Lynne Pflueger writes about: “Late Summer” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 78, Fall 2012:

***********

Late Summer, the hottest part of the season, is First Depth. The Order of Transformation, also known as the Order of the Supporters, follows sequentially the order of the seasons of a year on earth. The body itself is earth, Main Central is primordial fire, Supervisor is air and Mediator is water. It is the heat of late summer that brings on the Autumn harvest or the ripening for harmony. Late Summer in the body is Stomach Function Energy and Spleen Function Energy, each one harmonizing our capacity to be both nourished and nourishing.

“First Depth worries will inhibit receiving.” – Mary Burmeister

Our Stomach Function Energy enables us to receive nourishment. We are sustained on many levels, not just by food. Friends, family, things we read, hear, see, smell, touch, and invisible fountains of energy all serve to sustain us during this life. Individuals who are unable to accept the help or comfort that they need would benefit from a Stomach Flow.

“What is the use of all this teaching, preaching, and helping others if I am not taking care of myself?” – Mary Burmeister

Spleen Function Energy, known in ancient anatomy as the Sun God, will harmonize the vital force enabling us to nourish others. It is possible to forget ourselves and give all of our precious energy away. Years ago I observed my yellow lab going through a serious illness. At one point, during a physical crisis, he withdrew and retreated into his own world to conserve his own energy for healing. He did not engage or interact with anything or anyone that did not feed his own need. Barely moving, he spent several days lying in the sun or shade out on the lawn. While it appeared to some that he was on his last legs, I saw that he was simply harmonizing, absorbing energy from the earth, conserving each precious breath to heal himself rather than frivolously spending himself on others. He did recover fully and lived quite a bit longer. At the time, I thought to myself, “It would be good if we humans were so wise.” Spleen is depleted by running around trying to BE.

“When the sun rises I go to work. When the sun goes down I take my rest. I share creation Kings can do no more.” – Ancient Chinese Saying

“The word LISTEN contains the same letters as the word SILENT.”– Alfred Brendel

Christopher Lowman shares: “Guru’s Story” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 78, Fall 2012:

***********

Treating Cerebral Palsy with Jin Shin Jyutsu

Since he doesn’t use them, and from laying on his back all day all his life, Guru’s legs flop out to the left, his hips being somewhat torqued. We all, even his parents – to our amazement – noticed his hips starting to come to a neutral, center position. As you know, those visible signs do help us along the way because most people don’t see how putting your hands on somebody can do anything helpful.

Through the help of my hosting NGO, one of the last steps I took was connecting Guru to a hospital that specializes in the free treatment of children with severe disabilities, where he continues to receive weekly treatment. This is work I don’t think could have been as effective had it not been for the piece we resolved with Jin Shin Jyutsu. Being able to make the two-hour trip to the hospital (in Indian heat and busy streets) was a great sign of progress in this respect as well. Previously, he couldn’t tolerate being outside of his home much, as he was prone to have fits.

Though it’s very likely he will never learn to talk or walk, the doctors feel that, gradually, he will learn how to chew solid food, hold his head upright, and keep the saliva in his mouth, and other things like that – small changes, but big ones to him and his family. I learned later on that Guru’s mom had basically given up hope before I arrived, and through no design of my own, all of these wonderful changes happened that have brightened his future.

When I share Guru’s story with people like you, I like to mention something that happened toward the tail end of our treatment time, something that admittedly sounds a bit odd. I was in the middle of a session and heard a voice from within, “No longer shall you interfere with the boy’s karma.” It was clear, and I knew after that session we were finished. The sanctioned amount of change had happened.

I think this is a relevant point for us all as Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioners, involved in the Art of Service. Some people for reasons we probably don’t have access to, need to walk with disability, illness, suffering, and so on. For us to get the idea that we need to fix or heal somebody, as well-intentioned as we may be, we can overlook this. And by practicing with motive, we can become the “generous thief”. Our actions appear to be for the benefit of another, but in truth we end up taking something fundamental away. In the next part to this article, we’ll come back to this point in greater detail when discussing my time with young students orphaned by the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.

This is why I appreciate our use of the term “harmony”. Jin Shin Jyutsu helps bring situations into balance, which, to me, doesn’t necessarily entail total curing. Certainly this is what I saw with Guru.

Thank you, Christopher.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings

All issues of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter are available at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Christopher Lowman shares: “Guru’s Story” in The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter, issue Number 78, Fall 2012:

***********

Treating Cerebral Palsy with Jin Shin Jyutsu

For the past nearly two years I have been living in poor, challenged communities in India, Kenya, and Rwanda, where I helped develop a number of small humanitarian activities that primarily benefited children.

It began in Gujarat, India, at a small leprosy community in Ahmedabad with a young boy (around age 11), Guru, who because of complications at birth, developed the brain disorder known as Cerebral Palsy (CP). He is, however, without the leprosy disease. Because a formal intervention was never introduced, it’s a case of CP as severe as it gets – Guru is unable to talk, move his body, or do anything for himself. Developmentally, he’s like an infant and will, for the rest of his life, be completely dependent on his family – especially his mom – for survival. To give you an idea, his mother is responsible for such tasks as spoon feeding Guru water, cleaning the drool from his mouth that he can’t hold in, and changing his clothes at least three times a day because of the toilet issue.

As I was going door-to-door meeting all the residents of this community I would be living in for the year, I came upon Guru, and was moved by his situation. There he was laying on the floor, very thin, hyperventilating and making a wheeze-like sound on each breath, with a fly net over his face to protect him from a swarm of flies he couldn’t swat away.

I let his family know what I do (i.e., practice Jin Shin Jyutsu), and that I was interested in coming to the home to give treatments to Guru twice per day for a few days each week. To be honest, I can’t say where I got that intensive treatment plan from, it just made sense at the time. His family without many questions, agreed.

Beginning our treatment work, what stuck out the most was Guru’s breathing difficulty, as well as a certain degree of dissociation, or being elsewhere though physically present. I assumed this was all trauma related. Having a complicated birth, then entering a body you can’t move would certainly be terrifying.

I remember using the Methods of Correction quite a bit, as well as the 10 breathing and 3 Flows. And what happened, over time, of course, was that Guru started to appear more present in his body, evidenced by his face seeming fuller, as well as by a small amount of weight gain. He started showing signs of happiness when kids who were present in the room would egg him on by being silly, or making silly noises. His breathing even calmed down.

To be continued…