NO MORE! The Religiously Motivated Decisions of Patriarchy & the Infantilization of Girls & Women

In my seventies now, I remember the joy of celebrating the Roe v Wade decision that US girls and women had the legal right to choose what happened to their bodies.  It was no small thing then, to Canadian girls and women, because we all share the traumatizing fact of our past as chattel, that is, the possessions of white men and boys in charge.  Corporations had already determined to treat girls and women as bubble heads who wanted nothing more than to look good and be more popular than others.  It was very much a case of the water temperature being turned up over time – suddenly, we found ourselves boiling in the murky idea that our body image and looks, our hair and our rumps, were more important than our minds and our spirits, our hearts and our self-determination. That 1973 court decision lessened the impact of profit motivated businesses selling insecurity and self-hatred to girls and women. At least the courts found us intelligent, responsible, and wise enough to decide a fundamental life choice for ourselves.

Now,  even corporations are reacting to the court’s decision to reverse R v W; that’s how bad this current court’s decision is.  The white supremist view that the ever-creative power of the Universe is white, male, and murderous toward those who haven’t swallowed this vile white supremacy lie has revealed itself in the highest court in the land.  And we’re not having it.

Continue reading NO MORE! The Religiously Motivated Decisions of Patriarchy & the Infantilization of Girls & Women

Waiting . . . and EFT

In our highly monetized consumer culture, many have become accustomed to instant gratification.  ‘Trusting the process,’ a highly valuable attitude when involved in creative projects and problem solving, has been lost when dealing with everyday frustrations.  We’re encouraged to be the ‘right-now’ culture, whether we’re young, middle-aged or old.  In this world of constant promotions and immediate-gratification demands, we have misplaced something essential to our humanness:  our delight in free time. Continue reading Waiting . . . and EFT

EFT and Teaching Longevity

 

Those of us called to teach, who flush with the pleasure of a student’s hard won insight or accomplishment and who do all we can to stay true to our purpose to lift and to launch others into the magic of new knowledge, new skills, and new relationships, are often shocked to feel our passion for work we believe in unequivocally drain away.  And yet this ebbing of passion happens, these days more than ever before, even among the most committed teachers.  We often learn the hard way that powering through the pain we feel on our students’ behalf can lead to Compassion Fatigue so debilitating we feel forced to leave rather than further our relationship with teaching and learning.  Happily, there is now an effective remedy for teachers’ professional exhaustion.

Continue reading EFT and Teaching Longevity

Creating a Partnership Culture

Please Note:  Winter Blooms is an educational website in no way meant to replace building a relationship with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist.  To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the ACEP website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane for EFT coaching support.

When Riane Eisler’s The Chalice and The Blade was first published almost thirty years ago, the feminist revolution had already taken hold of many of Earth’s Sixties Children and imbued us with optimism concerning our ability to create a socially just world.  Cynics called our vision ridiculous as they made passionate arguments about innate human violence and stupidity.  But those of us schooled in Eisler’s Chalice vision felt called to forge a new way of being in the world, something she called The Partnership Way.  Partnerships, she illustrated vividly, were the antidote to the Dominator model we call patriarchy (learn more about Eisler’s Partnership Way studies at http://www.partnershipway.org/.)  Power With rather than Power Over became our focus, and no matter our backgrounds and talents, we took this model to our homes, to our workplaces, and to our streets.  Since first reading Chalice, I have countless times experienced the transforming powers of a Partnership focus; in my home, in my classrooms, in my workshops, and in my coaching sessions, I have found partnering with others brings the deepest satisfaction and the most exciting results.  Tapping has increased my insights into the value of a Partnership focus, since this tool supports my first and foremost partnership, the one I have with myself.

Continue reading Creating a Partnership Culture

Terrorism and Depression

Please Note:  Winter Blooms is an educational website in no way meant to replace building a relationship with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist.  To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the ACEP website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane for EFT coaching support.

Since the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, November 13, 2015, I’ve spoken with many people whose immediate reaction has been to shut down.  This is understandable.  Unlike the earthquake that rocked Brazil earlier this fall, an event that brought together people from all over the world to help, the terrorist attacks have had a divisive influence on people everywhere.  Depression is often our first response when faced with something we feel we have no control over, and escalating terrorist attacks are at this point beyond the control of most people.  Consciously or unconsciously, we are drawn to think about the human condition and what appears to be a growing impulse to war and annihilation.  “Appears to be” is the key phrase.  While the Paris bombings attract global attention, simultaneously, in communities everywhere, people are doing the work of weaving the world together in lovingly creative ways.  Tapping, especially daily, prayerful tapping, can help us to focus on the ways we can participate in a Culture of Love that unites people in mending our social and environmental fabric and in doing so, lift the depressive energies that plague us.

Continue reading Terrorism and Depression

Lifting Seasonal Affective Disorder

Please Note:  Winter Blooms is an educational website in no way meant to replace building a relationship with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist.  To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the Gary Craig website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane at 802-533-9277 or jane@winterblooms.net for EFT coaching support.

Now that winter is officially here in the Northern Hemisphere, many are beginning to feel a familiar depression, often bordering on hopelessness, identified with short, cloudy, days and seemingly endless nights.  Called Winter Blues, Seasonal Depression, and, clinically, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) this emotional distress is a potentially serious condition whose symptoms include anxiety, sleeplessness, food cravings and subsequent weight gain, and debilitating lethargy.  Physicians treat SAD sufferers, who are mostly women, with a variety of pharmaceuticals that mask symptoms.  There are, however, reliable remedies that actually help to shift the negative emotions associated with SAD, including EFT, aka Tapping.

Continue reading Lifting Seasonal Affective Disorder

Tapping in the Aftermath of . . .

Because tapping is becoming well known as an effective remedy for in-the-moment stress and even trauma, I assume a working knowledge of the tapping process on this blog.  If you are not yet familiar with the tapping process, many reliable website resources are available on the web including those maintained by AAMET, EFT Universe, and The Tapping Solution.  These three education resources feature descriptions of the tapping process as well as illustrations of the meridian points most commonly used in Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT, also known as tapping.  Because of the sensitive content of this blog post, I recommend readers tap while reading it.  Tapping while consciously giving our attention to potentially distressing information helps to create the space for understanding, love, and compassion for ourselves and for all participants in such events as the Isla Vista shooting of last weekend.  In the aftermath of this and any traumatic event, calm and centred space within our hearts and minds is not an easy condition to cultivate.  Tapping supports this goal.

Continue reading Tapping in the Aftermath of . . .