PatSamples

Feeling Tense?

Have you ever had a day like mine began this morning? I woke up with tension galore. Neck, shoulder, and arm muscles all were taut. Forehead muscles scrunched. I wished I could find a delivery service for an instant massage. My mind was racing too. Will I ever figure out the intricacies of my new computer? How will I pay off those monstrous medical bills? Oh no, I've run out of my special oatmeal concoction ingredients that make up my routine breakfast, and I'm going to go hungry this morning. And what about my trip this week to Seattle and Vancouver and Victoria to give a series of talks and workshops? How will I ever get everything ready for that? More…

A Body Odyssey

I had been a full-time writer for about half of my 50 years when I began teaching a course called "Writing Your Own Permission Slip." In it, I created playful ways for participants to pay attention to the lifetime of stories their bodies held and then do writing exercises that allowed them to revise any that were self-limiting. More…

Whose Body Are You Living In?

Have you ever looked in the mirror and seen the face of your mother or father? Do you have the same vocal inflections as one of your parents? When I laugh loudly, what I hear is my sister's laughter ringing through my vocal chords. More…

Moving Too Fast for Your Own Good?

How fast is your life going? Too fast? I honestly didn't realize how rapidly I was speeding through my days until recently. In our fast-paced society, we tend to think it's normal to grab something to eat on the run, zip through our email, dash through the supermarket, race to the next meeting, rush, rush, rush. More…

Medication Disabilities

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The Wisdom of the Inner Body

I'm writing from the hospital this week. I went in for a relatively simple procedure and then there were major complications -- again. Suddenly I am overhearing crowds of doctors huddling in the hallway conferring on what happens next, and I become a bystander of sorts, learning more about my body from them and discerning as best I can what their scanning tools are telling them and the implications for my life. How, I wonder, can I monitor my own body through this time? What are the lessons to learn from my "bones and belly"? More…

The Joy of Feeling Good After Feeling Ill

Have you had the experience of recovering from an illness or injury and being newly grateful for health and the capacity to do things that had been difficult or impossible to do while ill? That's been happening to me a lot lately as I have recovered the ability to walk and the energy to do my daily activities after a series of heart-related problems and the complications that followed surgery. Just the pleasure of rising from my chair to go get a glass of water has felt like a New Year's present worth fireworks. Today, I'm also freshly enjoying the pleasure of hearing, after a day of severe ear blockage yesterday that left me unable to hear what people were saying in a discussion group I was leading. More…

Thanks To Every Body

Having spent much of the past month bedridden because of some health challenges, I have fresh appreciation for the wonders of my body. Let me begin the new year with a declaration of gratitude for them. Please consider adding your own to the list. More…

Can't Forgive Your Parents?

Author, Body Odyssey: Lessons from the Bones and Belly www.bodyodyssey.biz  Ever thought it was okay not to forgive your parents for the mean things they did to you as a child—“for your own good”? Moral teachings have always said we must. But Alice Miller, in her book, The Body Never Lies: The Lingering Effects of Cruel Parenting, says that’s hogwash. She says that forgiveness in the name of morality or respectability only covers over unhealed wounds. And, she says, the body will keep festering by giving us pains and illness until we stop defending our parents’ cruel behavior and emotionally acknowledge and heal the harm it did to us. Even then, she says, there is no obligation to make nice with your parents if they are not able to talk honestly with you about what happened.  Faking feelings of love or concern toward them only keeps your body working overtime, complaining about the ongoing dishonesty.   More…

Who's Touching Us?

Because so many people commented on my blog two weeks ago about messages from the dead, I want to offer some further reflections on that theme. Many commenters wrote about reassurances they had received from their loved ones who had died. One thing I noted was that many of these reassurances came in physical form. One writer spoke of feeling "a big hug" from her deceased father from time to time. Another spoke of "an enormous pressure on both my shoulders as though someone was sitting astride me and holding me down" after her mother's death. A K-9 police officer described finding it hard to open his bedroom door one day, as if something heavy were behind it. Nothing was behind the door, but he was reminded of past experiences when he had to push the door hard to open it because his beloved, now deceased, police dog was lying behind it. To him, it was a sign that all was well with his canine friend. Even after precious people and animals die, it appears they can communicate to us through our bodies. More…