Covid Coming Out Party

Interestingly, I didn’t get to this post about Social Awkwardness until today…because I was too busy:

Getting Out There
Talking and Listening and
Taking Time (gasp) to get to know people!

Of course it started out as an assignment from good friend and counsel, but since I was already all dressed up with nowhere to go, I had one foot out the door.

It’s quite a miraculous thing to go on a hike or walk these days, and quite a few people are noticing the magic of simple encounters with another human being. With mask or without, it doesn’t seem to matter to folks who are more focused on regaining connections.

There was the earnest Gen Z-er who made the distinction for me that her peers were interested in changing the world unlike Millennials more interested in posting pictures of avocado toast. Her throw-down, not mine.

Then the forensics accountant who worked for Customs, a G-girl with a wry sense of humor and deeper soulful side.

And Sherree Patrice, wearing the most fabulous Elton John-esque specs and Minding Her Own Mission mask.

The very kindred spirit who had spent much of her life raising two young adult girls, dis-entangling from a Force of Nature mom, and learning to live with a fearfulness that really wasn’t hers but her husband’s.

And then the Iranian gentleman who responded two years ago to the oncologists’ dire predictions with “I’m not dead yet.” He keeps walking instead of waiting.

The pool of people willing to risk a get-together was growing! So Movie Night it was, with:

an “old-fashioned” British bloke I dare not pigeonhole with description;
a hairdresser who has discovered and loves the 11% British-ness among her African roots;
a ginger girl who self-identifies “bi” and is happily expecting Baby with new boyfriend from Romania via Australia;
an intuitive coach born and raised in Cape Town whose home may actually be in a galaxy far, far away; and
a German woman passionate about motorcycles, scuba diving, cats, and good “sex and snuggling.”

That we watched Car Wash, that early Seventies’ Blaxploitation film, before finishing the night with talk of other realms, Oneness and “individuated oneness blobs”…may say it all, or that I just have to leave it there… or here.

Hey I’m Walking Here!

Body, Mind and Soul, that’s the phrase. But it’s become more the joke than reality of my be-ing.

My body has been screaming, “Hey, I’m Walking Here! I’m Talking Here! I’m trying to walk the talk.”

But The Mind has been too busy, yes Too Busy and between looking up and asking,”What did you say? I didn’t hear you,” it says, “There there, have a seat and we’ll talk about it in a bit. I’ve got something important to finish up first.”

And then Body nods off, forgets and wakes up the next morning stumbling about and a bit in a panic over the sense that something didn’t get done.

“How about if we talk the walk instead?” it says sweetly and pseudo-soothingly.

That’s the repeating scenario day after day. My noisy, overbearing mind has taken over and programmed my body to Shut the Fxxk Up, dragging it along kicking and screaming.

Okay, my brain’s survival plan has gotten me Here, past scrapes and even battles. But my body’s taken to sitting in the corner pouting, refusing to Walk the Talk or even Talk the Walk.

My Brit friend and therapist Paul says that The Problem all started with that doggone “I think, therefore I am” bollocks (his favorite word which I’m loving and fast-adopting). It’s comforting to notice that this Mind dominance is not only mine but a societal tendency, to “think about it,” “think it through” until there is so much information in our noisy heads that we are hitting a wall…big-time.

Even our meditation is called Mindfulness when it should be Mindless enough to allow the Body to feel again, to express itself in its own language. And then, only then, can the broken connection between Mind, Body and Soul be repaired.

Come to my AYM sessions to explore for yourself the:

Sounds that resonate with your body,
Movements that clear out the heaviness and boost your joyful energy, and
Stillness in Movement and Movement in Stillness that calms.

Peli-Can

My daily dip in and walk by the ocean has turned into Noticing the Pelicans.

Especially last night when I had placed my order for a broiled Yellowtail Collar and had to:

Wait 59 minutes for delivery
Find my mask
Enjoy my fish-y meal alone
Clear the smell before my housemate returned with his extreme seafood allergy ‘in hand’.

Especially this morning as:

All the morning fishermen, some masked, stood casting, waiting, waiting, waiting
I watched odd fish after odd fish flopping about, breathing, gasping before being poked off the Hook
I wandered absent-mindedly into a line and “sorry, sorried” my way out of it.

The contrast was palpable. All of our Human Figuring It Out…and then the Pelican with its pure Be-ing, designed and focused to Catch Fish.

As for me, I had to catch my breath as it spread its broad wings, soared and dove. It popped up to eat its catch. That surgical strike I could only imagine from my faraway place. As it took flight again, I sighed…with joy.

Smell What Roses?

I know…these aren’t roses. I don’t much like them actually. Too stiff and formal for my taste. And these – whatever they may be – just sung to me.

So let me get back to Roses. Growing up I had been told that I liked to smell them “too much.” Of course our memories are funny things, so my mind has been set to wondering whether I’ve been holding the wrong message in my head about those dang flowers. My friend Paul started by asking “Why do you think you were told that story?”

Did Dad really say “too much” as gentle prodding …to achieve at a higher level? Or was it his realization that I preferred wandering instead of powering through life? And was it just statement of fact and if so, where did I find the Un to transform the happy thought of noticing and smelling flowers into a stick to beat myself over the head?

All those questions were not as important as the one Paul then posed, “How do you turn it – the negative – around?”

So here: I saw the flowers and noticed them at all. That was the gift to cherish.

Any of you remember this ditty? Love Ella’s version:

…You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between
You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium’s
Liable to walk upon the scene…

Reboot Your Body, Reboot Your Life

Have you seen the video,” Never Get Sick Again?” It reminded me how wellness is in our hands beyond washing them umpteen times a day. Rita Harrison knew this bit – how the body responds to toxins and stress – as well as lifetimes more information about the human condition.

She integrated all of it in creating the healing system she left us. The Body Organization is one of those quiet works of her genius, building on Carl Ferreri’s NOT (Neural Organization Technique) to design a total body reboot that takes you out of Fear, Fight and Flight and resets your fuses.

It’s one of the many “How To’s” of Rita’s Willow System that:

Reduces stress and
Brings growth, joy and love back into our lives again.

Whenever I miss her, I know that she wouldn’t want me frozen in sadness. She encouraged us to realize our potential and to each day take one step, do one thing that brings what we want into our lives. Those of you who knew her are nodding your heads.

For her, for myself, I want to let you know that I have trained to do Body Organizations and humbly offer my services. I will never be Rita, but she was a wonderful teacher who stressed mastery of technique as well as understanding the finer points of love – giving each and every client the respect they deserve. Contact me at 1-800-790-6140 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

By the way, here’s the video with its masculine, scientific perspective and unspoken invitation to the feminine art of healing.

Living and Dying on the High Side

“Rita passed away Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 10:55 am. During the past several months, she shared with Paul the hope that her clients, students, friends and family would continue to carry the Willow System around the world…washing it ashore as waves on the ocean.

While a formal memorial for Rita has not yet been planned, Paul is certain that the best way to celebrate her life is to ensure her legacy. The work to publish and produce her books, “meditative optimizations” and courses continues, so please support this labor of love by donating to the GoFundMe campaign.

In this video from 2017, Rita shares prescient thoughts we hope will comfort and empower as only she could.”

Let me leave you with three questions:

What was / is Willow for you?
What do you notice in your life is an illusion?
What does the high side of the reality you want to create look like?

Love and blessings, Val

Finding Home

It’s March 1st or thereabouts, the point being that I’m moving into new digs, an apartment complex with the very 60’s, beach-y name of Surf Terrace. I love that I actually need to make my checks out to Surf Terrance, the owner having been either drunk or distracted when he filled out the paperwork for his newly-purchased investment property.

Despite its beige and brown exterior, the apartment complex brings The Pink Motel bubbling up into my mind. A novel I read as a 12-year-old, it was one of my favorites with Florida as its sunny and exotic backdrop and an eccentric cast of characters to meet. For some reason it continues to be fodder for the imagination of the girl born and raised in foggy San Francisco but who no longer considers it home. To this day, I’m drawn to the brightly painted houses I’ve seen in San Miguel de Allende and Lima. Much to my neighbors’ chagrin and eventual acceptance, I even had my home in Oakland painted and dubbed Big Green.

I never expected to become so attached to Long Beach with its oil rigs never far from sight, but its port city grittiness and diverse demographics are actually what resonate. On tour, the modest swimming pool and common areas of Surf Terrace are deserted, giving me the sense that privacy is prized over community. That in a weird way also says Home.

Then as I walked through the front door of Apartment #218, there is the full-on ocean view punctuated by palm trees, and the warmth and aesthetics of a tropical place pour into my heart. After all my wanderings this past year, I know that Home is inside me, not necessarily just “where the heart is,” but in every cell, put there by soul-stirring sights, experiences and memories.

Every Day We Live and Die

My friend and mentor Rita Harrison was diagnosed with Stage 4 Brain cancer on December 26. The surgeons said they stopped counting the lesions at 20. The oncologist’s prognosis: “two weeks or a short month.”

Today is February 29, 2020, Leap Day. Rita is still with us, a thin wisp compared to the forthright, kick-ass woman who used to leave me puffing during our “short, German walks.” When she smiles, her light shines through and I recognize for a moment.

She has beat the odds, exceeded expectations, and every day there is as much reason for hope as despair. As the patient who has decided she wants to live, her game plans include the “as well as” she has advocated throughout her career as a healer. Radiation, the latest hormone therapy, accepting light, an invitation to her estranged son, birch water, a massage with Latschenkiefer (mountain pine) are among the things she has undertaken and requested. Some days her husband Paul is unsure if her desires are based in method, meds or madness.

Despite her desire for a “collaboration,” the doctors are too mired in their fears to dare. Hospice, they recommend, and since she refuses, they continue their due diligence of providing the kind of care disconnected from that Living Life to its Fullest thing. To call it wretched and regale you with horror stories is old news. There are a million tales out there of how the System has failed us.

So what does living or dying look like today? That Rita woke up at 4 am asking for a Guinness? That she cannot stand on her own accord but wants to do therapeutic horse riding? That one moment we are paralyzed by the fear that Rita won’t be with us tomorrow, the next we plan our move to a new apartment with a breathtaking view of the ocean. Paul says that he will never be able to enjoy Christmas or New Year or Valentine’s Day celebrations again. So he looks elsewhere for moments of joy…and they are there.

Please continue to visit and donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/willow-syster.

A New Kind of Blockbuster brought to you by The Pain to Power Foundation.

Take a look at this powerful documentary about a brave woman looking to take her life back from crushing pain. This screening is a real and unedited look at Kristie Farley’s session with Europe’s leading specialist and developer of the Willow System, Rita Harrison. You will more than “get back” the 55 minutes from all the surprising parallels to your own life that we can almost guarantee will show up. Whether your pain is the “small, nagging” kind or the beast that assaults you in a dark alley, you don’t have to live with it.

The screening will be followed by a Q & A session. RSVP for the Zoom link.

December Screenings (PST):

Friday, 12/13, 10 am
Sunday, 12/15, 10 am
Tuesday, 12/17, 7 pm
Thursday, 12/19, 8 pm
Sunday, 12/22, 10 am
Wednesday, 12/25, 1 pm
Saturday, 12/28, 12 noon
Monday, 12/30, 9 pm

Thank you for donating at: https://www.mightycause.com/story/Healingjourneys

“What Else?”

The great thing about Gratitude is that when you start to notice what you are thankful for in your life, those ‘things’ keep flowing in. My heartfelt thanks to Crystal Hoshaw for sharing with me the concepts and understanding of Pooja / Puja and Ojas.

I was her practice client, and as anyone who has had a Willow Session knows, all participants are challenged to really show up, and by that, I mean in a big way. Not just body, mind and soul, because there’s more… When you explore everything from meridians and chakras to your lineage and the Unknown, the discoveries and transformations are bound to be deep and powerful and have you looking around for a tissue.

So in answer to the quintessential Willow question, “What else?”

Pooja – offering honor and reverence to myself and others. Ojas – living a juicy, vital and essential existence. Wow, nice work if you can get it.