Cross Country 53 & 54 - The Way of The Owl

[Barrett Dorko]

It’s been a quiet week in Cuyahoga Falls…

I haven’t yet written about my last tour for Cross Country and here I see I’ve already completed another. I’ve been putting these “trip” columns out like a machine for over two years now and didn’t expect to miss one for no obvious reason. Still, I waited and listened quietly as I always do but heard nothing that would lead to the process of writing and that process compels me as very few things do in my life. I can’t imagine living without it, but instead of the expected irritation at its absence I sensed a certain freedom and ease. When I examine my own or other’s dreams, I work to express not what had happened (or, in this case, what didn’t happen), so much as the feeling the dream evoked. This time I discovered that the longer I remained silent the better I felt. Today I sense that the scales have tipped in favor of expression once again, and so I write.

I’d made a few notes during my trip to Arizona about the number of illusions I encountered. This began with my eating a few “chicken tenders” in the Cleveland airport. I began to wonder why they called them “tender” at all and then thought, “There’s probably not much “chicken” here either.” I finished them anyway. Hey, I was really hungry. In Tucson a few hours later I saw an owl-shaped mannequin perched on the roof of the hotel, placed there to scare away other birds, I guess. From a distance of about seventy feet I could tell that this was just a shape and not a living owl but I suppose that a few birds were fooled. I think that an owl’s ability to attack from a position of perfect stillness is something they know about. That’s why a mannequin is so effective.

As it turned out, my attention to the illusions surrounding me didn’t generate any worthwhile writing but the stillness and silence of the owl has stayed with me. Thinking about it today made my fingers search for the keyboard once again.

In the classic Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel there’s a chapter about the training of the swordmaster that I look through from time to time. Herrigel describes the technical brilliance that may be achieved through dedicated practice, and then he makes it clear that this by no means assures success in combat. He says, “…the student cannot stop watching his opponent, waiting for the moment when he is off guard (and) relying entirely upon his (own) art and skill. In this way the student loses ‘the presence of heart’: the decisive thrust always comes too late and he is unable to ‘turn his opponent’s sword against him.’

Time after time I walk near another in class, continuing to lecture as I move and then gently place my hands upon them. Without exception, the characteristics of correction (http://www.barrettdorko.com/articles/characte.htm) emerge to some degree and I really, really hope that the mirror neurons in someone nearby are lighting up. I find that if they do however it is usually in response to the location or activity of my hands – one of which is unimportant and the other not possible to see.

What I want the class to sense is the approach I make and the attitude I possess toward my “opponent.” Herrigel insists that success is only achieved once the swordmaster becomes “purposeless and egoless…detached not only from his opponent but from himself.” He admits that “this sounds as nonsensical as the demand that the archer not take aim and completely lose sight of the goal.”

There are elements of this in Simple Contact I seem unable to impart, but something’s happening in the midst of my silence that draws me continuously toward the stillness of that owl. The silence has done its job, and now I can write more about this connection and, perhaps, discover something about my practice and its presentation that will help the method endure in others.

Stay tuned.

[Barrett Dorko]

While Herrigel’s swordsman remains a compelling image to me, it doesn’t quite fit my personal notion of a therapeutic approach. I don’t commonly see my patient as an opponent, but know that can happen at times and I suppose I should be ready anyway. I certainly know that students can pull a sword on you without warning, and I always prepare carefully for that.

Another image from literature that’s stayed with me over the years is A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. (see Winnie-the-Pooh P.T. (http://www.barrettdorko.com/articles/winnie.htm)) There’s a passage in The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff that sounds remarkably similar to some of the small lectures I give when talking about a patient displaying ideomotion and how therapists commonly manage to interfere with that: “When we learn to work with our own Inner Nature, and with the natural laws operating around us, we reach the level of Wu Wei. Then we work with the natural order of things and operate on the principle of minimal effort. Since the natural world follows that principle, it does not make mistakes. (But) mistakes are made – or imagined – by man, the creature with the overloaded brain who separates himself from the supporting network of natural laws by interfering and trying too hard.”

Hoff goes on to say that “Pooh is the most effortless Bear we’ve ever seen.”

Sound familiar to any of my former students out there?

[nari]

Sure does.

Nari

[Baecker]

It perfectly does,

I read your essay about winnie also before. i know my mistake is trying too hard.

But my hardest task is exactly that. How can i make myself try not too hard?

[Cheryl Conard Haight]

Hi,
Some thoughts on "How can I make myself try not too hard?"--
I think it's necessary to believe in (have faith in might actually be more appropriate) the existence of this "supporting network of natural laws."
If you truly believe that we, and of our clients, are self-corrective by nature, your effort is not needed, and probably counter-productive. This is, of course, easier said than done. I became a believer (hallelujah!) after many conversations with Gil, Barrett's class, and, probably most importantly, spending at least some time during every treatment ALLOWING instead of TRYING. It actually worked. Go figure...
Cheryl

[Barrett Dorko]

Thanks Cheryl. My example of the twisted finger finally let go didn't do it for you?

Often as I speak I say that it is only through “personal, physical authenticity” that we can find enduring pain relief – not that discovering and becoming who you actually are is easy or even painless in a number of ways. But in a culture where we’re being encouraged to play poker more and more often we should realize that to be yourself physically is literally an act of rebellion.

Is it obvious to anyone else here that this process of finding oneself must begin with awareness?

From Nothing Special by Joko Beck there’s this:

Practice is not about having experiences, not about having giant realizations, not about getting somewhere or becoming something. Practice is about maintaining awareness… (and) awareness is our true self; it’s what we are. So we don’t have to try to develop awareness, we simply need to notice how we block awareness with our thoughts and judgments. The mark of a mature student (read therapist) is that they’re just there, living their life. Nothing special.

[christophb]

I definitely notice "good days” and "bad days" with eliciting ideomotion. Personally, I feel it is more of a confidence issue struggling for my "PT identity" as a young PT. The good news is you don't have to "believe" we are self-corrective, because we are self-corrective. And as I did the required reading and research, it became harder and harder to refute the concept. The problem I think most struggle with is the belief we are not self-corrective.

[Cheryl Conard Haight]

Great quote! The "nothing special" part... How many of us believe we're even ok or good enough if we're nothing special? For me it seems to tie in with allowing ourselves, and our clients, to not try so darn hard, not be so anxious, about our bodies, and then maybe about our lives. Do you remember asking the Appleton class why we don't let our bellies go and BREATHE? Lots of people had lots of good, scientific sounding answers. You kept saying, "Nope. Nope..." When we'd given up you said, "Because then no one will love you!" Maybe with more awareness of the various blocks to being our true selves we can at least make a start.
Cheryl

[Barrett Dorko]

A portion of my essay Samurai Therapist ( http://www.barrettdorko.com/articles/samurai.htm) addresses these issues in this way:

In Breakfast at the Victory; The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience by James Carse, the author writes of the proprietor and sole employee at a busy Manhattan diner, Ernie: "It should have been obvious that he was actually preparing and serving food, but it wasn't. Over the years his actions had been reduced to their minimum. Cutting and buttering a roll was a matter of a few effortless moves. Ernie's actions having been reduced to their smallest size, we could not see him at the center of this activity for, Tao-like, no one was doing anything, yet nothing remained to be done."

Carse, a college professor, goes on to explain how this kind of effortless "doing nothing" characterized the best of his teaching when he somehow interrupted the familiar paths of his student's thinking and provided them an opportunity to find a thoughtful way through new ideas. I honestly believe that a certain kind of handling can make this available to our patients as well, but it must not begin with the therapist's effort, but, rather, with their understanding. I tell my students to emulate Ernie buttering a bagel, and sometimes they understand.

I haven’t mentioned Ernie and the bagel in years. Perhaps I should.

[christophb]

I wonder if this is similar to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of "Flow” I’m in the process of reading his book "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention"

He outlines nine elements that appear when in the state of "Flow"

(Flow is a mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.)

1. There are clear goals every step of the way
In contrast to what usually happens in everyday life when often there are contradictory demands and our purpose is unsure. In flow, you always know what needs to be done.

2. There is immediate feedback to one's actions
We know immediately how well we are doing (example of a musician hearing right away whether the note played is the right one, or a rock climber knowing if the move was the right one since she hasn't fallen).

3. There is a balance between challenges and skills
Our abilities are matched to the opportunities for action. If challenges are too high in relation to our skills we feel frustrated and anxious, or if we feel our potential is greater than the opportunities to express it, we feel bored.

4. Action and awareness are merged
Our minds are not disjointed from what we do. When doing an activity, we focus on the activity, not about what we will be having for lunch later.

5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness
We are only aware of what is relevant here and now, there is an intense concentration on the present, which relieves us of the usual fears that can lead to depression, anxiety.

6. There is no worry of failure
In "Flow" we are too involved to be concerned with failure. Some people describe it as a feeling of control; but actually we are not in control, it's just that the issue does not even come up. If it did, we would not be concentrating totally, because out attention would be split between what we did and the feeling of control.

7. Self-consciousness disappears
In everyday life we are always monitoring how we appear to other people; we are on the alert to defend ourselves from potential slights and anxious to make a favorable impression. Paradoxically, the self expands through acts of self-forgetfulness.

8. The sense of time becomes distorted
Clock time no longer marks equal lengths of experienced time.

9. The activity becomes autotelic
The activity is an end in itself. We begin to enjoy whatever it is that produces such an experience. Most things in life are exotelic, we do then not because we enjoy them but for some later goal, some activities are both.



I sensed common occurrences in his descriptions of flow when things click for me while treating; I suspect something has to happen in our patients as well.

Chris

[Barrett Dorko]

Great Chris. This is from Ian Stevens:

Chris,

I have read his stuff and like his ideas . Mihaly Chick Sent Me High (phonetic!) may be criticised by some for perhaps some kind of narcissistic pursuit of finding out what peak performances are like for those who take part in them. However not sure if its in that book where an Italian Psychiatrist uses his ideas to plot change in his patient and the only blip on this lady’s chart was when the manicurist came to see her . He had the brainwave to get her involved and this hospitalised depressive got discharged with her own nail business!

There was something on the Edge site relating to the fact that there is an intellectual aversion/ weakness in dismissing motor 'intelligence or the importance of motor activity. I think like you that these ideas of flow are useful . Especially if you are involved in creative motor activities.
The biggest factor in many suburban unexplainable pain states are is a complete absence of activities likely to engender the states that Mihaly studies.

I think by immersing yourself in one or two of these motor activities gives you a sense of what the internal state feels like, which if you are a scientist can be understood in DeFazio's 'Looking for Spinoza'.

The 'healthiest' person I can think of who fits the flow activity was an 80 year old daily ballroom dancer who had this fantastic glint in his eye when he recounted his weekly schedule --perhaps it was the first time he could choose an endless supply of single ladies to dance with!

Personally learning music has been the best form of flow enhancer but you have to go through a lot of failure and experimentation --same with getting out of chronic pain I would guess but not that many prepared to experiment?

Ian

[Diane]

There are people doing fMRI studies on these things..
Here is an abstract (http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16630842) of "When the Brain Loses Its Self: Prefrontal Inactivation during Sensorimotor Processing." The same researchers, Rafael Malach and Ilan Goldberg of the Weizmann Institute of Science reporting in the April 20, 2006, issue of Neuron, "Watching The Brain Switch Off 'Self' (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060430004451.htm).
See the attachment for more.

[Barrett Dorko]

Speaking of music and brain function, I just ordered This is Your Brain on Music (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525949690/sr=1-1/qid=1154649977/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7213658-3536738?ie=UTF8&s=books) after hearing the author interviewed this afternoon.

I remember a passage in Body Learning by Michael Gelb that describes his way of amplifying the brain activity seemingly necessary to enhance the learning of certain unusual tasks. Aside from being an expert in Alexander Technique, Gelb is an accomplished juggler. He teaches this skill by emphasizing inhibition. When a ball is dropped, the student is to stand still rather than lunge and retrieve. Ultimately, it is the stillness that generates the learning he seeks. From this, flow emerges, I guess. It sure had that effect on me after I read Gelb’s text the first time.

Perhaps I should emphasize a bit more the inhibition of action that any therapist using manual contact as I do must get used to. From that might “flow” the variety of pressures and movements about the patient’s body I choose randomly. At least, I think it’s random.

[Barrett Dorko]

“We have been taught that we must be in control of ourselves and of our contact with the other – even if only through trying to convey the message that we like or dislike him. Unconsciously, we may control our contact and in so doing interfere with our own sensations, and direct the others. Although unconscious, this is already manipulation.”

“(But) we are actually working when we touch another-working to try out our hands not as agents of our will but as organs of perception (emphasis mine). Indeed, however we may touch him, we may somewhat disturb our partner's freedom. Our hands may feel hard to him, or heavy, or light and fluttery. He may feel "handled," restrained, pressed, or-sometimes a very disappointing experience-not really touched at all. Accordingly, one might expect such contacts to be downright unsatisfying, if not downright inhibitive. But in a great majority of cases it is exactly the opposite. The mere fact that one comes to the other quietly and without overt manipulation is normally very moving to the person touched (emphasis mine). He feels cared for and respected. And the one who touches, if he is really present in what he does, is apt to feel something of the wonder of conscious contact with the involuntary, subtle movement of living tissue.”

From Sensory Awareness (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961565926/sr=1-1/qid=1154694205/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7213658-3536738?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Charles Brooks (1986). This is in the chapter titled “Simple Contact.”

[Barrett Dorko]

I named this thread after a book by Frank Rivers. The Way of the Owl (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062513974/104-7213658-3536738?v=glance&n=283155) is one of those books with a wonderful lesson about being in every chapter and there are about 60 chapters, each about 500 words long.

In the chapter titled “Walk Softly” Rivers says in part: “Stealth is common in the animal world, and many creatures survive by keeping low profiles. Anonymity is also economical…and there is little to be gained from drawing unnecessary attention to yourself….(But) stealth is not infallible, nor is it appropriate for all situations. Excess blending leads us into a new context. We begin by changing our speech, or clothing and our views. We keep a low profile by being obedient to authority and complying with the dominant ideological paradigm…This blending extracts a heavy cost, however. When we commit to stealth we sacrifice personal expression and creativity."

There’s a lot more wonderfully said in this book, but I find River’s insights about the toll a “stealth strategy” will extort from any therapist charged with helping their patients become more physically authentic especially relevant. Remember, physical authenticity forms the core of ideomotor expression, and it is through that movement that we are less likely to hurt. Of course, if a therapist hasn’t the courage to model creativity, their patient will not be inspired to do so.

[Diane]

Here is a piece by the Frank who wrote Way of the Owl. It's on longterm potentiation (http://www.goanimal.com/newsletters/2004/LTP/ltp.html).He has apparently written another book called Play as if Your Life Depends on It: Functional Exercise and Living for Homo sapiens (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0972335803/sr=8-1/qid=1156144065/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4346012-4895046?ie=UTF8), which I ordered.

His name is Frank Forencich (http://www.goanimal.com/panorama/about_coach/coach.html) according to this link.. but whatever kind of Frank he is, he makes longterm potentiation a very lively topic.

[nari]

A rather nice logo is sitting in the middle of Frank's LTP article - but it looks too much like vascular stuff...and if we include a brain it would look like an aneurysm.

Anyway, it's a good read.

Nari

[Randy Dixon]

Diane,

I used to go to this site. I went to find it to tell you about it, and there was the book.

http://www.goanimal.com/

[Diane]

I didn't mention this in the post, but googling images of "branching" was how I found the Frank article. I found the round branched image before I found the article it was a part of.

[Barrett Dorko]

Just got this from Ian:

Can you post this for me --thanks Barrett


Animal Ideas (http://www.goanimal.com/ideas/ideas.html)


Thanks so much for this link -----He has a lot of sense, perhaps too much !
After all where is the sense of treadmills and most gym regimes ?
Someone asked me about the net and how I keep interested in this kind of
information . I find its all interconnected --
play/music/movement/'spirituality' are all according to Dennett and anyone
who has travelled or read a little universal and of obvious deep
significance.

What we seem to have lost touch with is the interconnectedness of it all
--we do need to work at being in the 'animal body' since modern N American
and European culture offers so little opportunity to do just this and given
a preference for any kind of natural movement people will often opt for the
paved straight measurable route(see Ralph Strauchs site for observations of
people walking paved paths in Yosemite if I remember correctly)

Once again thanks for the links and I will be contacting him!

Ian