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who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
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1. A Story
How do you react to deadlines? How would you feel if someone
said "Hurry up, the clock is ticking and we've got to get
this completed!"? How well do you cope with stress?
I had a client who was constantly striving to meet deadlines
and felt like he was being driven crazy by the clock on the
wall. On a good day he said he could sometimes go ten to fifteen
minutes without hearing the clock ticking away. On a bad day
he reported the clock felt like it was inside his head, and
getting ever louder.
He really got worked up in telling me his story.
"Sometimes" he said, "I have this dream. The
phone is ringing off the hook and the clock is ticking away,
TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK as if it was a bomb counting down towards
detonation. I am a member of the bomb squad called in to dismantle
it, before half the city is blown apart. Every day is the same.
Just prior to getting to where I either successfully dismantle
the bomb, or get blown up in the process, the bell goes off
signifying the end of the work day, and I have no choice but
to start out again from scratch tomorrow."
Upon hearing this story, I knew full well that my client was
experiencing time distortion brought on from stress. I wound
up offering him his symptom as the remedy.
First I took his pulse. 90 beats per minute! This means that
he had three heartbeats every two seconds. Using a sound software
program, I created a two track tape. One track ticked away at
one beat per second, just like the clock on his wall. The other
track put forth three beats every two seconds, just like his
pulse. I let him listen to the tape so he could get used to
the ratio of three heartbeats for every two ticks of clock time.
I told my client that next session I would help him slow down
time with the help of hypnosis. I took my software program and
I distorted time just like my client usually did at work, but
in the opposite direction. Instead of compressing time, I lengthened
it. I took the two tracks of 90 heartbeats occurring over sixty
ticks of the clock, and spread these two sounds out over 75
seconds. My client was left with the impression that time had
magically slowed down in his favor.
As I led my client into a mild hypnotic state I told him that
we were entering into a special time zone. A realm in which
he could slow down time with his breath and his mind. I asked
him to count off the sixty seconds as he heard them tick off
on the tape, and he did so. He counted backwards from sixty
to one, and I told him that one magical minute had just gone
by. Next I asked him to pay attention to the thumping sound
track that represented his heartbeat, so that he could notice
that there was still three beats every two seconds, just like
before. Finally, I had him breathe deeply and slowly, while
he did nothing else but listen to the interplay of his magical
pulse and clock. At the end of twenty minutes he reported feeling
wonderfully relaxed. He took his sound file to work and played
it in the background, just loud enough to distract him from
the clock on the wall. He called me quite happily that evening,
to tell me he had the most pleasing and productive day at work
that he could ever remember. "Time was on my side"
he said!
2. Commentary
Isn't it amazing to notice how radically your experience of
passing time changes depending on the circumstances, with little
correlation to the steady flow of time as shown on a clock.
Have you ever sat in a waiting room with a clock on the wall
that went "tick tock, tick tock" over and over and
over again, until such time that you either wanted to run out
of the room, or throw the clock out the window? This kind of
experience is especially excruciating when you are waiting for
something that you really are not looking forward to, like a
treatment from your dentist. In particular, when you are feeling
stressed out you experience time distortion. In some instances
like when waiting for your dentist, one minute of clock time
seems to take forever. At other times when you are working towards
a deadline, time appears to slip away without your knowing where
it went, and you are left wondering why you are accomplishing
so little.
Waiting for a train that is twenty minutes late, when that
train is bringing your loved one back to you, is very different
than getting to the train station early with your loved one
and waiting twenty minutes for the same train to take your loved
one away from you. The train is the same, the station is the
same, your loved one is the same, and the time on the clock
is the same, but somehow, your emotional experience of "twenty
minutes" is quite different.
It is important for each of us to understand how the fixed
passage of time as measured by a clock, has little to do with
our emotional experience of time. Rather than being under the
illusion that time rules our life, we will do well to recognize
that it is our emotional experience and our mindset that determines
how we relate to the ticking of the clock. Restrict your breathing
and tense your muscles and time invariably will appear to speed
up. You relate to time according to your expectations of what
will transpire. Expect that you will be successful and the clock
on the wall appears to offer you a bit more time. Expect the
worst and you will have difficulty keeping up.
What can you do to have a healthier perspective in regard to
time? The first thing you can do is breathe slowly and deeply.
When you slow down your body clock, the clock on the wall appears
to slow down along with you. The next thing you can do is check
in with your body. If you create a feeling of expansion in your
body, by aligning your posture and releasing your muscles, time
will appear to expand somewhat as well. Furthermore, you can
notice your surroundings and extend your awareness out into
the space around you. When you extend your awareness to take
in the wide range of sights and sounds taking place in your
local environment you will also extend your concept of time.
Lastly, realize that with any luck, you will have tomorrow to
accomplish what you were not able to accomplish today. Every
new day, brings new opportunities for appreciating your life
and the people you care about.
3. Practice
Breathing
with Grace and Power
This Practice can help you to have the experience of slowing
down time and making more space for yourself. If you have never
done a breathing practice before it might take you a few times
to get the hang of it and feel comfortable. No worries. Breathing
practices offer you a wonderful opportunity to heal yourself
and experience the world differently.
Please do write and tell us about your experience.
4. Resources
Enlightenment
Intensive
Arch Cape, Oregon January 27-30,
2005
This experience is facilitated by two friends who are my
colleagues. The nature of the work is very much in alignment
with the principles of Seishindo, and I am sure this will
be a great offering.
The Enlightenment Intensive is a 3 day residential retreat
which provides an opportunity to come into conscious union
with the truth of yourself, life, and others. The method used
combines age-old practices of reflective contemplation with
verbal communication in a structured and non-distractive environment.
The intensive is co-mastered by Carol
Lankton and Stephen Beck.
For Registration/in-depth description contact Stephen
503-280-8904, lesbeck@spiritone.com.
5. Suggested Books by Cindy Franklin
"Healing Ancient Wounds: The
Renegade's Wisdom" by John Barnes
This book is a fascinating description of a hands on healing
modality created by John Barnes, that in many key ways is
more similar to Charlie Badenhop's work than any other system
I have yet seen. The modality this book talks about is "myofascial
release". A myofascial session begins with a hands
on process that encourages release of limiting patterns
in the client's overall range of movement that are linked
to limiting patterns in their thinking and feeling. The
release of habitual holding patterns leads to the relief
of pain (when relevant) and greater freedom of movement
physically, emotionally, and mentally. A skilled practitioner
of this method can provoke the clients' system to the place
where it begins to engage in automatic healing movements,
sometimes called "unwinding." (Charlie calls this
"spontaneous movement.") Once unwinding begins
the practitioner supports this self healing process of the
client. I find that reading this book has offered me explanations
of some aspects of Charlie's often powerful and magical
bodywork that only another master bodywork practitioner
could give. I highly recommend this book.
6. Suggested Music
"Symphony of Light" Jana Dugal
and Mike Rowland
This album fits into the genre of New Age music. Although
I am often a bit leery in regard to New Age music, I like
this album quite a lot. The music is soft and soothing and
the voices of the female choir lilt through and touch you.
This is a wonderful album to help you change state, and I
often mix some of these cuts with other albums as well.
7. Our subscribers letters, recommendations, and introductions
The Seishindo Team heartily thanks all
our readers who sent us their kind words and recommendations.
You are a profound influence on my life. I think that is because
I am usually having wisps of thought about the same issue that
you write about so well in your newsletters a few days before
your newsletter comes into my in-box. Serendipity? Coincidence?
Not sure, but I truly appreciate what you have to say and the
topics you chose to write about.
Wow!
Take care out there,
Shelley
* * *
Hi to all members of the Seishindo Community,
Here is what I'd like to share:
Our bodies were created to be self-supporting, and I also believe
that chemicals introduced into our environment over the last
century play a huge role in the rate of growth of chronic illness
in our culture. Sadly, many people are unaware that prevention,
rather than exposure, is the answer for a balanced and healthy
body. My business, SloCountyMoms,
is committed to educating families about the chemical dangers
in their lives as well as the simple changes they can make to
create a healthful, chemical free environment.
Please visit us at www.SloCountyMoms.com.
Thanks!
Ellen Gaver
* * *
Lorrie Kazan recommends visiting Free
Introductory Seminars on BioGenesis:
BioGenesis Healing Tools will change the experience
and quality of your life. Composed of crystalline glass and
elegantly handcrafted in Germany, BioGenesis is based
on sacred technology that last existed on Earth during the time
of Atlantis. Bio refers to the human body. Genesis is the source
of all creation. BioGenesis restores the light of creation
and harmony to all levels of our lives.
The seminars are taking place on Sat., Dec 4, 10-12 noon. Bodymind
Institute, 118081 Missouri Ave, (at Sepulveda, just south of
Santa Monica Blvd), West LA, and on Sun., Dec 5, 2-4pm. The
Santa Monica Center of Healing Arts, 1247 7th St., Santa Monica.
Call or email Judy Montgomery for
directions, to reserve a place and for any additional information:
323-377-2336, judymontgomery@earthlink.net.
Lorrie also recommends visiting Heifer.org.
Heifer is a charitable organization that promotes sustainable
development to end world hunger. The idea behind this unique
charity is that you donate things to a community that will help
sustain them over the long term.
* * *
I just received my first newsletter and it resonates with issues
I am dealing with at this time in my life. The idea that all
time exists now is something I am just beginning to appreciate
and become aware of. Thank you so very much.
Sincerely,
AnneMarie Erfourth Foster
* * *
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.
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 are encouraged to send our newsletter in its entirety
to anyone you think might like it.
If you would like to reprint our newsletter for other than
your personal use, you are invited to do so, 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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You can use these tips for other email as well.
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