Session 1: Introduction

+ Introduction

WELCOME MY FRIEND, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.

So! Here we are, looking to explore the nature of reprogramming your body and how you move, to allow you to understand and then to expand the limits of your capabilities.

It is obvious that what is important to humanity right now is a sense of clarity, a sense of guidance within themselves about what’s important, and how best to go about dealing with and purifying, in a sense, those habits, assumptions, and patterns of thought and action that result in, let’s say, a less than optimal way of life.

Depression, fear, anxiety, sadness, you name it.

One of the biggest obstacles for most people in realizing a stable, lasting, and expanding sense of well-being, happiness, joy, empowerment, is the condition of their body, and most doctor visits in the west are due to back pain or some similar chronic ailment.

Chronic pain results in addiction to painkillers, sensed loss of freedom, arguments and broken families, and rank disempowerment at a foundational level.

And so I feel called to offer what I can, which are distillations of direct experience on the nature of how to recondition your nervous system in simple, accessible, and potent practices.

The movements and frameworks which you will apply stem from the yogic traditions of the east, which are all very well documented for injury recovery and the like, but not of this really originates anywhere, or has a source as such, it is simply the way that we apply our consciousness to the bodymind vehicle and move in this reality.

When applied, the principles of the coming videos, within a couple weeks, will enable you to, if you are dealing with chronic pain of any sort, let’s say from a ruptured disc, or sciatica, or have an injury that seems to limit and restrict your agency in some way, to reprogram the very way in which your bodymind’s unconscious conditioned responses to movement and activity.

This direct application of your will and intent over the course of your personal practice will result in complete and total recovery to the extent that you desire and to the extent that it is relevant for you.

Everything is possible. Understand that a ruptured disc, however, will take far less time than a broken back to effect recovery, but the same level of diligence and awareness is required.

You will be teaching yourself new ways to move, and habituating them. This can take some time, but usually, far less than you might think.

It is my intention in these videos to provide you with a foundational understanding of how to first become aware of the subtle aspects and finer points of your body, to apply that increased bodily awareness to develop your spine, and, if you are dealing with chronic pain of any sort, to empower you to live your life to the fullest extent possible, given the nature of the damage.

The material is focused on the spine and back pain in particular, but the principles are the same anywhere in the body, and you will be exploring the rest of your bodymind.

Through personal practice, you will be teaching yourself principles that can be applied anywhere, so if you have shoulder pain or knee pain, this is still 100% relevant and directly applicable.

The first and most important lesson is that you have to believe that complete and total recovery from any injury or ailment is possible.

Now, you might not grow a new arm, for example, but the limitation that a lost arm brings can be almost entirely circumvented. So, too, even chronically debilitating ailments of any kind.

Pain is a signal. Information. Nothing more, nothing less. Over the course of the following videos, we will peek behind the curtain a little, so to speak , and you will explore a little about anatomy, and to apply that knowledge to yourself.

At certain points, you will need a little space to move around, which should be expected of a series that empowers you to be more physically effective, as well as natural for anything that results in growth.

So welcome, I’m very excited to come along with you for this.

+ Treatment

Most doctor visits in the West are due to back pain.

It’s not hard to see why: the spine is the central point of all movement, and often, whether through neglect, ignorance, or sheer ‘bad luck’ (which isn’t a thing, but that’s beyond the scope of this course), someone herniates a disc, pinches a nerve, etc.

The major consequence of this is limited movement as a result of pain, which can result in curtailed physical ability. However, an often passed over element of this is the mental/emotional undercurrents that influence recovery and, perhaps even more importantly, hamper that person’s growth and development as an individuated expression of Consciousness and Being.

Let’s say you picked up a sofa with bad form and twisted something, or maybe worked out a little too hard and something went pop! What’s your natural reaction? Everyone says, “go to the doctor.”

Which is great advice—doctors are there for a reason. When faced with something we think beyond us and our capabilities to handle on our own, it’s only natural to seek help, and the medical establishment has access to a lot of resources, geared ostensibly at making you better.

So you have a choice to go seek treatment, and depending on what the issue is, you’ll be given a few options: medication, physical therapy, chiropractor, etc. Maybe even surgery.

Sometimes, people will visit an acupuncturist or a massage therapist, and find some relief for a time. These are all very beneficial—sciatic nerve pain is no joke, and I know from personal experience how limiting a ruptured disc can be.

The problem with all that is two-fold: 1) by and large, they are about management, and 2) the doctor is not you.

The diagnosis therefore is and must be fundamentally limited, however effective and efficient. The amount of information required to effectively narrow down your issue, with respect to your unique constitution and make up, literally cannot be transmitted with words.

Only you will ever feel the pain and triumphs that you go through. All someone else can provide is their best guess, based off averages. And while this is all very efficient, the effectiveness is still hampered by the one thing that is not an average: you.

You are the thing that needs to change, and if you have a serious injury, that might mean lifestyle changes, it might mean diet changes, it might mean any number of things. What I teach is to work around and with a back injury, not against it.

You will learn the limits of your movement, and experientially understand how your body itself needs to change, as well as how to retrain your nervous system to accept these changes.

This will empower you to continue living you life to the fullest expression of your incredible and infinite being. An injury is not a limitation, nor should it ever be. The events and circumstances of our lives don’t mean a thing; only what we do with them matters.

+ So what to do about it?

Living in a drug-induced fog is fun for many people.

It has to be, otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing it. I am assuming, however, that you are interested in taking responsibility for your own well-being, in whatever form that takes.

If you didn’t have that energy, you wouldn’t be here right now, watching this, for which I first want to thank and congratulate you for taking this step on your journey to truly owning your being and letting a complete, honest expression of your self be felt in this wonderful creation.

I also want to add that I suggest staying away from the medical establishment as such, in fact, quite the opposite, instead rather that you should take the reins of your own life in hand, and stop surrendering your power to other peoples’ opinions, however well-intentioned, well-qualified, or well-paid.

A ruptured disc between the L4 and L5 may seem to impose massive limitations on your ability to move and operate in the world; I say ‘seems to’ because whenever one door closes, another opens. That’s just how life works. Deal with it. Or not, and be a victim of yourself.

Either way, as a creator of your own life, and a co-creator with all the rest of us, it is up to you to find the extents of your capabilities, and, wherever possible, expand those boundaries. I encourage you to take the following lessons seriously, and with genuine effort, while keeping in mind that only you know how hot your oven needs to be, so to speak.

So all that said, I want to welcome you to the next phase of your growth, and to the start of this deceptively simple yet highly empowering series. I hope to see you next time. Until then, have a beautiful, happy day.

+ Exercise 1: Body Scan

To be done while sitting down.

This is called “ujjayi” breath, or “Ocean-sounding” breath.

Go ahead, try it now as I describe it, familiarize yourself with it. Breathe into your chest, slightly constrict the back of your throat, like you are fogging a mirror.

Now close your mouth and breathe through the nose, while still constructing the back of your throat.

What this will do is steady your breathing, slow down the pace of your breath, and at a surface level—the surface is very important—allow you to better synchronize your body’s movements with your breath. It lowers blood pressure, increases concentration, and lowers heart rate. It’s very relaxing.

Much like everything else in this series, this lays the foundations for more advanced means of deepening your understanding of and relationship to your body.

Once the waves of the ocean are stilled, the deeper currents can be better navigated. What Ujjayi breathing does is to slow down the waves, letting you iron out the kinks a little more efficiently.

Find an open location with clean airflow, free from bugs and dust, and set aside the next twenty minutes or so to really let this lesson settle in.

Hold each posture for three to five breaths, and take a deep breath between the end and the beginning of each posture. Remember to body scan with every breath and then to, if your awareness becomes centered on a particular location, observe the location if not the tension itself, witness the tension, allow it to be, and then to identify any other possibilities for holding yourself in that position.

Allow your body to find the natural, restful ease in each pose.

Remember: listen to your body and open your awareness.

Notice the pulse of each pose as you make micro-movements with the breath.

Holding postures will not become rigid if the adept continues to breathe deeply and is aware of the undulating wave this sends through the whole body.

Guide your movements with your breath, and feel good.

+ Implementation: Body Scan & Breathing

Relax and come to center.

Relax the thinking mind and allow your awareness to rest on your breathing.

Imagine you are fogging a mirror with your breath: slightly constrict your throat and breath into your chest, your back, and to the sides.

This is called “ujjayi” breathing, ocean-sounding breath.

As more of your attention focuses on your breathing, sink your awareness down into your feet.

Close your eyes, if you haven’t already, and spread your toes wide, lift them high and activate your arches.

Notice any tension, any tightness.

Notice, too, any aliveness, any energy.

Try to feel your pulse in your feet, then farther up your legs, bring your awareness to your calves, noticing any strain in your knees, your thighs.

You’re not trying to change anything yet, you’re just checking in.

Feel the pressure of the ground or your chair pressing up against your feet, your hips, and take a deep breath in, and then exhale.

Notice your balance across your hips, and on your next inhale breathe into your lower belly, noticing any stiffness, and exhale.

With each breath, move up your body, up your spine, down your arms, to your hands, your shoulders, your neck, and to the finer features of your face.

Eyes, nose, lips, jaw, ears, forehead, scalp.

Take one more deep breath, running your awareness over your entire body once more, quickly, then exhale, nd open your eyes.

+ Review

With very little practice, a body scan can take less than a single breath.

Try not to rush through it, as awareness is your foundation, and proficiency allows for much more advanced scans later on (for most people, a dip-check on your emotional state and how it relates to tension in your body requires more than a three-second scan, at first).

What you can expect: a three-phase, self-directed course. There will be video instructionals that you can follow along with.

The videos build on each other, and at the end of each phase there will be a review. While there is some text to go through, I find that these video lessons are the most effective way of developing a relationship with the injury.

I will avoid most technical jargon in favor of direct experiential knowledge of your own body. An intellectual understanding of kyphosis or herniation is all well and good, but there is a very real tendency to rely solely on intellectual understanding, and, given our conditioning, to use that knowledge as a setpiece for holding ourselves back from truly embracing what we are capable of.

Again, only you know the nature of your own body. Only you are experiencing what you are experiencing right now. No one else.

This course is done at the pace of your own body. While it’s important to let yourself press against your limits, it’s just as important that you keep from pressing yourself too hard.

I find that as you find a little progress, and something begins to work, as you become more familiar with the limits of your pain, you can become very excited and want to start pushing your body beyond where it is comfortable.

Only you know the limitations of your body, and any limitations you want to admit. You are about to establish a new baseline and relationship with something that will always be there with you.

Might as well make it a friend, a good thing in your life, instead of something to fear and avoid.

+ Homework

At least 10 times over the next 24 hours and before beginning the next lesson, take three deep breaths and do a body scan from toe to crown. Observe any changes over time. Is your body always the same? What differs? Where are you breathing—your belly? Your chest?

Pay attention to your breathing during these little stops. Was it erratic, before? What was your emotional state, prior to stopping? Is there an environmental stressor that triggers any pain, or memories of any old injuries, perhaps even one you’re beginning to address right now?

Remember that awareness is the start of any change you want to make in your life. Awareness is the core of your being; it’s the central axis around which you revolve.

While this may seem like a simple exercise, I assure you that it is the most important piece of anything you might learn about your body/mind interface.

If you take nothing else away from this course, remember the body scan.