In any attempt to create an integrated individual, an obvious starting place is his physical body, if for no other reason than to examine the old premise that a man can project only that which is within. To the medical specialist, this body, and this alone, is the man. To the psychiatrist, this body is less than the man; it is merely the externalized expression of personality. Neither of these specialist has accepted as real a third possibility; namely, that in some way, as yet poorly defined, the physical body is actually the personality, rather than its expression, is the energy unit we call man…
Ida Rolf was born in New York in 1896. She graduated from Bernard College in 1916 and went to work as a researcher for the Rockefeller Institute. She obtained her Ph.D. from Columbia University in biochemistry. She devoted her life to seeking the answers to personal and family health problems. Her work became known as Structural Integration.
Ida’s treatment was called Rolfing which aimed was to integrate the mind body experience. In other words she believed that the mind was the body and the body was the mind. Certainly this concept is hard to accept since the mind is always placed in the head and the body sort of follow along after the head. There is a distinct separation between the two. But any student of Yoga, Rolfing or massage therapy starts to realize that his identity is not a dualistic experience but a holistic union of mind and body. Even Einstein claimed that he thought with his muscles!
In the attempt to integrate my inner consciousness with my focused or ego consciousness, the first step in that process is the understanding that my body reflects the actual state of my mind. The body is the mind and externally expresses my inner consciousness although I don’t understand it that way. I have been taught that the body breaks down in time and there is nothing I can do about it. I accept this verdict from what I see and experience, never understanding that I create the state of my health by my own thoughts.
As Ida points out medical science for the most part, does little to change my beliefs about health. There is always some dis-ease or illness that I’m predisposed to attract and I need their assistance and drugs to prevent these problems. If I ignore the advice of science I will suffer the consequences and at some point I will be the victim of my own demise. Once again I sell my self to someone else so they can help me help my self. The ego lives a dualistic experience and I agree to it.
The now experience is all about union. Yoga means union; massage is awareness; Rolfing is connection. Remembering that I am a creation of pure energy is the first step in awakening. My body is the reflection of my spirit. I may try to hide from my spirit but it manifests its condition physically in the condition of my body. I have everything I need internally to live in a state of well being. My beliefs will become my physical experience and my body becomes the expression of those beliefs. How I function is the result of my thoughts and perceptions. I can experience the state of good health throughout my physical life if I have the desire to blend my ego with my inner consciousness.
My work is to be whole. To feel whole; to sense the whole universe that exists within me. It is my responsibility to remember that I am connected to pure energy and I am what it is. That belief is reality. When I feel my mind in every muscle I begin to understand what Ida and Einstein felt. I become what I have always been a healthy spirit that needs nothing but the unrestricted energy that flows constantly through my mind-body experience. I am one body connected to a world of consciousness that exists forever. Dualism is an illusion that I create in order to wake up and be whole.
Ida Rolf was born in New York in 1896. She graduated from Bernard College in 1916 and went to work as a researcher for the Rockefeller Institute. She obtained her Ph.D. from Columbia University in biochemistry. She devoted her life to seeking the answers to personal and family health problems. Her work became known as Structural Integration.
Ida’s treatment was called Rolfing which aimed was to integrate the mind body experience. In other words she believed that the mind was the body and the body was the mind. Certainly this concept is hard to accept since the mind is always placed in the head and the body sort of follow along after the head. There is a distinct separation between the two. But any student of Yoga, Rolfing or massage therapy starts to realize that his identity is not a dualistic experience but a holistic union of mind and body. Even Einstein claimed that he thought with his muscles!
In the attempt to integrate my inner consciousness with my focused or ego consciousness, the first step in that process is the understanding that my body reflects the actual state of my mind. The body is the mind and externally expresses my inner consciousness although I don’t understand it that way. I have been taught that the body breaks down in time and there is nothing I can do about it. I accept this verdict from what I see and experience, never understanding that I create the state of my health by my own thoughts.
As Ida points out medical science for the most part, does little to change my beliefs about health. There is always some dis-ease or illness that I’m predisposed to attract and I need their assistance and drugs to prevent these problems. If I ignore the advice of science I will suffer the consequences and at some point I will be the victim of my own demise. Once again I sell my self to someone else so they can help me help my self. The ego lives a dualistic experience and I agree to it.
The now experience is all about union. Yoga means union; massage is awareness; Rolfing is connection. Remembering that I am a creation of pure energy is the first step in awakening. My body is the reflection of my spirit. I may try to hide from my spirit but it manifests its condition physically in the condition of my body. I have everything I need internally to live in a state of well being. My beliefs will become my physical experience and my body becomes the expression of those beliefs. How I function is the result of my thoughts and perceptions. I can experience the state of good health throughout my physical life if I have the desire to blend my ego with my inner consciousness.
My work is to be whole. To feel whole; to sense the whole universe that exists within me. It is my responsibility to remember that I am connected to pure energy and I am what it is. That belief is reality. When I feel my mind in every muscle I begin to understand what Ida and Einstein felt. I become what I have always been a healthy spirit that needs nothing but the unrestricted energy that flows constantly through my mind-body experience. I am one body connected to a world of consciousness that exists forever. Dualism is an illusion that I create in order to wake up and be whole.
Guess what? The alarm clock just went off and I’m me again.
2 comments:
For body language cues, so much of what we convey, including our power, is judged by what others see in our faces. http://sayitbetter.typepad.com/say_it_better/2008/08/what-make-us-wa.html
Plus here’s a somewhat surprising experiment that displays how powerful one feels
http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/2008/08/13/who-of-us-is-powerful-and-how-can-we-tell/
I think we all want justice and equality. We all want a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situaition someone would help us out.
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