt-sense of one side of the body more than the other
2) Multilateral Tension Pattern

felt-sense of many sides of the body all at one time
3) Ipsalateral Tension Pattern

felt-sense of the arms and legs on one side of the body
4) Contralateral Tension Pattern

felt-sense of the arms and legs across the body
5) Bilateral Tension Pattern

felt-sense of both arms and/or legs at the same time
6) Collateral Tension Pattern

felt-sense of the inner and outer sides of the body

The neural image can be split 5 ways. Here’s a simple diagram of what they look like…

Now we have a visual to go with the tension patterns. When we interact with others, they are using the physical image of their body to deliver the state of their neural image to you. This process is happening over and over every 4 seconds. There’s two ways to work with it. One is to focus on the way their face and see where they take you. The other is to monitor your own body’s tension pattern to see where your attention is within yourself. You do both in the 4-second window anyway, but it helps to notice if it changes or stays in the same one for awhile. Sometimes I think prejudice is nothing more than a chronic neural image split (usually a right-left one) that divides the person with it in from their own bodily sense of coherence. The ‘others’ is then seen as a trigger or a threat and so their system encodes that visual within that felt-sense pattern and presto…(?)

This gets into the way we embed previous experiences into current and future ones. Once we split our neural image, it’s on us to splice it back together. The ‘issue in the tissue’ is still there, even if we become somatic diamond cutters. Our vitality is simply expressed through functional activity – what we’re capable of doing. The potential or ability we develop to retrace (another chiropractic term) our steps and achieve what’s known in the trade as somatic recall – a bodily remembering – when we release a boatload of sensory information that can also be accompanied with profound emotional responses and physical reactions with a range that I’ve seen vary from a yawn to circus level contortionists moves. The point is that when we circle back within ourselves we are literally re-writing the way we integrate our narrative consciousness or life story…

Here’s a diagram that illustrates the maze of life and how time marches on, but we can march ‘in’…


“the data stored at point E includes all information stored at point B in addition to data from the B-C-D-E experience which in all likelihood has in some ways caused alterations in the point B data. Therefore points B and E are not identical even though they both lie on the ideal health line.”

http://www.theprover.com/article.php4?id=110

The other way to work with it is to zero in on their other person’s face. The tension patterns are reflected in the way they allow you to socially connect to them here.

RIGHT-LEFT split
Sometimes, it’s an obvious one…like when you just see that one side of their face is way more prominent than the other. Most of us lack facial symmetry. If you see a lot of it on someone’s face, that’s a function of how SECURE they are within. It’s one of those intuitive things celebrities and public figures know about themselves when they do a photo shoot and focus on their ‘good side’. We all have one though. I think so anyway?

The other four are more ‘postural’ and tend to shift as the conversation progresses…

TOP-BOTTOM split
You’ll spend more time looking into their eyes (non-verbal) or watching their mouth move as they talk (verbal) if they have this split. This one communicates MOTIVATION and tells you if they’re connecting with more you on the right brain (eyes/emotion) or left brain (mouth/mental). It’s a great somatic filter when you first meet someone socially.

FRONT-BACK split
This one is simple, but kinda gross. It’s best to do this one from about 12 feet away first.
Look at the tip of their nose. If you can see up their nostrils, their head is tilted back and if you can’t see any nostrils, their head is tilted down. This is before they speak to you. Then see if they literally turn their nose up or down at you during the conversation. This reflects the degree of TRUST you’re generating in them for you. The more centered that nose stays the better you’re doing. It’s helpful to stand off the side at see if they keep their head up or down when they talk to others or when they’re just standing around.

Another trick is to nod with them and see if they re-center their face when they stop.

TORSO-LIMB split
This one is a little bit woo, but it works. What you’re noticing here is if the person is turning their face to one side as they speak to you and/or as they listen. Do they go the same direction? the same amount of turning? Do they re-center their face or keep it there? This is all a function of the ENTHUSIASM they have for you and you for them. Remember, your face is in this conversation too buddy. So know what you’re showing! A quick screen is to see if their jaw is tilted to one side. Just look at their chin and see if its in line with the center of the eyes. If not, they’re in deep conversation – internally…

HEAD-BODY split
Finally, we have the satellite photo one. Here you’ll notice their whole head is tilted to one side and the body is not. Another pattern is they’ll have the head way out in front o their body or pulled way back like a turtle. This displays the INFLUENCE you have on them to extrovert and push out to you or introvert and pull back. Again, it’s a dance so remember to monitor where you are placing ‘your face in their space’. It’s a big factor…

When we do the SIMPLES, we are using our whole neural image to effectively put a smooth and consistent tension pattern through the whole soma – physically and metaphysically. If all of this was Greek to you, just learn to relate your breathing pattern and the breathing patterns of people you interact with to our devitalization-revitalization wave. When people are inspired and activated they’ll show a more integrated neural image to you. As they inhale, they light up. When they are expired and passive they’ll show a more fragmented neural image to you. As they exhale, they shut off. Capeesh?

OK, now the real value of this is to NOT do it public. Make this an internal game. Hold an image of the person in your mind and see what happens in your body or in your face in the mirror. Many techniques, like the Sedona Method, emphasize how your face will change right before your eyes if you can release the threatening images you hold…

Spend some time before the New Moon on OCT 22nd with this and see if it helps you to open that 3rd interface some more and allows you to relate individual to individual more.

Imagine that? MRF 10.08

Related links…
http://snipurl.com/ygrq
http://www.sedona.com/html/what-is-the-sedona-method.aspx
http://www.facialbeauty.org/divineproportion.html
http://www.theprover.com/images/article_images/brain1235.jpg