What are some of those things that fall through the cracks when we lose focus?  Meditation, exercise, spending quality time with loved ones (building relationships), hobbies and other soul nourishing interests all get pushed out of the way.

Those attending tune up classes find that they help connect them with the power of meditation.  Most would benefit from a quarterly 1.25 hour tune up class, some could use it more frequently than that.  If you’re having difficulty finding the time to meditate, you definitely would benefit from at least a couple monthly classes.  Tune ups will fine tune your practice and jump start it and your life to a new level.

Our computers, automobiles, and homes all need maintenance to maximize the return on our investment.  Our meditation is the same.  As I was exercising the other day at my gym, I was struck by the number of people participating in a yoga class in the mind body studio.  That is good news, people are taking time to refine their practice in group classes.

Small group Effortless Meditation tune up classes are inspiring for all those who attend.  I invite you to join us.  And if you prefer, private meditation coaching is available.

She was aware that I was a yoga teacher, so I mentioned to her where I was teaching  and she very quickly became interested in learning more about it. I knew it would help her manage the stress from working and raising a family, so I invited her to join in on my sessions.  She loved the idea.

While I was telling her about the schedule, she asked if she could invite one of her other friends.  I said “of course, the more the merrier”.  She had only done Yoga once before, and it was quite some time ago. They joined my next class and took it real easy at first, but it wasn’t long until they were both loving the challenging poses and the relaxation at the end of each class.  Not only did my friend, Elise, benefit, but her friend was so excited to tell me that after only a few sessions her breathing had improved and her muscles felt less stiff and tense.  She was amazed how great she felt in such a short time.

Now they are both doing all the poses in full length sessions and encouraging each other to practice regularly.  Elise couldn’t wait to tell me after the last session that she is less short of breath going up stairs and on walks with her dog, her tight calves and thighs are much less tense, and that there is improvement in her overall range of motion.

The power of Yoga is truly amazing for moms and even dads!

Laurie Lagerman, CYT, Happy Yoga practitioner and teacher for 13 years.

When I was a child, the fear was “The Bomb,” and I have vivid memories about the cold war era.  I lived near an Army reserve depot, and there was a flight path right over my yard.  At age seven, my best friend was the boy next door, also age seven, who was an authority on planes, because he and his older brother had built many model airplanes.  So, when the heavy transport planes and bombers would fly overhead, he would look up, shake his head and say with profound seriousness, “I’m not sure it’s one of ours.”  Those few moments were fraught with trepidation, until the plane cleared my house and he reassured me that it was, indeed, one of ours.   It’s easy to laugh now at my gullible little self and the boy who knew how to scare me.

Life is filled with uncertainty, and there’s always something we can find to worry about.  Worry is trying to control something, when we have no say in the matter.  So, how do we accept the fact that the only thing we can count on is change?  How do we ride the wave of not knowing? How do we live with an uncertain future?  Can we change the self-talk that fuels fear?

Almost daily, I see the changes that Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can help make in letting go of the need to control situations and people. EFT can calm a person’s system as they come to terms with uncertainty and change.  In my practice, I have the privilege of watching a mother let go of trying to fix her adult children’s lives, a teen come to terms with anxiety about school, or an abuse survivor begin to feel safe in the world.  I wish EFT would have been around, when those planes flew over my house.

Although my prepaid legal service attorney was very ready to take action on my behalf, I began to feel uncomfortable about his suggested response.  Perhaps I was acting hastily, why was I so obsessed with this?

Eckhart Tolle, NY Times best-selling author of A New Earth and The Power of Now, might say that I was caught up in my ego-mind. The ego-monkey-mind, gets pleasure in running the show, justifying its position vs. others and distracting us from what we really want, e.g. joy and peace of mind.  I had definitely lost my focus and serenity over this issue.

Does such obsessive thinking ever occur in your life? How often?

Certainly, injustices are not fair and ideally can be reversed.  However, a balanced mind and approach to life is my goal.  Is this contractor issue really that important that it should consume so much of my mental energy and focus?

Fortunately, many years ago I learned how to take the steam out of my obsessive ego-monkey-mind thinking with Effortless Meditation™.  Although, as this contractor experience reveals, it’s an on-going process.   Obsessive thoughts still sporadically appear, they grab me; however, their roar and impact is far less today.  In meditation, I effortlessly return to mental stillness, a state of balance and peace.  Through regular daily meditation practice, I’ve experienced a growing internal serenity and freedom that enables me to “let go” of stressors and move on in my life rather than obsessing for long periods over things that I have very little, if any, control!

Injustices, both real and imaginary, are a part of life; however, our responses to them can change for the better.  Today, life is good, very good.  Don’t sweat the small stuff; and you know it’s mostly small stuff!

Greg Schweitzer, Effortless Meditation™ Instructor

Does this sound like you?  It was me.

“Caught between…. The sandwich generation….. no time……stressed, running through life…. pulled every which way.  I love my husband, my kids, my parents, his Dad, my kid’s friends, my friends.  Am I crazy?  I want the very best for them.  I wonder how we can better communicate.  What do they want? Need? As a wife, mother, co-worker and friend,  I have to be a their leader and a supporter, but I can see us all falling into the same stress traps, and all living with chronic often destructive stress.  I see them stuck in certain behaviors which cause them problems.   How am I stuck? Am I the one on a treadmill which is going in the wrong direction?” 

Then I started working with Betsy Wetzig and her Coordination Pattern Training to fix my chronic knee and back pains.  She told me about her upcoming (it was last January) Self and JOY Renewal Retreat.  The flyer read……Release, Refresh, ReJoy and ReNew! …….. It sounded like my turn!  Break out of the behaviors which are holding you back, making life less fun or even causing chronic stress and pain.  It so sounded like just what I needed, including a mini one and a half day vacation.  Enjoy fun, play, food/cooking, and music as you improve the way you move, enjoy life and interact with others.  And that’s exactly what happened.

From the start, I got a core understanding of my style and how other people were different from me.  I saw how some of my “restricting” habits were learned in my family and culture and how I was handing them on.

By Saturday, as we all entered into a fun competition of salad plate design I saw a new me, using the new creativity and communication skills, I had learned just that morning.  But most of all I learned how to turn stress into something positive.  I experienced how the Coordination Pattern Training exercises opened up both my movement and my mental processes so I could respond to stress in a healthy positive way.

Betsy said that Coordination Pattern Training does not “change the computer, but it does clean up your basic hard drive and get all the programs and apps working smoothly.  It helps you to breakthrough to your best self and your easiest way of functioning.” Release, Refresh, ReJoy and ReNew! …….. It was my turn!

“ JANET”, a doctor’s wife.

“And what’s missing isn’t out there in the world”, the teacher said.  “What’s missing is inside.”  Everyone is looking for this missing element, i.e. peace, fulfillment, enlightenment.  Our problem arises because we’re looking outside ourselves.  As an example, when he was speaking, I was an unhappy Industrial Engineer working for one of the titans of American industry, Kraft Foods.  Did my career bring me peace, NO WAY.  Did my marriage bring me peace, NO. And these, I thought at the time, would bring me lasting contentment.

This teacher, soon to become my meditation instructor, said that nothing “out there in the world” is ever enough unless we’ve developed our inner life. Thankfully I started the quest, acting on the message he delivered that evening.  I felt I had nothing to lose and much to potentially gain; he told us, “develop the inner value of life through this meditation practice, and everything in your life will improve exponentially.”   

To understand this, we just need to contemplate a basic truth of the ancient cultures.  Consciousness, the energy field at the source of our thought, is primary and matter is secondary!  Many labels are synonymous with word Consciousness; Absolute, Being, Higher Power, Source Energy, the Unified Field of Consciousness, Pure Awareness, and some just refer to it as Spirit. The labels aren’t important, the value comes with direct experience of the state, no matter what we call it.

The simple truths shared with me in the presentation on that August evening changed my life, because I took action on the teacher’s message.  I enrolled in his effortless meditation course and began the daily practice.  Then, a few years later, I embarked on the journey of becoming a teacher myself.

When a gardener brings nourishment to the root of the plant, every aspect of it, the stem, leaves, flowers, it all flourishes.  Pure Consciousness or Being is our essence/root.  Regularly bring your conscious attention to this level of life, and watch your life get better and better.  It works, I promise. 

Greg Schweitzer, Effortless Meditation™ Instructor

Ideally you should exercise EVERYDAY!  A little exercise every day, along with a well-balanced diet will help you to lead a healthier, more energetic life.  This doesn’t mean you have to hit the weights or sprint on the treadmill for hours each day.  Find an outdoor activity you enjoy!  Everyday you can do something different.  One day you might choose to go for a walk outside.  If you’re feeling more ambitious, you might even try playing a sport.  Sports can be one of the best forms of exercise, mainly because you don’t have to think of it as an exercise.  You don’t have to worry about how many calories you’re burning an hour, or how many reps and sets you have to perform.  Just have some fun!

As for the next question: How soon will I see the results I am looking for?  Unfortunately there is no great answer for you.  Everyone is different and there are many factors that may affect one’s progress.  Just because one person reaches their goal in a set amount of time, does not mean the same will be true for you.  The best advice I can give is to KEEP WITH IT!  How long has your body taken to adjust to your current lifestyle?  So you can’t expect a change overnight.  This should, and can only be a lifestyle choice.  If you are having trouble getting started, one of the best things you can do is to seek out a certified professional.  They can put you on the right track and make sure you are not doing anything that may be harmful to your health.  After all, that is what is most important: your health!

Ian Finestein, NASM-CPT, Received his Certification from the National Academy of Sports  Medicine.

Sitting a lot, lack of good muscle strength, and scoliosis, had me pretty miserable, so I made an appointment to see what this alternative health modality called Structural Integration was all about. Many injuries and physical bad habits (moving incorrectly) changed the alignment of my body which made it hard for me to walk without pain.  I have learned that pain and strain is my body’s way of telling me it is out of balance. So, it was time for me to do something serious about it!

Andrei is a gentle soul who knows his stuff.  His ability to detect the origin of the tightness within my body causing the physical misalignment was fascinating.  As I laid on the table wearing my gym clothes, he began working on my feet and legs.  He explained that was necessary because if the bottom of the body is not in alignment, the top of the body will not hold the alignment.

It felt different from a massage.  Andrei used a range of techniques to lengthen and reposition the protective and supportive layer that surrounds each muscle and provides a matrix that supports every tissue in the body.  This is called fascia.  The amount of pressure he used varied.  Sometimes it was a slow, deep, stretching movement, and sometimes a constant applied pressure. And it wasn’t painful!

I was involved in the process.  Andrei at different times asked me to make continual small movements or take slow deep breaths while he worked.  This allowed him to access and work with the connective tissue. He worked in an unhurried and deliberate way and encouraged me to give him feedback so that I was always within my comfort level.

Andrea told me that people who experience Structural Integration usually feel a greater awareness of body posture.  This was certainly true for me! After one of my first treatments, I walked into the reception area and the assistant director who was sitting there said, “Wow, look at you!”  I not only felt lighter, but I was walking much straighter and it really was so much easier to move. Not only that, but I had no pain – it was just so easy!

Most of the time hands-on adjustments do the trick, but with her they weren’t working. 

As a result, her symptoms continued to get worse.  I then mentioned the success I’d seen with other patients that underwent Non Surgical Spinal Decompression. I explained to her that the X-Rays revealed the discs between her vertebrae were very degenerated, worn out and thin.  This has a tendency to place pressure on the nerve roots where they are given off from the spinal cord.  This in turn causes the pain and muscle spasm that she was experiencing.

I also explained that Non Surgical Spinal Decompression Table is a very effective, yet gentle and non-invasive way of increasing the space between the vertebrae which takes pressure off the nerve roots.  By doing this, the pain goes away.  It also helps to re-hydrate and improve the health of the discs which helps keep the pain from coming back.

The patient agreed to give it a try and after 12 treatments she stated, “This is the best I’ve felt in years.”  It’s been several months since her last Decompression treatment and she still feels great!

She now comes in every 2 weeks for a gentle hands-on Chiropractic wellness adjustment that helps her maintain the gains she made with the Decompression Therapy and greets me with a big smile and a hug every time. 

Helping people in this manner is the greatest part of my profession and is what makes me proud to be a Doctor of Chiropractic!

Every time I give a massage it is different.  I love just following my inner guidance and the client’s requests to make the session special for that client on that day. I set up the room with the heated pad to warm his muscles and put on some gentle soothing music. These start the relaxation process.  I blended some gentle and long Swedish massage strokes and deep tissue massage, to help with the release of tension and knots. His 90 minute session gave me the opportunity to spend more time on his right shoulder that was holding a lot of tension.

Before I started to work on his back, I did some Craniosacral Therapy to release restrictions that would improve the functioning of his central nervous system. This was a new experience for him and the depth of relaxation he was feeling was amazing to him! He commented on how surprising it is that just placing hands in certain areas allowed his breathing to go so deep. The 90 minute session also allowed me to do extra work on his back and legs. I did different massage strokes and Myofascia Release where I gently applied pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions.  This helps to eliminate pain and restore motion for overall better results. I could feel his muscles let go of the tension.  When I massaged his legs, he told me they felt lighter.

It is very rewarding to get feedback right away. I finished our session with some gentle energy healing called Reiki which helps the body relax and quiets the mind at the same time.  This energy work enhanced the massage and allowed the muscles to let go even more.

By the time he was ready to go home, he was so relaxed he looked as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep! Some research states that a massage is equivalent to four hours of sleep. It is so rewarding to help someone reach such a deep level of relaxation in just a short period of time.

I love helping my clients relax on all levels: body, mind and spirit. Blending gentle, deep massage with energy work like Reiki gives amazing results.  I feel such joy knowing that because of the depth of this client’s relaxation, his muscles will continue letting go of the tension he was experiencing.

Murielle Wesch, Licensed Massage Therapist