The Mind/Body

[Guest guest]

The Mind/Body

One of the greatest breakthroughs in scientifically exploring the

relationship between the mind and the body was discovered by Candace B. Pert,

Ph.D., in a series of experients that broke all boundaries in body science.

 

Her work confirmed scientifically what had long been known through Eastern

techniques such as Shiatsu, Tai Chi, and other body work that can lead to

greater health, the healing of deep psychological wounds and provide direction

in people's lives. Her discoveries are detailed in her book, " Molecules of

Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine " (Touchstone; Simon & Schuster;

New York; 1999).

 

In her work, she found that peptides and what are called other

informational substances comprise the biochemicals of emotion.

 

These chemicals are distributed in the body's nerves throughout the body,

so that it is proven now that the brain is not the " captain of the ship " when it

comes to both expressing and remembering emotions.

 

Sigmund Freud, were he alive today, she says, would gleefully point out

her research as the molecular confirmation of his theories:

 

" The body is the unconscious mind! Repressed traumas caused by

overwhelming emotion can be stored in a body part, thereafter affecting our

ability to feel that part or even move it. The new work suggests there are

almost infinite pathways for the conscious mind to access -- and modify -- the

unconscious mind and the body, and also provides an explanation for a number of

phenomena that the emotional theorists have been considering. "

 

This research has ramifications that have yet to be fully developed.

 

Healing through manipulative body work, through therapeutic massage, for

example, is the most obvious avenue.

 

In therapeutic massage, particularly in emphasizing techniques such as

" energy work, " deep tissue massage and Shiatsu, parts of the body release

repressed memories (some of which may have past life origins). The result is

equivalent to the emotional " release " brought out by intense psychotherapy.

 

It has been found that chronically constricted muscles often reflect

chronically constricted emotions. Until we can free ourselves from past baggage

carried around in our bodies, in our subconscious, in our ways of doing things

daily, we cannot free ourselves to be who we are meant to be.

 

The liberating effects of body massage, energy work, deep tissue release

are truly miraculous. The field of therapeutic massage is growing rapidly for a

reason. It can be a deeply spiritual way of " connection " with self, of getting

" in touch " with buried emotions and releasing them so life can be lived more

fully, completely.

 

We each should be generous with the healing light within us, generating

light and understanding in our daily lives, healing ourselves and supporting

inner growth. But, first, we have to remove the barriers to our own personal

growth and discovery.

 

Body massage and body work can do wonders to let hidden hurts, memories,

past, " forgotten " pain, guilt and anger come to consciousness and be released,

allowing healing to occur, letting subconscious energy-reducers to be switched

off in ways similar to shamanic techniques of soul retrieval.

 

Imagine that in your childhood a traumatic experience occurred, one that

left you deeply emotionally scarred. You have gone on, thought that it was

buried in the past and forgotten. Often, as any number of psychotherapists can

tell you, that painful memory is not " forgotten, " but simply ignored (either

through " disassociation, " sapping mental and emotional energy or fueling " the

shadow self " ), affecting your daily living in unproductive ways.

 

It's like a " tape loop " in the back of the mind, going, for example: " I'm

unlovable. I can't do anything right. I'm ugly. No one likes me . . . , " etc.,

whatever that long-ago traumatic message may have been.

 

Body massage, especially " deep tissue " work, can relax areas in the body

where these messages are stored in the muscles, allowing them to come free to

the surface and be released. Once that " tape loop " is turned off, that's more

mental and emotional energy that can be turned toward productive loving, living,

happy healing -- a full life.

 

Pert's work gives the scientific basis for these types of healing methods.

 

It also advances the " network " theory of the human body as an integrated

system of information exchange. Pert's work shows precisely how the body and the

mind are one, or can more accurately be called one system, the BodyMind.

 

The information, for growth, for healing, for awareness operates in a

single network encompassing motion and emotion, down to the cellular level. Its

operations are in part conscious, in part unconscious, occurring below the level

of awareness.

 

" Thus, " she says, " we might refer to the whole system as a psychosomatic

information network, linking psyche, which comprises all that is of an

ostensibly nonmaterial nature, such as mind, emotion, and soul, to soma, which

is the material world of molecules, cells, and organs. Mind and body, psyche and

soma. "

 

There is a " wisdom of the body, " as ancient technologies using The Life

Force have incorporated. There is no better way to access this body/mind wisdom

than by methods employed by therapeutic massage.

 

Massage therapists today are using virtually every ancient and modern

method to bring wholeness to the inner and outer life, integrating body and soul

through body/mind techniques blending " energy work " with traditional Swedish

massage.

 

Whether it's for simple relaxation, health or inner discovery, massage can

help develop the authentic self through greater health consciousness, awareness

of the body, release of memories or trauma stored in the body and spiritual

development through opening channels for expression of " Ki " or life-force

energy.

 

Today's nationally certified massage therapists go through rigorous,

intense training incorporating exhaustive research in anatomy -- more even than

registered nurses are required to learn. Bone structure, muscles, methods of

body movement are all studied, as are ancient methods of improving vitality.

 

Through deep-tissue massage, memories of past lives stored in the body can

be freed, leading to greater understanding of a person's current karmic debts

and healing can take place.

 

Much of today's massage work incorporates spiritual truths about the body

that have been developed over thousands of years.

 

For example, massage therapists can improve a client's consciousness

through manipulating the actual physical center of the body, known as the Hara,

which also serves as the energetic center of the human aura or field.

 

Aikido, Qi-Qong, Tai-Chi, Shiatsu, Yoga, Zen all utilize awarness of this

physical and energetic center for body/mind wholeness. And nationally certified

massage therapists are expert at manipulating this energy for greater health and

wholeness.

 

By using vibrational energy techniques, focusing energy in the Hara

harmonizes the body, mind, emotions and spirit, promotes healing, openness and

greater vitality, which enables us to harmonize with whatever conditions we may

be forced to confront in life.

 

As hidden problems and past hurts are released from the body/mind, they

are allowed to slip into consciousness where they can be acknowledged and let

go.

 

That frees the body/mind to express energy in a quickening appreciation of

events and learning new lessons for self-growth.

 

Such energy work opens up the chakras and creates balance.

 

The universe is always in a state of balance and, by balancing our

body/minds -- putting our past, present and future in a healing mode -- we are

able to look at ourselves (our authenic " self " ) and our lives to see how they

are out of balance and what we are here to learn as our life's purpose.

 

As you begin to learn the unique lessons of your life purpose and progress

in allowing them to come up from within (from past/present), to be acknowledged

and let go, your life (future) will become much more pleasant and rewarding.

 

Your life will change in ways that are healthy and beneficial, proceeding

with calmness, serenity and assurance that no lesson can be too difficult

because they are uniquely chosen for you, even as they are recurring (past

lessons not learned) or new (present/future).

 

Such is the wisdom of the body/mind.

 

Many of today's massage therapists incorporate Reiki into their practice,

applying a greater range and depth to their work.

 

One of the most exciting avenues of discovery in massage is occurring in

the area of CranioSacral Therapy.

 

A pioneer in the field is Dr. John E. Upledger, who has detailed many

physical sensations and healing results very similar to effects found in Reiki.

 

In his book, " Your Inner Physician and You " (North Atlantic Books;

Berkely, Calif.; 1997), Dr. Upledger describes his own bodywork system which

includes hands-on healing techniques which are quite similar to what is found by

Reiki practitioners.

 

In massage therapy, CranioSacral work offers miraculous results that can

be enhanced by Reiki attunement.

 

Of particular interest are what he describes as " energy cysts " (places in

the body where energy is compacted and must be released for wellness) which are

caused by physical trauma and a term he has coined (and registered)

" SomatoEmotional Release, " which is a whole-body healing, similar to the effects

of a full Reiki treatment.

 

In his research, Dr. Upledger has documented tissue memory in the body and

measured electrical activity in the healer's hands and the patient's body that

would substantiate the energetic nature of vibrational healing techniques.

 

Dr. Upledger has had miraculous results from his method and has a

non-profit organization, The Upledger Foundation, 11211 Prosperity Farms Rd.,

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410-3487, which offers information, treatment and

training.

 

CranioSacral work is a separate and distinct discipline from Reiki and it

is commonly employed by massage therapists who must be additionally certified in

its use, but it is a similar and highly effective healing method.

 

(Locally, professional massage therapist training is offered at the

Mississippi School of Massage Therapy, 5120 Galaxie Dr., Jackson, MS 39206,

which offers a most rigorous regime including all the ancient and modern

body/mind techniques. Cheryl Sproles is the director: 601-362-3624.)

 

(For massage incorporating ancient and modern techniques, contact: Gale

Constable, Brandon, MS; e-mail: Malia03).

 

Given the conclusive research by Dr. Pert, added to the new vibrational

healing methods being used today, we can see the human body as an integrated

network of information that exists in a field that operates on a level linking

it with the world and other beings in that world.

 

This connection is reflected in ancient ideas of medicine that survive

today despite the Western model of using powerful mood-altering chemicals

(drugs) and radically invasive (surgery) techniques.

 

Hariet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold explore this older world view in

" Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to " (Ballantine Books, New

York; 1991).

 

It will be recalled that Einstein's theories describe a universe that is

curved by the entirety of the matter within it. This means if we were to travel

in a straight line long enough, we would return to the exact place where we

began. We are all part of one universal field.

 

Ancient Chinese medicine reflects this quantum mechanics approach, say

Beinfield and Korgold. Its view of health " transcends the illusion of separation

by inhabiting the reality of a unified field, an interwoven pattern of

inseparable links in a circular chain. "

 

Both the inner world of the human being and the outer world are

inseparately connected, they say. As the ancient Egyptians said " so as above, so

as below. " Human beings and their universe are one, a circle (as Native American

cosmologies reflect).

 

" The ancient Chinese perceived human beings as a microcosm of the universe

that surrounded them, suffused with the same primeval forces that motivated the

macrocosm. They imagined themselves as part of one unbroken wholeness, called

Tao, a singular relational continuum within and without. "

 

The energy that connected them, within and without, was Ki or " the life

force. "

 

The ideas of Jung that we are each connected to a mass unconscious is no

longer an esoteric theory.

 

The challenge of the individual, then, is to develop an understanding of

ourselves as a functioning unit in this Mind-Body universe in fellowship with

other beings and objects.

 

The view of the shamans that each and every object on Earth has " life, " a

" soul, " is not far-fetched.

 

If matter is " frozen light " and each object, including human beings,

operates in subtle fields that regulate functioning, physical integrity and

intelligence, then we are intimately connected with our world (and other worlds

not measurable with our physical scientific " yardsticks " as yet).

 

We know now that our conceptions of " reality " are insufficient to contain

all that we can readily perceive.

 

We must cultivate our ability to perceive, operate within, and express

ourselves in " non-ordinary reality " to reach our full potential as spiritual

beings in human bodies on this Earth.

 

Since this area of research is so new (albeit exploding, with discoveries

about the synchronous nature of mind/body, chemical/electrical connections

linking the previously " mystical " areas of body, mind, heart and soul),

objective, measureable data confirming what has been known about energetic

" fields " is still in its infancy.

 

But, the research thus far does indicate the presence of energy fields

that surround the body that do correspond to the " colors " or " rays " spoken of by

yoga techniques, Asian medicine and in Hindu and Buddhist practices for health

and " enlightenment. "

 

The chakra system developed over the millennia with subtle energy " power

centers " governing different aspects of physical health, mental abilities and

personality is a useable model for explaining the powers/abilities of the

Mind-Body.

 

Understanding the chakra system, our own personal " prayer field " that we

share with the universe, should be kept in mind in all our daily interactions

and in forming " intent, " how we use both our physical and mental bodies to shape

our activities and, ultimately, to heal the Earth, ourselves.

 

We must cultivate our awareness of our physical and subtle bodies and

connections with both close and distant events and refine our use of them, using

both ancient and modern techniques to bring our conceptions into physical

reality.

 

The lightbulb, the telephone, the computer were first " thoughts " in the

creative mind that had to be brought into physical reality.

 

Our " thoughts " build, destroy or repair our world -- and ourselves.

 

 

 

 

Copyright Jim Ewing, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.

All rights reserved

 

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