Come Home to Yourself Newsletter

A Note from Theresa

Hi {!firstname_fix},

At the beginning of each year, I reflect on what quality or relationship I need to cultivate for my personal and professional growth. This year, I made a commitment to deepen my relationship with Spirit. Over the years, my connection to Spirit has waxed and waned, in my twenties and early thirties it was almost non-existent. At age thirty-three, I experienced a gnawing emptiness inside me and the sense that something was missing in my life. This feeling ultimately moved and awakened me to Spirit. Opening up to Spirit, I could feel myself be drawn down a different path and felt the call to become a Rubenfeld Synergist. Feeling this movement and going with it, instead of against it, allowed me to

discover something new and connected me more deeply to myself.

Movement is the foundation of learning. How we move in our bodies is how we move in our lives. Listening to the stirrings of our soul, allowing the energy of our e-motions to flow through us and noticing how we move our body in relationship to others are all paths that lead us home to ourselves. Are you listening to the movement within?

Warmly,

Theresa

Feature Article

Yielding To The Push of Movement

Recently, I attended a somatic psychotherapy workshop in NYC taught by Ruella Frank, PhD. Her unique approach to psychotherapy is based on her exploration of early infant movement patterns and their relationship to the adult. These patterns are intrinsic to human development and can be fostered or interrupted by the primary caregiver/s and effect other areas of development. She has categorized these movements as such; yield, push, reach, grasp and pull. Learning about this movement-oriented relational approach fascinated me. What has stayed with me is the experience of yield and its relationship to push.

In our culture push and reach are held in high esteem while yield is so often belittled. We have all heard the phrases "no pain, no gain" and "push it to the limit". These words have a noble cause and are intended to motivate, to move us, but what happens in your body when you continually live in the push. Too much push creates stress, tension and exhaustion. What about reach? You want to "reach for the stars", but what happens when you yield to the earth?

To yield is to rest. Imagine an infant yielding into her mother's loving arms. The child's body softens. Yield is also synonymous with surrender. "Never give up, never surrender" were the words spoken by Tim Allen in the movie Galaxy Quest. Is life all about winning or can you yield as a path to peace?

To walk our knee must yield as our foot pushes off the ground. One foot yields into the ground and anchors us while the other foot pushes off propelling us through space, an exquisite balance of push and yield, stability and flexibility.

This week, during a session, my client became aware of a tightening through the center of her chest and abdomen. She sensed that underlying this tension was sadness. She said, "I try to push that feeling away." I suggested she yield to her sadness. "I think I should be able to control the comings and goings of my feelings and when I can't I feel like there's something wrong with me." Shifting her relationship to her feelings, she compared them to an on-coming car, "I can't stop the car, but I can yield and let it pass".

I am reminded of the Taoist concept of non-doing when I consider yield. This act of non-action is gentle, observant and allowing. How curious it then is that yield also means to produce as in "the field yielded many bushels of corn". It may appear that I am pushing "yield". I am not. Yielding habitually makes us feel resentful, angry and victimized. Like Yin and Yang they must co-exist.

As a Synergist I teach my clients to listen to their bodies and yield to how the body wants to move instead of what so many of us do, which is to push our body further than it wants to go. Yielding to how our body wants to move may mean pushing, reaching, grasping, pulling, kicking, jumping, etc. I invite you to explore the relationship between yield and push in your body.

Quote of the Month

Water is fluid, soft and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and

cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever

is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.

Lao-Tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Theresa Recommends

Exploring the Movements of "Push and "Yield"

Find a quiet place in your home and lie down with your back on the floor. (I prefer carpet, but you can also place a mat or towel on a wood floor).

Notice how your body makes contact with the floor. Imagine soft sand beneath you and notice the impression your body creates. Take an mental snap shot of this impression.

Experiment with pushing into the floor and yielding to the floor. Notice what happens in your body with each experience.

Prepare to slowly roll your body on to your right side. Notice where in your body you need to push and yield to roll over.

Continue exploring "push" and "yield" by slowly rolling on to your stomach, then slowly on to your left side and then slowly return to lying on your back.

Notice if the impression in the "sand" is any different.

Did you yield to the movement of your body or did you push your body through the movements?

Email me and let me know what you discover!

About Theresa

Theresa Pettersen-Chu, CRS®

Theresa is known for "building solid foundations of self-worth". Her personal foundation is built upon a deep belief in the goodness of humanity and in the power of love and compassion to heal the human spirit. Guided by her beliefs, Theresa assists her clients in discovering the value and goodness of themselves and the bodies they live in.

Theresa is a Certified Rubenfeld Synergist®, Certified Rubenfeld Synergy® Mentor and faculty member of the Rubenfeld Synergy Training Program.

She has a Bachelor's Degree in psychology and completed eight years of post-graduate work in the Rubenfeld Synergy Training Program. For over five years she has served as a Board Member of the International Association of Rubenfeld Synergists.

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