Zen Chick

Zen Chick

Slow down. Simplify. Love your life.

"There is more to life than increasing its speed. Slow down, breathe and enjoy. "

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Archives for May 2014

What The “Pain In Your Back” Is Really Trying To Telling You.

By Gay Barefield Leave a Comment May 31

Emotion always has its roots in the unconscious and manifests itself in the body
~ Irene Claremont de Castillejo

As a massage therapist for 20+ years, I use my eyes more than my ears when I ask a client how they are feeling. Their body tells me the whole story while my client may only give me the “cliff notes.” My ears then listen for the real story as they talk about what is happening in their lives.

Every pain, ache and discomfort has a story to tell which is usually more than the “I did too much yard work or lifted something the wrong way.” Yes these things can cause the issues but when they keep recurring the story line goes a little deeper blending in a mix of emotions to make the story even more interesting.

Making changes in your life can set off those pesky pain triggers, whether it is from a financial worry (lower back/sciatic pain) to feeling like you are carrying the weight of the world (neck and shoulder discomfort) or just good ole resistance (knees/hip pain) telling you that change is a bad idea.

And you thought you just had to worry about the naysayers in your life when you started making changes, right? 

Muscles (my specialty) have memory and a lot to say if we stop long enough to listen especially when you are trying out a new exercise routine and one particular move just doesn’t feel right.

Too much information at one time (different forms of bodywork along with a new exercise routine) can create a situation in your body which resembles the antics of 2 year old toddler, whose favorite word is “No” followed by an unwillingness to do the things you want them to do.

Muscles can only digest little bits of information at a time and when they are full and don’t want to “hear” one more thing, they stomp their little muscle feet and say……”NO.” (which usually results in tighter muscles)

Your body and that “inner critic” voice in your head are in cahoots together too. Yep, if they both think something is not a good idea, they will pull up the emergency brake and put your butt on the couch.

Sound familiar? 

But your body is also the master voice of “gut instinct” (intuition) and that is a voice worth listening to. 

Click to Tweet!

Your body is an amazing thing and there isn’t any technology available that can duplicate all of the wonderful things it can do every second of every day. Most of the time your body knows when there is a problem before you even have a clue and has auto corrected it without you doing anything.

Awwww Apple, the human body can still one up you!

So where do you go from here? Throw up your hands, call it quits giving in to that persistent ache or just bulldoze forward?

Here’s some suggestions:

  • Become a detective and a friend to all of the nuances of your body.
  • Start a conversation, asking your body what it wants and how you can make its job easier.
  • Respect it’s signals and honor its voice.
  • When a pain or ache becomes persistent spend time looking at the whole picture of what’s going on in your life.
  • Stretch and move more (dance even). This keeps things loose and can also help to open up that one little area that won’t quite let go of its tightness.

I hope this has opened your eyes a little more to all the things that affect you and the beautiful body you live in. Now I would love to hear from you in the comment section about how that persistent ache may have awakened you to the real issue in your life.

Share the love of this post with someone in your life that needs to see that a “pain in their back” may have a whole lot more to say.

 

photo credit: Samantha Evans Photography via photopin cc

What Will They Think?

By Gay Barefield Leave a Comment May 17

You have decided to:

  • carve out time for yourself
  • eat healthier and exercise more
  • quit your job
  • write a book
  • start your own business and the list goes on….

Your friends and family think your new changes are a great idea so you are met with a resounding “Good for you!” cheer.

Until you actually start to make those changes………

Then the sabotage and questions start with a relentless force.“Why do you want to do this?” “Have you lost your mind, this is not a good idea?” or “Isn’t that a little selfish of you?”

“What the hell?” you think, “what happened to all of the cheerleaders that thought this was a wonderful idea?” “Why can’t they just be happy for me?”

This can be the point in your pursuit where your journey toward success can come to a screeching halt all because of what other people think.

But wait, it doesn’t have to be this way!

It’s hard when you feel like all of the people around you are not as happy about your changes and you begin to feel that maybe you have decided to do the wrong thing or that it was a bad idea.

Change regardless of how positive it is in our minds is viewed as a death of sorts.

Stay the same = good for them.

Make a change = viewed as a death of the familiar and comfortable. 

When you look at your changes from other peoples’ perspective, you see why they are trying to get you to stop doing something different. It may scare you but it really scares the hell out of them.

Here’s why; you will move forward in your life and they fear that you will leave them behind. Or you will be doing exactly what they wish they could do but their fear of failure is greater than yours.

Either way to your friends and family, staying the same is safe and it keeps you in their “tribe.” But ask yourself truthfully, do you want to stay the same?

Whether your change is a small one like taking more time for yourself or something really big like starting your own business, you will always be faced with the naysayers and those naysayers are going to be some of the people closest to you.

When I announced to my family that I was going to quit my comfortable corporate job and start my own massage business with two kids still at home and a husband who had started his own business 2 months earlier, I got the “Have you lost your mind?” reply.

Did that stop me? No way, it made me more determined to pursue my dream and not look back. I had to believe in myself, my abilities and I found a different support system, the “tribe” that would cheer me on.

That doesn’t mean that you turn your back on your family or your friends but what it does mean is you will start to attract different people into your life, people who can see what you are trying to do because they are making similar changes in their lives.

These people are your new “tribe”, both of you recognize that common drive and share a similar spirit. These are the people that you draw strength from and who keep you going when you feel that you have nothing left to give.

So really does it matter what the others think? Yes it will matter a little but in the bliss of your success what they think will truly become “none of your business.“

Whether they come back to being your cheerleader or not (most will), you my friend were brave enough and strong enough to make some wonderful changes in your life! Good for you!!

I would love to hear from you about a situation in your life where you were faced with the naysayers and how you handled it.

And as always, share the love of this post with someone in your life who may feel no one will support them when they make some changes. Let them know you’ve got their back.

 

photo credit: Nick Kenrick . via photopin

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World Central KitchenWorld Central KitchenI believe that food, shelter and water are basic rights for every human on this planet. Jose’ Andres’ and his WCK group step in to provide beautiful, nutritious food during disasters, the pandemic, and any other opportunity where people need to be fed.Learn More Foothills Humane SocietyFoothills Humane SocietyThis is my local shelter, in Columbus, NC, doing a wonderful job at remaining as close to 100% no kill as possible. Animals make us more human and I believe in adopting not shopping for pets, saving a life with a new beginning.Learn More Trees, Water & People Trees, Water & People Caring for Mother Earth by planting trees, helping people live sustainably and decreasing our carbon footprint are things that I see as very important for the next seven generations.Learn More Lakota Law ProjectLakota Law ProjectI have a strong kinship to Native people and this group works to change many of the injustices done to the first people that still go on today, such as the right to vote.Learn More

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