HOPE – a Guided Meditation
Hope focuses on renewal, rebirth, and healing.
Find a place to be comfortable where you can rest undisturbed during this time.
As we experience this meditation, feel the “old” drop away and “new” opportunities present themselves.
Leave everything around you behind and bring your attention to yourself.
Relax as you go on this journey.
Get comfortable.
Breathe in from your abdomen – slowly, slowly, to the count of three.
One – Two – Three
Now – hold your breath to the count of four
One – Two – Three – Four
Now – exhale to the count of five.
One – Two – Three – Four – Five
Repeat this breathing pattern three more times.
In – one, two, three
Hold – one, two, three, four
Out – one, two, three, four, five
In – one, two, three
Hold – one, two, three, four
Out – one, two, three, four, five
In – one, two, three
Hold – one, two, three, four
Out – one, two, three, four, five
Continue to breathe deeply as you go into this relaxation.
Your relaxation becomes a blanket of warmth. Sink down into this quiet place inside yourself.
PAUSE
You are calm and peaceful now. It is time for your journey.
PAUSE
You are strolling along a path in a forest. Notice this path. How does it feel under your feet? Is this path a smooth grassy path? Are there pebbles? What kind of shoes are you wearing?
As you walk down this path, take a moment to feel the air on your skin – the sunlight shining down – gentle breezes caressing your clothes.
As you travel, notice sights, sounds, and fragrances: birds, butterflies, wind in the trees.
What is your reaction to this place? How do you feel beyond your body?
Strolling for a short time, you come to a clearing in the forest with openings to different paths.
As you look at the different paths, one attracts you.
You look down this path and see something shining in the sun off in the distance.
You’re drawn to this shining spot in the sun. What is it?
You walk along this path that you just selected. How does it feel under your feet? Is it smooth? Are there pebbles? Is it a smooth dirt path? Are there stepping stones?
As you walk toward the shiny spot ahead, you feel layers and layers of your past drop away.
The weight of the world evaporates from your shoulders.
PAUSE
You soon arrive at the end of the path where you see a bench waiting for you.
There, on this bench, you see new clothes, neatly folded.
When you look at them, you see they are more beautiful than any you’ve seen before.
You remove the clothes you are wearing and put on these new clothes. They are a perfect fit.
You walk up a slight hill toward the shining object you saw at the beginning of your walk.
As you approach the shining object, you discover it is a mirror.
You look in this mirror and see your reflection.
You see:
The person you have always known you were.
The person you have always wanted to be.
You see yourself as strong, and happy.
NOW – you can continue to explore your new “you” as you return to this room.
You know you can return to this place anytime you want.
This meditation is part of a new program I’m offering called “Hope on the Road”. I am sharing this meditation along with a reiki session and hand blessing to anyone who requests it.
This program is adaptable to zoom and in- person groups large or small. It will also be on my YouTube channel.
Thank you for participating.
Thank you for reading this meditation blog post. Please share it with your friends and forward it to your preferred social media network.
Thurman
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10 Steps to Inner Fitness and a Life That Unsticks Itself.
We’ve all got a lot on our plates these days. All of us.
We’re at a point where it’s time to return to normal.
The question is this: What is normal anyway?
Certainly it’s not what we had before. It’s time to make way for a better life..
Whether we’re interested or not, our spiritual centers need encouragement, support, and protection. Inner fitness smoothes out the bumps in our travels through life.
I don’t know if I speak for everyone, or even anyone, but I find myself embracing this new normal while experiencing grief.
With a grounded inner core, a new normal is easier to find and recognize. Essential requirements for inner fitness include encouragement, support, safety, and self-confidence.
There are things you can do:
Think Positively.
Positive thoughts are essential – even before you get out of bed. When you wake, ask yourself “How can I be happy today?”
Happiness is the great equalizer. You are never too young or too old for happiness. Happiness doesn’t need education. Happiness doesn’t need good health. Happiness is the only thing I know that is available to everyone.
All happiness needs is for you to “be happy.”
Listen to Your Body.
When you listen, your body will talk to you. It will never lie to you as healing begins. Inner fitness is real.
Are you trying to adjust to your new reality? Do you want to change your life? Is something wrong, and are you trying to find out what?
Tune in to your body several times a day. Do you have pain anywhere? Is your spine aligned? What is your energy level? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired? Joyful?
Good Health is a Priority.
When you value your good health, you become a valuable person. You love yourself. When you expect excellent health, your thinking changes. Life unsticks itself.
Claim your wellness!
Respect Your Emotional Self
Your feelings are opportunities to grow. Emotions are messages from your body which will help set you free. Your emotions can help you understand pain, extra weight, sorrow, fear.
When you remove these feelings, you make way for joyful health, peace, grounding.
A better life emerges.
Connect with Your Community.
Get a part time job.
Or a full time job.
Read a newspaper.
Use your library.
Volunteer at a food pantry.
Join your local church or synagogue.
Teach someone to read.
Include Exercise Every Day
In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The Fountain of Youth still exists and keeps people everywhere healthy. There is at least one branch of it in your neighborhood, located on a sidewalk or roadside where you can walk every day.
If that’s not convenient for you, another nearby branch is in your local fitness center. You’ll be healthier when you visit it regularly.
Take a Grounding Break
Try meditation, walking your dog, giving your cat a massage, or staring out the window into nothingness.
The activity isn’t so important. What’s important is that, when you complete this small task, you’ll have given yourself a refreshing, grounding break.
You’ll continue with your day feeling more positive, relaxed. Your fresh new take on the day will ripple out to those around you.
Review Your Situation
Now might be a good time to write about important moments in your life. You don’t have to focus on what happened in your life. Focus, instead, on what you did about what happened to you.
Write short stories, essays, poems, or keep a journal.
Whatever you choose, if you need help, you may find it at your library.
Reflexology and Reiki
Do not overlook a weekly session. Both these modalities bring homeostasis which is crucial these days. Both these modalities are adaptable to many different situations.
Do you practice Reiki? No? Find a teacher. If you do…have you thought about a Reiki circle for your area?
We all need more Reiki. We all need more reflexology.
When I think about Reiki and reflexology, my heart sings!
Thank you for reading this article. Please share it on your favorite social media network.
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Thurman Greco
Maintaining Your Good Health – Inner Fitness for Life
We each have an inner core, a spiritual center needing encouragement, support and protection. Your inner core lets you travel through life with minimal bumps. When encouragement, support, and protection are deficient in some way, you run a risk of developing a lack of self-confidence. There are ways to give yourself a boost. Life is easier with a strong inner core.
THINK POSITIVELY
Put yourself in a positive frame of mind before you even get out of bed. Ask yourself: “What can I be happy about? What makes me happy?”
CONNECT WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
Volunteer someplace. Get a job. Read a local paper. Use your library. Get into your community.
INCLUDE EXERCISE OF SOME KIND…EVERY DAY
In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The Fountain of Youth still exists and keeps people everywhere healthy. There is at least one branch of it in your neighborhood, located on the sidewalk or roadside where you can walk every day. If that’s not a good option for you, the other nearby branch is in your local fitness center. You’ll be healthier and your body will thank you if you visit one of these branches every day.
CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
De-cluttering is a bit of a fad and it’s okay with me. This grounding and uplifting exercise has become part of my daily schedule. I spend fifteen minutes every day clearing out clutter in a room. There are books written about it. Reading one is a good idea if you need a starter boost. Whether or not you read a book about de-cluttering, your inner self will be more fit when you adopt this habit.
REVIEW YOUR SITUATION
Now might be a good time to journal about important events in your life. Or short stories. Or poems. Or anything that seems appropriate for you. You don’t necessarily need to focus on what happened to you. The important thing is what you did with what happened to you.
SUPPORT YOURSELF
Do something nice for yourself. Think nice thoughts about yourself. Your nice thoughts about yourself are a treat, a gift you give you give to yourself. You deserve it.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Please share this article on your favorite social media network.
Thurman Greco
Walking to Stay Youthful – Longevity Tips You Can Use
Walking is my favorite fitness and longevity activity. I like it because I can enjoy it almost anywhere. I ‘ve adapted my walking pace to my changing age, abilities, health and lifestyle.
Walking served me well during my young mother years. Pushing a stroller was a good excuse to air out the babies and myself.
Later, through my jobs, walking was an important lunchtime activity. Lunchtime walks gave me energy to make it through the afternoon at a desk.
As a senior, walking keeps me moving – an extremely important benefit. As seniors everywhere will tell you, we use it or we lose it. Walking keeps me going.
Walking can cost little to nothing. No fancy memberships are needed. No expensive outfits are necessary. It’s adaptable to indoors as well as out.
And, best of all, it doesn’t take special skills, training, talent, or money. Walking works for me because baseball, volleyball, tennis, golf, ballroom dancing, never did. All walking takes is a little time, enthusiasm, and interest.
I’m sharing a few tips with you so your walking exercise will be more fun and beneficial.
For starters, a pair of WALKING SHOES and socks will help you move farther and faster with fewer problems.
Dress in layers. As you walk, you’ll warm up. Wear COMFORTABLE CLOTHING in layers so you can stay comfortable and keep from overheating.
Walking doesn’t require a lot of fancy warm ups. BEGIN EACH WALK SLOWLY, calmly. Then, if you plan to increase your pace, you can take a warm up break.
When you walk, think about your abdominal muscles and your posture. They define your WALKING STYLE. Open shoulders, a straight spine, and stable abdominal muscles will give you strength and confidence to move.
When the time is right on your walk, give yourself a SPEED BURST of about a minute or so.
Finally, give yourself some LONG, LUSCIOUS STRETCHES after walking.
Thank you for reading this article. Please refer it to your preferred social media network and share it with your friends.
Thanks again
Thurman Greco
Woodstock, New York
Eight More Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep.
I can blog posts until the end of time and never overestimate the benefits of a good night’s sleep. A healthy night’s rest is one of the most important things a person can do to maintain a youthful appearance and lifestyle.
- Sleep Improves your Memory. As you sleep, your brain organizes your memories for you.
2. Adopt a Sleep Schedule. Try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. As you work on your sleep schedule, allow yourself eight hours sleep in every 24-hour period. This can be a real help because your body will soon prepare itself to sleep in the evenings when it’s time to go to bed. Your circadian schedule will really help you out here.
3. Make your bedroom dark at night. It’s easier to sleep in a darkened room. The darker you can keep your bedroom at night, the better.
4. Check your meds. There are many meds which can interfere with your normal sleep. Check the meds you’re taking. Change out any meds and/or foods and beverages which might be the culprits.
5. Nothing is more likely to induce sleep than being in the dark. Night time is when we produce melatonin.
There are things we can do to encourage sleepiness. When night approaches, keep your lights down low and avoid overhead lighting. Use dimmer switches on lights and lamps.
While you are enjoying a calming evening in a darkened room, this is a good time to enjoy softened and restful music. Or, this is a good time to do some gentle yoga stretches. Or, this is a time to do some calming breathing. Finally, this is a good time to enjoy the cool stillness of the night air, the stars in the sky, a moonlit night.
But, whatever you do, include darkness as part of your nightly routine.
6. High Blood Pressure? Sleep helps lower blood pressure and elevated stress hormones. Get treatment.
7. Valerian has a reputation for improving sleep quality. Taken properly, this may work for you.
8. Anxiety, Depression, and Tension are three common causes of insomnia. If you think you suffer from one of these, get treatment. Treating your anxiety, depression, or tension may well take care of your insomnia issues.
As you try out these different tips, remember that getting from insomnia to a good night’s sleep is a journey. You’ll find things that work and things that don’t work. And, none of it will work or not work 100% of the time.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
Thanks for reading the book.
Thurman Greco
Make Time for Yourself, Reflexologists!
One of the really nice things about being a Reflexologist is that 25 sessions per week is considered to be a full time career.
Even with less than a full time client-partner load, it’s easy to lose sight of yourself and your personal needs as you look after your client partners and their needs.
You can prevent this from happening if you pamper yourself regularly and make sure your own needs for time and space are met.
A reflexologist who protects a bit of personal time and space is a much better healer to his/her client partners. Your life is just as important as those of your client-partners, family, friends. Actually, an argument can be made that you are most important because all these people depend on you.
We all enter the healing arts wanting to be the best practitioner we can be. Taking time for yourself is part of that mix. Don’t feel guilty about this. You need rejuvenation and energizing as much as other practitioners, and at least as much as your client-partners.
Begin by claiming one of those 25 weekly sessions for yourself. Make a weekly appointment with another practitioner and receive a session. This might be a good opportunity to get to know other practitioners by visiting a different professional every week.
Throughout the week, there are other things you can do to maintain your rejuvenation and energy.
- Script a healing journal.
- Pamper yourself with relaxing baths. Use candles, salts, essential oils.
- Read a book.
- Take a few moments to enjoy a cool fruit smoothie and a magazine.
- Exercise regularly.
- Pursue a hobby.
- Get yourself out in nature to enjoy the sounds, sights, textures, and smells without technology.
Finally, don’t take everything on your own shoulders all the time.
Thanks for reading this blog.
Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.
My book “A Healer’s Handbook” is now available through Amazon or my website http://www.thurmangreco.com.
Thanks, Thurman Greco
Water, Water – What are we to do?
It’s really hard to find clean water. Our water is so filled with toxins that our bodies have become toxic waste dumps.
So, what are we to do? We need it to live.
There are 2 issues here, really. The 1st issue is getting clean, pure water. The 2nd issue is using it:
drinking,
bathing,
nourishing our planet.
So, what are we to do? We need it to live.
Getting clean water can challenging.
For starters, filter it. The filter you choose depends on your budget and your water issues. Filters come in several different varieties:
pitchers/carafes
faucet-mount systems
under-the-sink systems.
To learn about your water toxin issues, use your local county water quality report and advice from local water quality experts.
In the past, I used an under-the-sink system and was very pleased with it.
Now I buy my drinking water. Water in the Hudson River Valley is so special. The product I choose is New York Springs USA water, a natural spring water sourced in the Catskill Mountain area of New York State.
If New York Springs USA is not available, I reach for Mountain Valley Spring Water which comes from the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.
It just so happens that these 2 waters are spring fed.
If I’m working or traveling or shopping out of the area and need to drink a bottled water, I’ll go for an ultra purified brand I know and recognize over a spring fed water which I am unfamiliar with.
When in New York City, I drink water offered to me at the restaurant table. Make no mistake about it. New York City water is the best available anywhere. I know this. I live and work in the area. New York City water comes from the Ashokan Reservoir, an extremely well protected and guarded body of water. Catskill Mountain residents love, honor, and are proud of their water. Nothing but the best is good enough for us.
Although we can’t list things like the vitamins or calories found in water, it’s important for our overall health to keep hydrated.
Water offers a natural detox as it cleans toxins out of the body which collect in the urinary tract. Drink enough water often enough to urinate every 2 hours.
Hydration fights fatigue..something we all battle. There are many tired people wandering around right this minute who are not really fatigued. They are thirsty. At the 1st sign of fatigue, drink water and then give yourself a few minutes for your body to react to the needed hydration.
Water helps the body break food into nutrients as it travels through the digestive system.
Sufficient hydration prevents kidney stones.
Water helps strengthen the adrenal glands.
I offer a glass of New York Springs USA to each of my client partners at the end of the reflexology or Reiki therapy session.
As a reflexologist, please encourage your client partners to keep hydrated. Help them choose the best water for their health and lifestyle needs. They will feel better.
http://www.newyorksprings.com
Hot Springs National Park
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Thurman Greco
Tara Sanders: Healing, Yoga, and Reflexology
healing, yoga, and reflexology
As reflexologists, we add new clients to our practice often. Healing, yoga, and reflexology are important here. Depending on your personality, or your practice, you may ask a few or many questions from them on the intake forms and in the initial interviews.
Trauma is one area of a person’s life which we rarely approach. It is just too hidden, too destructive.
This is wise. Trauma is a subject which our client partners need to bring up when the time is right for them to share. Because nothing is said doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. It just means that the person isn’t comfortable discussing it.
Because, in reality, 1 woman in 4 has experienced domestic violence and/or sexual assault. Personally, I question the 1-in-4 statistic. No woman reports domestic violence or sexual assault if she can possibly avoid it. Reporting is simply too painful.
When I first spoke with Tara Sanders, a Woodstock based yoga instructor and program director in the nonprofit Exhale to Inhale I was suddenly very alert. I realized that we, as reflexologists, need to be more sensitive to the secrets and hidden traumas of our client partners.
Exhale to Inhale yoga works to empower survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to heal through yoga. Exhale to Inhale yoga guides women through postures, breathing, meditation. Taught in trauma sensitive style, practitioners are enabled to ground themselves in
their bodies
their strength
their stillness.
As this happens, the women connect to themselves. They work toward empowerment and worthiness. This practice can be transformative for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence when they shed the cloak of victimhood.
Healers, reflexologists, and body workers have long known that when a person is traumatized, the event is stored in the muscles.
We also know that reflexology sessions are given a boost when combined with other modalities such as yoga, meditation, breathing, Reiki therapy, and massage.
Tara teaches the classes without music. She does not touch the students to correct a posture. Lights remain on throughout the class. These sessions offer survivors an opportunity to reclaim their lives through the healing and grounding of yoga.
Tara uses the yoga classes to help her students feel safe, strong, in the present moment. As she teaches, she is a conduit for healing and healthful programs in our community. Reflexology for the Spirit practitioners are also conduits for healing as we work the reflex points to encourage homeostasis.
Exhale to Inhale is a New York-based nonprofit offering free weekly yoga classes to survivors of domestic and sexual assault. After June 20, Exhale to Inhale yoga classes will be taught free of charge to women in area shelters in Upstate New York.
Not everyone has a Tara Sanders available in the community. However, it’s possible to suggest reflexology sessions offered in tandem with yoga, meditation, breathing classes. Whether or not you are aware of your client partner’s experience with trauma or domestic violence is not important. What is important is that you invite your client partner to experience this boost to your modality. Think of healing, yoga, and reflexology as a package.
Hopefully one day soon, there will be more Tara Sanders yoga teachers in communities everywhere.
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Jennette Nearhood provided the media.
Thurman Greco
The Endocrine System – very important for both physical and spiritual health
THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM IS MADE UP OF A SERIES OF GLANDS INCLUDING SEVERAL GLANDS WHICH WORK TOGETHER TO MAINTAIN HOMEOSTASIS. They include the hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroids, thymus, adrenals, pancreas, and ovaries/testes. In addition to working to maintain homeostasis, the glands of the endocrine system work together to regulate our metabolism, growth, reproduction, and body chemistry.
Endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream. They work with other body systems and are important to the overall function of a person in everyday life. It’s important that the different Endocrine glands work well.
THE HYPOTHALAMUS, PITUITARY, AND PINEAL GLANDS ARE LOCATED IN THE BRAIN IN THE AREA BEHIND THE EYES. They all three interact with the nervous system. It’s believed that the hypothalamus controls the “mother” gland because it’s believed to coordinate the functions of the other endocrine glands in addition to regulating growth, blood pressure, and sexual development.
When a person is stressed emotionally and spiritually, the pituitary reflex becomes sensitive. Sometimes it’s so sensitive to the reflexologist’s touch that it can’t be worked. When this happens, go to the pituitary gland reflex on the hands and work there.
The pineal gland produces melatonin which is responsible for sleep patterns. Many people believe the pineal gland functions as our “third eye” and works with our spiritual and psychic development.
THE THYROID AND PARATHYROID GLANDS ARE LOCATED AT THE BASE OF THE THROAT. They’re attached to the wind pipe with the thyroid in front and the parathyroids in back. The parathyroids are believed to control calcium and bone metabolism. The thyroid, a very important gland, coordinates how everything in our body works. The thyroid is to the body what the gas pedal is to a car. People with thyroid imbalances often experience anger.
The thymus is a gland located a couple of inches below the thyroid and parathyroids. This gland offers support to the immune system. Our thymus is a certain size when we are born and does not get much larger as we grow up and age. This leads some professionals to believe the thymus is more important in infanthood and childhood than in adulthood. Here again, we have a spiritual gland. The thymus works better when we feel more positive about ourselves.
The pancreas is partially an endocrine gland which works in close conjunction with the digestive system. The pancreas has two parts: endocrine and exocrine. The endocrine part of the pancreas is called the Islets of Langerhans. This is where insulin is produced.
THE ADRENALS ARE LOCATED ABOVE THE KIDNEYS. They work closely with the nervous system to maintain fluid and mineral balance. The adrenals are easily felt because we experience them as “butterflies” in our stomach when we are suddenly nervous. Prolonged stress overload has a negative effect on the adrenals. When the adrenals get overstressed it takes time and effort by the practitioner to return them to balance.
THE OVARIES IN THE FEMALE AND THE TESTES IN THE MALE ARE ENDOCRINE GLANDS. This is a point of creativity in the body. They are managed by the pituitary gland.
KEEPING THE VARIOUS ENDOCRINE GLANDS BALANCED IS IMPORTANT TO US ALL. Sometimes, when an endocrine gland is not balanced, our whole (physical, mental, spiritual, emotional) reflects this imbalance and is affected negatively by it. Reflexology for the Spirit sessions help balance our endocrine system.
AN EXAMPLE OF A NICE SESSION IS TO FOCUS THE ENTIRE SESSION ON THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM. The importance of endocrine balance cannot be overestimated. One effective way to focus on the endocrine system is to offer rotations (about 10 rotations per point) to each of the endocrine glands in the following order: solar plexus, pituitary gland, thyroid, parathyroid, liver, adrenal glands, ovaries/testes. Then, finally, return to the solar plexus.
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Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
Reflexology for the Spirit is an Attitude, Part 2
Although there are stories about people receiving one Reflexology for the Spirit session and going away a changed person, this outcome is the exception to the rule. Generally speaking, several (or many) sessions are needed before the client partner undergoes the changes necessary to bring about healing from the soul out. reflexology, spiritual or regular, is a process, not a pill.
It’s not the place of a reflexologist to provide therapy to a person who has not tried to resolve his/her health issues by visiting a qualified healthcare professional. Reflexologists are not trained to provide services to clients who have not yet received a diagnosis from the primary medical care professional.
Diagnosis is important for the healing process. A person cannot heal without having a name for a disease or condition.
People with issues, who don’t get a diagnosis, never really know what their problem is. Also, their peers never give the person or the condition/disease the credibility it deserves. So, the first step to wellness is a diagnosis.
When a person under the care of a physician comes for regular (or sporadic) sessions s/he needs to continue with whatever meds and/or therapy which has been prescribed by the MD.
This is especially true if your client suffers with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.
Reflexology for the Spirit practitioners work with the diagnosis provided by the health care professional while recognizing, honoring, and offering healing to the soul which is manifesting issues in the sole.
Thanks again for reading this blog. The next post will discuss colon cleanses and liver cleanses.
This post comes to you from my healing space in scenic downtown Woodstock, NY.
Peace and food for all.
Thurman Greco
