The Beauty of Settling In

A recurring theme in my life these days is settling in. It would seem that so many things are better if your body is given just a little time to adjust. Today I added yet another example of this.

This first came up in yoga, where my instructor Mariana always advised us to endure 30 seconds of a pose or an itch before moving or scratching. My current teacher Leyla constantly tells us to sink into a pose to experience the benefits of it. I’m sometimes surprised at how different a pose feels when it is repeated or held for a while, after the body accepts it.

My PT guy Quentin had a routine of slowly stretching, releasing, then stretching again, over and over until a muscle finally released. It was almost as though muscles had to be convinced to do what he wanted them to.

My osteopath, Dr. Craddock, uses a similar approach to his approach to therapy. His movements are more subtle as it almost seems like he is looking inside your body to see how things hang together. The pressure he applies is usually not so intense that you want to scream, but it is constant and sustained.

I experienced yet another form of therapy today administered by someone recently trained as a reiki master. Reiki combines the hands-on approach of osteopathy with the transfer of body energy. This powerful energy can be directed at a particular problem area or systematically administered over the whole body. It was one of the most unusual and therapeutic experiences I have every had. There was the perceptible release of energy in the form of heat from the practitioner’s hands in a series of sustained applications that reminded me of a very slow piece of music where all the chords are held and you get a chance to enjoy them before they change.

On a larger level, my last three months have been about settling into retirement. It is my own attempt to hold for a while and then release, hopefully resulting in a life that is more balanced and mindful.