Laughter, Elation & Wonderment - The Up-Side of Releasing

I have a busy day today so this will be a quick one... We're filming more for the television show/documentary Marcus and I are creating/developing.

Recently Marcus facilitated a friend doing some releasing, or as I sometimes call it "release work."

If you've done this, you know what it's about. If you haven't, here it is in a nut shell.

Emotions, experiences, beliefs, fears, trauma, et cetera, are almost always carried in our bodies. They get released or vetted throughout our lives, especially in dreams and body work (if it's good, and usually intense body work), but from what I've seen, deliberate release usually helps really get it out.

Release work or releasing can be anything that I listed above, but to really get it out, it should be deliberate - crying, screaming, moaning, deep body work, tantrum-throwing. It basically looks like the girl from Exorcist but without the pea soup...

Or with the pea soup.

Almost anything goes. Almost.

It sounds pretty nasty and intense, no?

Well here's the good news and I'm sure I'll write more about it in a future blog...


Every time I've experienced it, witnessed it or facilitated it...the release work always ends with laughter and/or elation and/or wonderment.

Why? Who the fuck knows for sure. Well, maybe some shaman or gurus or holy men/women out there know. Me, I think it's because underneath all of that crap (I know I should love it but it feels like crap!) is laughter, elation and wonderment.

I'm sure all that thrashing around releases endorphins and whatnot, but it seems to me that a sort of popping takes place that sort of releases all of the tension (or in the case of Ms. Exorcist, pea soup).

Hopefully, this will encourage anyone hesitant or afraid of what they might experience or discover if they let themselves really get into releasing their demons, skeletons or whatever else they're afraid of releasing and unleashing.

Have lots of pillows, good quality water (natural spring water or high-ph water is best), and one or two experienced facilitators with you. Trust me. These essentials are non-negotiable.

Last time I really did this, I experienced all three...

Laughter, Elation & Wonderment.

I also fell in awe or more familiarly, in love with myself. Not as narcissism, but as wonderment.

Another benefit to having facilitators - witnesses. I have witnesses.

Let me know how it goes.

Release... Sweat & Power

I remember years ago a yoga teacher, her name long since forgotten, though it might've been Joy or Hope or some other happy-emotion-turned-baby-boomer/yoga teacher-name. Anyway, I recall Hopejoy saying something like, "Women need to sweat every day. It's a necessity." My nineteen year old brain went into analysis (a habitual thing women seem to do - the habit of which is one of the more sticky things to release though well worth it), and I looked at that sweaty concept from different perspectives, thinking, yeah, I guess do feel better on the days I sweat. I wonder why that is. Is it hormonal? Is it biological? Is it for the lymph? The skin? The sex-drive? The mood? Hmm, what exactly is it? I'm not certain. Hopejoy breaks through my mind's rant, and I'm coming into child's pose delayed slightly by my thoughts.

One thing is for certain, I have more dirty clothes and laundry to do than ever before. Though I'm also certain it's worth it.

Having a few years on that nineteen year old girl (boy I must've thought I was a woman, but such a girl I was, granting that I might've been more mature than many nineteen year olds, still, I was such a girl. I think all of us women have a girl in us for our whole lives, but especially until we're around...30), but these years have granted me many things I'm only half-aware of and some, thankfully, I'm more aware of so I can remember to be grateful and here's what I know as of today about women and sweating and, with some of the wisdom life experience provides, power.

Sweating, at it's most fundamental, is a release. And if your light-bulb hasn't illuminated yet, think of it this way...orgasm is a form of release. Girl-friend talking/venting/sharing is (usually) a form of release. Dancing, screaming, yelling, menstruation, laughing, crying, and tantrums are all forms of release. All should be celebrated in my opinion, but more on that later. Sweating is GOOD. One of my major life experiences happened almost 100% because I was in the middle of releasing which included tantrums, screaming, pounding my fists, releasing binds of old thoughts/judgments/beliefs and generally freeing myself...or releasing of things that had nothing to do with being present. Sweating can help you be more present. Increasing your heart rate can help you be more present. So the release leads to being more present, which any spirituality or religion will tell you is good. But if you don't already know it, take a deep breath and a moment, and check in with yourself and ask the question, "Is it healthy for me to be more present?" and you'll get your answer.

What else? Ah, yes. Power.

Besides sweating every day, my workouts of late have reminded me the importance of feeling powerful. For everyone, but since we're on the feminine this time, I'll stick with that. Feeling powerful (in a healthy, confident, vibrant, alive way) is always good. Doesn't mean you can't chill and relax and let others lead or take charge (in fact there's power in that). Feeling powerful is a fabulous feeling.

We are bombarded with images of women - athletes, celebrities, models, who have bodies that are not only surgically and/or digitally enhanced, but remember, these women make a living based on their body and/or appearance, so it's part of their JOB to have beautiful bodies. So forget about them for just a moment. If they're not surgically enhanced, they're digitally-enhanced (projection and self-image shifted dramatically with photoshop), and if they've opted out of the former, they at least have dedicated a decent portion of their day to work-outs with expert trainers not to mention stylists who help them with clothing, makeup and hair so they look, well, worthy of idolatry. Remember that as you strike them from your mind for a moment.

Instead of comparing yourself to any of them...

Think about you. Your body. How much it has been through. How it's still kicking and ticking through everything. Emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally. I separate these things with language, but they all blend together in our human experience. Even if you've had health or physical challenges, your body has been doing it's absolute best for you.

Exercise to honor your body. Exercise to release. Exercise to sweat. Exercise to feel powerful. Forget about weight-loss or waist-size or clothing-size. Yes, exercise can lead to a more fit and toned body, and it can also seem like a pain-in-the-butt when all you really want to do is eat a pint of hagen dazs and watch Sex & the City reruns, but think about how good it will feel to sweat and release your day. Think about how good an orgasm feels, because the release from exercising is a version of that, albeit more subtle, but still, we need these releases. Think about how good you feel when you feel confident and powerful. Let that be your motivation.

Release. Sweat. Power.

Let me know how it goes.

Dick Morris... How do you sleep at night?

Must be with a serious cocktail of Bourbon laced with OxyContin...

People, I didn't mean for this blog to be political, but I feel like I have no choice here. First Rusty DePass makes his absurd, racist and rude comments about Gorillas and Michelle Obama. I thought we'd hit a new conservative-sh*t-slinging low, but once again, my low-expectations were much to high for the conservative media and their go-to journalists and politicians.

The infraction I speak of, of course, is Dick Morris' vile opinion spewing on Fox News regarding the release of Laura and Euna Ling from their 140-day detainment in North Korea; thanks in no small part to Bill Clinton's meeting with North Korea's Kim Jung Il.

I agree that any representative of the United States negotiating for the release of one of our citizens - journalist or otherwise, shouldn't compromise the safety or wellfare of other American citizens or civil liberties for said release. But there is no evidence this was done by Clinton or anyone else involved in the release of the Ling sisters. If a photo-op with Bill Clinton, and some positive press for North Korea - in the slew of negative-press about North Korea - is the price we've paid for the release of these two women, then maybe we should send Clinton and a photographer over to Iraq, because I'd like to see the stop-lossed soldiers home, with their families and with their full G.I. Bill.

What if this was you, or one of your family members? I feel certain you'd retort with something like, "Well, my family members and I would never go into North Korea, so this wouldn't happen to us..." But, come on. First of all, you should be ashamed for siding with North Korea and saying these women should "face the consequences" of their excursion into North Korea. Because that's what you're doing - siding with North Korea and implying that their sentencing of these women was fair. Secondly, is this the legacy you want to leave with your name? You have some health issues, I can tell just by looking at you, and I truly am sorry because I wouldn't wish bad health on anyone. But regardless of your state of health, you are in the latter part of your life, so I'd think seriously about what you're saying and how you're portraying yourself to the world. I again ask this very serious question, Is this the legacy you want to leave with your name? Because it's an ugly, heartless legacy, and I'm sure you are not, wholly, a heartless man. So what gives, Dick Morris?

Also, as far as "facing the consequences," isn't 140 days long enough a punishment for crossing into North Korea?

I'm getting more frustrated the more I reflect on this. How about this, Dick Morris. I bet we could find someone to simulate a North Korean detention center for this little experiment. How about someone gets you and subjects you to the same treatment and conditions Laura and Euna were subjected to. Let's see how you handle it for 140 days. Before this experiment, we'll give you some fake information on nuclear war-heads, but you won't know it's fake, and we'll see how long it takes you to a) crack, and b) beg for Bill Clinton to come meet with Kim Jong Il on your behalf. See how long it takes. I'd bet you'd last 5 days on the outset. Maybe a week if you got to hide your OxyContin in a cigar tube up your you-know-what. But I'd never really condone doing this to you, because that would be cruel and heartless. I suppose it's punishment enough you have to live with yourself day-in and day-out.

How do you sleep at night?