The Body/Mind Health Corner™

with Steven Rogat

February/March 2002

Healing Through Shamanism & Metaphor

Working with a woman who complains about pain in both her knees, she tells me of her medical history concerning arthritis. "Generally, I say, "anything that ends in 'itis' reflects anger. The knees deal with a personal conflict between flexibility and stubbornness. You may be angry about having to choose between the two. I started picking up impressions. "I see your mother and father. She blatantly digs in her heels and expresses her wishes. He prides himself on being flexible, but in reality he just goes ahead and stubbornly does what he wants most of the time."

I turn on the drumming tape to put both of us in trance and to keep us focused until the work is done. Laying my hands on her knees, I call on Spirit to help with the healing, to direct my hands, my words. "They're fighting each other. You put yourself in the middle of their argument, trying to appease both, not knowing which one to believe."

The anger builds. "I feel heat within both kneecaps. I hear a grinding noise. It's your parents, grinding their teeth, digging in their heels, not budging an inch. The knees are stiffening, the heat builds. There are little teeth on the bottom of each knee cap, wearing down the cushioning behind. Angry little teeth, grinding their way in. It's the anger. It's the biting nature of your lessons. Mom is angry and shows it. Dad pretends to be patient and flexible, but seethes underneath the surface. They tell you different things. She tells the hurtful truth. He speaks a pleasant lie."

I feel the thrumming of the drums under my hands. The body is getting ready to release. My hands are guided to different points on her legs, drawing the energy to her knees. Localizing the dis-ease, the pressure builds. "See yourself in the middle, trying your best to keep the two of them apart, trying to keep them from fighting, yet trying to bring them together in love...apart, together, apart, together." She starts to cry - lightly at first, but then with great wrenching sobs. "Go ahead, let it out. Release the sadness of being in the middle of that mess...

..."Take a deep breath. Hold it in. Stiffen your knees as the tension builds." I cup my hands around her knees, pressing down, building the tension. "Now let's go in there and cut off those teeth. Let's file them down to harmless powder able to be flushed from you system harmlessly. Let's do it! Now let go of the breath and relax." Bending down closer, I suck the debris, the miasma, out of her body and blow it away to be transformed harmlessly in the Light.

"Now relax. You are in a bumper car. Each knee cap is a bumper car with soft, flexible, rubber padding on the bottom." I breathe life and Light to the bumper cars, cementing them within her body. "Moving effortlessly, rising and falling easily, harmlessly, each bumper car has a wonderful shock absorber beneath it. As you drive around, you see your parents, each in their own bumper car. Now...get them! Hit them hard!" She starts to laugh now. "Good. Play with it. Express the anger harmlessly, easily, even playfully. Get'em!

"You've got both parts of them within you. And that's okay. Play with them. They can disagree, yet interact. They can take shots at each other, but no one gets hurt. Bump. Get bumped. Know when you're being flexible. Know when you're being stubborn. Be aware when and if a lie slips through. Live the truth. Get'em! Get'em good!

"Breathe the Love and Light to your knees. Forgive yourself for having the flexibility and the stubbornness. Celebrate the awareness of your diversity. Thank yourself for your certainty. Bounce up and down in the bumper car. Love your knees. Your path is your own! You have your own bumper car, shiny and smooth and durable. Your parents each have their own."

Her knees are well on the way to being healed. Of course, some additional work may be needed, perhaps some body work, some poultices, dietary supplements, maybe more energy work and imagery. But the healing has started. The tension has been released. The door is open, letting the Love and Light in. The energy is freed up, allowing the body to heal itself.

Positive Thought To Manifest:  I express my certainty with love and joy.