October Sundown Healing Arts Newsletter

[sonia]

Seeking irritation can be easier and more informative than seeking calm.
How to Irritate Your Nervous System

New book response at Curious, Healing. Have you read this? Comments welcome!
"What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body" by Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen, Kurt-Alexander Zeller

New appointment hours
My new appointment hours are Thursdays, Fridays, and some Saturdays, 10:30am-6pm. I will be working in my previous career of computer programming on Mondays-Wednesdays. I am delighted to be able to continue helping people heal while bringing in enough income.

Social Change training
I am excited to participate in Portland YWCA's Social Change training in domestic violence advocacy, racial equity, and social justice. Training topics and schedule (pdf).

Curious, Healing is a blog, and you're welcome to comment there or here about the books. The articles don't have a comment section. You're welcome to comment here or send me email with any thoughts.

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Comments

[elainegrey]

My brain is breaking as i try to read "How to Irritate Your Nervous System." I'm going to take many deep breaths and read, "add gentle motion in the direction of calmness with self-compassion, support, and protective boundaries" over and over.

Does your schedule change mean you have found a coding gig or that you are opening yourself to the opportunity more intentionally?

[sonia]

Are you finding the article irritating? I'm glad you're focusing on the part that works for you. If you feel like saying more about your reaction, I'm interested to hear it.

I decided to find a programming job, so I cleared my schedule for the job search and updating skills. I have an interview tomorrow and another place to apply if that doesn't work out. It seems like there are a lot of opportunities - I'm getting a great response to my networking efforts.

[elainegrey]

The urgency at work today could have driven me into participating in the stress creation on top of the stressful situation. I was having to be very intentional at not getting caught up in reactivity. So, yes, i suppose the article itself was irritating, although i would have used the term distressing.

I've spent so much time learning how to leave distressing, irritating environments (without dissociating or "checking out") because for years i just pushed and pushed through the discomfort, denying it. Reading the article i mainly heard it as "go do this thing you know will be bad for your body and spirit" and not the message of experimentation and play -- i think that's there, but i really couldn't get that signal from the article through the "Oh my god no never again!" reaction i was having.

The extreme reactivity i had is pretty impressive to me.

[sonia]

Thank you for sharing your response! I'm hearing that it felt like a command rather than a suggestion to do something you've worked hard to stop doing, and which caused you pain in the past. It sounds like you've already done what most of the article talks about, and the last paragraph is the one that applies to you, as you said initially.

I wonder if there's something I could add to emphasize that possibility. The article is a mix of ironic and direct information, which is confusing. I'll think about it. Thanks again for the feedback.

ETA: At the end of the "Why seek irritation?" section, I added "If you notice a strong visceral response to reading these suggestions, you may already have explored your body's reactions to irritation thoroughly. You can reverse the suggestions to move in the direction of calm."