I’m really excited about sharing this day of meditation, relaxation, and healing. Please call or e-mail me to register and save your space. Space is limited, so the sooner the better.
Mandy Meyer-Hill
Consciousness through meditation. Still as the mountains, deep as the sky.
In March I’ll be offering a one day Meditation Retreat and Workshop at Stairway Healing Arts Center. Together we’ll explore and experience a variety of meditative techniques. Please don’t think it’s going to be all about sitting uncomfortably for the day. We’re going to get comfortable and sit sometimes, but we’ll also be moving, stretching, exploring breath and breathing techniques, going for walks, smiling, probably laughing, toning, perhaps singing, and maybe even dancing a little. If you’re new to meditation, this will be a great day to get you started with your meditative practice. If you already meditate, this will be an opportunity to deepen your practice. Either way, it will be a peaceful day of relaxation and stress-relief shared with other good people. Oh, and I’ll be serving a yummy vegetarian lunch. Space will be limited to 8 participants. Please e-mail me at StairwayHealingArts@gmail.com to register.
Mandy Meyer-Hill
The fire that greeted me when I opened the furnace door this morning.
I just stoked the fire in my outdoor furnace. It’s 5 degrees below zero outside. Thanks to the that fire, it’s cozy and warm in our home. I’m headed down to Stairway Healing Arts Center for 9 o’clock meditation. When I sit in meditation, I’m stoking my inner fires of well-being, wellness, and health. It’s physical, emotional, mental, soulful, and spiritual. Some days it’s more one of these aspects than others. But it doesn’t matter. It’s good, no matter what I feel or sense. After meditation, I move into a day of massage therapy and energetic bodywork sessions, helping others stoke their own inner fires. Life is good.
Cold and Snowy in Cambridge (10*F)
A couple of years ago I wanted to get into running again. I’ve been a sporadic runner/jogger for all my adult life, so I know that when I get back into it I’m going to suffer from sore muscles for the first few days. A couple of years ago I found this great program offered by Women’s Health Magazine. Over a period of 6 weeks it gets you walking and running until you can do a steady 1/2 hour run. It’s a gentle, effective process. I loved it.
Since then I’ve learned some invaluable breathing techniques that enhance any workout experience and essentially eliminate the sore muscle issue, believe it or not. I incorporate this breath work when I’m exercising, when I’m meditating, or when I’m just feeling a little tired. It’s energizing, and it also helps balance our body’s pH. I love sharing and teaching this technique, and I’ll be talking more about it in the future.
Here’s the link to the running program if you’re interested in starting running. You have my full support. I’d love to hear about your choice to start running, your daily progress, and even your woes. Though I think woes will be few because it’s a gentle, effective program. Hope you have fun! http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/how-to-run-for-weight-loss?cm_mmc=Dose-Newsletter-_-634390-_-07062011-_-readon
Good sleep, like good nutrition, is essential to good health. Our bodies let us know when we need to sleep and if we’re getting enough sleep. We just need to listen to its signals.
My alarm is set each morning for 6:30, because that’s the latest I can possibly get out of bed and still manage to take care of all the home and family needs before my daughters leave for school and I leave for Stairway. I know I didn’t get enough sleep if 1. The alarm actually had to wake me, and 2. I lean over and hit the snooze button. Much less hit in a second or (eek!) third time. When I have trouble waking in the morning, my body’s simply telling me I needed more rest. To me, one of the worst feelings in the world is that absolute lead-heaviness of my body and eyelids when the alarm is calling me to get up. I hate it.
I go to bed when I’m tired, hopefully before I’m pitifully exhausted. I know I’m over-tired at night when I get cranky, irritable, and twitchy. This is my body’s way of shrieking that I need to get to bed and sleep. But hopefully it doesn’t have to resort to those measures. Hopefully I notice the subtler symptoms: the yawns, the slowing of my mind, the slight heaviness of my body. It’s that simple. No rocket science here. These are the signs my body sends me to rest. I just need to follow them
I know I’ve had the amount of sleep my body needs when it wakes me on its own. For me that’s anytime between 5 and 6:30am. My eyes open, there are no thoughts or worries racing through my mind, I feel quiet, peaceful, and ready for the day. Waking up feels GOOD when I’m well-rested. And when I’ve had enough sleep, my days are happily productive. I’m more creative and helpful in my work. I’m drawn to do the things that nourish me: meditate, exercise, socialize. When I’m well-rested I handle the stresses and emergencies of the day more smoothly, I even flow with them.
Good sleep is essential to good health. We can live healthier lives by listening to our bodies signals and getting the sleep it tells us we need.
Lemon and Fresh Ginger
If anyone in my house gets a little stuffy-headed, or runny-nosed, or is getting a bit of a sore throat, I start chopping fresh ginger and slicing lemons. I add them to several cups of water on the stove, bring to a boil, and simmer whenever we’re at home. As much as my girls dislike this next part, I urge them to lean over the pot, preferably with a towel tented over the back of their head (which they really love) and breathe in the steam. I actually love doing this, because I can feel it opening my nasal passages and loosening (hope you don’t mind the visual) what’s stuck up there. And my clients rave about the effects too. If you can set up a hot plate next to your desk at work, keep this brew next to you all day. Just keep adding water as it evaporates, and more ginger and lemon as the aroma fades. It’s a strong elixir and will give any head cold a run for its money. Try it. You’ll be so glad you did.
Mandy Meyer-Hill
Barefoot on the Beach. February (that’s right) 2012, Maine
So I’ve been clearing the energy at home, and practicing energetic bodywork with Marleigh at least once a day for the better part of a week. But an important part of healing is having some techniques that you can practice yourself, without the aid or necessity of someone else’s presence. I taught her a couple simple new tools to help rein herself in when her mind starts darting about in class or anywhere else.
1. The most simple thing to do is focus on your feet. It may sound odd to read that, but after a few energetic bodywork sessions, it made sense to Marleigh. Bring your attention to your feet, put the palms of your hands right on the soles of your feet if you can. But that’s certainly not always appropriate or possible in school. So:
2. Breathe. Breathe deeply. Focus on pulling the breath deeply into your stomach. Then push it all out as far as you can. Do that for a few cycles. Now pull the breath down in to your feet. All the way down to your toes. And then exhale as though you’re pushing the air out the soles of your feet into the ground. Repeat. Again. Again. This is a great technique for general calming, but it’s also good to rein in a chattering, scattered mind.
Over the weekend, I was driving Marleigh to a friend’s house. They were going to study for midterm exams which are later this month. It had been a busy morning and in the car I realized we hadn’t done any energy work. I was disappointed because I knew it would have been helpful prep for studying. We talked about that and I said maybe she could practice one of the new self-help techniques. “I know, Mom,” she said. “Breathe through my feet. I did it the other day in Social Studies and it really helped.” Enough said.
Mandy Meyer-Hill
Some of our devices.
We have a rule in our home about cell phones and iPods at the dinner table, or at any meal time. We leave them behind. No texting, FaceBooking, Tweeting etc at the table. Period. I actually love that these devices help us connect so easily with our friends and clients, but there are certain precious times of day that we need to set them aside and focus on each other. Our dinner table tends to be pretty raucous, especially considering there are only three of us. We always sit at a set table and eat together, and my daughters keep me well entertained. It’s a small ritual, and it’s important to me. Sometimes we’ll grab the iPhone to Google the answer to a question, but then it’s set aside again.
We also turn off the wi-fi at 9pm. The phones get turned-off then too. It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of the internet or get caught-up in a lengthy texting conversation at night. And this interferes with sleep and rest. And that effects health. So again, we disconnect. This doesn’t always make me popular in our home, but we all recognize that it’s good for us.
So in the name of connecting with each other, of family, and also of health we disconnect every day. How does your family cope with the onslaught of electronic devices and the internet? Please share.
Mandy Meyer-Hill
Phase II: Focusing, Getting Rest
Last Thursday Marleigh came to me and said she thought she was going a bit loopy because she’d spent the last 45 minutes re-reading the same 4 paragraphs. She was really frustrated and said she just couldn’t focus. She said she’d been having that trouble in class, too. She was terribly distracted by anything and everything, including her own thoughts. Scattered. I realized I knew how to help her with that. I talked to her about doing some energy work and a bit of massage therapy she lit up and said, “That sounds great!” She’s always loved to receive this work but with our busy lives I realize what a long, long time it’s been since we’ve done any massage or energy work on a regular basis.
So we got comfy on the couch. I massaged her cranium and neck for a bit, which helped her just relax. Then I moved to her feet and did the same. Massaging our feet helps us to “get out of our heads”. When our minds are buzzing and whirling a little foot massage can help to quiet it a bit. So I massaged her feet, then began the energy work on her soles. I listened as her breathing deepened and her fluttering eyes quieted.
Then I moved back to her head and did the “Mind Clearing” sequence. She’s always loved this, and I’d forgotten. It was a really nice experience for us both. When we finished, I held her head in my lap for a bit. She went back to her reading and finished the chapter. I hope she retained it…
I practiced the same technques when she went to bed that night. Friday morning she told me that she didn’t remember me leaving the room and that she slept deeply all night through. She said it was the first night she’d fallen asleep immediately in over a month. As well as the first night she’d slept uninterrupted. That’s a good start.
We agreed to do these techniques at least once a day for a few weeks. She’s already sleeping better, and she said classes went well on Friday.
This will be an on-going process. I’m also teaching her techniques she can practice on her own which I’ll tell you a bit about tomorrow. Thank you for being present with us on this healing journey.
Mandy Meyer-Hill
A simple chime.
So my darlin’ daughter Marleigh was unhappy, even depressed. Crying frequently. Having great difficulty focusing and concentrating. Her grades at school were suffering. I was scared, feeling helpless. I wanted to help and support her but didn’t know how. Until I finally started looking at the situation as a massage therapist and energy worker. How would I handle this if she were a client coming to me for these issues? Big a-ha moment for mom. More like a great big “DUH!” A line from some 1970s sitcom or movie kept running through my head, “We have the technology to heal her” (was it the Bionic Woman? Star Wars? no matter) I realized I actually did know how to help her and I developed a little treatment plan. And that felt really, really good.
Phase I: Shift the Energy
The first thing to do was shift the energy around her. The heavy energies of sadness, anger, strife, and unhappiness can get stuck in us, and in our living and work spaces. Sound waves can help to move these heavy, damp, stuck energies. I decided to start helping Marleigh (all three of us, actually) by clearing the energy in our home. I have a wonderful little brass chime with a clear, strong ring. Its sound waves resonate long after it’s been rung. It’s an awesome tool for clearing energies and I use it a lot in my work, as well as to signify the beginning and close of every Meditation Circle. So I brought the chime home and rang it in every room, every door way, every window, under each bed, and in every nook and cranny of our home. It was like opening a window on a breezy sunny day into a room that’s cold and damp. I did this each day this past week. My daughters roll their eyes when they hear the chime and say, “Mom’s going all Fig Leaf again”. And that’s okay. Because, honestly, there was a lightness, calmness, and genuine warmth between us this week that I hadn’t felt in several months. I’ll continue to clear the space at least twice a week from now on. But now the stage was set for the next phase of my treatment plan, which we began Thursday evening.
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Stairway Healing Arts Center 