Cleansing & Detoxication Rituals???

treehouse, your weekend away with buddies sounds wonderful. It's so good to laugh with friends. I would like to do something like that.

I agree about trying to make breaks a ritual. Like the 5 minute "break" my T wanted me to make for myself every morning. I just cannot do that. I am exhausted in the mornings and have trouble getting up, so when I finally do get myself out of bed, it is a mad rush to get my daughter up, take a shower, put on clothes, pack our lunches, and get us both out the door so she won't be late for school. As it is, I often don't get a good lunch put together for either of us, and she says, "fail." I know I should get up earlier, but I am just too tired and want 10 minutes more to sleep. Anyone else have this problem in the morning?

I did do something for myself this weekend. I signed up for a 2 day photography workshop months ago, and it was this weekend. I didn't want to go because I was tired and had too much to do, but I made myself go (since I paid for it, after all). It was fantastic! I am so glad I went. Now I feel inspired to become a more serious photographer-hobbiest. Maybe I need to pay in advance to do things and then I will go because of my desire not to waste money.

I think it is really interesting how different professions have different boundaries. Last year, I spent a week doing a fulltime clinical experience in a nursing home and it was OK to touch the residents in a comforting, reassuring, and caring way. A pat on the shoulder, or friendly squeeze on the arm, or holding a hand was considered OK. I think even a hug would have been OK in certain circumstances (which did not arise for me).

Sunrise, have you always struggled to get moving in the morning or is this a fairly new thing for you?

I personally was raised in a family of early risers and my parents were ALWAYS early to any events. As a teenager there was nothing worst than being 30-minutes early for Sunday services. LOL Interestingly though, despite my resistance to continue this pattern, I have to admit that I am rarely late to events and usually don't suffer from the morning rush.

The reason I ask if your morning sleep ins are typical for you or a fairly recent occurrence is- a few years ago when I had totally crashed I had slipped into an oversleeping rushing pattern. One thing that prompted this thread was that I had started to sleep in a blow off my morning workouts. This now is kind of become a red flag for me that things are a bit off.

Sunrise, this question might be totally off base but... Has your family's morning routine changed since your divorce was all finalized and the full separation has taken hold? I'm just wondering if your moring sluggishness is fairly recent maybe it is a pattern tha has slowly creeped in and it has now just reached the awareness threshold.

If you've ALWAYS struggled in the morning then...maybe its just your nature, you can take some little steps to improve your morning routine, but maybe the "take 5" your T is suggesting would be better to schedule at lunch or in the early or late evening.



Sounds like it would be worth the cognitive energy to explore what it was about this activity that worked for you. Couldn't help but think of Newton's Laws of motion.

One thing that I have gain on my little mid-life journey is a renewed appreciation for the artist within. No matter how wacky or pathetic I judge the final outcome to be, deep down I REALLY enjoyed the process of creating and expressing it (even if just to myself).


I've thought about this point A LOT! Both with regard to my therapy and with regard to my own health care profession. There is a lot to consider here but my own reflections seem to come down to how we view "health care". Many MT/bodyworkers like myself have their root in health care. But as I talk and network with others...what seems to draw us to the massage and bodywork practices is it is NOT HEALTH CARE. The intention is to promote health and wellness but in MT, you can connect and apply interventions simply because the client enjoys it, likes the experience, benefits from it in some way. How the technique works, the fact that with some people it may or may not be effective,..etc..becomes so much less important. MT/Bodyworkers seem to get that it's the relationship and the connection that is usually the most important factor in a client feeling better or not. In these disciplines its not about treating and curing, its about experiencing and being. There is also no third party insurance company dictating what's covered and what's not.
I do not want to imply that there are not standards of professionalism,competence, and quality controls in MT. I think there ARE. I just think this particular profession has embraced the fact that people need to be touched and feel cared for. Instead of denying this basic need and creating fancy regulations to sterilize treatments and "eliminate" the problems with touch, this profession has tried to develop ways manage the complexities of providing safe, caring, yet professional touch boundaries. They are by far perfect. But...personally I'm thankful that there are some people out there who are willing to try and help those of us who need this kind of help.

I don't know if at some point a problem will develop between my bodyworker and me. If it does..then I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

As of today, she...held my inner child! The benefit I received from that single brief interaction has been priceless.

I agree with this. Being able to create with my knitting has been a life-changing thing for me.

Treehouse, re-discovering the creative part of me has definately changed things for me. The last few drawing that I really invested time in creating...wow. Drawing is now a way to have all parts express themselves in a common place. Sometimes I share these drawings with my T, but in reality the symbolism and the little details each ego state adds is likely only be visible to me.

Having written that I know know that in my cleansing ritual I need to dedicate a few hours (maybe Sunday afternoons) to drawing time.