Obsessive vs. Persistent is a “Core Confusion” - (whereby something looks like something, but it’s really something else & has an entirely different effect.)

Persistence is determined to achieve a goal of some kind by any means necessary.

Twenty years ago, I started working with my first teacher; I was 29. She was mild-tempered, extremely chill & with a tall-ish but petite build … but make no mistake about it, her bodywork was vicious. On more then one occasion, I left with the hinges of my jaw swollen & looking like a pit bull ... on those days my dinner consisted of a protein shake, enjoyed with a straw.

What does it feel like? Bodywork aimed at deep healing feels like an adventurous process where you’re reconnecting with numb, tight, disconnected, restricted & painful parts of your body. It aims to help you return to suppleness within your muscles, limberness to your joints & the biggest connection coming from all the feelings you’ve been storing inside as they come pouring out.

The kind of therapeutic bodywork that I do is not for everyone. It’s very specialized & by design, it’s always a challenge. No matter if it’s your first time or you’ve had hundreds of sessions like myself, one can always expect to be challenged just beyond their comfort zone - that’s where the transformation occurs.

Feeling discomfort from the bodywork helps connect you with other kinds of pain you’ve long since forgotten about.

⚡️Just because we’re getting criticized, doesn’t mean the information is correct. Relax yourself & try to to hear what’s underneath the criticism; it might just have to do with their own struggle.

⚡️Regardless if it’s true or not, become bulletproof & learn to be able to hear whatever it is regardless if it’s true or not.

“Love is an interruption in the direction you thought you were headed.”

Since meeting my lady & being blind-sided by love during quarantine, part of my healing path has been to let go of the vision for having a family that I held for much of my life & to celebrate the life I didn’t expect. This came as a surprise, but it also brought some clarity.

There are so many different kinds of noise.

There’s the physical noise of traffic, cars honking, people yelling & talking on cell phones.

There’s also the friends & family noise, constantly chirping at how we should & should not be & what we should & should not do with our lives.

Let’s not forget about the Covid-19 & political noise.

Life can sometimes be difficult to navigate and we definitely live in a crazy world. One thing that has helped me, and might make finding your way easier for you, is thinking about a construct of "freedom" vs. "survival."

Imagine it as being on one side of a train track versus the other. One moment you’re in freedom: making decisions and moving along your merry way.

Don't judge your communications solely based on how it feels, base it off of whether you're engendering others' support or repelling it. Ask for feedback from credible sources if you can't tell the difference.

Many people judge whether they are communicating effectively based on whether it feels good or not.

This is a terrible idea…

We’ve been saturated in the reporting of fear for 18 months; and despite our viewpoints on COVID-19, or the varying fear level each of us may have about it, everyone was connected to it.

This time period pushed people to connect with deeper fears within themselves that go far beyond the shutdown. Each of us had our own individual portal through which we were forced to face our fears.

Now that COVID-19 restrictions of all kinds are being lifted, how do we navigate integrating back into this new wild world?

The first thing to do, is to see the climate we are entering back into clearly.

An entertaining example of what we’re dealing with would be NBA basketball.

“If the Germ theory of disease were true, there’d be no one living to believe it.” - B.J. Palmer, the creator of Chiropractic.

Now, more than ever, the way this country thinks about health & healing needs a radical transformation.

Germs, microorganisms & cancer are not enemies to be fought against ...

The young daughter of my first teacher was asked “what do your mom & Harold do in those sessions?” To which she responded, “Oh, they figure out life together - he cries, yells & laughs a lot.” ... 20 years later, not much has changed, other than now I’m doing it with others. Life is good.

I thrive in the player/coach construct; I don’t know any other way to live ... nor would I want to.

About a month ago, Lindsay & I headed out to Denver to visit her folks & to celebrate her father’s 85th birthday. We had the best time hanging out & it gave me another chance to spend time & get to know them. I also snuck in a chance to connect with her father & ask permission of him to marry his daughter ...

Our bodies don’t let us down, we let our bodies down.

Going through life thinking that your body let you down is a poor way to live. Whether it’s an illness, some kind of body pain, or something aesthetically unpleasant about it, this kind of a narrative is not going to serve us well.

How well do you think the body will respond & function with this type of attitude toward it?

Everyone likes to be acknowledged, why would the body would be any different?

At our core, everyone likes to be seen, heard & acknowledged. It can be uncomfortable to be seen in certain ways or circumstances, especially in those moments of great shame. But it’s my opinion that we deeply appreciate it none the less.

Should I get a vaccine or not?

Should I invest in that company or not?

Should I marry her or not?

A lot of people are scared to make the wrong decision of whether to get the vaccine or not & I don’t blame them one bit.

For a long time, I’ve understood health & healing in a different way than that of Western medicine. Part of that came from my education under the tutelage of old school chiropractors who were deeply educated in a way that seldom gets taught these days in the profession. ⁣⁣Some of those differences included the efficacy of vaccines, the meteoric rise of childhood vaccine schedule, as well as the long-term problems that arise from relying on antibiotics & pain meds. ⁣⁣

Despite what you’ve been told, trauma does not go away. Regardless of the hype-marketing by some good looking instagram guru or coach, don’t be fooled into thinking you can get rid of it.

I’m not going to go into the science of why that is, but what I will say is that trauma is embedded in our Central Nervous System.