As my husband and I journeyed to Breckenridge, Colorado, for an early birthday getaway, the annual upcoming in-service training that I am scheduled to give for the Licensed Massage Therapists (LMTs) that work in the SWIHA Healing Arts Clinic was very much on my mind. In fact, so much so, little nagging ‘yeah but’ thoughts were floating around in my mind...thoughts like: “Do I really have anything to offer our LMTs after all these years,” “Am I getting too old to teach our amazing practicing therapists anything new,” and “Who do I think I am to be the one serving as the presenter?”
Isn’t it amazing how hard we can be on ourselves?! This is especially true when we are at an unprotected moment in our life-- when we have been busy and may not have taken the time for our usual prayers and meditations. When I start hearing those little pessimistic naysaying voices, I have a sure-fire ritual that works for me. I stop and take my hands to the top of my head and imagine pulling a big bubble of protection over myself. Then I chant the mantra, “Come, Holy Spirit I need you!” Yeah, I know. It sounds pretty "woo-woo." Yet, truly, that’s what I do! Sometimes several times! I bet to the untrained eye, I look like a kooky old lady, as I imagine golden balls of light streaming over me, filled with love and light.
This is what I know: when I ground myself in who I know I am, without thought of what others think or what the world outside the SWIHA bubble thinks, I feel calm, confident, and whole. This was the case on the big Colorado mountain as we checked into the historic Lodge at Breckenridge, with its spectacular views the ski summits, located on Boreas Pass Road. Some might deem the thread-worn carpets and patina on the old wooden furniture as tacky. We saw it as charming, rustic, and welcoming. As we stepped out on the majestic decks of the vintage alpine ski resort, we felt a Divine presence – almost a clairvoyant knowing that something amazing was in store for us; it was one of those ‘god-bump’ type of feelings.
After an invigorating walk, I settled in to work on my presentation. The pessimistic cynic that sometimes lives in my head had been arrested by my earlier prayer. I repeated the prayer again-- “Come, Holy Spirit I need you!” --adding what is often referred to as the Course In Miracles Lord’s Prayer: "Where would You have me go? What would You have me say, and to whom?" Before I could get the entire prayer out of the mouth, I clearly heard the words, “I gotta plan!”
That’s how Spirit and I talk– cryptic-like and always in slang. Telepathically, I shot back, “Could ya give me a clue?” The sparring quip back was, “Do ya trust me?”
As I was leaving the beautiful sun-deck, I walked by the front desk and a brochure literally jumped out of the rack and into my path. A fleeing thought went through my mind to walk on past it– yet, NO! I heard the voice of a shaming nanny: “Now pick that up! How else am I going to show you my plan?”
There was a fascinating invitation on the brochure– that of TEXTING your bodywork request to the number of the Spa Coordinator. They did not guarantee that phone calls would be returned in a timely manner, and they discouraged walk-ins to the spa, as all the therapists would likely be in session. After a series of texts confirming our exact expectations, my husband and I were set to receive massages the next morning. As I floated off to sleep, I heard my inner voice say to its higher counterpart, “I’m ready to know!” The return banter was, “When it’s your time to know, you’ll know!” I actually get this heavenly assurance often!
The next morning, the therapist entered the room a little frazzled. Someone had used her room over the weekend and things were amiss– the music wasn’t working, the door locked her out for a few moments until she could find a key to re-enter, and there seemed to be a general unsettledness in the room. Carrie, my therapist, said as much to herself as to me, “You can feel it, can’t ya?” I could! “Yeah, I’m gonna have to stop and clear this room. It’ll only take a minute. There's a little critter hanging out up there in the corner. Can ya sense him?” I could! “Hey, I hope you don’t think I’m woo-woo; I just need to send some clearing Reiki into the corners to escort this little lost soul to the Light. Is that weird?” The truth was that it wasn’t weird at all. I immediately thought of Linda Bennet, the director of the SWIHA’s Hypnotherapy program and the Spirit Releasement class she teaches. “No, no, it’s not weird at all.” I whispered, leaving the rest of the sentence unsaid, “No, this is pretty normal where I come from.” Although the new wild thought that flew my mind was maybe that spirit releasement could be a new CEU for massage therapists!
For just an instant, a crazy question flew through my mind: “I wonder if I need to take notes?” In no uncertain terms, I experienced a clairaudience message, “You know this!” As I concentrated on the vivid conversation happening in my mind, I could feel Carrie administering the protocol that was being dictated. It was as if she, too, was receiving the encoded messages. At first I was a little freaked out... then just fascinated! At one point, I began to weep slightly at the magnificence of how messages are made known to us.
Finally, I had to know, “Did you study Jin Shin Jyutsu®?” Without missing a beat, she confessed, “Actually, I studied Jin Shin Do ®, considered body-mind acupressure, about twenty years ago. The truth is I don’t always use it – just when I’m drawn to do so!”
The story of these two similar energetic technologies is that Jin Shin Do® was developed by a student of the woman who originally created Jin Shin Jyutsu®. Yup, we were both tapping into the same ancient mystic wisdom and flowing with the synchronicity of it all– connecting to our past studies, yet knowing something new was coming through to us both!
As we came toward the end of the therapy, lying supine, Carrie spent the final few minutes doing a very familiar dry Thai foot reflexology treatment. With my eyes covered, she mysteriously reported that a mountain bee had just come into the room, yet to not be afraid. Reassuringly, she whispered, “In my experience, bees are messengers. Is there a message you are ready to receive?” From a deep stillness came the words, “Be Intentional!” With a slight internal giggle, I thought, “Of course, be(e) intentional!”
Coming out of Carrie’s blissful cranio hold, I heard her say, ”One of the things I always try to be is intentional.” I had to force myself not to sit up and say aloud, “Alright, already, I get the message!” I was humbled to remember another part of my mental prayers lately had been, “Please be clear with the way you would have me serve.”
When our thoughts become our prayers, our steps become mindfully directed.
I’ll never know if it was a real live mountain bee that flew in the window of the treatment room or a metaphoric invitation given by my highly-trained Holistic Health Care Practitioner. As two of my good go-to-SWIHA-friends say, “You can’t make this stuff up!” When I look back over my birthday experience, I’ll say with glee, “Long live woo-woo massage! I’ll take a massage and message any day!”
SPECIAL NOTE: Effective August 1, 2017 a new ‘Deep Point’ Therapy will be available in the SWIHA Healing Arts Clinic offered by the SWIHA LMTs based on the messages received during my birthday adventure! It’s not woo-woo – it’s deep effective body-mind-spirit acupressure!