In my last post, Cleanliness is next to Godliness, I talked about feeling at peace and in love with a watery world whilst on holiday in Morrocco. Well, I have been keeping that feeling going now I’m back in Dublin, bathed in water in an altogether different wet and rainy way. I have realized that its the feeling I have to keep going not the object of attention.

Even though having the object of loving attention present helps fortify and strengthen a feeling of love, it is not essential. In fact is imperative that it is not essential. If our feeling of Love rests upon an external object then we are bound to have our hearts broken. The love is like a muscle that must be exercised and used at every given occasion to ensure the feeling.

I have been in love this week with yellow walls, Dolly Parton, the rain, the sunshine, my trip to the builder’s providers and Temple street children’s hospital with my eldest son. During all of them, I have been in love. It does help that I have things that remind me effortlessly of this feeling, a foot rub from my youngest son, music that uplifts me, the thought of my lovers dry, warm, soft skin, can all trigger the memory and the feeling when things are challenging.

Sometimes I wake up in a funk, thinking “oh wow I’ve got to this all over again” or “really is this it?” clearing away breakfast bowls and crunching rice crispies underfoot is not the exciting life I had in mind.

But I am training my brain. It’s not good for me to lie there and dwell in the funky feeling. I need to transform that emotion. I do that by either getting up and hugging my children or lying there and remembering the times when they were half my height and snuggled up beside me. I remember a Hammam, a holiday or a lovers touch, anything to get the day going in a feeling of gratitude for what is.

Once that love muscle is activated, I find it easier to view the mundane or troublesome from a place of gratitude.

I have found it essential to set the bodies thought patterns and neural pathways to feeling open-hearted, no matter what the external situation. This week I recorded the Loving Kindness Meditation for the Supported Online Course, Reducing pain, increasing flow for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue.

It believe, that after suffering severe trauma or stress, the body can develop neural pathways and thought patterns, saying the world is bad, it’s malevolent and dangerous. In this way the body and its energetic pathways contract, preventing openness and flow.

This overprotection impedes healing and eventually, under constant imagined or real threat, the body creates an acid environment and begins to attack itself, causing chronic conditions such as Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Trigeminal neuralgia, Arthritis, Lupis, and other autoimmune diseases.

In Shiatsu & Conscious Cooking we use body treatments, diet, breathing practices, lifestyle changes to change neural pathways and support healing. Why not try, with us, changing the way you think and see if it changes your condition.

See your life as completely supportive, feel it’s benevolence and no matter what choices you make you will be loved. The most reliable but perhaps difficult lover to receive from is yourself. The free guided meditation is a place to begin change – small steps = big results.

Where to start – begin with something you love – as I suggested in my last post that was water. Perhaps it’s a walk on the beach, falling asleep on the sofa, a half hour catching up with friends or looking at the sky and the spring shoots in your garden. Pinpoint something you love and do it, feel it and keep that feeling going.

Even when faced with pain, difficult people and drama, keep your cool and remember the loving feeling. An amazing man, Eric Forsmark, who was a powerful mentor in my life, says “you must dig where you stand”.

Which means there’s no point in thinking that if you were somewhere else you would be happier. If you were a different person, if you were skinnier, richer, taller, in less pain, less tired, less anxious, less wobbly you would be happier. It sounds a bit self-righteous, especially if you are in pain or anxious for someone to say just be happy about it.

From my experience, the only way for things to change is to accept what is, with gratitude, hold a vision of what you want in your life and work towards that vision. All the time loving the journey. Its all about loving where you are and being excited about what is to come.

There is more to come but I think I will leave it there for now. If you want to read more about this train of thought and see where it leads then enter your email on the home page and you will receive the next post direct to your inbox.

Emotional Healing & Community Support

The weight we carry isn’t just on our hips, it’s in our hearts.
Feeling like you “want to be minded” is your body’s cry for nurture, not discipline.

When you join Chi Flow with Jo, you don’t walk alone.
We move, fast, cook and heal together. That shared energy keeps you accountable and loved through change.

You don’t need to fight your bodyjust listen to her again.
Start with small rhythms: stop eating after 8 pm, massage Liver 13, sip lemon water in the morning, and join our January program to be supported every step of the way.

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Self-administered acupressure or Chinese Medicine is not a substitute for visits to qualified healthcare practitioners.

Knowing how to treat yourself and your loved ones with complimentary therapies like acupressure can be greatly beneficial and convenient. However, for serious and chronic conditions, you’ll want to visit an Shiatsu therapist / Acupuncturist or other qualified healthcare practitioner who can develop a treatment plan based on your unique medical history and combination of symptoms.

The information provided should not be considered medical advice.