I’m just posting this here because I was looking for GIFs for another blog post and I saw this and, as the title says, I love it! I just want to keep watching it. Why not embed this Soul Train dancer on my own blog so I can come back and see it anytime I want? I hope it brings you just as much joy. This person is such a beautiful dancer. I’m grateful to her.
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Since I started doing Body & Brain Yoga Tai Chi, I’ve been increasingly aware of my tailbone. I have a blockage in my sacrum area on the left side of my spine. My left bladder meridian along my back is usually blocked in general, especially between my left shoulder blade and my spine.
When I do the practice or get any kind of energy work done, these blockages open, sometimes only partially. Then they close again soon after. Part of this is the ongoing process of opening the energy of your body and mind, and it supports the need for diligence and consistency. But I also started to study some of my habits that may be creating blockages in these specific places and examine what is stuck there.

[The only butt picture I could find.] Unfortunately, when I do realize something about these blockages, I forget the details soon after. So I’m finally going to keep more of a log. I do have some observations written down in various places, but it’s not organized. One thing that’s easy to realize because it’s ever-present is that I have anger stored in my tailbone. Even when I was doing 1000 bows per day for 21 days back in 2010, I couldn’t release all the anger there. It would circulate, I would see it, and there was more and more and more.
I’ve also realized that my tailbone has a lot of “I want” and “I don’t want.” It’s very opinionated. One person I went hiking with in Boynton Canyon near Sedona, Arizona told me that the tailbone is the rudder of our lives. It steers our course. Does that mean I should be listening to my tailbone more? Or does it mean that my insistent, angry, frustrated tailbone needs to be better connected with my heart so that they can work together in tandem. Because while I appreciate my tailbone’s action-oriented directions, many of them have to do with protection and survival rather than growth or oneness. Do I need to make sure these are satisfied until my upper chakras come into play, or are these basic physical wants endless? If they can never be fully satisfied, then as long as my physical self is basically ok, can I ignore the rest and move on? I’m not sure. I’ve tried both ignoring and satisfying, and it only makes a momentary difference either way, but maybe I’m not doing either long enough or in the right way.
If you look at the energy principles that Ilchi Lee and Body & Brain Yoga teaches, though, I can never really feel like a creator in my life until the energy that goes up my back flows freely and abundantly. I think that will require both consistent, targeted energy practice and uncovering the reason I have weaknesses there in the first place. Toby Alexander claims that even if we watch ourselves or do meditation, you can’t change something unless you remove the blockages at the source (he has different names for these). That makes sense. But do I need to rely on someone else to remove them, or can I do it myself? Is one person’s method better than another person’s method? Or do I simply need my focused will and my inner knowing?
I’ve found that I know a lot that I don’t realize at the moment. I think I’ve come into this life with the knowledge of how to create, change, and repair the light structures that hold our reality together. Even as I said that, I only barely understand it. But I’ve had enough experiences in my life that I’ve accepted this idea.
So I’ll keep exploring, trying, and reporting. I wonder how my life would change if I managed to manage this blockage or eliminate it altogether. It’s fun to look forward to experiencing such a state.
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This week has been a week of decisions. I needed to vote (early ballot), choose a retirement fund, and pick out things to throw away in our move to a smaller office. Decisions are always stressful to me, and Ifear and uncertainty came up. Anger came up too as I tried to push away the pressure. What didn’t come up was love.
I didn’t choose first out of love, and I tried to find something to fight against instead of embracing everything. I didn’t love both candidates (or hate them either) and I didn’t love the person trying to get me to invest more money for things I didn’t want to invest in.
But I realized today that love should always be my first response if I really want to create and embody it, especially if I want to make more of it alive in this world. I need to trust that if I choose love, I’ll be OK, instead of letting my existential fear of not surviving ruling my thoughts and emotions. Will the country be OK, will the new office be OK without the things we’re taking, will people be angry with me if I make certain choices? I don’t know, so I guess that’s why it was hard to choose love instead of fear. However, they are flip sides of the same energy, like yin and yang. So wherever there is fear, there is also love in a sense.
If I can’t make that choice when times get tough, then everything I say are empty, meaningless words. What do I want my life to mean? What do I want it to be about? I already decided that much, so now I need to live it and keep choosing it in my daily choices—starting with loving myself.
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It may seem like there is chaos all around you, but is there chaos inside you? The cacophony of voices on the airwaves cannot adequately help society and the earth. All change starts with ourselves. The strength of our bodies driven by the passion of our soul and the pureness of our conscience can weave the strands of energy searching for a better world, for meaning and righteousness, for their basic needs to be met, into a tapestry of wholeness, security in nothingness, and oneness.
Look deeper, and wider. You cannot rely on others to bring you peace. Such peace exists, but it fades. You cannot rely on others to bring you security. We all depend on each other, but circumstances can occur that wrenches the security we thought we had away from us. The security that comes from connecting with the Life energy that flows through everything cannot be taken away, however. It can be ignored or denied, but not taken away. It’s only when you feel this energy, the flow of life, that you can know that, “everything will be alright.”
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I read these paragraphs lately in the book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna by Alessandra Belloni, and it struck me as very appropriate for our current time:
“In the Middle Ages, people in Europe and especially in parts of Italy believed that the end of the world was coming, and they lived with a great fear of death by war, natural disaster, or contagious disease. They believed that the Black Madonna protected them. I am fascinated by the fact that it was during the so-called Dark Ages that all the Black Virgins came to life with strong devotions in Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, and Greece. It is important to note that during the Byzantine Empire and at the time of the Crusades, our Christian traditions mixed with those of the Moors through music and dance.
When the Plague spread all over Europe, decimating the population, people carried statues of the Black Madonna in powerful processions. They drummed and danced in circles and in a trance state and paraded through the streets to expel the fear of death and to stop the Plague from coming to their villages. Through musical exorcisms, which used the obsessive 6/8 of the tarantella rhythms, identical to African drumming rituals, entire villages celebrated the miracles of the Black Madonna—protecting their towns from the Plague as well as from earthquakes and foreign invasions.
This tradition is alive today, especially in the region of Calabria, and I firmly believe from my own experiences that the Black Madonna is alive today with the same power to protect us from the ongoing wars, disease, and political crises we experience.”
p. 156 in Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna: Chants, Music, and Sacred Practices of the Great Goddess by Alessandra Belloni
In the Brain Education practice that I do, we often use vibration exercise or what some might call “ecstatic dance” to release tension, slow down our brain waves, and connect our body, brain, and spirit. Rhythmic dance is my favorite form of connection and prayer.
I have also felt connected to the divine feminine, which is one of the reasons I bought this book. I think now is a time when the masculine and feminine aspects of humanity are trying to come into balance.
While I don’t know much about them, this passage reminds me of what I’ve heard about Pele, a Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, and the Hindu goddess Kali. Both have the power to destroy and create. New life comes after death, so I welcome the disruption and even destruction of our current times as I sit safely and peacefully in my house. Perhaps it’s what we need for real change.
But recent events also bring out my need to protect and heal. So my thoughts have quickly turned to how we can heal the pain and suffering that has been festering for centuries and has erupted once again under tremendous pressure.
My week was filled with blogs and newsletters with hopefully helpful messages, but is it really enough? Necessary perhaps, but not concrete enough. I don’t really ever do anything concrete, so I’m a little lost as to what concrete action I can take now that would make a difference. Should I try to think big, or just start small? If I could take action, then that would be living my truth.
At the very least, I will use rhythmic music and dance in my next Sound Healing live class on Change Your Energy this month so we can all subject the fire raging now to the power and wisdom of our souls. In these modern times, we can be divine agents in the world.
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Love is worry and work :>)
Love is everything.
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What message would or should I give myself for the new year?
Usually I don’t like this sort of thing, but it’s hard to avoid when you’re immersed in the self-help world. I’ll step beyond my comfort zone and see how well I do.
The theme of 2020 is Be Bright!
Why should you be bright? As I’ve written several times in this blog, brightness is the most important thing. It’s the thing I’m here to do. So that’s essential step number one.
But why should other people be bright? Brightness is a feeling as well as an outlook. It’s an energy state. The state of your energy and mind determines the state of your life, at least eventually if you maintain it. (And sometimes even now.) The brighter you are, the happier, healthier, and more creative you’ll be.
And that’s it.
Brightness requires constant diligence though. You have to be motivated to change your energy whenever your brightness dims. You have to be willing to do energy practice every day without fail to strengthen your core and clean out your thoughts and emotions. You need to remain unattached to thoughts and emotions, and move quickly toward a goal you’re focusing on.
These are the things you need to do every day of your life, so what’s the big deal about January 1st?
The new year is pretty arbitrary in my mind, but I guess it can serve as a reminder to get back on track if you’ve gone off of it.
There’s nothing to learn and nothing to fix. Instead, deep acceptance of everything and forgiveness of all helps us stay with who we really are instead of getting sucked into the illusions of our mind. It’s about staying in the moment. Again, it’s easier said than done and is not tied to a particular day of the year. And so, I’ve come back full circle to the beginning of my post.
So maybe the theme for this year should be “Get Back on Track.” Don’t autocorrect; self-correct instead.
We are always changing yet our essence is always the same. That’s why we don’t have to “sweat the small stuff.”
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I just found this TEDx talk by Weiyang Xie dealing with shame. Her solution: practice compassionate self-talk. Shame is just a habit of negative self-talk. Being consistently kind to yourself can become a new habit.
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I got this message, this feeling, a while ago, and I’ve had the consistent urge to record it. So here it is:
I am here for the Earth.

I’m with her (Mother Earth). When I think about life purpose, this is what I get. It’s not only that I’m here to help the Earth, but I am here to be on Earth. It’s that simple. I just need to anchor in the energy that needs to be here. This sense goes hand in hand with my other one:
Spread love throughout the Earth.
Everything else is just a game. So I shouldn’t sweat it so much. My main job is to make time each day to connect to myself, to Heaven, and to Earth. The energy will take care of whatever needs to happen. My soul and my subconscious already know what to do. I don’t need to learn anything.
But, I do need to unplug from my phone, hehe (easier said than done nowadays). Doing clearing practices such and Dahnjon (energy center) Tapping, Intestine Exercise, Belly Button Healing, Jigam, Sleeping Tiger, Bowing, and all the other Brain Education exercises I’ve learned are really useful for clearing my mind and energy and helping me focus so that I can connect with my inner knowing and everything can work as it needs to. I’m very grateful for learning these and for Ilchi Lee for developing them.
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While going through old folders, I discovered an essay I wrote that I can only guess was written in high school, perhaps for a college application. Reading it 25 years later, I am saddened by my writing ability and fear it hasn’t improved much. Actually, I have a lot of mixed feelings about the content of this essay, so I thought I would use this blog post to help me sort them out.
When I first read it recently, I was impressed at my level of consciousness. But then, as it sunk in, I was actually disappointed. It described a very positive attitude but also showed I was clearly not a leader. Every measure of success and self-help guru tells you that you should be a leader. What does that really mean for me? Should I change? Or should I recognize the value of how I instinctively want to act and contribute? And is how I’ve lived so far what I really want deep inside? Have I suppressed my leadership qualities because I fear expressing them would hurt others instead of help them? Have I tried to be a leader in the past and received disinterest, or even derision?

Love the dot matrix printout. Let’s look at this essay again (I wish I knew the essay topic or question that I was responding to):
To be a complete person, to be valuable to myself, is my hope. By being a complete person, I can then be valuable to the people around me. I have known that to become a complete person, I would have to be consistently responsible and enthusiastic about life and work. I would also have to be considerate and conscientious with regard to others and to myself. This fulfilled and valuable person would be someone whom others can turn to in time of need. Throughout my life I have tried to nurture these qualities and have tried to develop my personality and talents to their highest potential.
Throughout my entire academic career, it has been important to me to conscientiously hand in all of my work on time. In elementary school, this was relatively simple. However, I learned in high school how difficult it can be to divide your time between schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and home life, and successfully complete everything. I felt, however, that in order to be the good student that I wanted to be, I would consistently have to hand in quality work. My teachers attest that I have.
As a member of the Stage Crew for Suffern High School’s Spring Musical in 1992, my contribution was to be always available to perform any task, and perform it to the best of my abilities. I could not hammer nails quickly enough to be of great help while the crew was building the sets; however, I performed small tasks such as fetching tools, carrying lumber, and helping to clean up afterwards. Then, while we were painting the sets, I meticulously painted whatever I was assigned to. Because I could be patient and paint a straight line, I was often asked to paint borders and small details. It was important to me to be a necessary part of the crew and the play. The work helped to give me confidence and to develop my abilities. It became a part of myself. When the dates of the performance drew near, the stage crew was asked to go to the practices in order to assimilate all of the aspects of the performance. I spent all of the day in school, not going home until ten o’clock at night. I ate dinner and did my homework during the time between stage crew and the practice. Because he knew I could be responsible, the director of the musical rewarded me by asking me if I would work one of the spotlights.
I dedicated myself to Suffern High School’s Swimming and Diving Team as well. I stayed for any optional meeting or event. I went to every event I could and tried to become more involved by volunteering to time the races in the meets or keeping score. I did anything someone told me to do, swim any race or perform any task, great or small.
To be consistent, conscientious, responsible, and enthusiastic means to be the complete person I value. This desire has influenced the work I have done. I set high ideals for myself and then tried to mold myself in their likeness. I cannot reach these ideals, but the mistakes I make are additional pieces of the puzzle that is myself.
I wonder . . . I think I did value these things, but in writing this essay, did I just think of things I was already doing, find examples of them in my life, and put them in the essay? What I mean is, was the picture the essay paints retroactive and subconscious? Maybe it wasn’t entirely subconscious. As I mentioned in my previous post, I really did try to be consistent and responsible in high school from the very beginning, which lead to great stress.
Maybe trying to decide whether I should put a feather in my cap or give myself a few lashes over what I wrote in high school isn’t a good approach. But it isn’t an entirely wrong approach either, because through my reaction to this essay, I am trying to decide what my values will be moving forward. As I was typing out the essay, however, I realized that I wasn’t approaching it from a zero point. My hangups may be interfering with my goal of realizing my values, and I should return to my center in order to see everything clearly. Instead of looking back at high school for my values, I should focus on the now and move forward.
But I feel better just having typed out that story here, because I’ve wanted to do it for a couple of months at least. I’ll thank the person I was in high school and say good-bye to her. Here’s to a new start!
