Making Eden Energy Medicine Our Own

Sciatica, Sigh --- Loving the Meridian Clock Part 3

In mid-June, coinciding with date of the lunar eclipse, I leaned forward and felt my sacroileac joint complain loudly. Pain shot down from the middle of my right buttock through my ankle and toes.

The human capacity to carry only a dim memory of prior pain is remarkable. If it were not for that, few siblings would be born!

Years ago I was diagnosed with two “bulging” discs at L4-5 and L5-S1; the result of being rear-ended in an auto accident. Qigong and swimming have kept awareness of this old injury but a dim memory.

But two days before this incident I had a bout of severe diarrhea, brought on by who knows what. I remember reading and often sharing with students that when the National Institutes of Health conducted a study of the best intervention to relieve sciatic pain, hydration was the most effective. I got dehydrated so quickly that they were unable to get an IV running. I stopped to get some soup on the way home. It would be a fair guess to assume that, between dehydration and the lack of success in getting an IV started, I was in a fully activated Triple Warmer state, and that’s when my back “snapped.”

Fountain of Light - the Zip Up

 Awareness:  The Central Meridian, the Yin half of the Hook Up, is also regarded as the self-suggestion meridian.  It holds the vibrations of how we perceive ourselves.  When we speak aloud the qualities we choose to nurture while tracing it forward, the Central meridian energy force amplifies and anchors these intentions.  It links into the part of us where, whatever we desire, it is already ours.

photo by Lyn Milum

Instinctual Energy Medicine

"Energy is the living, vibrating ground of your being, and it is your body's natural self-healing elixir, its natural medicine. This medicine, this energy medicine feeds body and soul and attending to it restores your natural vitality. Energy Medicine is the science and the art of optimizing your energies to help your body and mind to function better." 

~ Donna Eden, Energy Medicine for Women

Whenever I talk about energy medicine and I get that “deer in the headlight” look, I will ask people some of these questions. Trying to explain what energy medicine is can sometimes be a challenge – but helping them see they already “Practice Energy Medicine” makes sense to them.

How many times have you had something happen you and say, “Oh my god!” while putting your hands on your forehead or heart?

How many of you cross your arms under your breasts or across your rib cage?

Do you sit with your knees or ankles crossed?

Do you kiss, hold hands, hug, make eye contact with others?

Do you engage in sexual activities?

If you have an upset stomach, do you rub your stomach in a circular motion?

Do you doodle? Draw figure 8’s, spirals, hearts, etc?

Do you smooth your hair behind your ears?

Did you as a child (or even now) lie on your stomach and “scissor” your legs?
Or observe children doing that?

Do you practice deep breathing exercises?

Do you massage your neck, shoulders, or muscles when they hurt?

If you answered any of these with a "Yes," you already practice Energy Medicine.


All of these, and many more, are your body’s instinctual way of seeking its energetic balance – with a little bit of knowledge you can learn to support and help your body find and maintain its equilibrium.

Theda Foster, EEM - CP

What's That Smell?

 
Burn out.... it's a serious subject.  I have experienced many stages of it from mild to severe during one particularly challenging time.  So many factors are involved that it takes some deep testing to sometimes find all the ways it is hiding.  Scrambled or overwhelmed energies can be from the neurological disorganization that is caused from energies not crossing over, our fight and flight meridian of Triple Warmer overprotecting us and causing the involvement of adrenal stimulation to the point of depletion or true burn out.  Irregular energies of frozen or lost meridians are usually found.  Other systems like Radiant Circuits are often weak, pulling everything out of whack and making us feel wacky or so fatigued we can't get off the couch. 

As indicated above, this is a big subject and I have a lot of personal experience with it as well as observations of clients.  Donna Eden has often said we have a primary weakness when we get stressed will go out first.  I know mine is the scrambled or overwhelmed energies that are often corrected with the Wayne Cook Posture.  I have personally seen Donna and David demonstrate this powerful technique of how we affect others energies just by reading or speaking when in this scrambled state and it is kind of scary.  I know so many times when I haven't made sense to others, couldn't take in any more information or couldn't hear others because one or both of us were in this state.  How important that we stay clear by unscrambling our energies.  This posture has proven effective for stuttering, dyslexia, ADD and increasing mental acuity.

Just say HA!

Each year when my sister and I were kids our family would embark on a month-long road trip to visit West Coast relatives.  These trips were mostly a grand adventure.  However, in each trip there would be moments where boredom and crankiness would collide and we felt sure that we had been trapped in the car forever.  When fighting with each other didn’t resolve the tension we would often resort to one of our favorite road games:  HA!

HA! is easy to learn.  One person says the word, “HA!” and the next person repeats the phrase, “HA! HA!”  You keep going back and forth adding on one more “HA!” each turn.  The object of the game is to make your opponent laugh before you do.  It’s fair game to mug, pull faces, and cross your eyes, anything to make your opponent laugh first.  The only two things you can’t do are sing the words and/or touch the other person.  Laughing is contagious and usually when one person starts everyone else gets the giggles too.  Subsequent rounds of HA! are usually fairly short.  HA! can be played with any number of people. 

I was remembering this game recently when everyone was tense and out of sorts.  The kids and I played for a few minutes and you could see the tension dissolving.  My belly became soft and relaxed and I became much more open and receptive.  It felt good.

Scientific research has long documented the positive impact of laughter on our immune system.  In yogic philosophy the syllable ha is considered a bija or seed syllable representing the sun, Shiva, and the exhalation of prana (life force energy).  The literal meaning depends on the context of the mantra in which it appears.  Yogis throughout the centuries have used sound as a way of working with energy to bring healing and vitality.  Similarly, Eden Energy Medicine ("EEM") also uses sound in many exercises, such as Expelling the Venom, to facilitate the movement of energies in the body.

Whenever I'm cranky I play this game.  It takes me less than thirty seconds to crack myself up.  I imagine the laughter sending little shock waves from my belly into my belt flow (the energetic area around your belly where a belt would cinch) and into my aura.  I like to think of my giggles as messengers reminding my body and energies that all is well.  All is well.  All is well. 

So if you find yourself just a bit uptight and in need of laughter, I hereby formally invite you to just say HA!  May you giggle yourself into wellness.

In love and light,

Jill

 

 

 

 

"Quick Fixes" Part V: Crossing Over: Bridging Eden Energy Medicine and Hospice

photo by JoLynne Martinez

One of the more memorable experiences I had doing Energy Medicine on hospice patients was the one in which after several sessions, the client I’ll call Jim, refused a couple of sessions.  I assured him that it was entirely up to him whether or not he received energy medicine and that I would continue to make regular hospice nurse visits as long as he felt they were helpful.  Though he had experienced deep relaxation and reduction of his considerable anxiety and pain, when I asked if he wanted to continue, he declined. 

Teaching "Coping Skills" to Vocational Rehabilitation Clients with Disabilities

As part of my work, I hold a contract with the state vocational rehabilitation agency to tutor agency clients in "coping skills." Through this contract I can introduce persons with a variety of disabiltiies to Eden Energy Medicine and Energy Psychology tools, knowing that these skills can be of tremendous benefit to them, and that this population would not be likely to come across these tools otherwise.

Although I’ve held a contract with the agency since 1999, that alone does not guarantee me any work. I have to market myself to the local offices in my area, and, as is true of the public sector in general, there have been severe funding cutbacks since 2008. In marketing these services I use very mundane and pragmatic language. Rather than presenting the details of how I go about effecting change, I address the kinds of situations that present themselves (stress, a trauma history, poor interpersonal relationships, attention and focusing issues) and describe potential benefits. I emphasize that this approach is not for everyone, but that clients will self-select. I furnish staff with a brochure for their waiting room.

I’ve noticed an increased openness to these tools on the part of both vocational rehabilitation counselors and the population they serve. And I can anticipate that the handful of people who reach me this way are likely to be resourceful and persistent. They have to find the brochure in the agency office, and follow through to request the service from their counselor. Sometimes I think the brochures are actually the agents who find appropriate prospective clients, who often understand more about the nature of the service I offer than do their counselors!

"to sleep mom"

Here's a great little story my friend and former EEM student Claudia Alvarez invited me to share:

~~~

A couple of months ago, I was trying to put to nap my 22 months old toddler, but he was jumping and singing and doing everything but going to sleep. After I tried 30 min. I decided to let him go, but he insist: "to sleep mom" so I stayed with him next to his crib, and he started to jump again.

One hour of his "sleepy mom" and jumping I was frustrated and angry, so I yelled to him.. "go to sleep now" but he laughed.

Body Symphony - the Hook Up

Awareness:  The Central Meridian travels from the pubic bone to the lower lip, and the Governing Meridian begins at the tailbone and travels up the spine, over the head to the upper lip.  They are designed to connect at the back of the throat and create a vibrant cycling of life force around and through the body, bringing strength and resiliency to all the other energy systems. When this connection is disturbed by stresses of various sorts, the integrity of the whole being is affected.  I see the Hook Up like an orchestra that tunes up all its instruments – its energy flows and systems – and plays them to produce fine music, following the core thread of one melody, sung by the primary connection of these two energy pathways.

Marco Island Sunset by Lyn Milum

Practice:  There are different ways to encourage the Hook Up connection.  Donna Eden teaches to place the middle finger of one hand in the navel and the other between the eyebrows, press in, pull up, and breathe deeply for 30 seconds or more.  She recommends this Hook Up as part of her Daily Energy Routine. 

Nature Is My Teacher

I took these photos on a recent trip to Colorado and Utah.  I learn my greatest lessons by observing what Nature has to teach me.  Here are a few...

I learn about power and strength from the Stone People.

I learn tenacity from this tree rooted in bedrock.