Effleurage

Zowee, i haven’t actually checked, but i think that this is the first time i’ve missed a posting. It has been quite busy around here, and i’ve had to adjust to two major schedule changes lately, as well as to .. hmm, how shall i put this .. well, let’s just say that i’ve been involved in activities consciously and less-consciously whose cumulative effect is to bring my physical body into greater alignment with the All. (Sounds pretty California, doesn’t it?!) i’ll bring you up to speed chronologically.

We’d left off last with my Reiki attunement, and my saying that i hadn’t really felt all that much, which was a bit disappointing esp. in comparison with some of my classmates. A good new friend of mine (i’ll call him Z.) is enrolled in the Asian Healing Arts program; he is a twenty-something guy from Alaska with massively long dreds and cool blue eyes like a wolf’s. This is a guy who’s dreamed of running on four legs with his favorite dog through the woods.

Anyway, three times over the ten days previous to our Reiki class a hummingbird had flown up and hovered in front of his face for like five seconds! Being shamanically inclined – this dude has definitely been re-born at least a dozen times – he was racking his brain trying to figure out what this bird was trying to tell him. Then during the attunement, he said he got an image of his back (which has been repeatedly traumatized from bar brawls and car accidents) as if it were made of plaster suddenly cracking to reveal hummingbird wings, which then unfolded and began beating! An older (in her 50’s, say) woman in the class said that she felt as if her life were beginning all over again, that she had been exposed to the Meaning of it All (words to that effect). She had clearly been deeply moved by a significant spiritual experience.

When i expressed my disappointment at expecting spiritual fireworks and barely getting snap-crackle-pop, the instructor said a couple of things: 1) that i should perhaps consider some cranial-sacral or polarity work, to break up some of the blockages that might prevent more powerful experiences from occurring, and 2) [as the book on Reiki she gave us noted] it usually takes three days for the Reiki energy to cycle through all of the body’s 7 chakras or energy centers.

And then Monday morning (almost exactly three days later!), i had my first ever lucid dream. For those of you who are not familiar, a lucid dream is one in which you wake up inside your dream, to realize that you are in fact dreaming. From here it is frequently possible to gently steer how the dream unfolds, and to even create your own ending to it. It is not terribly difficult to train oneself to do so, and a number of books have been written on the subject. I recorded and titled the dream in my dream-journal; here's the entry for 3:30 a.m. July 12:

A Passover Miracle
i’d borrowed Martin’s and Dana’s station wagon and parked it at St. John Fisher [college in Rochester] one evening and walked off in the rain to do business, horrified upon my return to find it gone! Traffic all around is heavy and i realized that the car has been towed. Fear and sorrow are rising in me as i walk around the parking lot till i find the woman who is in charge, who confirms of course they’re towing, there’s a major sports event, and it will cost $325 to retrieve the car. i begin to sob uncontrollably at this point – i’ve got like loose change to my name, and there’s a hugely important reason i MUST get their car back to them. The woman starts breaking down the fines: $7 for this, $8 for that, which i’m paraphrasing, after she’s asked me if i understand the charges. Finally an opportunity comes up to explain to her why i’m sobbing and … * ! i awake! i realize i’ve been given the chance to create my own ending. My first effort is not terribly creative: “i get the car back” is all i can now recall. But at the * above, i close my eyes and attempt to re-create the dream in my head, going back into the pre-tow part, doing my best to feel what i felt the first time, then working my way through to the sobbing part to create this [excuse]: “My friends asked me to return their library books so they wouldn’t be charged any overdue fines and i said i would, but i’m flat broke .. i’ve barely got loose change .. and now their vacation will be ruined, unless you could see your way clear to make an exception? Could you let me have my friends’ car back?” And the woman says “OK! But you have to come up with a still more practical ending!” And gives me the keys! Scenes of joy as i receive the keys, put them in, toss the woman loose coins as i drive by (she uses magic to make the coins come to her), both of us smiling, and finally “How i Got Them Their Car Back” to an incredulous and smiling Martin and Dana, in their living room.

The part where i “went back into my dream” was also a first-ever for me, and i here give thanks again to author Serge Kahili King, who my friend Ulli first brought to my attention just before i left Amsterdam, by copying for me his book Mastering Your Hidden Self which i've mentioned here before. It's the book that put me on the road to huna, one which i'm sure to tread the rest of my life. i'd put a note on a bulletin board here that i was looking for more books on Huna, and a gal named Brenna some time later stepped forward with 2, one of which was King’s Urban Shaman, which is where i first learned how to re-enter dreams in order to re-create endings more pleasurable and effective. Friends, i cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is full of valuable information about how best to go through life, how to heal yourself, teach yourself, live in harmony with others and with the planet. What more can i say?

My first-ever cranial-sacral session is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning [given by Sarah, the same gal who worked on the guy who said that his session changed his life], and my first-ever polarity session [thanks to a young guy from Kentucky named Nick] takes place under the full moon [very significant, potentially still more powerful] Thursday night. i’m just so ready for whatever blocks that are still inside of me to dissolve and crumble into the rubble of the past. i’m realizing perhaps in a still deeper way what a waste of time and of life it is to remain transfixed in the grip of what’s past: one of the ego’s many little games to convince itself of its importance [not to mention its existence].

The title of this week’s post is Effleurage, partly because i like its sound: EFF-lure-azh (the last syllable azh as in Dr. Zhivago, or the French j as in Jacques). It’s massage-jargon for [hands] gliding [over skin].

One of the two major schedule changes i mentioned at the beginning: My four classmates and i are doing three massages per week from now till the end of the program. We’re practicing one body-part at a time, starting with the back, and are currently working on the butt and the back of the legs.

The other schedule change is of course work-related: due to a staff shortage i have picked up an extra day and am now scheduled for 5 days a week (Mondays and Tuesdays off). No more Friday visits to Sandy in the foreseeable future.

The temp was easily in the 90s when i biked to visit Sandy last Friday (7/15, Happy Bastille Day vous mes amis francais)! Zack’s girlfriend Lacy was visiting from Idaho; fortunately she didn’t bring any dogs with her. i discovered the week before the swimming hole Zack had talked about, which is like 20’ deep, surrounded by boulders, but i didn’t see a way of actually getting down to it – the riverbanks are full of thick brush, grasses and poison oak –and had to content myself with a view of its cool green waters from above. Maybe i can convince him to take me down there and show me himself how he manages to get down there. Better still maybe we’ll hike to the hole through the river, nekkid as jaybirds. My Amsterdam friends know there is no one more skilled at getting guys to strip (well, at least their shirts, and on the dance floor)! And i’m totally a naturalist after having lived so long in California. Have i mentioned the sauna, hot tub and pool at Heartwood are clothing-optional? It's so natural.

But there was no time for a swim this past Friday. i spent the morning with Bess’ nephew Jon who was visiting here with his grandparents [Bess’ folks] who’d taken the train out here from Marion, Indiana for a multi-day visit. After breakfast he came and watched me put a new pair of brakes on Anne’s bike, and then we biked to the cabin where Bess stays, less than a mile away from the school. i was tempted to go with them to the beach, but it wasn’t really possible even with me as an extra passenger in Bess’ Volvo, let alone Sandy. So i regretfully said good-bye to Jon who was scheduled to leave for the train-ride back home on Sunday. Really nice kid (14): down to earth, friendly, easy-going.

i had a great bike ride to Mike’s place, arriving about 2 i’d say. But man was it hot. i put in about four hours work which was fortunate, since that exactly covered the vet’s bill i had to pay when i took Sandy there the following morning! Mike let me borrow his car, and for $82 i got the professional opinion that the little patch around Sandy’s left hind leg where the hair has come out is probably some kind of allergic reaction: she's new in the area and none of the other dogs she hangs with has anything like it. A shot of cortisone for the inflammation and 20 pills of antibiotics were prescribed.

Too bad her hair won’t have grown back in time for her birthday photos. it goes without saying that i don’t love her any less. Sandy’s 14th birthday is Monday July 25, and i will be going to pick her up that day and bring her back here so that everyone here can join in the love-fest. i’ll borrow some money for a sheet-cake after dinner and let her spend the night before running her back in Nile’s car to Michael’s farm Tuesday morning. i somehow don’t think she’ll mind a sleep-over with me here at Heartwood!

Ran into some Heartwoodies during my bike-ride back on Saturday: their car had given out on them, and they'd been stranded about an hour, just hoping for something good to happen. i stopped to say hi and offer comfort, and had been there just a few minutes when .. a tow-truck happened along! On this road that is a rare site. Any vehicle is relatively rare, as we're out in hilly countryside that is lightly populated, and it is simply not a heavily-traveled road. Keith agreed to pay fifty bucks to be taken back to Heartwood, and asked the tow-truck driver if he could ride in the car up top (it was the type of tow where the vehicle gets pulled up by a winch onto a huge platform) like he was in a hovercraft, and the guy said sure. So about a half-hour later when they passed me on the road, i gave a big wave to Keith and Shannon as they cruised by about 15 feet off the road and obviously having the time of their lives! A happy ending: nice.

Btw, Jeremy! Thanks for staying in touch brother! You asked for more info about the operation, and you know of course i’ve been circumspect about giving away too many details, certainly none that would lead anyone to its location. i’m always amazed by how much more the plants have grown every time i show up, most now taller than me and still growing. They get a lot of love and attention. But let me know exactly what you’d like to know and i’ll do my best to comply.

Lance i’ll be emailing you separately about your visit here Sept. 6-8. But if you and Nori and Larry don’t come up from Monterey, then i’ll miss a couple of days from school/work and come down. Can’t wait!

An early BIRTHDAY SHOUT-OUT TO MY FAVORITE SISTER-IN-LAW who is another year young on July 31! i love you tons Kathy! I've almost used up all the little handmade soaps you let me take last time i was there. And i'm using the oil you gave me in class too! A couple of classmates just love it and have asked me what you put in it, but now i can't remember. One of the ingredients must be lavender. And no of course your care package has not yet shown up or i would've mentioned it, silly goose! i'll bet it comes tomorrow.

Linda have i already mentioned that i go to sleep every night with a smile on my face and a thought for you?! i'll never go to sleep again without a buckwheat pillow below my head .. i just love it!

OK, out into the heat and up the hill to get this online. Thanks for being patient Readership! If i’m too discombobulated following my sessions this week to write anything next Tuesday, i’ll at least get online to let you know that, and save a longer write-up for the week after. i’ve also agreed to emcee the quarterly talent show next Thursday (the 28th) preparations for which will keep me a bit more occupied than usual. Anyone [HEADS UP Agent Minkastrani!] got any good filler-material for between acts [jokes, one-liners, etc.] they’d like to share, i will be more than grateful.