Yesterday I attended the Holistic Spring Fling. The room was filled with self-help booths. There was a personal trainer, yoga teacher, life coach, astrologist, acupuncturist, massage therapist and more. Where to begin!
As much as I love discovering the various holistic health options out there, my guard immediately went up as I spoke to the different people. What are they going to try to sell me? (Tell me about your massage package but let’s go easy on the worldview, mister.) I spoke to a woman who was a feng shui astrologist. I told her my birth year and she gave me my principal number, which was 9 Fire. The qualities for this number are: well-known, bright, inspiring. I’ll take that! I’m best paired with a 4 Wood (Hello there, 1978 boys!) Then there was the personal trainer who has a little machine that would show you your Body Mass Index (fat index!). I was going to do this, but decided not to. I’m in a process of developing a healthy lifestyle on my own terms so I just moved on.
I had heard of Reiki healers and was interested in seeing what Reiki was like. I still don’t completely understand it so I’ll just repeat what their little card said: “REIKI is an ancient hands-on healing art that balances energy, reduces stress, opens up creative blocks, increases focus and productivity, enables the body to heal itself naturally, and creates an overall state of calm.” I sat in a chair and a Reiki healer gently touched my back, head and shoulders. I think I would have to try this more than once to get an idea of what I really think about it. Did I feel calm afterwards because that’s what a Reiki session “should” make me feel? Or did I just feel calm? Not sure.
Then there was the group acupuncture session. The practioner put needles in our ears. She said this was done for victims of Katrina, the Iowa floods, and US veterans, and was supposed to have a very calming effect. It was kind of hilarious though… My friend Jamie must have some really strong chi because the needles continually fell out of her ears. The poor acupuncturist was getting really flustered about it. It was supposed to be this calming environment and there she was whispering “Be really careful. Is it in your sweater? Maybe it got caught in your jeans? There. Now that should do it…” (Another needle falls out.) “This is ridiculous!” Then another lady’s ear began bleeding. She asked the practioner, “Is that a good or a bad thing?” as blood trickled on her chest. The practioner tried to give us some calming smiles. Meanwhile the rest of us were getting ansy, ready to get these needles out of our ears so we could try out some inner peace from the other booths.
The one thing I wanted to try out but didn’t was the Alexander Technique. I have heard a lot of positive feedback from friends who have really benefited from this. Emily Whyte is a friend of Jamie’s, who I attended this event with. She teaches Alexander Technique. One of these days I may have to try it out. (But a gal can only do so much self-improvement at one time!)
Being at this event was a giant reminder of something Dion and I talked about other day. It’s very important during this big self-improvement phase that I am in to truly understand that I am perfectly fine as I am today. None of these things will “fix” me. All of my various life goals are positive, but I have to remember that no matter what happens or how much I “improve” I am fine just as I am in this moment. I felt pretty good at the event, because I knew I wasn’t seeking answers from these sources. I realized that I’m in pretty good shape! I like the path I’m on. That’s a good feeling.
“Getting there.” Hmm. I think part of getting there is learning to just be here: flaws and all, bank statement as it looks, with all the literal and metaphorical dishes in the sink. I’ll get there once I can fully learn to just be right here.
