Experiences of Order: Mental, Spiritual, Physical, Emotional

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone in which the issues being discussed became more clear? If so, you have experienced the manifestation of order at a mental level.

Have you ever sat in front of a spiritual master and had your worries dissolve? If so, you have experienced the manifestation of order at a spiritual level.

Have you ever gotten up from a massage or chiropractic session and felt like it was easier to walk and breathe? If so, you have experienced the manifestation of order at a physical level.

Have you ever emerged from a haze of anger and frustration into the clear space of good cheer, passion, creativity and optimism? If so, you have experienced the manifestation of order at an emotional level.

[To get straight to the 7 steps, scroll down to the end]

What is Order?

Order has to do with moving to a place of clearly seeing where we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. It is the introduction of information to any situation in which the past, present and future are not manifesting clearly.

Imagine you are going to get on an airplane. You are at the airport, you have already purchased your ticket, but you don’t know what time your plane leaves. As a result you are nervous so you look at the monitor that lists departure times. The monitor says that you have two hours before take-off. Appeased by the information, you relax. There is plenty of time before the flight will be boarding.

The information communicated through the monitor has brought order to the situation; and consequently, relative peace.

Communication Breakdown = Disease

If you take a close look at the body and mind there are all kinds of communication breakdowns. There are fragmented bits of past, present and future floating around all over the place: maybe it is a physical trauma that is being held in our musculature to protect the body from pain. Maybe we are suppressing emotional trauma in our cells that our ego is not ready to handle. Maybe our cell walls have too much “bad” fat in them to be able to communicate with the cells they need to to do their job well. Whatever the case, many of the monitors that transmit information that we need to integrate our past, present and future are shut down on a number of different levels.

Now, imagine an airport in which not one person, but most people don’t know what time their flight is leaving and all of the monitors are broken. The pandemonium would be tremendous; the same goes for your body.

Rolfing as Information Medicine

What is so difficult to communicate as a Rolfer is that Rolfing is a process whereby we turn the monitors back on. Once the monitors are on again everyone in the airport can relax, breathe a sigh of relief, and the overall vibe relaxes. People are receiving the information that they need to connect their past, present and future. As a result, they move to a higher level of order, or what we call integration. Everyone is getting along better with everyone else and the business of the world goes on in a happier way.

7 Easy Steps to an Order in Your Life

If you don’t believe that attaining a sense of relaxed well-being is really this simple try this:

The next time you find yourself anxious or upset–

1. Take a moment

2. Ask where you are coming from, where you are and where you are going.

3. Look to see if there is anything getting in the way of you either receiving the past or flowing into the future. (This could be a lack of information on any level. Maybe you are driving a car and looking for a destination without a map, so you get lost, and being lost before an appointment you begin to get stressed out.)

4. Identify the piece of missing information that keeps you from moving fluidly between past, present and future.

5. Trust that everything that you need to link your past present and future is immediately available (maybe you pull into a gas station and ask for directions).

6. Get the information that you need to reestablish the flow between past present and future.

7. Apply the new information to your situation.

Keep Us Informed

Congratulations, you now have the 7 step formula for manifesting order and moving to a higher level of integration.

Let me know how it works for you—or how it doesn’t. Feel free to send in your stories, your difficulties, your triumphs and travails.

Even in ancient times Yoga was not an end in itself, it was developed to help strengthen both the body and mind for deep contemplation about the nature of the self and the world in which the self arises. It would be great if all of the things that we did today—the yoga, Pilates, massages and Rolfing served such ends—that is, a path of inquiry that led to the profound contentment of enlightenment.

But they don’t.

Technology and the Healing Arts

How the healing arts—or any technology—serves our lives is up to us. They are the gifts of great innovators and healers; handed down to us from people with profound vision and ingenuity. But technology—in any field—is no guarantee of wisdom or inner peace.

A Life of True-Love Is Not Something That Someone Can Give You

A life lived in true-love is not something that someone can give you. It is not an item to be bought or a land to be conquered. Rather, it is a goal that you must put before yourself and set to work on with passion enough to overcome the many obstacles that you will encounter on your way to achieving it.

If that is the spirit with which you come to a Rolfing session—then, in the hands of an adept healer, you are practically guaranteed the self transformation that will be required of you for attainment of your highest goal, the backbone that will be necessary for you to recognize and forgive your mistakes, process trauma, and everything else that has pulled you off your line.

Don’t Short Change Yourself

If you are in agonizing pain then by all means, get to your local Rolfer. But don’t short change yourself. Realize that when your pain is gone you are in the position to elicit the support of a healer that is now available to help you get your life’s work done.

Therefore, before your session, do a little soul searching, a little work. Contemplate your purpose in life—your unique contribution to the world. If you do that, I almost guarantee that a world the likes of which you could probably never have imagined will open up for you. Your life will present possibilities and an easiness that had remained hitherto unknown.

Let’s Get in Shape for Real

My 103 year old Zen Master once told me that it is important to realize that we are never enough. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. We need to find new sources of energy, creativity and wisdom—in our bodies and minds. We need to begin gearing up for some serious change.

Our planet is in desperate need of repair. So why not start with ourselves? Let’s get in shape, for real.

Support for Transformation That We Need

Rolfing, massage and the other healing arts are not just ways of feeling better—they are resources for a better life and better ways of living, which combined with noble intentions, may yet—despite what embittered skeptics say—find their rightful place in the world.

I believe that the healing arts provide the support for transformation that we desperately need, if only we can learn to use them before it’s too late.

From Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol K. Truman:

Probable Feelings Causing Stomach Problems:

Our sense of security feels threatened,

fear of new ideas,

lack of affection,

condemning the success of other people,

unhappy feelings.

To heal this ailment on the emotional level Karol provides the following exercise (Feelings Buried Alive Never Die; p.95):

Step 1: Invoke your Higher Self

Say the following, either internally or aloud:

1.  Spirit/Super-Conscious, please locate the origin of my feeling(s), thought(s) of ____________(e.g. “lack of affection” ).

2.  Take each and every level, layer, area, and aspect of my Be-ing to this origin. Analyze and resolve it perfectly with God’s [the Subconscious's, Divine Intelligence's,  The Great Spirit's, Your Highest Self's, etc.--use what works for you here] truth.

3.  Come through all  generations of time and eternity, healing every incident and its appendages based on the origin. Do it according to God’s [as above] will until I’m at the present–filled with light and truth, God’s [as above] peace and love, forgiveness of myself for my incorrect perceptions, forgiveness of every person, place, circumstance, and event which contributed to this feeling(s)/thought(s).

4.  With total forgiveness and unconditional love, I allow every physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual problem, and inappropriate behavior based on the negative origin recorded in my DNA, to transform.

Step 2: Affirm Your Commitment to Heal:

(Use the same appropriate positive feeling on each of the three blanks below to replace the negative feeling. e.g. for lack of affection: “I Choose Be-ing abundant with affection, I Feel abundant with affection, I AM abundant with affection.”)

Say the following, either internally or aloud:

I Choose Be-ing________________________.
I Feel____________________________.
I AM ____________________________.

It is done. It is healed. It is accomplished now!

Thank you, Spirit, for coming to my aid and helping me attain the full measure of my creation. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you and praise God [as above] from whom all blessings flow.

Step 3: Feel Great!

Let us know how this goes, or contact us with questions.

But now it’s over. The massage ends—the bliss fades into a din of children asking for video games, a boss that wants thirty new animations by tomorrow, a spouse nervous about the cluttered closets and how there is not the time for all that needs doing.

The Healing Moment

Has it ever happened to you. . .

That in that moment of deep relaxation, as your ego lets its guard down, you catch a glimpse of your life—the unedited version—and are walloped by the realization that it is not joyful and thereupon vow to change it?

It would seem that such a vow marks the beginning of a life suffused with love.

Those Who Live Cheerfully Do So For What They Love

Of course no one can escape the claims of old age, sickness and death—but the free ones meet these challenges more gracefully than others. Maybe it could be said that those who live cheerfully do so for what they love.

What, for example, would you as a mother or father not suffer for your child’s happiness?

When you connect with your highest purpose, your highest potential as a human being, aches and pains don’t go away. They become less significant in light of the love for which you live.

Try This The Next Time You Are Cranky and In Pain

So try this—the next time you are cranky, in pain, deeply troubled or suffering, ask yourself: what is this all for? Then dig deep until you find that within you which cannot be broken.

That Within You Which Cannot Be Broken

If that is not possible, get help; because guaranteed, that within you which cannot be broken is there. It is your home—your real home—and you must find somebody somewhere that can help you to recognize it.

You cannot lose, and you cannot escape the innate health and vitality that is always with you—this is the standpoint of Rolfing.

Debilitating pain in your back, joints and nerves is usually effectively addressed with Rolfing, but this is just the first step in a process of radical transformation. The path of a truly happy person requires a shift of attention from pain, suffering and scarcity to creativity, courage, and generosity.

Rolfing and many of the healing arts available here in San Francisco are breathtaking opportunities.

Rolfing is certainly a way to feel better, but it also provides you with a map of inroads to your highest potential as a human being.

The Logic of Rolfing

The logic goes like this:

Shifts of your fascia, muscles and bones = shifts in your heart and mind = shifts in your spirit, which brings you closer to love—the vital ingredient: available to anyone who is willing to work for it, essential to our happiness; paramount to cultivate for the survival of our race and the planet’s health.

Is Your Life A Reflection Of That Which You Love Most Deeply?

So take a moment to reflect and write down–what is it that you live for? What do you love most deeply? Is your life a reflection of that? If so, how could you serve it better? What does your love demand of you that you cannot fulfill? And if your life is not a reflection of love—what is getting in the way?

If you can’t figure it out give your local Rolfer, healer, Zen Master, priest or shaman a call. They are there to help you. Their job is to cultivate the practice of love.

Rock Climber Relaxes on the Edge

1. Before you start something, ask yourself why you are doing it.

2. Bring your mind to zero (this is difficult-try resting in the space at the end of your in or out-breath).

3. Finish what you start, but break projects up into bite-sized steps. Make sure that you finish one step before going on to the next.

4.Keep it simple.  Ascribe one action-step per goal. Complete the action. Repeat.

5. Be patient. Sometimes you need to stop or move backwards to move forward.

6. Find support for yourself and your endeavors.

7. Act from the position of being supported.

8. If you don’t have support—somewhere—don’t act.

9. Be flexible. Adapt to your circumstances; make relationship with your environment.

10. Give when you need to give, receive when you need to receive.

11. Don’t hold grudges.

12. Don’t suppress pain if you can help it. The more you can allow pain to exist the more quickly it will pass. Nothing lasts forever. If after a while the pain gets worse, call somebody for help.

13. Feel pleasure, but let it pass too. Nothing lasts forever.

14. Recognize your limits.

15. Recognize your possibilities.

16. If you feel lost, ask: Where do I start?

17. If you have started something and feel lost, ask: What do I do next?

18. If you are doing something but don’t know how to stop, ask: How do I know when I’m done?

19. Pay attention to mundane details-give your love to everything.

20. To rest and feel refreshed take ten seconds & completely forget everything (this one is difficult).

21. Dream, but do it with laser specificity.

22. See the connections between everything in your life—after all, it’s all you.

23. If you feel lost, be still and quiet, ask for a direction, listen and wait for the answer—it usually comes, but it may not be what you expect. Trust it; at least give it spacious consideration.

24. You exist together in One World with everything. There is no escape from this One World.

25. You always have the support you need within yourself. If you can’t find this support, find someone who will help connect you with it: call your local Rolfer—if s/he’s busy, see your local Zen master!

Helping them to refine their touch, one of the things I learned is that the standpoint you take as a practitioner will have a big effect on your client, as well as your ability to work.

Rolfing Touch

To teach Rolfing  touch as I was taught it by my mentor Dr. Jeffrey Maitland is to teach how to contact a person in such a way that both client and practitioner disappear into a singular fundamental reality and reappear changed. It is a unique kind of touch deeply informed by phenomenological philosophy and Zen Buddhism. What was exciting to see these past two weekends at the San Francisco School of Massage is that this profound way of contacting a person can easily be taught.

A Personal Account:

This personal account from CMT Frank Lopez explains more than I can say:

“I am indebted to you for teaching me a different, gentler means of penetrating the body for deeper work. I accept rather easily the clearly mechanical means of making adjustments: in this case, to rib alignment. That you were able to help me follow the subtle movements of the body to satisfactory resolution of a compromised rib really blew me away. It did, in fact, require me to take a leap of faith. That I have been able to replicate this approach on my own has really had an effect on me: it has altered my approach to massage. So, again, thanks for helping me see this option to working with the person on my table.

Last night I did back-to-back massages of nearly 2 hours each. And through a fair portion of the massage I just let my hands follow the body. I felt to some degree like I was just along for the ride as knot after knot melted to my touch, ribs settled themselves into place and vertebrae gently eased into more natural positions. What’s more, I was able to “work” those longer sessions last night because I felt no fatigue due to this new approach.”

Mirror Neurons, The Physiological Explanation

There are actual physiological explanations for the effectiveness of this kind of touch, especially as explained by the recently discovered function of mirror neurons. But that is more than I have time to go into now. (For more information about Mirror Neurons, either send us a request with your email address and we’ll hook you up with some terrific links, or stay tuned, as this will be a topic that we treat in great depth in an upcoming blog).

San Francisco Tutorials

Also, many of the students at the San Francisco School of Massage were interested in having more practice with this way of doing massage, so we are now providing two-hour tutorials for up to 4 people. If you would like more guided instruction or want to learn more about what goes into this kind of touch, feel free to give us a call. We will also keep you updated about upcoming tutorials and other events.

Learning a profound way of touch is an opportunity for you and your clients to be greatly transformed. Introducing Rolfing touch to your practice will most likely bring a lot more enjoyment and ease into your hands, body, and life.

To be clear, when I say “God” I do not mean the guy with a white beard sitting on a throne in Heaven. We are talking here about what Buddhism refers to as dharmakaya, or what some people call the “source,” “origin,” or “absolute foundation” of the manifest world. Buddhist logic explains the relationship between the manifest and un-manifest very well, but that is more than I want to get into here.

The information that the Line receives and transmits from “God’s” world is the information that your body needs to exist and function in the human one. This information—which some people call blueprint information—is the information that lets your liver be and function as a liver, your heart a heart, your brain a brain, etc.

But you are more than just body parts; you are also a mental, spiritual and emotional being. The blueprint information that comes to us from God’s world via the Line is information that supports and nourishes all four aspects of our being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Just like a broken car antennae: when the Line gets crushed or dented by trauma, (and this can happen on the physical, emotional, environmental, or karmic levels) it can’t transmit information from the source—the information exists, the source is broadcasting it, but there is no way for your being to capture it. Think of it like this: if your Line is not clear, your whole being is informed by bad A.M. radio—scary.

You could also think about the Line as an irrigation ditch—without irrigation ditches, water from the source would flow haphazardly all over the planes—it would not get to the trees, and they would die.

Same with us: without the line, vital information from the source has no way of getting to us, so we die of thirst (or other things), just like the trees.

The Rolfing 10-Series

One way to think about the Rolfing 10 series is the process whereby your irrigation ditches are cleaned up, which gets you the information that you need to be what you’re supposed to: a radiant, joyful thriving being, enjoying life and making positive creative contributions to the world.

The line is an energetic structure in your body. You can feel it, experience where it is healthy and where it is stuck.

You can catch this experience. You can embody the Line yourself. Try this:

The Line Meditation

In a standing position with your spine straight, shoulders down, muscles relaxed:

Imagine a line of gold light running just in front of your spine from a point just above your head to a point in the earth just below your feet.

Imagining that gold line, how do you feel? Are there places that you can feel it more clearly than others? How do you feel after having imagined it? What happens if you imagine it while talking to someone? Does it change the feel of the interaction?

Practice it, let me know. I look forward to your report.

What the legend tells us is that as he contemplated this unspoiled ground, he remembered sitting contentedly as a child in the shade of a palm tree, happy without cause, sinking deeper and deeper into his contentedness, losing all trace of time and worry. It was this memory that gave him the idea to sit under a tree, without austerities and punitive practices, just as he had in childhood. Thus he began the contemplation that would bring him to enlightenment.

I like this story because it speaks to my own experience. My memory is of sitting in a room with Sanguran cloth wallpaper, redwood shutters and our first color-TV. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. It was summer. The light outside was soft and forgiving. I was twelve and I had just finished reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. I had been told the story of the Buddha: how he had contemplated the “twelve link chain of causation” and become enlightened.

Having just finished the book I found myself in a state of very deep peace, and in the midst of that peace I tried to imagine what the Buddha must have been contemplating that led to his enlightenment. I remember getting as far as visualizing a chain when, like a secret river, a voice bubbled up that has not left me since.

When I contemplate this moment and this voice, even now, I am filled with love. I forget about the people that I’m angry at, my worries about the future. All of those things simply do not exist. In fact, I do not exist. There is no source, no voice, no “I”. And afterward, there is a sense of order, clarity and peace about the world.

Eventually I entered high-school and then college. I became utterly confused chasing philosophy. I ignored this voice and its source and found myself in pain.

I’m sharing this story because Rolfing as I see it is a way to bring you back to your voice. You have a voice that you know is you. You know when you’re connected to it and when you’re not. When you’re connected, life flows and you have a greater capacity for love; you embody more patience and compassion. When you’ve lost your connection, life sucks. It is dark and scarce. The Rolfing equivalent of this inner-voice is called the Line.

The Line

The Line is your fountain of youth. You can live from it. You can feel it, but you cannot see it. You can manifest it, or not. It gets obscured by going for other things in the way that I went for philosophy, but it can also be recovered, cleaned up and maintained.

The Line is not anatomical, but it effects your anatomy and your anatomy effects it. If you have ever felt really lost or adrift, the chances are—in Rolfing language—that you have lost your Line. If you are having one chronic pain pile up on top of another, there’s a good chance that you’ve lost your Line. If you keep injuring yourself, the chances are that you’re off your Line.

The Line is like a hinge for the door through which your being travels between the manifest and the un-manifest. You want the hinges oiled and working so that they don’t make a lot of noise when you enter and leave the world, or so that you don’t get stuck on one side.

The Line gets obscured in many ways: intense sports injuries, whiplash, breaks, sprains, poor nutrition and toxins in our environment. It is a vital piece of energetic health, fundamental to your well-being on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.

Of course there are things that you can do to maintain the health of your line: meditation, yoga, live a happy vibrant life, spiritual practice, eat properly. But sometimes the Line is buried beneath so much emotional, mental, physical or spiritual stuff that it needs extra help.

Of course Rolfing can help you to get rid of aches and pain. But in the simplest terms, the purpose and essence of Rolfing® structural integration is to help you get back on-line.

In the Zen I study, the word for “Whole-Body” is zenshin. We are told, as the Buddha was, to practice with our whole body, and that such practice is the path to true contentment, to freedom—not just from our aches and pains—but also from our deepest suffering. There are many theories about how to go about such a practice and why it works. As I see it, the goal of Rolfing is not only to alleviate aches and pain, but also to give people a glimpse of the flow and lightness that are possible when we realize that our center of gravity and the cosmos’s center of gravity are the same, that fundamentally there is nothing that we lack; and from this standpoint, to heal.