Baby with foot in brain – um, not really me

I just found I my top searches are:

baby foot in brain, baby with foot in brain, baby foot brain, baby belly,

baby born with foot in brain

wow. That’s interesting. I do have that wonderful photoshopped baby foot-print in the belly image from my craniosacral friend Deb.

Now I’m the one who’ll go and search those words. Also I’m going to go look up how the foot is formed, and from what. How would that work, to have the foot show up at the end of the day, in the head cavity. Hmm. Well, it’s a stimulating thought for a winter solstice.

or maybe I’ll take a walk in the fresh sunny cool Taipei air.

Surgery Explosion Dance with Trance

This isn’t something a hospital would ever want to have happen.

This morning I reported for my weekly volunteer stint in the hospice ward of the National Taiwan Hospital and everywhere people seemed nervous, irritable – amygdala hijack operating everywhere. So I asked what was behind the sense of chaos. Quick answer “There’s no chaos here! … oh.” And it turns out 2 days ago there was an explosion in the surgery rooms, and a fire and 1 dead, 1 injured and  smoke and ash throughout the hospital and patients “evaculated” to the lobby downstairs and noone knew exactly what was happening. Oh.  This morning we dealt with such things as PVC pipe glue taste in the water cooler (drain the water, open up the system, wait for new water source) and ash around the place. Mostly it was just helping restore of sense of the boredom of clear procedure. When amygdala gets triggered, stand back.

Lesson here. um …  For my part, I noticed my break-through-it manner took the form of smarmy, clever-trousers. Probably didn’t feel very loving. People were running circles in nervousness around me. Was it helpful? What’s the most helpful thing to do when people are in hijack? Get them out. Throw water on them. I’m reminded of Milton Erickson’s advise … do the thing people don’t expect. Maybe the smarmy was useful. It certainly froze the person I was speaking with and popped them out of their repetitive behaviour.

What I did well: got people out. broke the trance. Noticed self get into the trance.

What I might do differently next time: stay connected with a loving heart, by ..??? working on some of my personal rituals that I can carry throughout the day. Meta. Breath. Cherokee Dance. Circulating light. Some of these I’ve not done all week. Observation: It DOES make a difference when I’m consciously utilizing these.

50 hits a day and I’ve not written for a year

Today for the second time in a week someone mentioned this blog to me, asking when I’d write more. Gosh! Long time. Over a year I now see. It’s a bit hard to type as the persian cat has decided this is the moment for her to make use of my fingers and specifically my knuckles for her facial massage. This may be a short message. I’ll just use this as a chance to contemplate what’s changed in a year.

First, I finished the ICA coaching program. It’s the 4th program I’ve been in, and the best I’d say for coaching. In the last year I’ve coached pretty much every week. Academic or research coaching is clearly what I do, even if it’s research one’s own life. Cutting through the story to the facts is pretty important there. Also I’ve got a strong somatic element and intuitive. I usually keep up one peer coach relationship, though that’s slipped recently, and in the last year I’ve done 2 coach series with ICA students as a give-back to the group. My 2 PhD student – coachees graduated and went off their respective ways, with the occassional phone session, and I’m finding that no matter what else I’m doing (mostly academic editing and facilitating) coaching has become a key part.

Cat’s keen on having my hands back, so that’s it for now.

Now, can I ask who the 50 people are who are coming here each day?

Cheers at the 25th hour

Under a day ago, now, I handed in the 11th of 11 items for completion of the cICA program, my record of participation. If I were starting with a similar task again I’d have a record-buddy, someone who agreed to be the holder of the records. That’d make it fun and meaningful for me to report in each time I took a class.

Surely I’ll have a chance to apply this new wisdom somewhere in my life. It’s like my friend NW agreeing to respond with a messaged cheer each time I reported a part of my paperwork going in. I’d do it for the cheer. I’m that kinda person.

By the way, this time she called to give a cheer real-time!

11th Item, 11th Hour … now relaxation of 21st hour

Deadline for handing in my 11 items is now past, and (surprise!) nothing external changed. Internally I’m relaxed and joyful and I continue my work. Yesterday morning and this morning I woke luxuriously, slowly. I have a record-keeping task ahead of me, and so re-visit my deep aversion to keeping records. Part of me doesn’t care, won’t push against this, and just rides this wave out. Another part is curious what in the world is going on.

A few times in the last year I sat to organize the records. It’s hard to describe what happened then. It was like an internal explosion. Some part of me SO didn’t want to do this. UAC (unconscious automatic commitment). Trapped in a very dangerous place. Even now as I think of this I’m suddenly hot, the mirror shows my face burning. So my response?

Just not do it and trust all will resolve in due course, and be well with the world. And it is (which is true, no matter what happens, I realize).

Resolution has been to

- have a conversation with the record-receivers (warm and compassionate human beings, of course)

- clear the decks (10 of the 11 items done)

- sit to this task calmly and begin. Deadline has passed but the motivation and momentum continues. I feel as if I’m in new and very comfortable territory.

and I continue.

Direct flights China / Taiwan

Video of a “China expert” living in China, visiting Taiwan and talking about what he’s seen in his years connected with Taiwan and what he recommends ahead.

Celtic Christian rites of transition

This was forwarded me from a reiki practitioner friend. He’s had impactful sessions with end-of-life clients. In response to one of these stories, a Celtic Christian shared this on their tradition.

“Celtic Christians do not have a rite of “Extreme Unction” at the close of someone’s life, but we do have a very important rite which is called “Soul Leading”.

Contact is established between the two souls: he/she who is crossing over from this plain to another, and the “leader”.  Actually, “leader” is not a good term, for what the attendant person is doing is simply trying to get across that the person who is leaving should do so without worrying about those who are left behind; that we who remain will show grief, but that s/he who is leaving must go ahead, being able to look in on us from time to time. Of course, we do not believe that there is such a thing as “death”, but rather a transition.

“When you see a light, walk into that light. When you hear a familiar voice, walk toward that voice. Do not look back, for we will be alright. We love you and honor you and cherish the time that you were with us. We will meet again soon”

I swear that many a time a person departing has opened her eyes and there was a look of love, gratitude and great relief in her eyes.

beautiful, and I’m thankful that this was shared.

Going to Wiki (on Celtic Christianity of Insular Christianity) to get more background … after the 7th C there is no cohesion in this group … many separate lines developed.

The email makes this distinction which I don’t see reference to in the Wiki information.

“Celtic Christians (Sabbatarians) received their Christian teachings by way of Apostle John rather than through Paul.

and apparently the impact of the church on social life/structure/eduction was quite profound. This from wiki:

The achievements of Christianity in the Celtic-speaking world are significant beyond what could be expected. Irish society, for example, had no history of literacy until the advent of Christianity, yet within a few generations of the arrival of the first missionaries the monastic and clerical class of the isle had become fully integrated with the culture of Latin letters. Besides just Latin, Irish ecclesiastics developed a written language for Old Irish.

My emails, conversations and internet readings (Wikipedia is tops) are the sources of my constant education.

Questions new clients ask

What do I value in a coaching relationship?

Open Space Technology guidelines. An atmosphere of profound respect for you, me, us (dialogue atmosphere).  Body awareness in the conversation (it has so much to say when we are listening to it). General readiness to be surprised.

My strengths as a coach

Light high energy. Presence and high respect. Can speak directly from strong intuition. I can give very specific kinds of feedback when asked to listen from that perspective.  Oh, and you’ll see I’m quite verbal. This may be handy at times.

What do I  love about coaching?

Being quietly attentive to what’s happening – to the quality of energy that is present in words or silence, like being attentive to the soul at work, like feeling a flower unfold.

I take real pleasure at being directed in a way that serves what you need and want. Ask for what you want: listening for “X”, particular types of feedback, mirroring of emotions or whatever, new perspectives, easy questions, difficult questions, bold request. etc. This is one area many people I’ve worked with have  delighted in. They say its rare.  We play plenty of games, but have an intention of high awareness. We keep them right on the table, catching those that seem to be slipping under the table.

I delight in the dialogue space we build together. I’m about being attentive to “what is” (which is rarely business-as-usual, or the unexamined story). I really honor my clients’ work on their own journey, and love being invited to witness and support its unfolding.

I’m wondering: what’s the musical notation for ’stand up and juggle your violin’ :-)

Subject line was Paul’s response to this.

Fear of our Shaman Past

Why is it that as I work on deadline I suddenly stumble on all this super powerful videos and writings … no matter where I look I find something calling my attention. Something that’s never show up before and it’s perfect. Now its Northrup (Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom) on Shamanism.

And, why (on her web site, above) does she look much younger than on the back cover of her 1998 book? Actually she appears to be a different person in all ways. Why does her photo disturb me? She looks more “acceptable” on the web site (shivers of illease).

In the book she talks of how in dreams we (numerous people she’s worked with, heard from, and herself, also) dip into something from the past. Witches being publically burned (there were 9 million she says. Really?), being murdered.

“When a woman enters into the work of healing her body and speaking her truth, she must break through the collective field of fear and pain that is all around us …filled with the fear of rape, of beating, of abandonment.” (p 764)

She writes of morphogenic fields …

We tell all of it, not to change [what happened] but to break the years of silence.

Breaking the silence, releasing the secrets that keep us all trapped. They are saying, “No more!”