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Serving a community of private individuals and professionals
who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
and creativity. We warmly welcome our new subscribers. Thanks
for joining! Your feedback is encouraged. Please feel free to contact us.
1. Simple Story:
"Why do you talk so fast?"
As a young man, I attended the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. For me, going to North Carolina was very much
like entering into an alien world. The culture of "The
South" is quite different than the New York City culture
of my childhood.
"Down South," people move slower, take more time
to make decisions, and talk much slower than New York City folk.
Southerners have a lovely way of taking a simple one syllable
word like "Yes" and rolling it around in their mouth
so that a "Yankee" such as myself, feels like they
have expanded it into three syllables. There is a lovely lilt
to the way Southerners speak
One day I was driving around trying to find the house of a
friend who lived out in the countryside. It was a warm summer
day, and I was getting all "hot and bothered" as I
realized I was lost.
As I wandered about in my car I wound up coming across a quintessential
American old fashioned country gas station. A couple of gasoline
pumps sitting out front of a wooden building that was also a
"general store." The building had a wide wooden porch,
and sure enough a sleepy looking old man was sitting on the
porch looking like he was struggling to stay awake.
I popped out of my car at New York City speed and asked the
man how to get to the location I was looking for. He slowly
raised his head to look at me, smiled, and said "Why don't
you have a seat and cool off a bit?"
I found his suggestion frustrating as I was already late, but
there was something about the man that was very engaging, so
I put aside my frustration and had a seat. He pointed to a large
metal bucket filled with ice sitting next to him in the shade,
and suggested that I have a bottle of "pop" (that's
Southern talk for "a soda.") A cool drink seemed like
a good idea and I had myself an Orange Squash.
I have no remembrance of most of the conversation the gentleman
engaged me in, but it had nothing to do with where I was wanting
to get to.
At some point in time he asked me "Why do you talk so
fast?" I was surprised by his question, and had no ready
reply.
"Seems to me," the man said, "Talking fast just
gets you all overheated, and on a hot day like today, slower
is better."
He really stopped me in my tracks with his remark, because on
an intuitive level I understood that he was quite right.
He said, "Why don't you take some time and relax into your
thoughts, and let the words come out on their own, when they're
ready. When you hurry your thinking you hurry your words, and
soon you wind up feeling like you don't have enough time to
get the job done."
I was amazed by the man's insight.
"The place you're looking for is about two hundred yards
down to the left.", the man said. "Why don't you leave
your car here and walk there. Walking will slow you down, and
that's a good thing to do on a hot day like today."
I knew he was right! I paid for my "pop", thanked
the man, and started to head towards my friend's house.
"No need to rush! Walk a bit slower." the man called
out. "No sense overheating yourself. You'll always have
enough time if you make the time. Your friend will be happy
to see you when you show up in a good mood."
2. Further Thoughts
In Seishindo we understand words to be like food for the body.
Angry, harsh words are like eating junk food. High on calories
and bad for the heart. Lightly nuanced appreciative conversation
can be like a fine meal at a health food restaurant.
When we talk fast, the pace of our words comes faster than
the body can easily digest. A long winded fast spoken conversation,
particularly if it is seasoned with resentment, can be like
eating a big meal filled with grease and starch, in a few minutes
time. The body will really have to struggle to keep up with
the input. Fast spoken negative conversations, over the long
run will erode the soft tissue of the body, and even eventually
eat away at your muscle tissue and nervous system. We need to
feed the body loving, healthy conversation, at a speed that
the body can generatively manage.
A hurried, worried intellect, works too fast for the body to
keep up with. Anxiety or stress occurs when there is an incongruence
between the rhythm of the body and the rhythm of the intellect.
Overfeed the body with large quantities of words and you will
feel stressed out. Feed the body words faster than it can assimilate
them, and again, you will experience anxiety.
Your body sends, receives, and translates messages, both verbal
and non-verbal. It does so on a continuous basis twenty-four
hours a day. Communication is thus an activity of the entire
self. Because of this, moderate blood pressure, clear veins
and arteries, relaxed muscles, and copious amounts of oxygen
are also an important part of our communication process.
Relax the body when it is not in use, breathe freely and easily,
and feed the body a number of small well balanced meals a day.
The more you allow the body to rest when not really needed,
and the more nutritious the various "foods" that you
feed it, the more your body will be able to work full on for
you when you need it to. When your body functions with grace
and ease, your intellect becomes more creative and insightful.
And this means that you will feel emotionally balanced as well.
Bon appetite!
3. Practice
"Breath
Talking "
This is a classic Seishindo Practice and it will begin to give
you a clear insight into how you can better feed your body and
your emotions with your words.
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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 San Diego, CA, will be on July
14th and 15th; in New York - on July 19th and 20th, 2004;
in Washington DC - on July 27th and 28th, 2004.
Read
more about how you can benefit
from a Seishindo private session.
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.
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4. Resources
The
United States Association for Body Psychotherapy
The United States Association for Body Psychotherapy is a practitioner-centered,
member-driven association that is committed to the goals of
organizing, representing and shaping the emerging profession
of Body Psychotherapist.
5. Suggested Books by Cindy Franklin
"The Spirit of the Shuar"
by John Perkins and Shakaim Mariano Chumpi. Published
by Destiny Books.
This book offers a fascinating window into the world of
a people who live in the Amazon jungles, and who have never
been colonized by any outside power. A courageous, generous,
and mystically minded people, they have almost no material
possessions but do have ways of engaging the world that
bring them joy and meaning. Most fascinating is their spirituality,
healing ability, and perspective on safeguarding the earth.
6. Suggested Music
CD: Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana "Cavern
of Sirens"
This is top quality ambient music. Soothing music for
those of us who lead a hectic lifestyle. Great stuff for getting
into a relaxing trance state.
7. Endnote and Invitation
If you have a business, hobby, group, or organization that
you would like other members of the Seishindo community to know
about, then please send us a short write-up (two or three sentences)
here.
You don't have a website? Then let us know how other members
might contact you by phone, fax, in person, or in writing.
We also invite you to send in:
A) Questions and comments relating
to what you read here.
B) Experiences that relate to
the "Practices" presented.
C) The names of books/music/services/products,
etc. you feel might be of interest to the Seishindo community.
Please include a short write-up (two or three sentences) about
your selections and send all input here.
We welcome Anita Jefferson on board and thank her for her
recommendation. Anita writes:
Hello,
I am a new subscriber and am impressed with your message. I
would like to recommend the book, "Climb
every Obstacle: Eliminate Your Limits!" written
by Anita Jefferson. The book contains 101 obstacles, from anger
to worry, with each treated in two pages. Each obstacle page
ends with an opportunity step to move the reader beyond containment.
The right-hand page is either an inspirational story or quote
to inspire greatness.
The website is: http://www.climbeveryobstacle.com.
Thank you.
Anita Jefferson
8. 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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