Dear clients, dear friends, dear visitors of Heidi’s Table,
On March 18 I closed my office for in-person therapeutic massage work. (This is temporary, my part in minimizing the spread of COVID-19). It’s been an adjustment! (I miss you.) I, like probably you, am physically/socially distancing and going through quite the range of emotions: fear, sadness, lonesomeness, anxiety, anger, contentment (in my garden), joy (the buds. on the trees. have you noticed?), scared again…
Yesterday, when I sat quietly and tuned inward, I sensed a heaviness in my chest area. When I turned toward it in a friendly and wondering kind of way, it seemed like a stone: big, though not as big as a boulder. And smooth, like a river stone whose roughness has been polished by constant water. I wondered: why not just get rid of the stone, wouldn’t that feel good? I was surprised to sense, from my body, that no: not only didn’t the stone want to leave, but my heart and chest area actually liked having it there. I sensed then that this big river stone was somehow related to my massage work and specifically my touch and contact with my clients’ bodies, and to missing that, suddenly quite intensely. I sat there quietly for a few minutes, trusting the process, no matter how odd or strange what appears might seem.
Trusting the process. It wasn’t always like that for me. Practicing has certainly helped. I’ve learned that my body knows so much more than I think it knows. And having practiced now for many, many years, I have built up some pretty darn good awareness “muscles.”
These are challenging times. I haven’t been to a food market in over a week. (For someone who loves to browse the aisles not in malls but in food and farmers markets, that is something.) I haven’t been—
What about you? I imagine that you are washing your hands a whole lot, physically distancing and staying home. Your list of “I haven’ts” might be long, like mine.
But there is also something I HAVE done, something new which I am hoping you might—now that you know about it!—do with me.
Every day at 12 PM Eastern time (9 AM Pacific) I am leading a COVID-safe, drop-in, virtual class: “At Home in Your Body: Focusing-Oriented Meditation.” It’s only 30-45 minutes long. You can come every day, you can come once a week, or just once in a while. No long-term commitment is needed. And I’d LOVE you to join.
The cost of the class is $10. (Though right now it’s on sale for $5, in anticipation of you reading about it and wanting to try it out—you’re very welcome!) I understand, too, that these are financially trying and wobbly times and that some of us have lost our income from one day to the next, so if the cost of the class would keep you from participating (or participating as often as you’d like), PLEASE drop me a line and I will send you the access link so that you can join regardless of how much you can or can’t pay.
Tuning in and turning toward ourselves with friendliness. That’s what I and anyone who joins me in class are learning and practicing doing every day.
You know the big river stone on my heart yesterday? When I sensed how it wanted me to be with it, it showed me it wanted me to oil up my hands and rub it. Yeah. That felt right. I didn’t have to figure it out, change it, or make it go away. And while it didn’t replace me getting to work with my clients and their bodies in my office, much relief came to me from noticing the whole of how it was in a friendly way.
I’m sorry about what our dear human species is experiencing these days. I’m sorry for our dear planet and how thoughtless and mean our species has been to it. I’m so sorry about the loss and death so many people around the world are experiencing. I feel sad and scared and angry all at once.
Connection sure feels good, even if it’s in a different way than we’ve ever connected before. Maybe I’ll see you in class!
Warmly,
Heidi
P.S. Please forward widely. (Thank you! I really appreciate your help.) What if everyone in the world came out of this extraordinarily difficult experience friendlier toward themselves and each other?
Learn more/Register for “At Home in Your Body: Focusing-Oriented Meditation“
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