Bridging Mental/Physical

The Healing Power of Metaphors

Helping You Tap In to Your Inner Wisdom

Catherine Nelson, Ph.D.
Mar – Apr 2024 • Vol 4, No 9

Metaphors are a magical part of our language. A metaphor can be a figure of speech that directly refers to one thing by referring to something else. It may uncover or suggest hidden similarities between two different ideas.

An example would be, “May the road rise up to meet you…” Metaphors can be spoken, written, found in poetry, and can even appear in our dreams. A metaphor can be an abstract image such as “lightness prancing over darkness.”

Some say that a metaphor can be an expression of our psyche because of how deeply it affects us. It can increase our powers of perception, and it can awaken the psychological and spiritual dimensions of our mind. Our perceptions of the world are uniquely personal. Everyone’s brain is different, and a metaphor may deeply resonate with one individual but not another.

Sometimes a therapist can help a client activate his or her hidden potential to heal through the use of metaphor. This happened for Marta…

Marta was a seventy-year-old wife who was depressed and sad. Her husband of twenty years had died recently of a terminal illness. She had been his caretaker during the last few years of his life. She had loved her husband and he had been her best friend.

Marta was now living alone in her home. She was self-isolating and not interested in being with friends. In a sense, she had lost her joy of living. Several months later, Marta started working with a therapist to help her recover from her loss and isolation.

After several sessions, Marta told her therapist that she had the same dream several times. In the dream she was looking at a large plant in a small container. It needed to be repotted in a larger container so it could grow and develop strong roots in the new soil.

The therapist recognized that Marta’s dream could help Marta heal. Marta had been a gardener most of her life. She used to spend hours most days growing vegetables and flowers to sell and share with friends. With her husband’s ongoing illness, she had no time or energy to garden.

With the therapist’s help, Marta realized she was the potted plant that needed a larger container. Gradually, Marta began to work more and more in her garden. She planted and repotted many of her plants. Marta’s work in her garden gave her pleasure. She renewed contacts with friends and in time, Marta recovered from her depression and sadness.

The repotting of the plant in her dreams was a metaphor that Marta resonated with, and it had emerged from her unconscious psyche to her conscious level of awareness. Some would say her dream had emerged from her innate ability to heal from her spiritual self.

Metaphors can enrich our lives even with a simple phrase that we might read in a book or poem or see in a movie. Our ability to resonate with any particular metaphor will depend on our unique life experiences. Sometimes the effect of a metaphor can be transformational.

Joey was an active ten-year old who spent much time alone. Both parents worked many hours during the week. Joey was an independent child with his hobbies and outdoor interests. Last summer, he and his parents took a week’s vacation at Yellowstone National Park.

Joey was excited to visit the park, to be in wilderness, and to see and hear the wild animals. Joey’s parents wanted to rest and enjoy the views of the lake from comfortable chairs at the lodge and maybe take a few park bus tours.

On the second morning, Joey was up very early. He left the lodge to explore the area. He saw a doe and fawn walking nearby and decided to quietly follow them as they walked into the forest. Joey was excited to follow the deer. There were no wild animals where he lived in a busy suburb in Ohio.

After about an hour, Joey realized he had to get back to the lodge. His parents would be looking for him. However, in Joey’s enthusiasm to follow the deer, he had not noticed what trail was nearby. Joey kept walking through the woods until he came to an intersection of three trails. There were names posted for each trail, but he did not know which trail would go back to the lodge.

Joey was an avid fan of the Star Wars movies. He had often heard different characters say, “May the force be with you.” Joey said to himself, “The force is within me.”

Standing at the intersection, Joey slowly turned towards each trail and waited to feel if there might be an “energy” to guide him back to the lodge. As he faced each trail Joey said, “Is this the trail to the lodge?” And each time he asked that question, he added, “The force is within me.”

Facing the middle trail, he felt a slight difference in the energy that he hadn’t felt at the other two trails. With confidence, Joey took the middle trail through the forest. After about a mile of hiking, Joey came to a high point of land, and he saw the lodge in the distance. He was smiling as he hurried back to the lodge.

Some might say Joey was just lucky to find the correct trail. Others might say that his trust in the “force” gave him the confidence to follow his hunch about the middle trail. Perhaps his belief in the “force” was a metaphor, which helped him tap in to his personal spiritual guidance.

I urge you to be alert to the metaphors that impact you in some way. When one appears, say it out loud and notice how you feel inside. One of my favorite metaphors is, “The eternal lightness of being.”

Catherine Nelson, Ph.D., has a counseling practice in Bozeman with many years of experience working with individuals and groups. She has taught at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing and is a certified Pathwork Helper. She offers workshops on personal transformation and energy healing and is available for individual sessions. Call Catherine at (406) 585-8025. E-mail cnhobbit@gmail.com. Visit: RockyMtnPathwork.org.

2024-02-29T09:54:10-07:00Bridging Mental/Physical|

5 Strategies to Bulletproof the Immune System

A Holistic Approach to Full-Spectrum Immunity

Christopher Lee Rudy
March – April 2021 • Vol 3, No 114

There is natural order in the universe that governs both personal and planetary wholeness and healing. This order defines the nature of holistic health in all spiritual, mental, emotional and physical aspects. The higher the concept of this healthy order, the greater the results with healthy outcomes, individually and collectively. Here are five strategies to develop a bulletproof immunity:

1) OWN YOUR OWN HEALTH
The foundation for the abundant life is health freedom. Without health freedom—to own your own health—all other freedoms suffer poor health. This is as true for a nation as it is for every individual. Health sovereignty is based on well-informed choice. The alternative is subservience to public health dictates that censor information and subvert choice in the name of public safety.

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Food Is Mood

How to Change Your Mood and Skip the Food!

Marlenea La Shomb, ND, LMT
March – April 2021 • Vol 3, No 114

“What?” you say, “How can food be mood? That’s rude!” Well, ask yourself this question: “Do I crave different foods depending on my mood?” Most of us would answer, “Oh, yeah.” So how does that work? Let me remind you that we are sunlight-activated, chemical/hormonal, and electrical beings!

The chemistry of food interacts with our body’s chemistry, its thoughts and feelings. Emotions activate different hormones. When you eat a banana, you don’t become the banana—the banana becomes you. This is the job of the liver. Keep in mind that food is much more than nutrients, fiber and protein—all the things we normally hear about. It provides life- and light-giving energy. I like the feeling of being light on my feet. I choose to eat a heavy meal when I’m ready to roll over and have a siesta! My grandson used to call it a food coma.

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Five Simple Changes

From Natural-Health Pioneer Dr. Rashid Buttar

Marlenea La Shomb, ND, LMT
November-December 2020 • Vol 3, No 112

Dr. Rashid Buttar is a best-selling author and a natural-health activist. He ranks among the top-50 doctors in the U.S. and has treated thousands of patients with life-threatening conditions in over 92 countries. He is the creator of the medical-assessment program called, “The Map to Get AHEAD™” (see page two), which stands for “Advanced Health Evaluation and Assessment for Detoxification.”

As the first steps toward wellness, he recommends these five simple lifestyle habits. He assures us that they will produce improved sleep, increased energy, and better bowel movements, while enhancing focus, concentration and an overall sense of well-being—all in 30 days. These steps are part of what I’ve been recommending in my practice and in my articles in this magazine for years. Why not give these simple changes a try and see what they will do for you?

1) EXERCISE
Move your body every day. Start walking, if nothing else, and increase your time/steps every day. Goal is to walk 2-to-2.5 miles a day.

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“The Six Laws of Cure”

A Covid-19 Stress-Freedom Primer: It Starts with You!

Marlenea La Shomb, ND, LMT
September-October 2020 • Vol 3, No 111

How does the body heal? What steps does it go through? When extrapolated to groups and to society, how do the principles of natural healing give us insight and hope, as we interreact (dance together) and strive to create a better world?

In 2005, Thomas C. Chavez wrote a fascinating book on the entire healing process titled, Body Electronics: Vital Steps for Physical Regeneration, which combines nutrient saturation (through natural, dietary choices and limited supplementation), personal consciousness, and peer support. A seminar leader on these subjects since 1984, he was one of the earliest students of Body Electronics pioneer, Dr. John Whitman Ray. He co-pastors with his wife at Christ the Healer United Church of Christ. He teaches “how to gourmet raw” and has supervised raw catering extravaganzas since 2002.

Chavez entered the world of active health care in 1975 as an Emergency Medical Technician and soon became a student of massage, shiatsu, herbalism, Bach flower remedies, nutrition, and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). He became a practitioner of homeopathic medicine in 1979. Gabriel Cousens, MD, Director of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, says that Chavez’s work “provides the basis for a complete transformation of body, mind, and spirit.” We will outline here the foundational principles of Chavez’s Six Laws of Cure.

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2020-09-01T08:02:58-06:00Bridging Mental/Physical, Current Events|

Adrenals—Our Fire Element! What Are They?

What Weakens Them? How to Restore Them?
Can STONES Help?

Marlenea La Shomb, ND, LMT
March-April 2020 • Vol 3, No 109

The endocrine system is the synergistic interaction of all the glands. It is directly related to our emotional, feeling body and light centers. The adrenal glands are located in the trunk of our body, which in martial arts, is known as the chi or qi area, and our furnace. This gives us our first clue that we’re in the fire element and drinking or eating a lot of cold, icy drinks can put that fire out. In quantum physics (patterns within patterns), it’s the figure-8 flow, as above so below—the Alpha/Omega return current of life’s journeys.

The adrenal glands sit like two tiny pyramids on top of the kidneys, seated on a pad of fat. Simplified, they consist of an outer core and an inner core. The outer core secretes the hormone cortisol, which controls swelling and bacterial, excess heat, also known as inflammation, the precursor to all disease in the body. Along with stress, inflammation is at the core of burned-out adrenals (also known as exhaustion or chronic fatigue). That’s why MDs give cortisone shots.

The inner core of the adrenals releases adrenaline, our jump-start in the morning, and maintains our level of energy all day long. The adrenals are sunlight activated, as all the hormone system is. This gives us our second clue, that sun gazing, used for centuries, is a great way to strengthen, heal and repair your adrenals.

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What’s a Breathwork Seminar?

Events in Billings (April 11) & Livingston (April 18)

Denis Ouellette
March-April 2020 • Vol 3, No 109

Breathing isn’t work—it’s automatic—right? So, why attend a Breathwork Seminar? This seminar focuses on the most important, yet most neglected, activity you do to provide yourself with life and vitality! At the Integral Breathwork Seminars, we measure, assess, and work on improving your breathing function first. Then we lie down for a breathwork session that will likely be one of the most life-changing experiences of your life, so far!
After the breathwork session, it’s hard to describe how you feel, but some have tried. Here are some actual words that participants have used:

Happy… Relieved… Alive & free… Expanded…
I feel like myself again!… Peaceful… Warm & tingly…
Strong… Connected to life… Radiant… Aerated!…
Drained & refilled… Comfortable… Effervescent…
Clearer… More present… Phenomenal!

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2020 Vision for a New Year—

New World, New You

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
January-February 2020 • Vol 3, No 108

I used to think that I am just one drop in the cosmic ocean of life. It has always amazed me as to how my fellow man could make a statement and impact worldwide, when it seemed like all I could do was just keep up with my own back yard and its daily responsibilities. We all face the challenge of balancing our inner spiritual life with the outer—education, raising our families, careers/jobs, fun and play, which can seem all consuming.

Until… very recently, I found my 20/20 vision for heaven on earth. Here’s how it works. And yes, it does start right in our own back yards. One cosmic drop of the ocean (you) and one drop (me), we collectively make up the powerful impact of that ocean and our earth.

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2020-01-01T07:11:08-07:00Bridging Mental/Physical|

Let’s Clean Up our ‘Toxic City’!

The Link Between Allergies & Toxicity

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
January-February 2020 • Vol 3, No 108

Allergies affect everyone from time to time and because of that, it is a multi-billion dollar industry. Misunderstanding the body and its functions leads to confusion. According to Roger Bezanis, the renowned author, researcher, formulator, health-care pioneer, educator, and former comedian, Big Medicine says: “When in doubt, medicate it or take it out!” Some people would want to try other alternatives.

Dr. John H. Tilden, the son of a physician, born way back in 1851, was one of those people. Graduating from med school in 1872, Dr. Tilden based his drugless practice on his theory of clearing the body of toxic poisons and allowing nature and the intelligence of one’s own body to heal itself. The key, he felt, was to constantly eliminate toxic waste as fast as it is produced. In his 1926 book, Toxemia Explained—Antidote to Fear, Frenzy, and the Popular Mad Chasing after So-Called Cures, he taught his patients how to live so as NOT to create a toxic condition and to retain a healthy body free of disease. Here are some of Dr. Tilden’s thoughts…

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2020-01-01T07:11:08-07:00Bridging Mental/Physical|

Endocrine! The Least Known Body System

The Thymus Is at the Nexus!

Marlenea La Shomb, N.D., LMT
November-December 2019 • Vol 3, No 107

Our bodies are made up of systems, most of which you are familiar with: skeletal, muscular, cardio- vascular, digestive, nervous, immune, and respiratory. Yet, how often do you hear about the endocrine system? It consists of the glands and organs shown above. Off the top, we have been hearing about the thyroid, adrenals, pancreas and reproductive. However, the least known is probably the thymus.

The endocrine system is mostly related to our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, which affect our physical body. It rules! We truly are sunlight activated, chemical, hormone, and electrical beings. If you are in an arm-wrestling match with your hormones, who do you think is going to win? Your hormones, of course!

I used to think my family was a hormonal wreck—myself included! I could cry at the drop of a hat while under stress, due to lack of sleep, or seasonal/monthly changes in my body. I came to realize we had unbalanced hormones we were fighting with under added pressure.

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2019-11-04T08:14:29-07:00Bridging Mental/Physical|
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