2012.06.14 _ 65

Well, I would say I was the opposite to Storm and have lived mostly through my mind and thoughts. I think this might be the result of the whole education system and culture I was brought up in. I remember when I was a boy imagining there was a little guy in my head directing operations like the captain of a ship. Apparently this "theatre of the mind" model is very common. Through talking to you two and through my current reading I am understanding that my body knows more than I think it does. Perhaps I need to do more vipassana meditation or Gendlin's Focusing technique, or something like that.

The body knows a huge amount that it doesn't let on, unless you know how...

Back in the 1970s I got myself a book called "Dowsing", by Tom Graves. A reprint of this 1976 classic is here: www.amazon.com/The-Diviners-Handbook-Timeless-Dowsing/dp/0892813032 Perhaps the most well-known form of dowsing is water-divining. I found there's no magic to it. It's easy to learn and it's effective. But I advise skepticism (as does this book) toward anyone who claims to know how dowsing works; we just don't know, especially how one can seem to be able to mentally program and configure it.

What's this got to do with the body knowing more than you think? Like I said, dowsing isn't magic. The rods, pendulum or the ol' bent hazel twig are nothing more than mechanical amplifiers that magnify small movements of the body that you would not normally notice. Tell the body you're looking for water and it will react ever so slightly when you pass over some. But although dowsing was easy for me to learn, but I also tried running classes on it, and I found that about one-quarter of students also found it easy, whereas only one-third found it impossible.

This theme of bodily instinct, precision and sensitivity regarding such comes up several times on what was a pretty lovely day. :) A few spontaneous deep quiet moments, but no intentionally structured 'practice' today. :::checks in:::