Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation

Excellent Relationship Astrology Discussion continued

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This is a continuation from a previous post. Go back and read that one first. This post is in progress. Over the next few days more will be written. 🙂

Why do relationships occasionally come to people who are wholly unprepared for one? Or which aspects do I look at to see a potential romantic relationship coming my way?

This was an interesting question! For someone who knows astrology well, then a new relationship possibility would not be a huge surprise. You can look at any number of aspects in the Timing Charts (Transit Chart, Secondary Progressed Chart, etc) to see whether there will be a possible romantic tryst (if you are into that kind of thing) or a more serious potential partnering.

These aspects include Progressed Venus conjunct Natal / Pr Mars, Natal / Pr Sun, Natal / Pr Moon (at these times love will be in the air for two to three years so you would look at shorter Transit aspects to actually see “when”). Progressed Mars in the Natal 7th house is when we have a lot of energy and drive to partner up – especially closer to the Descendant. Pr Mars will be in the 7th house for up to 50 years… so the first 10 degrees of that house are more poignant in this case. Having an accurate birth time makes a big difference in cases like these.

I wrote an entire post on marriage aspects in astrology. Go back and read through the astrology category or search marriage aspects for more on this topic.

If we have done A LOT of work on ourselves, then Transiting Saturn entering the 7th house can indicate a time of a romantic relationship deepening. More commitment, more responsibility, more discipline required to keep it a harmonious relationship. But still quite possibly a healthy, happy, lively relationship!

There are other aspects – lots of them – that indicate a time of potential pairing or even of juicy short love affairs… better to work with a skillful astrologer to discern what and when. 🙂

Keep in mind what I mention on that first article / post – if we resist meeting someone, if we do not put the causes and conditions into place to meet a potential partner, then we might be able to resist these astrological suggestions.

Is a relationship set in stone? Regarding the dynamic between the two people?

In other words, are the ways of relating between two people stuck or fixed OR subject to change and mutability?

The immediate answer to this question of course is “No.” However, there are a number of people who are “stuck in a rut” or many people say “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So only if we are willing to acknowledge that there might be an issue, or I might have a blind spot, or that suppressed emotion is starting to really get in the way of my giving and receiving love… then we can make changes, work on improving ourselves and therefore shift the relationship to a better place. If we can peel ourselves away from self-grasping and focus on how can I make my partner’s life better today? Then this will make things change really quickly.

The Composite Chart is set in stone – it is like the Natal Chart for the relationship. So if two people have serious quarreling for years on end.. then that might be the baseline. But Progress (progression) happens, change is inevitable. But it might not be fast enough if there are too many problems in the relationship.

Being more flexible, adaptable, open, curious, spacious and having a sense of wonder of what this day will bring will help. How will I be pleasantly surprised today? How can I joyfully surprise my partner today?

Why are we attracted to some people but not others?

I do not claim to know much about the mechanisms of karma. However, we can often see attraction in the birth chart. There are many aspects that reveal this.

For starters, one of the hottest (spiciest, juiciest, etc) aspects between two charts is Mars square Venus – whether synastry or in the composite chart. This is one square the works real good. “Oh you mean there is tension between my conquering warrior and your delicate damsel, oh my…” (Don’t worry this won’t get X-rated. I hope.)

But there are some interesting aspects for attraction as well. Jupiter trine / sextile / conjunct Mars – a fun playful flirtatious competition; Jupiter / Venus – this may not be hot passion but it will mean you two are very generous and kind with each other.

There are the soul mate aspects (I’ll just leave this one blank on purpose. Some cards need to stay close to my chest. Message me for a personalized interpretation. My site is http://www.mkirbymoore.com)

Pluto / Mars aspects when soft are pretty amazing. There might be fireworks. If hard aspects, attempt to be gentle!

There is even the weird mother / oedipus attraction piece of Mars in aspect to the Moon. Especially if it is a male / female relationship and it is his Mars / her Moon. This can be another piece in the attraction puzzle. But I wouldn’t base a long-term relationship on it.

Is there one karmic pre-destined person for us to be with?

The answer to this question is “No.” I believe that there might be a primary relationship with whom we have a strong karmic connection, someone who will provoke us enough to grow and mature and ripen. With that said however, if I choose not to be with that person (for any number of reasons), then I also believe that there are many secondary relationships out there which will also poke and prod us into growth and evolving for the better.

Actually, different people will inspire or reflect what we need to see / feel / experience in order to work through some deep psycho-spiritual issue. And different people will reflect different aspects or levels or ages of what we need. Here is an example:

I am currently dating a woman who has a four year old daughter. The woman I’m dating is just wrapping up a divorce. (They signed the separation agreement long before we started dating – I made sure of this. No need to commit any sexual misconduct!) When I started seeing her, her daughter was three and a half years old.

This current relationship I’m in, which is going really well by the way, was the perfect catalyst for me to see how wounded I was by my own parents’ divorce (which I was three and a half years old!). Previously I thought most of my unmet needs / wounds came from a difficult birth… (I have done a lot of work on myself btw.)

Now, having brought this unconscious wound(s) to the surface, I lean into support as I work to resource my little 3 and 4 year old parts, I repair his / my nervous system / brain and I work to slow things down. Because the big ball of emotions was too overwhelming for a three-year-old nervous system at the time. Now we can skillfully, patiently, compassionately and gently untangle that big psycho-spiritual knot!

In conclusion, there may be several people who reflect different things I need to work on. I am very happy and content being in this current relationship. But say I had chosen differently 6-8 months ago, I might be with someone else who reflects another unconscious part of me that need healing.

Why does it seem that some people can’t resist being with their partners?

This was another interesting question! Are we compelled to be with someone? People sometimes talk about irresistible lust. And when we are younger, and the reproductive hormones are flowing mightily through our veins, then maybe it might seem irresistible. But for most rational people, we always have a choice.

It might seem we are “fated” to be with someone – always bumping into them at the store, being in class with them all the time, sharing the same spiritual path, or whatever. But if we can meditate, if we can peel our minds away from the groove we have started making – about how they are the perfect partner or about how they will solve all our problems – go for a walk in nature, spend time gazing at the vast sky, go for a trip to physically get separation from them – then we would see that it really is a choice.

If you feel you need to be with someone, then go for it. I am not saying not to! If you feel the irresistible urge to partner / be near them / romance them, then there is probably a reason. Learn from them. Grow with them. Practice generosity! And on a different note…

Being aware of our early unmet needs and developmental wounds is very important. Because this is what causes this magnetic attraction. As an example, the abandoned part of me will be fulfilled by the giving assertive part of you. And if my early developmental unmet needs template matches up very closely with yours, then it will feel like the “perfect match!” But in reality, it can be unconscious forces at work.

And of course it might be the case that we have a strong positive healthy karmic connection to someone or maybe multiple someones. And in this case, we feel drawn toward them, we love spending time with them, it feels like we grow or get fed by being with them. Then this is very positive and healthy! Go with it!

So if we have done a lot of work on ourselves. If we are pretty clear about our psycho-spiritual drives and needs, then we can go into a relationship with less unconscious yearning (inappropriate feelings of will-you-take-care-of-my-little-one?). Then we can have a co-creating, inspiring, supportive, spacious, reliable, committed, generous, light, lively, spontaneous, grounded partnership! Yay!

Is there a monastic signature in the birth chart? When you see this, you might think to yourself, yes this individual (at least on some level) does not want to be in a romantic relationship this lifetime?

Whether it is personal choice or due to our karma… if you see someone with Venus in the 12th house and in Virgo, then unfortunately (sorry folks) relationships might not be easy for that person. This could also be true for Venus in Scorpio – although for a different reason. Venus in Scorpio in the 12th house could be more on the scheming / manipulative side and therefore have trouble keeping relationships as a result.

But even this combination is not a life sentence of being alone. We must take into account aspects! Jupiter trine either of these Venuses in the 12th house and maybe they will benefit quite nicely from a relationship (and benefit their partner(s)).

So yes there could be a monastic signature, but it is complex. A good astrologer can help you to sort this out.

Excellent Relationship Astrology Discussion

Yesterday, as I drove home from a Dharma teaching in the Tidewater region (about 2.5 hours away from home), I had the good fortune to be questioned by a friend and Tibetan scholar about how does relationship astrology work? He grew up as a monk but gave up his robes and vows around the age of 23.

This is going to be a post in progress. So if you come back, you can read more over the next few days. 🙂

First off, what is relationship astrology? What in particular do you look at in the astrology chart?

Relationship astrology in general refers to looking at two people’s charts and comparing them, using the synastry between them and sometimes even creating a new chart of the relationship called the Composite Chart. With that said, first we will look at how we can see someone’s relationship needs from their own Natal Chart – their birth horoscope.

All of the planets, signs and houses in the astrology chart can play a role in relationship astrology, however Venus and Mars would be the best place to look first. Venus represents what we want (what do we desire?) in the simplest explanation, and Mars represents how we go about getting what we want.

This sounds very straight forward right? Well, astrology is a very complex topic. So it isn’t that simple. For instance, Venus’ sign can tell you a bit about how the person will like to love and be loved. It will tell you about their sensuality level, their passion or lack thereof, what kind of aesthetics they prefer, are they more romantic, do they like to take their time, how do they like to be wined and dined, etc. But here is the catch – so will the house position of Venus, so will the aspects to Venus, so will planets in the 2nd and 7th houses of the birth chart… Are you getting how intricate and interconnected astrology (in general and relationship astrology in particular) can be?

Likewise, Mars’ sign will tell you how assertive someone will be, how competitive, how driven, how direct, how aggressive, how passionate, how sensual, how romantic, how sexually driven, etc. And likewise so will the house placement, the aspects to Mars and planets in the 1st or 8th house.

Either of these planets aspecting Uranus, Neptune or Pluto will tack on an entire new level of dynamic twists and turns to either Mars or Venus. People have written entire books about each of these planets alone.. so I won’t go too deep here. Saturn or Jupiter in aspect to either relational planet will have different unique effects and persuasions.

Relationship astrology – why do some people yearn for a relationship really hard but never get one?

First of all, we are social creatures, so pretty much all people need social contact. Ideally we like to touch and be touched (consensual, comfortable, loving, appropriate touch), we want to be seen and heard and appreciated. But how much touching do we enjoy? Are we a Type A personality – driven, muscling through, a “no pain, no gain” type? Or are we more laid back? Are we more sensitive? And does that affect our romantic needs? (It often does!)

The first place to look is at the Natal Venus. The sign and house placement will tell you A LOT about the individual’s needs in relationships – and possibly if they even want one at all. By the way, it is rare for someone to be totally averse to any type of romantic relationship (see the last question below). Even if someone has less sexual hunger, we still get lonely and benefit from human contact!

Venus in the 2nd house will be different from Venus in the 5th and very different from the 12th house! So house position is quite important. The sign plays a major role, and alas, so do aspects to Venus.

The astrology chart is a reflection of our gross karma. So if someone has abused their power in relationships in the past (lives), then it is possible they will have poor relationship karma. But keep in mind that karma is not permanent – it can be transformed. If you have a spiritual practice, it can be transformed even faster. Negative karma can be worked off as it were.

Also we need to put the causes and conditions into place. If we are abrasive and angry, then we need to work on ourselves before we could possibly attract a harmonious relationship! And the conditions involve meeting people. There might be a great partner out there for us, but if we are too scared to go out, or to try GreenSingles or MeetMindful or other legit dating sites, then we might successfully avoid them for a while.

But the key is to work on yourself first. I told my mother back when I was 20 that I was going to work on improving myself so that down the road I could attract a good partner. That is how you can be prepared. If we don’t work on ourselves, then the “universe” (or really our inner need reflected in an outer person) will send someone who really triggers us around our blind spots.

To answer this question… be wary when you see the word “never.” You can be more prepared by working on yourself. Especially work to resource your inner developmental parts – this work is done via Birth Process Work (PPN Work), EMDR, Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS), some Somatic Experiencing if the practitioner is really experienced and a few other modalities.

Why do we need to be aware of our developmental needs and unmet needs? Because this is what gets stirred up as soon as we get intimate with someone – we go straight back to our attachment style with our caretakers. This is true when we start having sex with someone and especially when we start living with someone. So do repair work for your little one. 🙂

Then you will have less unconscious stuff to be triggered by! And we will have much more psychic energy to put into creativity and joy!

To be continued in the next post!

Thank you for reading!

Craniosacral Therapy is often a spiritual experience

Overview – this post will blend spiritual awareness of higher states of being with the experience of Craniosacral Therapy (CST). I have been practicing CST since 2005 (biodynamic CST and biomechanics CST), I have done lots of meditation, attended multiple Dharma teachings and retreats and done a number of Womb Surround Birth Process Workshops. In other words, I have a unique background as a spiritual practitioner and bodyworker.

What is Craniosacral Therapy? There are two lineages (primarily – although there are also classes taught by osteopaths as in cranial osteopathy): biodynamic CST and biomechanical CST.

What is Biodynamic CST? This is more recent of the two. It comes from the principle that everyone has inherent health in their systems. There is even an inherent health plan in our being. And as practitioner, we connect to this inherent health – the health which is never lost. We reinforce it, strengthen it, spend time with it, nurture it and provide a safe container for it to become more robust. This is the more subtle of the two systems which has its benefits and drawbacks.

My personal preference these days is Biodynamic CST hands down! The altered state you get into when your Cranial Rhythm goes into long tide (the most regenerative of the 3 rhythms) is indescribable. It is liquid potency, warm, clarity, luminous, robust, healing, boundary-strengthening, etc. So potent!

What is Biomechanical CST? Primarily started by DO John Upledger, this system has protocols where the practitioner shifts parts of the body – whether diaphragms in the torso, bones in the pelvis or cranial bones – while the client often goes into a healing trance. Less subtle of the two types, but it has its benefits – especially with working with first time CST clients. (They do not benefit from the extremely subtle work right away.) Some types of birth trauma benefit more from biomechanical CST as well.

Having access to both lineages of CST is helpful – then we have more tools to work with different types of individuals!

Resonance – Resonance is the ability of a practitioner to feel in their body what a client is noticing in their own body. Over time, this begins to happen. Especially if we are doing our own work, leading a clean and healthy lifestyle and keeping our psycho-spiritual body in harmony. As one of my teacher’s says, “get your hands on a 1000 bodies as a bodyworker and you would be surprised how much you can feel.” This allows me to track what is happening in my client’s bodies as we are doing the session. (It also allows me to make certain that they are staying present with the session if that is their intention. Dissociation has a certain feel to it and I can bring people back if they start to check out.) I must admit, it is fun to notice this next part happening for my clients – because then it is almost always a spiritual experience as well as a pleasant and healing bodywork session.

What is the brahma aperture? 8 finger widths above the hairline, the 7th chakra, it signifies connection to Source and greater intuition. Let’s unpack this a bit. The brahma aperture is the crown chakra, the heavenly gate. It is the “door” we want to leave through at the time of death – which leads to higher rebirths. As it is connected to the pineal gland, it is highly associated with our innate intuition and guidance, along with our connection to Source and our Higher Selves. We want to have this gate open.

However, there are many reasons why this gate is closed off. It can be physical – one aspect of the compression of birth is that the vomer bone gets jammed up (the bone above the hard palate in the mouth leading up toward that said crown chakra). It can be emotional – if we learn to sweep emotions under the carpet and continue to do so into our adult years, then there is a good chance we are not willing to see aspects of the truth, we are not willing to face our truth, which keeps our Higher Self effectively hidden. It is also closed for psycho-spiritual reasons – if we have a significant amount of negative karma, we must work to purify said karma before we can hope to open this heavenly gate. One way of doing that purification is through meditation or chanting mantras (having an appropriate spiritual guide is necessary for both of these to be efficacious).

CST – both Biodynamic and Biomechanical – can lead to the opening of the brahma aperture. Now, this is not a light concept that I am presenting. This has amazing ramifications – so read on! I’m not saying CST will open our central channel (a subtle energy body component that meditators are working to clear and work with). I am saying that CST is one condition to open the crown chakra once the causes to do so have been established. And opening the crown chakra (often for the first time) feels like someone opening a sunroof. Light and openness start to pour in.

There are a number of techniques in various Craniosacral therapy protocols that can lead to the opening of the brahma aperture. Including working with the vomer, the CV4 technique and more.

This sounds like it is too good to be true. And actually it might be. But hear me out. When we put the causes and conditions into place, the results will be guaranteed to follow. So these spiritual benefits of CST do not come about out of thin air. Rather, there is a reason some people love CST so much and others get very little from it.

In my experience, people who meditate a lot are doing a lot of psycho-spiritual purification as it were. They are moving their spiritual bodies along the path at an accelerated pace compared to non-meditators. However, we still need to keep the physical body in good shape, in harmony. This is where yoga or qigong or bodywork comes in.

Someone who has done a lot of personal growth work on themselves but has not encountered the conditions to shift their physical body out of old patterns, will remain stuck for a long time. But when they encounter the conditions to release old habits and patterns, they are willing to do their personal growth work, they are yearning to change. Then change via Craniosacral Therapy is easy. Their cranial bones can start to spread and the sutures between those bones can become lubricated as the bones start to float and drift. Their cranial rhythm strengthens and balances out, and more space is created for their brains – it might be micro-meters, but you can still feel it!

And if you are attending a CST practitioner who has done their own personal growth and spiritual work, then the sky is the limit in terms of how far they can lead you. You can open your “skylight” as it were (the brahma aperture). You have to create the causes however, the practitioner can only ever be the condition.

In the past year, I have had not less than 10 CST clients tell me that they had a spiritual experience on the table. Sometimes it takes less than 30 minutes (those are the clients who have good karma and / or have done a ton of personal growth work on themselves). I am very fortunate to be apart of this process, grateful for the opportunity to benefit others and to watch their lights get turned on.

May all beings meet with the causes and conditions to rest in liquid potency and drink in the bliss of present awareness.

Thank you for reading,

Offering 40% off for first time clients

If you have been visiting my blog for a while (or if you are a first time viewer), I invite you to take advantage of this Spring Special. 40% off of all services through May 10th for new clients. This includes Spiritual Astrology which is easily done over the phone, Zoom or Skype.

Let me know if you are interested – http://www.mkirbymoore.com

Have a beautiful day!

Back home..

His Holiness offering a smoke offering before commemorating a Liberation Wall – breaking ground for a memorial wall at the TMC Enlightenment Stupa

I will say more soon… suffice it to say I feel at home around Drikung Kagyu dharma practitioners and at the Tibetan Meditation Center.

2nd picture – the TMC Enlightenment stupa in the mist of a spring Sunday

3rd pic – Lama Dewai Dorje – a unique and special Guru Yoga practice, the permission / empowerment was given on Saturday

4th – nirmanakaya Buddha Amitabha in the midst of the Phowa lineage for the Great Phowa Chenmo given Sunday

5th – His Holiness’ ornate throne with golden parasol over it

It was an awesome weekend! Great company, great teachings, clear exposition, great space, great time, great location, great reunions! ❤

Good recent reads

I have recently completed several incredible books… just wanted to share in case you have a free weekend or an hour a day for the next little while 🙂

The first was Other Powers by Barbara Goldsmith. This is a book about the Women’s Sufferage Movement and how it was intimately connected with spiritualism and in particular with a less-well-known woman named Victoria Woodhull. Woodhull it turns out was the first woman to run for President back in 1872. Woodhull also lived an extraordinary life, one that was heavily influenced by spiritual guides and that was considered quite inflammatory for her time (and quite honestly it would be considered highly inflammatory even today!). But if you want to get another picture of life as a woman in the late 1800’s in the U.S. or you want to get an intimate snapshot into the Women’s Suffrage movement… this is the book for you. I assure you it will not disappoint! Just learning about Victoria Woodhull is incredible and eye-opening! There are some passages of the book where dozens of names are bantered about and you can afford to skip a few pages. But for the most part, I was riveted to this book!

The next book is The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Urrea. This is a book set in a similar time as Other Powers above, but it takes place mostly in northern Mexico as it follows the historical fiction (based on real characters) of Saint Teresa, a young Spanish-Indian girl / woman who learns the ways of the Yaquis Indian medicine. Her father was a wealthy hacienda owner and her mother was an indigenous worker for him. Teresa is a powerful healer, mid-wife and medicine woman before she is left for dead after a violent assault. But then she literally rises from the dead three days after the doctors declare her dead, and she commences to become a renowned healer known for hundreds of miles around. At one point, there were 12,000 pilgrims on the little hacienda where she lived, all waiting for the chance to see or hear her or seek her out for healing.

It is an amazing story written by an artist and poet who has a knack for making his fictitious world come vividly and colorfully alive. The first half of the book sets the context for Teresa’s life and the second half of the book is more about her healing journey and being declared a saint by half of Mexico. It is also quite graphic in showing how hard the non-elite workers had it in their difficult lives. Not unlike Other Powers, it makes me so grateful for all we have today!

I am currently working on the book, The Chronicles of Tao by Deng Ming-Dao, a book about an authentic and humble Taoist and martial arts master who trained with some of China’s renowned masters and teachers in the middle of the 20th century before coming to the U.S. to teach and become a Golden Gloves boxer.

I am just getting started, but the mystical descriptions of Taoist priests, the colorful and lively festival descriptions and the abilities of martial arts masters in the first 100 pages are astounding and keeping me yearning for more!

Fascinatingly, it also centers on how hard things were for many people living in China in the 20th century and how spiritual masters and martial arts teachers could still come out of that highly testing and challenging era of China’s history.

A settled nervous system is the key to spiritual practice

You may not want to hear this… (famous first words?) 🙂

I also share this reluctantly. Please keep in mind that I am not a spiritual teacher – yes I dabble in leading meditation groups, but that is typically from rote, not from realization! Therefore, when deciding when and how much meditation you should engage in, you definitely should seek out a qualified spiritual guide. So many of us here in the West want to do spiritual practice our own way – looking for good books to guide us. We are basically feeling around blindly in the dark, searching for resourcing nectar in all the wrong places if so. Independence – insistence upon our selves, “I know what is best for me (from the get go)!”, attempting to control our spiritual path – is a binder and a blinder, especially when it comes to spiritual practice.

With all that said, I have had private interviews with Tibetan Lamas who tell me that someone who is suffering from a gross (vs subtle) nervous system issue like anxiety or paranoia or OCD or significant depression, they cannot meditate. Why? Probably because once you start to push your mind and stretch a little out of your comfort zone, this nervous system dysfunction will be right up very uncomfortably in your face.

Recently, in the Somatic Experiencing training I participated in back in March, they had a conversation about how meditators are often the best at checking out of their bodies (not all – some of us meditate in such a way as to stay present in and as a body). But the issue is that someone who already has a tendency to dissociate or check out or day dream or numb out who begins to meditate, will usually just transfer their dissociation into this new habit. In other words, making a new-looking groove for an ancient, ingrain habit!

I would argue however, that according to some definitions of meditation I have heard from Tibetan Lamas, this checking out while sitting is also not technically meditation. Yes it may look that way from the outside, but inside their bodies, these people are in a state of freeze, collapse, shock or overwhelm (or a combination of two or three of these!).

I’m not saying “Don’t Meditate” if you have one of these issues. What I am saying is that you need to do something efficacious to work on settling your nervous system. You need to find a skillful practitioner to help you co-regulate, to build resilience in a proven manner and to do the healing / release work to clear these obstacles causing your nervous system to be dysregulated in the first place!

Yoga is a decent place to start. Find a good teacher – someone who allows for modification of poses (not everyone is alike and can handle a harsh or strict form of discipline). You want to find someone who walks their talk – they can be kind and yet have solid boundaries. Maybe you prefer tough love – but make sure you are really experiencing lasting benefits! (How many of us know someone who looks the part of awesome Yogi on their mat but their blind spots are outrageously obvious to the rest of their world…?)

Other options are to work with a Somatic Experiencing practitioner. This is an awesome body-centered therapeutic modality that works with whatever is up in the moment and it tracks very specifically where the client is in their nervous system.

Yet another modality is Working with the Polyvagal System – based on Stephen Porges’ work on the Polyvagal Theory. Kathy Kain’s work on Touch for Trauma is an excellent way to come into your body in a gradual, kind, stable manner.

And then there is always the moving meditation modalities – Chi Kung (Qigong) or Tai Chi (Taiji). Or walking meditation or walking a labyrinth etc. These are excellent starting places (and you can go very deep for a lifetime of learning with Qigong or Taiji).

However, if you have a difficult time staying present in your body and as a body. Then starting out with a shamanic journey may or may not be the best place to start. Yes some people might require a soul retrieval type of session to make progress. But for the vast majority of clients I have seen, this is not the case.

Most of us want to choose the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, that means we have been very adept at sweeping uncomfortable emotions under the carpet as it were. Choose a modality (but not too intensely cathartic) that helps you to gently feel those less-than-comfortable emotions in a manageable, gradual, stable, trackable manner. Like Somatic Experiencing, or Craniosacral Therapy, or Working with the Polyvagal System, or Dream Therapy, or Art Therapy, or Dance Therapy etc.

If it is too cathartic all at once, then that is too intense on the nervous system – it literally can’t digest that much of an emotional outburst in one sitting. So some people get addicted to the feeling, the rush of catharsis. But when it comes to moving out of less-than-healthy grooves and into healthier nervous system rhythms, then a very cathartic modality is NOT the way to go. These look like heavy emotional processing without a lot of time for integration – let’s do four big pieces for four different people in under two hours for instance. I don’t want to name modality names here for obvious reasons – but leave a comment and I will share more 🙂

What I am trying to say with all of this is, Keep Meditating! If you notice other things arising, like persistent anxiety or chronic agitation or chronically tight upper back / shoulder muscles or depression etc, then get additional support! And keep in mind that it is possible that your meditation teacher does not have the knowledge or the experience to recommend that you get nervous system regulation support (most Tibetan Lamas have not done efficacious somatic psychological training). So keep moving forward, but allow time for integration of new big learning, new big experiences. And as always, always lean into support when possible!

Thank you for reading and feel free to leave a comment.

I have recently become a distributor of Floracopeia oils

I am excited to add a great product line to my business! Floracopeia oils, flower essences, skin care and other great therapeutic and beauty products are sustainably crafted and made by a company that holds integrity close to its heart. I have been using their Essential Oils for close to two years now and I have not yet been disappointed!

In fact, these 15 mL bottles have lasted for more than a year now – including using them weekly to add to massage oil! It is pretty amazing – the original 6 essential oils we were given at massage school, in spite of my using them weekly, are still over halfway full! And that was over a year ago.

And because Floracopeia is not a multi-level marketing company, that means the oils are much more affordable than Do Terra or Young Living Oils. And in my humble opinion, these oils are even higher quality than those two companies.

Don’t get me wrong – I use the Do Terra Aroma Touch kit oils to do their Aroma Touch treatment on clients, and I use some Young Living blends as well – especially Release, Gentle Baby and Valor (love them!). But these oils, despite being the same 15 mL, always seem to run out after a two or three months of weekly use.

I like the saying, “Less is More.” I think this proverb applies to many areas of life – including the use of potent Essential Oils. Rather than slather someone’s back with potent plant spirits, it is possible that 3-5 drops would do the trick!

Let me know if you want to purchase some oils! I am happy to send you further info!

Ask me about possible discounts when you purchase three or more oils. 😉

Thank you for reading!

Looking for clients to assist with Astrological Research

Hello dear readers!

I am looking for people who know a lot about their births and / or ancestral patterns to discuss their astrology charts with me. 🙂

Ideally, I’d like to have 100 people’s charts and birth information to go into research I have slowly started on joining birth psychology and Western astrology. At this point, I already have 10 or 12 charts with solid birth dynamics to go with them.

This is a passion I’ve been nurturing for a while. I have been studying Western astrology (psychological / karmic / spiritual astrology) since 2003 and then in 2013 I began studying pre- and perinatal psychology and birth process work.

As far as I can tell, there are not many people in the world doing PPN Astrology. I have had a couple people inquire as to when will I put out more info about it. Soon, soon I’m thinking.

I normally charge $140 for a full 90-minute astrological interpretation. But if you know your chart and know about your birth and / or ancestral patterns / dynamics, then I’d like to chat with you more! Because I need to be compensated a little for my time, I figure charging $60 for a 90-minute session is appropriate.

If this sounds good, let me know!

Thank you for reading!

Connections between Hiatal Hernias and the Autonomic Nervous System

I should start out by saying I am not a doctor. I do not treat, diagnose, cure or even prevent any diseases outside of my scope of practice (I’m a licensed massage therapist).

With that said, I have been working with the Polyvagal System – treating nervous system dysfunction and lack of regulation since 2012. And I’m currently taking Somatic Experiencing training – getting more specific knowledge and skills about how to work with the CNS and ANS.

Recently I have treated a few clients who have the symptoms of hiatal hernias – discomfort, acid reflux, pressure up into diaphragm, etc. Their doctors have diagnosed them as having these hernias.

And I should note (immediately and with some insistence) that having a hiatal hernia is complicated. It most likely took some years or even decades (of stress and challenge) to develop. Therefore there is no easy fix. Especially if there is a tear in the tissue around the hiatus – the opening in the diaphragm which is allowing some abdominal tissue to sneak up into the upper thoracic cavity. Ouch.

People with these hernias are often prescribed medicine for the acid reflux and then are given exercises to pull the tissue down from around their stomachs. And their doctors will watch them to make sure they don’t develop serious GERD (potentially damaging acid reflux) or other complications.

I wonder what else can be done for these life-altering types of diseases?

It looks like there is a significant Vagus (ventral vagus) nerve component to the esophagus. The ventral vagus branch innervates the upper third of it, and when working properly, it allows for some appropriate slack in the tissue when taking deep breaths so the diaphragm can descend. When the esophagus is stuck in a tight, shocked, frightened, or feeling less-than-safe pattern, there can be problems with the proper tension in the esophageal tissue. If we are taking deep breaths with a really tight esophagus, then eventually some lower abdominal tissue might start to slip through the hiatus – the opening in the diaphragm which the esophagus passes through. This is where the hiatal hernia begins to develop.

Ideally we want the dorsal vagus and the ventral vagus branch to be on the same page and sending the same messages to the brain. Often times though, in times of stress, the ventral vagus branch gets disrupted. This has many side effects, but one of which is to disrupt communication between the ventral and dorsal branches of the vagus system and to possibly have the sympathetic chain stay “stuck” on – being activated, tense, or anxious for days on end.

It also turns out that if hiatal hernias get bad enough, they will start to affect the breathing capacity – as the diaphragm can’t descend properly. There seems to be evidence that some COPD cases may involve hiatal hernias as well.

I appreciate all the learning and study and wisdom of Western medical practitioners. They know how to treat the biological body and most of the bio-chemical systems in it, to patch it up, to tweak neurotransmitters, to balance pH, to replace organs, to set broken bones, etc. And yet I wonder if the healing actually happens in the biological body – or does it happen in the psycho-spiritual body? And if it is the latter, why don’t they teach more about this in contemporary medical schools?

So speaking of psycho-spiritual concepts.. working with the autonomic nervous system – building resiliency, tracking where the client is in their nervous system (sympathetic, parasympathetic charge, fight or flight, freeze or collapse, etc), assessing the client’s capacity – how refined is their window of tolerance? – are all necessary competencies to know and understand before putting hands on and saying, “I can resource the nervous system skillfully.”

There is a very easy technique to resource and settle the ventral branch of the vagus nerve. It is called the Basic Exercise. This plus Visceral Manipulation techniques (balancing the sphincters, working with the visceral organs) and other forms of nervous system resiliency building can be really good for potentially managing hiatal hernias (and I suspect in preventing them). What I’m trying to say is: “Go see your doctor if you have unexplained symptoms or pain (especially around the upper left quadrant of your abdomen and which might include acid reflux).” You may also want to work with a complimentary medicine practitioner as well. Continue working with a doctor you trust for sure – you do not want this condition to get worse.

Ideally, you want to calm and soothe your nervous system before the stresses on the tissues, openings and sphincters becomes so great that a little tear develops. If you have pain, try to figure out what is going on, same for acid reflux. The old adage – “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – can get people in trouble.

So go see your doctor or nurse practitioner first. And then do something healthy and positive (and hopefully efficacious) to reduce your stress. Somatic Experiencing, counseling, meditation (find a good teacher), yoga, qigong are all techniques and modalities which can do this. Having a competent teacher is important however – if they aren’t walking their talk, walk away 🙂

Even if you have a hiatal hernia, you can still manage and soothe your nervous system. You can reduce the stresses and strains on your body. And I wonder – they say that a hernia NEVER improves or gets better (unless you have surgery) and not that I am disputing that (!).. but I wonder what would happen if you did a 30-day yoga-type retreat where you eat extremely easy to digest foods (think zero stress on the digestive tract), you receive shirodhara sessions daily (very relaxing oil treatments coming out of the Ayurvedia tradition), and you have daily access to Ayurvedia doctors and yoga teachers. “Miracles” can happen..

I offer bodywork treatments – Working with the Polyvagal System, Craniosacral Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, Integrated Massage and Asian Bodywork in the Charlottesville, Virginia area. Visit my website www.mkirbymoore.com to schedule an appointment.

Thanks for reading!