The rewards and risks of personal freedom

Serving a community of private individuals and professionals who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion, and creativity. Your feedback is encouraged. Please contact us at seishindo@seishindo.org.

Workshops Announcement The Body of Tenderness–The Body of Fear: Finding the Wisdom of Love Santa Fe, New Mexico: April 5 - 6, 2004 Program Description & Cost. Contact person: Julie Kuck. Tel. (858) 455-9888 Washington DC: April 16-18, 2004 Program Description & Cost. Contact person: Sandy Morris. Tel. (703) 707-9277 As an individual wanting more from your life, or a trained professional wanting to add to your current professional skills you will learn how to: Make more "sense" of your emotions by bridging the body over to the thinking mind Release and dissolve your fears by rekindling your tenderness Bring a greater sense of respect and empowerment into your life Feel greater confidence in entering into loving, supportive relationships Come to recognize and identify with, The Wisdom of Love Profoundly change the way you perceive and appreciate: Your self - The people you are in relationship with - The life challenges you face. The discipline of Seishindo offers you the best of both Eastern and Western models of health and well-being. A remarkable system that merges Oriental philosophy with Western science.

1. Starting Line

The more I work with people, the more I notice that we have many lovely and illuminating similarities to animals. I am hoping that my recent spate of animal stories will bring you in touch with your own animal nature in a way that will help you to better understand and manage your emotions.

One of the first things I noticed about my newly trained parrot, was that Chico couldn't fly. Before I had trained Chico and he was still biting my finger all the time, I didn't really care whether or not he could fly. But once Chico and I became pals and he liked me to scratch his head, I felt sad that his wings had been clipped and he was stuck here on earth just like us humans. Clipped wings seemed to take away the "reason" for being a bird.

I quickly decided to add some pizzazz to Chico's life. Once the weather turned nice I took Chico and sat him on a branch of a tree in my backyard. At first he seemed somewhat confused. He made more sounds than usual and then he walked back and forth on the branch looking like an agitated father pacing back and forth in the maternity waiting room. Over the course of a couple of months he seemed to become resigned to his fate of being earthbound. I was very intrigued to see that he didn't flap his wings even once in an attempt to fly. Somehow he knew he was incapable. I always wondered how he knew such a thing.

One day as I sat out in my urban environment backyard Chico got way more agitated then he had when I first put him out on his branch some months ago. He was pacing back and forth majorly activated, and talking up a storm. Then he stopped pacing and let out a spine tingling scream that I can still remember to this day. He screamed once, he screamed twice, and then he starting madly flapping his wings for the first time ever. After about three seconds of flapping, he lifted off from the branch like the space shuttle, as he let out yet another scream. I was amazed and shocked. Little did I know that his feathers had been growing back in, and just like a sly convict, Chico had been biding his time until the moment was ripe for escape!

Chico made his break for freedom on a late Monday afternoon, and it was clear by late Monday night he was not coming home. Finally, on early Tuesday evening Chico returned to the backyard, but stayed way out of reach. I talked to him and showed him some food, but to no avail. Then I took his cage inside so he would not relate coming back to getting locked up again. Finally, I made him a firm promise that if he did come back I would let him out every day the weather was nice. Shortly after making my solemn oath to him, he flew onto my shoulder and then walked onto my hand and I took him upstairs.

From that day on, whenever the weather was good I would let him out early and he would fly around and be back before dark. This routine lasted for about two months and Chico seemed happy beyond compare. Then, all of a sudden one day he was sick. We took him to the vet, and the vet said that he had contracted a disease from the pigeons in the neighborhood. Within a few days he died, and we mourned his loss. Just once the thought crossed my mind that if I had not set him free to fly every day, he would still be alive. It was then that I realized that the quality of one's life is much more important than the number of years one lives. What sense is there in being a bird if you can't fly?

Private Sessions If you would like to become better able to work wisely with core issues such as your identity, deteriorating health, a general sense of well-being, destructive habit patterns, strained personal relationships, and various professional concerns, please consider engaging in an in-person private session with me. My private sessions in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be on April 7th and 8th, 2004. My private sessions in Washington DC will be on April 20th and 21st, 2004. Read more about what Seishindo sessions can bring you. Read what other people say about Seishindo sessions. If you think you might be interested in a private session, please contact Charlie directly at charlie@seishindo.org.

2. Main course

Have you had your wings clipped at some point in your life? Many people first had this happen in early childhood when told that they were incapable of performing certain tasks, or they got the message that they simply just weren't good enough. Other folks got their wings clipped for the first time when they were spurned by a high school sweetheart or when they failed to make it into the college of their choice. Just like Chico, when we get our wings clipped we often quickly develop a deep sense that we are incapable of flying, and we lose the innate reality of what it is like to live the life we are designed to live. Unlike Chico, we often fail to notice that our wings are indeed in the process of growing back in, and we sometimes never try to fly again and we forget our reason for living. We forget who we really would be if we believed in our self and knew we could reach the stars. We lose touch with our primary nature.

I have said in a past newsletter that I believe the quality and direction of our life is dependent not so much on what happens to us during the course of our life, but how we respond to what happens to us. When it is all said and done, our life depends on what we believe in, and the actions we take after experiencing a hardship. We can get our wings clipped early on in life and never attempt to fly again, or we can bide our time and perform all the necessary preparations just like Chico, and take off the moment the time is ripe.

Last weekend I taught a "Standing Ovation" Performance Workshop in New York City. It was one of the most rewarding teaching days I have had in quite a long time. Opera singers, pop singers, piano players, public speakers and seminar leaders, the room was full and vibrant. Over the course of the day people came to have a deep understanding of how they often clip their own wings just prior to performing. How do they do this? They tell themselves to not make the same mistake they made last time they performed. They tell themselves the audience isn't really interested. They tell themselves that this is an important performance that they can't afford to mess up. They talk to themselves about what they "should" be doing instead of just letting go and testing the limits of gravity. Assuming we have the same natural abilities Chico had in regard to being a bird, we stop ourselves from performing with excellence by stifling the God given talents that are innately ours, and by interfering with the emotional expression of who we are, and what we want to share.

Chico made his break for freedom on a late Monday afternoon in April. When will you make yours? You too can choose to take a chance whenever the conditions are right, knowing that you were built to be who you are. If you don't set yourself free, what will be the purpose of your life? Isn't there more to living than playing it safe and worrying about the downside? I would suggest that the quality of one's life is dependant on feeling one's essence, and living the design that is you. If you are a fish you life needs to be all about swimming. If you are bird—a bird of peace, a bird of love, a bird of beauty—your life needs to be all about flying and spreading your message to all that you meet along the way. What sense is there in being you, if you aren't really being who you are?

3. Practice

"Today..." is the name of the Practice for this issue of our newsletter.This is a simple yet profound Practice to use when you are feeling challenged. It follows the Seishindo principles of Absorption, Utilization, and Balance.

• Absorb your challenge as you breathe it in and think about it.
• Utilize the energy that your challenge generates in you. The more important or seemingly difficult your challenge, the more your system will be energized.
• Remain emotionally balanced and look at all the sides and possibilities of your challenge.

4. Links

http://www.allfamilysolutions.com

This is a lovely site for anyone who has children or works with children. Kay Keller teaches parents how to communicate with their children through loving touch, play and dreams. With Kay, parents can learn the benefits of massage & sign language for babies, find out what kind of play increases their child's learning & communication skills, and what their child's dreams are saying about their internal world. Please have a look!

5. Suggested Books by Cindy Franklin

"Sacred Pleasure" by Riane Eissler

This book offers insight into how our mind-body-spirit unity is impacted by cultural practices. She proposes that the "dominator model" cultural orientation (with proponents such as Jerry Falwell and Larry Flynt) sacralizes suffering and hierarchy, eroticizes violence, divorces sexuality from spirituality and love, and devalues pleasure, nature, and the feminine. Fortunately, her book also illustrates how cultures that are primarily based on the "partnership model"—Cultures that include a feminine presence in the godhead, consider pleasure sacred, hold sexuality as deeply connected to love and spirituality, and honor nature—have also existed since prehistoric times. This is a highly readable and thought provoking book.

6. Suggested Music

CD: "Touched by an Angel" Various artists
This is a great compilation disk of moving music from the likes of Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Wynonna Judd, Faith Hill, and Uncle Sam. Like most any compilation disk, I am not in love with every cut on this CD, but the number of tracks that I do like makes this a highly desirable CD for me, and quite useful in my workshops.

7. Endnote

Kent Beebe wrote:

Thanks for your newsletter. I was introduced to it by Mark Crapo, founder of Aikido Institute of Michigan and Seiwa Dojo. I am especially intrigued by your animal models for behavior and training. As a veterinarian for 26 years I incorporate much of this thought in my daily routine. An additional observation on your bird training philosophy, I believe that the biting and aggression is an initial attempt for the animal to control their environment, and that the owner's response either reinforces or neutralizes that behavior. Either pulling away (you win) or disciplining the animal (if attention deprived, better than neglect - you win again) reinforces the biting or screaming. By allowing the gnawing in a controlled manner (I like a sacrificial hand towel) the response is interrupted. When a pause occurs, then I reinforce with stroking. This is also very effective in cats - another adrenaline based animal, and young puppies. I have seen several clients over the years that are unable to handle or medicate any animal they own, and often times it ends in needless euthanasia due to aggression. I consider this a self inflicted problem. Neither dominance nor totally passive behavior will create a positive human/animal bond. Only by joining, blending, and leading the behavior can we effectively redirect it. Now where have we heard this philosophy before?

Angela White writes:

My work is as a full time art teacher in a very large and diverse public high school. I have a studio where I create my own art. The connection between the teaching and the painting is a constant flow and exchange of life's energy. Please visit my site and have a look.
http://www.angelawhiteart.com

8. Milestones

Suzanne Pomeranz writes:

Some may not sense the importance of this event for me, but after a two-year intensive school and completion of all the necessary exams, except one, I had almost given up finishing the requirements for receiving my tour guide license here in Israel. It was sort of funny, actually, as the one exam I kept failing was the Oral Exam! As a singer and public speaker, how in the world could this happen? I suppose the constant threat of failure and perhaps a fear of success got in the way each time I attempted to complete this exam... but last week, I tried again and passed! The night before, my sister said to me, "I have just one word for you... BREATHE!" And during the exam, as I was falling over my words, one of the examiners stopped me to say the same thing!

I've been reading about the somatic experience and these regular newsletters from Charlie and while I can't say that I have spent a lot of time actively thinking about my inner self or working in a program to make the necessary changes, I CAN say these concepts and ideas are on my mind and, perhaps, working silently within me. I was relaxed, more than any of the previous times, and so now, within a couple of weeks - and after making my way through the maze of Israeli bureaucracy and almost six years after starting into this career (and therefore, life) change - I'll finally be, officially, a licensed Israeli Tour Guide - no small feat for anyone, but especially, at age 54, a big one for me!
Jerusalem, Israel

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Ed Bonapartian writes:

I have written a book on self-healing utilizing dreams and intuition. It is currently one of the best selling print books at Booklocker.com. http://www.booklocker.com/. The title is "Stories Of Our Lives" It is a true story that shows the key role dreams and intuition can play in our emotional healing as it outlines the emotional struggles of a man coming to terms with his grief over his mother's early death from alcoholism.

While primarily a story about the healing nature of dreams and dreamwork, the book also touches on subjects such as adult children of alcoholics, recovery issues and shamanism.

For more information about the book, please feel free to access the book's webpage by using the link below:
http://www.booklocker.com/books/1462.html

* * *
Please let us know about your milestones, or the milestones of organizations that you belong to or especially like.

Have you just launched a website?
Succeeded with a challenging client?
Realized an important truth?
Gained a new supportive understanding of your teenage son or daughter?
Written an article or a book?

Please send your news to seishin@seishindo.org and we will be happy to publish it on our website.

9. Copyright

Unless otherwise attributed, all material for the newsletter "Pure Heart, Simple Mind"(tm) is written and edited by Charlie Badenhop ©. All rights reserved.

You may reprint, copy, or distribute "Pure Heart, Simple Mind” (tm) provided you: a. Receive our written permission (which is likely). b. Attach the above copyright notice to our material. c. Do not sell our material to others. d. Keep the content of our material intact without any editing whatsoever.

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