body-wisdom-by-mary-anne

Laid upon this body is a map

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 01:16:35 GMT

Forest of the Soul

As I head into my tenth year of documenting the way our bodies whisper to us, I’ve been pondering the very why of it all. Why does the body hold onto old pains, griefs, and grievances? The answer isn’t truly clear yet, but I can tell you one thing I have absolutely learned: our bodies really, really know their stuff. They know what needs to change within us.

Laid upon our skin, into our very bones and souls, is a map. A map that can lead us into ourselves. A map that shows us where we need to go, so we can grow, heal, and evolve. Our bodies quietly hint and whisper what we most need to know. On hard days—or hard years—they may shout with great pain, warning us of the disasters we need to avoid. If only we understood.

So now I realise that I am recording—like a cartographer—the fine details of the map our body holds, hidden in plain sight. This is the map, filled with clues that reveal what most needs healing. So when someone says, “If only the body came with a manual…” — well, perhaps this is what I have found.

What do our darling bodies want for us? The same thing our hearts and souls desire. I believe our whole self seeks the same results in everyone; it just appears slightly differently in each person. What? Inner alignment of our being—so that thought, word, and deed are one. Deep connection to ourselves, our community, and the universe (or God). And then, our darling bodies want us to grow, and grow, and grow. That’s it. “Simple.” Ha ha!

This body map, laid upon our skin, points out what needs to happen next for us to achieve alignment, connection, and evolution. It has signposts, breadcrumbs and little places to visit. Each offers hints about what needs to change, be released, or developed. The longer I work on this Body Map—or Atlas—the more in awe I am of the incredible subtlety our body holds. It knows when you’re carrying hurt you can’t let go of, or when you’re avoiding a job promotion out of fear you lack the energy or skills. It knows when you need to flow and float, rather than walk stiffly like a robot through life.

Wow.

I will be sharing the clues I have found with my coming podcast, Silva Animae, The Forest of the Soul.

xx Mary-Anne

Thanks to Canva for helping me create the above image

Healing as a whole person

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 09:43:21 GMT

One concept of health is wholeness in body, mind and spirit. Yet what I consider 'health’ as is not a ‘perfect’ whole body, mind and spirit. Perfect is not really achievable for many (and is the top athlete ever truly happy with their health? I don't know!). We need to look at health in a living state of our body, mind and spirit. The World Health organisation describes health as;

"a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

I frequently wonder why I am collecting this data and information about emotions in the body. Looking at the ’body’ of my work (yes, pun intended) I see that it is addressing multiple aspects of what makes up a whole person and their well-being.

There have been multiple different versions by a range of practitioners about what I am doing. One famous person who wrote on spiritual awareness was Louise Hay. She was the mother of all of this (as far as I understand). There are many reference books that detail the emotions of specific health conditions, and a few that map certain remedies against the body . So I often wonder… am I reinventing the wheel?

I have been observing what kind of information I am collecting when I work. I noticed that collected information is addressing more of the whole person. As I said above, I mean we are biological, social, emotional, rational and spiritual beings, that which makes us whole. I haven't come across a comprehensive version of a body map, like the one I am making that takes the three aspects of ourselves into account.

I am developing/ recording three systems:

Primary Base body - emotions that manifest directly onto the body via skin changes, pain, mobility changes etc. (My first recorded information)

Layers - this is possibly related to the body's electrical field. These show on the body, as pain etc.

A third system that seems to be our ‘spiritual body’ map. Not Chakras.

These three systems reflect the three different parts of our ’body’: our spiritual, mental/ emotional and physical bodies.

So what steps do we take to look at health in a living state of our body, mind and spirit – how do they interplay? Stay tuned – more to come.

xx Mary-Anne

Emotional brain

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 23:55:09 GMT

Are you left or right brain dominant?

I have talked a lot about how our emotions are impacted by our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. This is the beginning of a series of posts specifically talking about how our body function can change our emotional landscape.

Whole brain, Right brain, Left brain. Our brain is split into two harmonious brains, the right and left hemispheres. They talk to each other via a bridge, the corpus callosum.

As little people we start out as right brain dominant, as we create connections with people and understand what is safe and not safe. Around age two to three, our left brains start to fire up, which is when language really kicks in and we start exploring the world.

Ideally, as an adult, your brain functions with both Right and Left hemispheres doing their thing. Balanced. In this modern world Left brain functioning is prized. If you have the magical left-brain dominance, you will be good at being neat, organised, saving money, and following things sequentially to the end. You likely will be methodical, academic... and so on.

A right-brain dominant person would be disorganised, great with ideas, not so good with finishing things, social, and the classic creative.

So what does this have to do with emotions? If one side of your brain is dominant, the other side is delayed or deficit- it's asleep! Then the balance is off and we have trouble. This can show in what type of emotions we express and experience.

A right-brain dominant person will tend to worry about being embarrassed, shamed or failing to connect to the group properly. As a result, they can be oversensitive to others’ opinions, be afraid of being embarrassed, and have fears and phobias. If they have Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it will be focused around safety, closing the doors etc. You may be overly sensitive to others’ emotions and be empathetic more than others. Being motivated can be an issue with concerns of "what's the point".

A left-brain dominant person will tend to be generally emotionally neutral and then explode with anger or at other times get the giggles (imagine giggling little girls). They can lack moderation emotionally. A left-brain dominant can hold grudges and have dark thoughts. A left-brain dominant person will know no fear, with the tendency to take risks and explore, which is great for fighting in wars or hunting down dinner. Having said that, panic attacks can be the prevue of an excessive left brain. OCD for this brain is ritualistic and their habits just don't register. The right hemisphere is the boss for emotions so when it's not doing its job well, responses to situations can be skewed.

Do you see yourself in either of these emotional patterns? Ideally you don't! A well balanced brain will have both sides in check and you will be neatly coordinated within and respond to situations with both brains a blazing!

Looking at meridians with acupuncture, you will find that Right brain is well presented with the Water meridians, Kidney and Bladder. Their primary emotions are of fear, impending doom, and feeling paralysed. The Earth meridians also represent the overactive right brain with emotions of worry, distrust, and not being good enough. The left dominant brain emotions are more Wood meridians, with Liver and Gall bladder, Anger, resentment, and bitterness.

I would love to hear what you think of yourself in light of this information. And don't forget to subscribe to get informed of my next blog post.

xx Mary-Anne

P.S this is another gorgeous art work from Tracy Rose.

If you would like some more information on the right brain style of thinking Linda Silverman really exploded this in the early 1980's with her book Upside down Brilliance Here is a small PDF from 2005 ( so a little out of date) but a nice read.

Beyond Butterflies

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 01:57:09 GMT

The Physical Manifestations of Big Transitions and How Neuro-Emotional Technique Can Help

While first-day jitters are often associated with nervous excitement, bigger life transitions like moving from primary to high school, entering university, or even stepping into adulthood can bring on a whole new level of stress. And sometimes, that stress doesn't just live in our heads – it shows up in our bodies too.

Here are some physical ways these big transitions can manifest:

Increased nightmares: As we process anxieties and navigate unfamiliar territory, our brains can go into overdrive at night, leading to vivid and unsettling dreams.
Stomach aches and digestive issues: The gut is often called our "second brain," and it's highly sensitive to emotional changes. Stress can manifest as nausea, constipation, or even diarrhea.
Bed wetting, even in older children: This can be a sign of emotional distress and a subconscious attempt to regain a sense of control during a period of uncertainty.
Irritability and short temper: Feeling overwhelmed and on edge can make even minor annoyances feel unbearable, leading to outbursts or snapping at loved ones.

This year I have had a run of children that have had the loss of a grandparent exacerbate their timidity and compound worries about going to school next year. Leading up to Christmas I find it is fear of what is to come, bad dreams, and a lack of confidence in making friends that dominates the worry of transitioning to a new stage of school. Once school begins is usually when crying at the gate and separating from mum starts for the littlest children. It's important to remember that everyone experiences these transitions differently, and the physical manifestations can vary greatly. While some people might experience intense symptoms, others might barely notice any change.

Here's how Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET) can help:

NET is a gentle, non-invasive therapy that helps identify and release the emotional stress that can be stored in the body. By using a combination of muscle testing and dialogue, NET practitioners can pinpoint the specific memories or experiences that are contributing to your physical symptoms. Once these are identified, NET can help you release the negative emotions associated with them, allowing your body to return to a state of balance and relaxation.

If you or your child is experiencing any of the physical manifestations of stress, NET could be a valuable tool in your healing journey. By addressing the root cause of your stress, NET can help you feel better physically, mentally, and emotionally. I find that an NET session before the big transition to school can ease the stress children feel and they emerge stronger and more resilient on the other side.

Enjoy this holiday season and be kind to yourselves

xx Mary-Anne

seeing the whole body

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 08:15:00 GMT

We have been looking at the links between our body, mind and spirit. The question remains: how are they linked when we are unwell?

The idea that what we think and feel can make us sick has been around for a long time. On the flipside, it is very clear that sometimes we are sick independent of thoughts and feelings. Yet the emotions appear to be there anyway. How does that work? They seem to be impossible to unravel. In fact, I suspect it is simultaneous; it happens together.

It may appear that one precedes the other, and perhaps that is true. My theory is that the WHOLE self changes its function and it manifests in one form, most visibly in the body. Yet, body, mind and spirit are damaged at the same time.

I know this appears to be different to the comment I wrote in my last blog - that a ‘broken’ body can be whole and healthy. Perhaps the examples in my mind are people that have grown as a result of their injuries? An accident ends with a body becoming paraplegic; however, the person’s mind and spirit grow in strength and stamina. Spiritual and emotional well-being can be independent of physical health. Perhaps this is the exception? Or a goal? If we are blessed to age, we have changes in our body, markers of our life, such as arthritis in the fingers, bellies that sag, and wrinkles. These are normal. For example, corrosive thinking wears down the body, which aligns with basic histology that shows cells can take decades to change their form. The cells are eventually worn down. They function differently for a while, then change shape and become functionally different. Specific example: type two diabetes doesn't come out of nowhere; the body is attempting to cope for a long time before it can no longer work its insulin magic.

Change means that time is a key factor. My limited understanding of physics suggests that the answer will eventually come from there. Give it another 50 years. There is some very cool information on simultaneous time (time appears to flow forwards and backwards) as well as quantum entanglement. We are peeking at a problem in another room through a little keyhole!

In my practice, I have seen how the WHOLE self changes its function and sickness manifests in one form, most visibly in the body. However, with an ill body, the mind and spirit are damaged in a linked timeframe. We have so much more to learn. In my next post I talk about this with concrete examples.

xx Mary-Anne

Shifting my world view

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 06:51:24 GMT

My world changed

It happened in front of my eyes the very first time. I was transfixed.

It was Malaysia, 2001, and it was my first year as a fully-fledged Chiropractor, working in a suburban clinic in Kuala Lumpur. A lovely woman had come in with an enormous goitre (thyroid gland) on her throat. While working with her it become apparent, she had unresolved stress held in her body, especially around her throat. So, I pulled out my “new” chart and started using Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) on her.

Five minutes later as we were chatting, I realised that her goitre was shrinking! I was shocked. She said she had seen it grow and shrink in front of her eyes before as well. Everything I had been taught at university about the length of time it takes cells to become dysfunctional and then heal was coming undone in front of me. My world changed.

In truth, my world view shift had been coming on for a long time. I had subconsciously suspected for years that a person's body, heart and mind tended to interact or play with each other.

Here is a close personal example. I had a joyful and bubbly mother, who managed to get herself into a prestigious university at 36 after not finishing high school. She was on cloud nine learning about John Donne (poet), the Black death and convict transportation. However, her perfectionistic self, combined with allergies and running a household meant when she got sick, she crashed and crashed hard. She got chronic fatigue in the 1980s. Let me tell you, it was the era when people said to your face, “you are making it up”, “it's your fault you’re sick” and “it's in your head”.

Brutal – to say the least.

I can tell you that my mum did not want to be sick! Interestingly, the process of her healing, the last 1/3 of her illness, taught me the most about intertwined feelings and body health.

Firstly, it isn't a simple affair this whole psychosomatic business. This brilliant word has been twisted to mean "it's all in your head". Please help me rescue the word back to its actual meaning. Pysche- means mind or emotions. Greek. Somatic - is body in Greek. Psychosomatic simply means the emotions impact the body! Wow!

It is pretty clear that when the body is unwell, it can make the mind unwell. Best explain that one another day.

xx Mary-Anne

Onto the Orient

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 05:06:37 GMT

Digging into the details

Hello all,

So much has been happening since I wrote last time. In my “plan for 2023” I listed that one of the jobs for this year was to compare my data to other modalities. This is where I have been focusing (obsessing) my time in the last few weeks. I have started with Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), specifically acupuncture, Tibetan medicine (TM) acupuncture and an Osteopathic technique called Chapmans points (which later became AK’s Neurolymphatic points).

You may wonder how I am comparing these modalities and in what way. Firstly, I am simply looking at the location of a point and see if it lines up with a TCM or TM or Chapman point. Is it in the same space on the body? So far so good!

What I have realised is that even though I have mapped each point, I will need to go back over each one in the next year and determine if each one relates to the above modalities. If they don’t fit, I will need to work out why.

Then, when the opportunity arises, I test the Body point against a meridian. This is called Therapy Localising (TL), an Applied kinesiology concept.

As you can see from the pictures, I am just at the beginning of this process; it is indeed rather intense and overwhelming. So much my subconscious has started joining in and I’ve begun dreaming about body points over night, several times a week! It is like a new level to the riddle and every fibre of my being is helping out. I don’t mind though. My hubby asked me recently if I had put my all into this, and I can absolutely say ‘Yes’.

So 2023 continues to be an exciting learning period, and this journey will continue.

I am getting some solid ideas of what 2024 may involve. It is going to be very, very exciting. It is as huge as this year, but I need to keep it secret until I have all the complex details ironed out. For now, as you can see I have launched my new website, which has this blog embedded in it (moved over from www.vuedescoeurs.com).

Much love and light,

Mary-Anne

Balance

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 03:16:23 GMT

I have used this term ‘balance’ quite a lot in my blogs, but the meaning may at times be elusive to its actual function in our bodies.

A recent realisation is that each point I work with is not a clear polarity of negative and positive emotion. The point is more like a see-saw or a set of scales… though there are two extremes of emotion or experience and the goal is the balance point.

To clarify, in the knee there is a point that refers to rigidity and inflexibility within a person in their outlook on life. The opposite isn’t balanced and flexible. The opposite is too flexible, too accommodating to others, and not being able to stand firm. However, the sweet spot, that is the balanced point, is managing flexibility in response to others, without over doing it in either direction.

What is surprising is that this wasn’t obvious to me as I was recording the emotions behind each point. I initially thought that a point held only a single “bad” emotional story – say anguish or disgust. Six years down the track as I dig further into each point, I am realizing that ‘wow’… the stories aren’t two dimensional, as I had originally thought. There is more going on.

In hindsight, this should have been apparent early on, as we are complex creatures. So many of our responses are indeed a fine balance. An example could be our gut response… such as rage at a personal injustice, but then holding back for fear of backlash or making a situation far worse. How do we hold the two opposing desires together? Desire for safety, or saving face, and a desire to get revenge? These more complex and nuanced stories are what I am finding as I travel further away from the core of our bodies to what is in our limbs.

I am getting close to the first complete cycle around the body. I have almost mapped the body completely now. I am finding when I return to a region it’s like seeing it again completely anew. I left the head thinking it was a simple affair, with clean clear emotions, and I have returned to it realising that is not so. As I continue my journey onwards around the body again, I wonder what will I discover this time around…

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.”

T.S Elliot

T.S. Eliot, from “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets (Gardners Books; Main edition, April 30, 2001) Originally published 1943.”

This poem is really speaking to me at the moment.

Much love and joy,

Mary-Anne

Tell me a story

Sun, 27 Aug 2023 03:16:21 GMT

All stories are part of one big story. And there are a range of story tellers.

All stories are part of one big story. And there are a range of story tellers. Joseph Campbell wrote that there is only one Mono myth. That story is the Hero/Heroines Journey. George Lucas used that to create Star Wars. Then there's the 1678's Pilgrims Progress and Ulysses by Homer, which are also perfect examples. The story describes the life of a person, essentially. A life means that to grow we must leave home, journey, experience trials and tribulations, and then return.

When a story or movie ends with an unsatisfying feeling, and in a way with no ‘return’, it is because it has betrayed the mono myth; it hasn't followed ‘type’. Ultimately, stories in the form of myths, legends and fairytales are teaching tools. They teach through metaphor and symbols – a link to life. They can be warnings, signposts, and clues for how to survive dangers in life. Think: Little red riding hood... she was onto that nasty wolf, and she escaped. Watch out for the wolf in sheep's clothing (or a wolf pretending to be a nice grandmother)... some people are not what they seem and are unsafe. These stories teach to trust your instinct and question everything, and, if in doubt, runaway!

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

T.S Elliot

I wonder if T.S Elliot was actually referring to the Heroines journey when he wrote this in his poem. He appears to be referencing the "Return" aspect of the Journey. The Journey is about growing into a Hero or moving into a different phase of life, as Richard Rohr discusses in Falling Upward. Rohr writes about working out what to do with ourselves and links to Carl Yung's concept of the two halves of life. The first half is to create a strong healthy container (our sense of self) and the second half is transforming it so we blow apart our ego and become a wise(r) person… an elder. This is part of a person’s journey and exploration, their experience of trials and tribulations, and their learning.

What does this have to do with my work? Why am I interested in this? I would like to collect a story for each Body point. I am beginning to realise that each point on the body that holds emotions is not a simple and straight forward single emotion point, like anger or bitterness, but more of a response to a situation or story. I will address that a bit more in another post I've called Balance.

I have decided to start collecting stories, quotes, vignettes, anecdotes for each Body point. Well, maybe not every body point - that’s just too many! Do you have any stories, new or old, that you adore? Please share them with me. Or a book series? A wisdom book? Please share any story that has created meaning in your life.

Much love to all of you walking this path with me,

xx Mary-Anne

Update

Sun, 20 Aug 2023 09:05:28 GMT

Hello my friends!

A little update to let you know how my project is progressing. I now have a sight on when I will finish getting the last 10% of my "scribbles" into confluence. 10th of September! thats the plan ! keep me accountable, ok?

I have hit a few snags in this last bit. Firstly when I started writing down my arms work several years ago, I muddled up the drawings of the arms. It turns out if you don't draw enough land marks it is quite easy to mix the orientation of the arms.. don't ask, its a painful, irritating mistake. The result is I will need to remap the arms again.

As well as being almost finished with digitising, I would say I am close to having mapped the body "completely" the first time around. Perhaps 80-90% ? ( hmmm maybe that estimate is a bit high..) As I have said earlier I expect to need to travel to other communities to complete the work fully, as well as needing about 10-20 years to finish it to a satisfactory level. What do I mean by that? Each Body point is its own story and journey within it and will need many, many datapoints over time to round it out and make it complete. Time is the only remedy for that one!

I've decided to have an open day on the 10th of September (2023) if you are local and can pop in, I would love to see you. I am planning to have all my work out, with Tracy's gorgeous illustrations to be seen! I have a few hundred pages by the way! I plan to show everyone a little of how it works on the day. If you are curious, this is the day for you!

xx Mary-Anne

Madness

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 07:34:06 GMT

I thought I was going mad.

I have been feeling like an old typewriter... following a trail of ideas and attempting to go back to the beginning... over and over again. Do you remember the typewriters that have the lever so you can use "return" and start the next row? But rows flow?

"ting!"

My madness was in thinking that the way I have been creating was "wonky" or "wrong". The weird idea was that I was supposed to follow one path of ideas to completion and then start the next idea. WRONG! Instead I have been working on multiple threads of projects all at once… like a mad busy lady.

I realise now, if I followed that way, I would lose so many leads of information and lose an immense amount of time (I'm guessing years, people!).

Sigh. Relief.

I am what I am. Those of you that know me well would be fully aware that I am a sensitive creature that tends to not care and also fret - all at the same time. I feel a sense of relief that this way of working, my way, is indeed perfect for my job.

At the moment I am attempting to create a cohesive picture of the Chest. It involves about 11 paired lung points, the 6 heart points, an undetermined number of intercostal points, possibly 9 paired breast points, as well as the rib margin points. Also, did I mention the points around the collarbone? Many of these are very close to each other and may overlap. What makes it extra tricky is that mapping and recording one point this morning resulted in me working on a left foot point, in an entirely different system (wait what.. another system? Yes, I am creating 3 different systems at once… that info can just remain hidden for a few more years).

Chest, breast, foot, now… where was I? So now you can see why I feel like a typewriter... I must continually return my little brain to the beginning.... "ting!". But I also need to acknowledge the threads and links… and that is where more knowledge and insights may lie.

My darling cousin R said years ago I was like a Rosella... noisy, colourful, messy and creative, and just to be myself. Slowly, slowly, I see that this insane, haphazard way of creating is just fine, thanks !

Thanks for listening!

xx Mary-Anne

Divine Centre

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:08:07 GMT

Our Divine Centre is within us all and from when we are born. This heart centre links to our emotions and feeling safe. At our mothers’ chests, we were nurtured, held, adored, fed and mirrored emotionally. A developing child needs to have emotions modelled and mirrored for them. In fact, in the very early days, babies don't realise they are separate beings from their mums. This divine point addresses being listened to and being heard. When we are heard and listened to, we can feel comfortable to express our thoughts and feelings; it is like a safe house. There is an aspect of reaching up, arms out, as babes do. Arms out say: carry me, comfort me, hold me.

Looking back I was only expecting to find emotions about our day-to-day interactions and feelings as we go about work and play. However, I knew as humans we have had a sense of spirituality for a long time, indicated by burial practises with grave offerings at least 100,000 years ago. Reflecting on the little I know of our world’s peoples, I thought about what stood out. History and customs: throughout the world there are the rituals, ceremonies, and worship practices. It is so obvious to me now, that we, as people, would have Body points that correlate with Spirit points. Dang! With this blind spot of mine, no wonder it took a while for me to piece the puzzle together! Delving into the Divine Centre over time will be so exciting; I'm confident it will be a rich and surprising point.

xx Mary-Anne

Polling...Knees or Face?

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 06:11:45 GMT

I have so much to share, and it is so hard to know where to start! I've started with the foundation, Heart, as you know by now ( P.S next Heart Workshop is on the 3/9/23). Quite a number of people have requested Knee workshops, but a new contender is a Face Workshop.

What amazes me is how excited I've become thinking about how to approach running a Face workshop. Essentially there are a crazy number of spots on the face. Some Body Points are stripes, a few crescent shapes, but mostly they are spot shaped. This seems to hold true for the whole body. This makes sense to me, we are not rectangles, but soft rounded 3D forms, so the divine circle fits so perfectly. Our faces display so much of our inner thoughts and feelings, with tiny intricate little muscles and subtle movements. All our emotions like, disgust, shame, joy can be telegraphed loud and clear to others via our faces. So it seems that emotions and stress held within us, unprocessed, also sit on our faces. These can show up as pain, tingling, itchiness, redness, scaliness. On the scalp I've seen hair loss, or scabs on a bald fellow. Remember this is separate from injured body parts ( pathology) and new symptoms must be appropriately checked by a health professional.

Moving forward I plan to address the big picture, and detail themes that relate to regions. I've hinted at some themes in earlier posts .Will it be the Knee or the Face next time? Help me decide!

XX Mary-Anne

Status

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 05:59:21 GMT

In this century and modern world we are desperately attempting to escape ranking and status to create equality.

But let's face it, we are animals.

Our very wiring drives us to compare ourselves to others… to determine if we are higher or lower in the pecking order socially. Did you know we literally better remember the face of a person we consider high status and forget the lowly? We are wired to track the faces of high-status people (no wonder magazines sell!). Our brains change depending on where we fit in the scale of status… how we think, how we respond to social cues... all of it. A social hierarchy develops in all group living animals, quickly, and helps with order and co-operation as well as resource allocation. It isn't all bad.

You may wonder why I bring this up? I've noticed many, many Body Points that focus on worth, value and "face". They show up on the back of the head, forehead, face, heart, belly... the list is long. I yearn for an egalitarian society, so in truth I ignored the aspect of "face" for a long time. Initially I started pondering the obvious persisting hierarchal societies. The more I considered this, I realised that in fact we in the West have only really started attempting to shed this system very, very recently. The hardwiring to rank people is there, just look at how children and teens naturally attempt to dominate each other.

It may be unpleasant to consider and talk about, but for our wellbeing, we need to recognise that we are primed to compare ourselves to others, to either dominate or submit to others. Knowing that we have this neurobiology means we can balance ourselves more effectively.

Buddha and Jesus, to name two amazing ancient people, knew this was an issue. They fought against our biological natures (the urge to compare, fight and dominate others), so we can find a way to rise above it. So challenging our biological nature isn't a new radical idea, it's just we as individuals and as societies haven't quite shaken off the shackles yet.

Around the left knee I have found a point I've called "Lotus" temporarily as it is a significant point. This Body point is related to referred pain from the Sartorius muscle and is about standing your ground, not being pushed around by others, as well as not allowing yourself to feel inferior or compare yourself to others. Wow, that’s fighting the effects of the pecking order right there! I find it amazing that inside our bodies is the desire to counter status, the emotions of attempting to stand up for ourselves, the urge and yearning to be treated well and fairly.

So courage and standing ground…

xx Mary-Anne

Wisdom

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 05:53:50 GMT

“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

Thanks Will for that little quote from As you like it.

What is wisdom? And who cares?

If our Heart is our Internal compass and our Inner wisdom (Heart 3), which enables us to perceive how we feel about ourselves, our direction and sense how we relate to others, our Head is a big part of putting that together into a good working life.

At my most recent count, I found 26 points on the head and face alone involved in reacting to worrying about how life was going (or a lack of wisdom).

Let me get you up to speed on what the psychology literature says about wisdom; no one can agree on a single definition. The definitions appear to involve Wit and Virtue, and it seems they can barely agree on that. I read a beautiful paper from China that insisted that wisdom needs to involve the greater good... otherwise it's not wisdom a – it's just clever. One thing they do agree on: a wise person is not wise at all times and in all areas of life. Wise acts need to have time to brew as well... sometimes it looks good in the short term, but a decison can be a disaster seen from a distance.

Essentially, I have boiled this down into two main regions that have points relating to wisdom: the forehead and the low back of the head. Anatomy-wise, this the frontal bones and the occipital bones. I have seen people in distress and frustration rub the back of their heads. I have personally put my head in my hands when I wasn't sure how I would solve a problem.

Wisdom is knowing how to adapt to a situation in a timely manner, and then attempting it. I would say it is a balance of head and heart... wit with compassion.

If our Heart guides the way, our Head riddles through the details and fleshes out the map.

xx M ary-Anne

At last

Sun, 21 May 2023 05:41:00 GMT

The answer has just dropped sweetly, quietly into my heart… drip, drop.

The big, big picture of what I am doing has been alluding me. Why this? What for? I could see, but, not really.

"It's just a collection of emotion points". That has been my thinking. I find it useful, but would anyone else?

A small conversation last night over drinks, and a little random conversation this morning over coffee… so the mulling and brewing and stewing has finally produced a potion... I have an answer.

Come here, let me whisper it to you.

Follow your dreams they say! Be grand! Be outstanding! Be your best self!

(How the hell do I do that?)

How do we know, as a person, what we are good at? How do we learn to trust ourselves, our instincts, intuition, and wisdom? How do we follow our true North when I can't hear our Hearts think?

We beings are like fine instruments. With misuse and neglect, a song played on an out-of-tune instrument will be hard to listen and be confusing.

We beings that are fine instruments, we need to be tuned carefully so a skilled player can make exquisite music. Being told we are wrong and to mistrust ourselves can make it hard to understand the music from ourselves. Stress and trauma can detune our instrument. Once we have resolved old stresses, we need to learn how to listen to ourselves and trust what we sense and hear. Then we ACT with courage and are ok when it all goes wrong.

So the secret is that ... learning to Tune ourselves, learning to listen and hear, and act on what our clever body tells us... that is what my work is for.

xx Mary-Anne

A love letter to flowers

Sun, 14 May 2023 05:32:26 GMT

I could fill a library with tomes dedicated to flowers. How do I express to you dear reader my adoration for flowers? Poems, sonnets, sonatas sing about flowers. I frequently take photos of flowers in all their varieties. I feel delighted, uplifted, and joyful when I discover a sweet flower in someone’s yard or in a bit of bushland.

Why do I want to tell you all about flowers? For me this is like a carpenter writing an ode to the plumb bob or a hammer. I use aspects of flowers at work, as essential oils or flower essences.

Truthfully, I think Eckhart Tolle in his First chapter of A New Earth describes it best. I shall quote it here, but not in full.

"Earth, 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: The first flower ever to appear on the planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. ...The first flower probably did not survive for long, and flowers must have remained rare and isolated phenomena.

Much later, those delicate and fragrant beings we call flowers would come to play an essential part in the evolution of consciousness of another species. Humans would increasingly be drawn to and fascinated by them. As the consciousness of human beings developed, flowers were most likely the first thing they came to value that had no utilitarian purpose for them, that is to say, was not linked in some way to survival.

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition. Without our fully realizing it, flowers would become for us an expression in form of that which is most high, most sacred, and ultimately formless within ourselves. Flowers, more fleeting, more ethereal, and more delicate than the plants out of which they emerged, would become like messengers from another realm, like a bridge between the world of physical forms and the formless."

A New Earth, Chapter One

Flowers are like magic keys. They are magic keys in that can help you recognise where you need support mentally and emotionally, for instance the calming of a lavender flower and the improving of memory with Rosemary (though that's with the leaf and stalk). As you observe a flower you will unconsciously note symbols that we as humans are hardwired with. This is called the Doctrine of Signatures and is especially important with Flower Essences. Doctrine of Signatures takes in the colour, the number of petals, if it droops or points up... and so on. The lotus flower is a great example; it rises up out of the mud to bloom. It starts in the muck and purifies itself to bloom, perfect to represent Spiritual blossoming. This is why it is the symbol of enlightenment. It can be several colours which then changes the Doctrine. The Lotus in Australia is white or purple .

Sometimes flowers look like hands, or faces, which shouts symbolism. The Grey spider flower , a Grevilla, looks like it has a lot of little faces on it, screaming. It is brilliant for issues relating to fear. I use three different types of Flower essences: the original Bach flowers (rescue remedy anyone?), Living Essences from Western Australia and Australian Bush Flower Essences from Eastern Australia (actually made in Terry Hills in Sydney). I also use gorgeous fragrant therapeutic essential oils mostly doTERRA.

Can you tell me your favourite flower? My guess is it will give me a clue about your nature or your current experience. Earlier in my life I really loved Banksias (and this one ). In Australia there are multiple Flower essences that are from different Banksias. Each essentially is for when you are exhausted, disheartened and struggling, which is where I have been off and on for a good decade. I also love Rose essential oil. Rose essential oil is love in a bottle. I think one of my passions in life is to assist those around me to love, whether it is others or themselves. An amazing resource is Emotions and Essential oils written by Enlighten. I cannot recommend this book and app highly enough...

Next time you are out and about and see a flower that really calls to you, take a photo. See if you can look up information about it as either an essential oil or a flower essence. If not, how does it make you feel? What does it smell like? What are its colours? Maybe you could take a single flower and press it in a diary.

A little bit more of flower whimsy…

As a child I fell in love with the flower fairy's painter Cicely May Parker. I currently have her painting ' The Pear blossom Fairy' on my wall at home. Her little drawings are so delightful and engage one’s imagination... I can just imagine skipping amongst the trees with a little flower fairy following close behind.

I will leave you with the Queen of Imagination, Anne of Green Gables, as she first travels to Green Gables along the apple tree Avenue.

Overhead was one long canopy of snowy fragrant bloom. Below the boughs the air was full of purple twilight and far head a glimpse of a painted sunset sky shone like a great rose window at the end of a cathedral aisle.

"Its beauty seemed to strike the child dumb. She leaned back in the buggy, her thin hands clasped before her, her face lifted rapturously to the white splendour above.

... "Oh it was wonderful-wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved on by the imagination. It just satisfied me here" - she put one hand on her breast- " it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache, did you ever have an ache like that, Mr Cuthbert? ""

Anne of Green Gables

Much love and flowers,

Mary-Anne

Preparing to jump

Mon, 01 May 2023 05:26:05 GMT

This week is Launch week.

It may seem like all is quiet here, but I've been madly working very hard in the background. This Friday will be my first Workshop, which I am presenting to several critically minded friends so they can pick it apart.

So often for me when I chose to go ahead with something, suddenly there is this influx of activity and information I was not expecting. I have been utterly blessed to have the Magic Tracy pour her Chiropractic wisdom, mad artistic skills, and inner knowing into my Heart points this week, and the result is nothing short of miraculous. There is something truly awe inspiring about synergistically working with another like-minded person, and the results are phenomenal.

I am also about to start interviewing people with health issues as I am hunting for missing points. Today I am off to meet a friend and see if her soccer knees can yield some secrets. I hope to actually present some interviews here on this blog... stay tuned.

As you age may your heart grow and strengthen with more love for others. ( … who wants to be a shriveled miserable old turnip? bah!)

xx Mary-Anne

Courage

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 05:17:29 GMT

Courage comes in many forms. It is the bravery of the battlefield. It is the wild desperation of a horrified and frightened parent. Courage can be speaking up and speaking out. It can be applying for a hard job. Courage can be seeing your own flaws. Courage can be having that hard conversation and being open with those we love.

To me courage is the embodiment of action on feeling. Standing up. Stepping forward. Opening your heart to another by hugging or saying something. Saying sorry. It’s risk.

You risk your life. You risk being shamed; you risk rejection; you risk loss.

Let’s face it, these are real risks… but…

What happens when you don't take the risk? When you choose to hide? Chose to be armoured in your heart and hide behind a wall?

What do you lose?

You can lose the opportunity to move forward, to grow. The opportunity to connect to others can be lost. I have seen people wither due to a lack of courage.

You may wonder why am I writing about this? Deep down I am a bit timid. Yes, it’s true.

I have chosen to face the monster of fear, the troll of dread and travel these holidays with a disabled child. This to me is the bravest thing I can do right now. I have chosen to stretch myself, to be courageous despite also wanting to just sit inside and look at the view (which is gorgeous).

Why does this count? I have been pondering what it is to be courageous for a long time… years. I see people when they don't take risks… when their heart closes up. I see people that chose bitterness over forgiveness and how it wounds them. The loneliness due to losing connection because people are not brave with their heart.

I realised that if I don't start travelling with my teenager I will shrivel and die in my heart. He desperately wants to travel on trains (anywhere in the world will do!). Honestly, I cannot continue to wish to go on holidays somewhere, I need to make it happen. I need to stretch and grow one tiny piece at a time.

I realise now that there is an artificial distinction between bravery of the battlefield and bravery of the heart. I am being physically brave, but do I ever feel it in my heart other than a sense of terror! Perhaps they mirror each other. The courage to be open to someone in your heart is to risk being wounded. Without that courage I think you wither away over the years. What is the reward of Courage? It can be a "yes!"; it can be being loved deeply in return, or it can be solving a hard situation. The rewards often are immense. More than anything, I believe your heart grows bigger the more courageous you are.

Today is ANZAC day, a day of remembrance of bravery and loss. I wrote this post several weeks ago and couldn't work out if I should share it. I will share this post with you today; after being at the Dawn service this morning I realised I was right. Courage, without it there is no real growth, no protecting, no connection... It's critical to a full life.

xx Mary-Anne

Transition

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 04:13:43 GMT

I really enjoy writing in cafes (J.K was onto something).

Earlier I felt inspired to go to an old haunt in Glebe, Sappho books . I managed to pick up three books that will be great for references for my mapping. Two of them are about the Heart, so we will see if there are any interesting perspectives in them. The Third is a real treasure; it is a rare book on Constitutional Acupuncture. I have a lot of reading to do in prep for discussing my work with an acupuncturist in the future.

Here I am at Sappho's.

March has been a swirl of emotion, the bout of Covid really threw me emotionally; I suddenly felt overwhelmed by what I had actually decided to do. Recap: Close a nearly 9-year old practice and become a "freelance Chiro" as I like to call it, focusing on a Sabbatical year to write all this material up.

Angie at Wild Lotus Oils, where I am able to work, reminded me of Women Who Run with the Wolves by my fav Clarissa Pinkola Estes. This is essentially about creativity and so it has been a wonderful reminder to dig deep and come to terms with the risks, fears, and joys of being vulnerable whilst creating. I've had to use the Transition Essence drops to keep on an even keel and keep creating. Like all major changes in life, it tends to dredge up old wounds and worries in the process of cleaning up and moving on (like spring cleaning). I have realised I am worried too much about what people "out there" will think of my work. I have been worrying too much about " failing" to make a Map of quality. I'm letting another layer of that fretting go. I've slowed down and sat more with the discomfort. The need for quiet and stillness has meant my bed has become my boat this week. I have adventured in Spirit, without going anywhere.

Did I tell you I plan to start with my workshops in May? And will do the heart points? Hint, there are more than 2 points :-). Knee will be next, I suspect.

I am super proud of myself as I have now completed a first draft of my Heart workshop and a first draft of a booklet for it as well. I have always been the type to set a deadline and then rush headlong to produce the material. I guess university primed us for that. I feel that this is just not who I am anymore; I can't bear the idea of the pressure of a looming deadline, I'm growing up!

I chose Lavender as my header photo as it is about calming and expressing oneself, on point, right?

xx Mary-Anne

Discovery

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 04:09:33 GMT

Last Friday was spent knee-deep in Knees. As part of digitising my work, I noticed that three emotion points seem to be on top of each other. After treating a week of stiff knees, elderly knees and decades old replaced knees, I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Knees are way more complex emotionally then I realised. Thinking about it, the knee is actually an incredible joint; it’s a hinge joint that can lock! And then you can spring with the locked leg! How amazing is that! So with complex mechanics, it makes sense that there is a lot going on in there! Part of the complexity is shown by the fact that I have found at least 15 points at the front of the knee so far.

Until now I’ve not thought much about what structure emotional points are related to. What I mean is asking what part of the body does a single point relate to? Is it a mirror of a muscle? Is it a ligament or tendon? Do emotion points relate to acupuncture points or nerves or blood vessels? What about bones, are they represented? Does Fascia (clingwrap around muscles that holds them in) have a say in emotional points? Working all this out is on my to do list for the year as I said in my plan for 2023 . I’ve discovered some of the answers to that this past week.

Those three points that appear to overlap are emotional maps of three different structures. One is corresponding to one side of the “knuckle bone “ of the knee – that’s the Red spot. The dark blue stripes are actually referred pain from a muscle spasm (trigger point of adductor longus)! And finally the blue spot is a tendon. I was and still am blown away by this discovery.

I've drawn these as separate - because 3D is beyond me!

All these questions have blossomed in my mind… “why aren't all the trigger points represented?” “Do all the muscles, bones, ligaments have a say emotionally?” I suspect no, but most importantly: “WHY do some structures have emotional connections and others don’t?”. I’ve got at least a dozen more rhetorical questions… that I have suspicions about … but time will likely tell me. That’s what the adventure is all about, right?

My deepest suspicion is that a lot of what I haven’t found is due to my place and time in the world. If I could time travel, perhaps I would find many different emotional spots on the map. Different cultures, castes, genders, continents, ages and stages, these are the things I can’t completely capture. Despite all of this, I do think not every bone, tendon, organ, fascia, trigger point or acupuncture point will reveal itself, whether to me or ever. That’s just part of the mystery.

Let me know if you would like to hear about the emotions in the points around the knee.

Flow with me,

Mary-Anne

Let me be a bit flexible

Sun, 12 Mar 2023 03:36:09 GMT

"Life is what happens to you whilst you are busy making other plans".

March has been like that. I barrelled down the first days of March with plans of hands and arms, aiming to draw and label and digitise. Then as with Wow I got sidetracked with gorgeous looking legs thanks to Tracy and I threw myself into drawing and labelling those.

The Second bracket of March has seen our household toppled with Covid, again, and so, plans were laid aside for the week. Those gorgeous legs were like sirens and called and called to me so I have been writing up my knee spots.

As you can see, I just scribble all my information down with a little diagram. Something I have noticed is that the front of the right knee emotions seem to be about interacting with others. I must say I was quite surprised when I observed this. So far over 4-5 of the body points stories around the right knee appear to be about standing up for oneself, in a gentle or aggressive way, and how to be flexible without being a push over. If it doesn't go well, the urge to run away is in there and fears of being incompetent are a concern. Peer pressure is in there too (don't forget this is a summary folks). Those of you that have a little bit of acupuncture knowledge will probably be less surprised as the wood, water and earth meridians run through the legs. Wood is emotionally related to anger, Water links to worry and fear, while Earth is really about your sense of worth and how you see yourself with your peers. So combining these three makes lots of sense.

Knees help us run (away or toward something), to bow, kick, and jump. I can see these movements in the feelings – issues of flexibility, how much to submit to others, the urge to run away, and anger at being treated poorly. Our legs and knees are where we are "grounded", connected and centred, and present with what we are experiencing.

Now that I look at these points, I wonder if a knee workshop in 6 months might be of interest to people. Hmm.

Life is that fine dance between being rigid and over flexible, we need that sweet spot in between; a stable spot where we can be poised to spring into action. Whether it is the body or our interactions with others.

Love and Light

xx Mary-Anne

Swallow the frog

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 03:24:13 GMT

I'm like a puppy chasing its tail. The joy and excitement of almost catching it, with ramping up silliness. A little bit of yipping in excitement thrown in.

A few days ago friends came over and the house was a mess. I was mildly embarrassed, but also not at the same time. My mate said to me, “how can you be other than who you are?”. She was being honest with me – my messy house was reflecting my messy mind! I have had so much happening in the creating department in the last week. What a whirlwind.

On top of this I’ve actively avoided a hard job all week. What is this hard job? The frog to swallow has been writing and practising a 2 min intro to my workshop. I need to present it tonight! So, naturally I had done nothing on it until 10 am this morning. If I don’t understand the big picture, I won’t be able to do a snippet well. So, I’ve written the first draft of the whole workshop, today! Ta da! I am so proud of myself. Now I have the big picture, I can calm my messy mind and practise on the snippet – so I can improve my presentation skills.

Anyone can talk, but talking to convey meaning is key; how to keep people engaged and following to the end? I am working super hard to up skill in that department, so I can keep everyone on to the end. As I’ve been thinking about how I want to engage people I realise I love stories, myths, and archetypal legends. My all time favourite author is Clarissa Pinkola Estes. She is a Yungian psychologist that is the ultimate storyteller. So as part of my homework this week, I have been listening to her audiobook The late bloomer, Myths & Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype . I adore her work. This is one of 6(?) Books in this series. Please check her out. She’s like Coriander, you will love or hate her… no in-between.

What am I doing this coming week? I will be uploading and digitising all the arm and leg points I drew up last week. This process actually might take me a few weeks. My mind is more settled now that I’ve swallowed the frog and the house reflects this. Though of course I will be given a new challenge tonight at my course... so we shall see if the settled mind holds :-)

xx Mary- Anne

"Be wild; that is how to clear the river. The river does not flow in polluted, we manage that. The river does not dry up, we block it. If we want to allow it its freedom, we have to allow our ideational lives to be let loose, to stream, letting anything come, initially censoring nothing. That is creative life. It is made up of divine paradox. To create one must be willing to be stone stupid, to sit upon a throne on top of a jackass and spill rubies from one’s mouth. Then the river will flow, then we can stand in the stream of it raining down." ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Wow

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 03:08:27 GMT

The work I am doing needs each point to have its home on the body located and mapped. I have spent the last 5 years doing quick scribbles of an eye, or a hand, or toe, as I attempt to quickly get the information down.

It's created a lot of chaos! Part of my Journey this year is finally collating all the points neatly onto a series of drawings. My map creating requires me to have a template to draw my points onto. So far I have done a skull and face template as well as chest, back and belly. My little emotional person currently is limbless!

So I started this week by creating arm and hand templates to map my points on. Once upon a time I was a decent life drawer. I have not been to a class since I become a mum, and my skills now require a lot of work to be vaguely decent. So I laboured and laboured on Monday to produce an adequate template and got started getting the points down. All I could think about was ... oh no... I need to do the legs and feet as well. I wasn't looking forward to it.

Enter the WOW.

Aren't these legs gorgeous!

I did not draw these. My little cry of "oh no" was answered in the most amazing way. My dear friend, Tracy, just casually said to me on Tuesday, "oh would you like me to draw you an ear?" to which I said. "I really need some legs!" The speed in which she whipped these up was literally miraculous. I have now scribbled all the points I have on to these gorgeous legs and feet, and now I am awaiting for the missing emotional pieces to turn up. Now I have my leg templates; I'm sure I will get lots of cranky knees coming in to visit and arthritic feet (smiles).

It is so truly WOW that I had a need that was fulfilled so swiftly, so timely, and in such a beautiful manner. It feels like Grace. Just imagine me swinging around an old fig tree laughing in delight and gratitude. Thank you, dear Tracy. Tracy is a gorgeous woman that moonlights as a chiropractor, and as you can imagine is actually an accomplished artist. She is the hand behind the watercolour of me on the front page. In time, she will have an online presence where you can get her art. I can't wait!

xx Mary-Anne

P.S I also received an ear... how awesome.

“Holey? You have the whole world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?”

-Fred Wesley

It is peaceful here

Sun, 26 Feb 2023 03:00:34 GMT

Here I am, quiet, ready to work. I can hear the wind chime calling. The temperature has temporarily dropped, and it is dull and overcast. Normally I would feel miserable with the reduced light, yet today I feel cocooned, peaceful and that little thrill you feel before creating.

All the madness of the last 5 months is starting to drop away; I have reached a crest of another hill. Here I stand ready to strive into the future with my creating, collating, and comprehending of what I have been witnessing in these body points I have been mapping.

I am taking my notes and putting them into my wiki today. I think it will take me at least another 4-6 weeks. Though I thought that in mid 2021... so I suspect my sense of time is not great! I also have an idea for my first workshop as well, which I am thinking about doing around May (2023).

Actually, I have just managed to completely finish uploading all my data for my Skull book, which is a huge achievement. Yay to me! A small achievement, and more to come.

Love and Light,

Mary-Anne

Brene's Atlas

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 00:31:04 GMT

Atlas of the Heart

Hi. I wanted to start my book reviews with what I consider a "legend " book.

Imagine you set out your front door one day with a plan to go adventuring and you have a map with you. What happens if you can't read the map? What happens if the squiggles, lines, and colours on the map mean nothing to you? How do you navigate? Do you just wander around lost? A map needs a legend – a code to tell you what all the special symbols are.

Brene Brown of the Shame and Vulnerability Ted Talk fame (+ Netflix show) has written a lot of books. A very recent one is Atlas of the Heart, this is the map’s legend. The Atlas of the Heart describes the emotions that Brene's research says are critical to expressing yourself in life and connecting with others. They are distilled down to 87!

Why would it be worthwhile listing emotions and their descriptions? On a simple level, imagine a 2 year old having a tantrum. Often a tantrum can be because the little person does not know what is wrong, or why they are tantruming. They can't say," it's not fair!" or "I'm embarrassed", because they don't have the words for it. If you can't label a feeling, it can be hard to recognise it. How do you resolve problems that can't be described?

Emotional growth and maturity depend on recognition of how you feel.

I really enjoyed this book especially the emotions ‘awe & wonderment’ and I was surprised by the true descriptions of pride, hubris and humility. It seems that we get the description of pride all wrong; it makes it worth the read just for this. I also found Brene's grouping of the emotions super instructive.

I hope you can guess why a book like this would be valuable to me. It describes fundamental emotions clearly and groups them, which helps me with my map making. I hope many of you go and check this incredible woman out. She is bold, honest, and vulnerable in her strong Texan way.

xx Mary-Anne

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

"All you need is love, love is all you need."

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 00:23:56 GMT

Heart 1

I’m trying not to sing whilst writing this; they got this one right, the Beatles.

So the adventure for today is HEART 1. To me, everything hinges on this one. It is just above Heart 2 .

A simple point today. This is the fundamental love of self and others. It works in an unconditional, open, forgiving manner. This love of self, compassionately, kindly, is key.

To be clear, loving someone unconditionally does not mean you accept their behaviour nor allow them to betray your boundaries and so on.

When it is an issue for you, you may tend to feel deeply unloved, rejected or like the odd one out – never quite fitting in.

People with pain here frequently say to me: my parent doesn't really accept me for who I am. The parent may have let them down a lot as a child, promising and not delivering. Sometimes it shows when that one person that loved them, like a parent, dies.

The counter is loving someone despite their behaviour, way of being, or beliefs. I'm not saying to love all and everyone, that's mad. I mean, those we want to be in relationship with, close family, or cherished friends.

I had a person I grew up with become bloody obnoxious as a teen. Being a bit older than them, I realised they were miserable and I just loved them anyway. I have a strong memory of them sitting in a Jacaranda tree calling down names at me (as you do at 12); it stung!

Despite having my feelings hurt and telling them off, under it I still really loved them. Now 30 years later we get on so well, and there is deep trust and forgiveness when we both make mistakes. That is unconditional. You may be aware you feel that way towards a niece or nephew or a child of your own. It is often easier to spot in your relationships with kids.

So what do you do if you are aware of this "hole in your heart"? I use Flower essences and essential oils to support and repair this wounded heart. On top of that, obviously counselling, while art therapy or meditation are a few of the great options. Yummy essential oils are ROSE and Geranium. Magnolia is also great for self-compassion. I find essential oils can take weeks, months, and more to address these pains. However, it is quite a nurturing and gentle approach.

The Australian flower essences I use are the Australian bush flowers, which are essentially the middle and east side of Australia, and Living Essences , mostly the West side of Oz. I also use Bach Flowers. For Heart 1 at the moment I just suggest Sydney Rose . More will come in time.

If I had to start somewhere, it would be compassion to yourself and use Rose. May all of you have a joyful, gorgeous day and be kind to yourselves.

Vue des coeurs,

Love Mary-Anne

Harmony and Communication

Sun, 12 Feb 2023 00:12:04 GMT

Today I will explore two forehead points: Frontal 3 and Glabella.

Frontal 3 was one of my earliest discoveries. It essentially represents being of “one mind”.

Ok, so let’s rewind a bit and I will walk you through this.

We have two sides or hemispheres of our neocortex – our thinking, perceiving mind. Lots of people talk of being right or left brained. In fact, we should be a beautiful synergy of both left and right minds dancing together to experience the world and resolve any challenges. There is a bridge between the right and left hemisphere: the corpus callosum. This bridge is the communication point between our left and right minds. The old saying, "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" – if you cut this bridge – that is exactly what happens! We are unable to communicate within!

So, I imagine this Frontal 3 point is like the theoretical external manifestation of the corpus callosum. When we are functioning with both minds (left and right) in synergy, we are of “one mind”. We perceive information, we process input in a balanced manner, rather than “seeing” only one side.

To me the left and right sides of us can be what we perceive and what we believe. These frequently clash. When we are "open minded " to whatever we experience, this means we don't fight with ourselves internally. We are communicating well internally between our "minds". We don't make our experiences fit what we believe. We allow ourselves to be stretched by our experiences. It is good to challenge what we believe, and it is great to not just accept how things seem on the surface.

Frontal 3 can give you pain when you refuse to take in account "evidence" that doesn't fit your world view. This is when what you see and experience doesn't fit with your internal world view. Here are some examples.

Gallileo observed that the earth was revolving around the sun and that did not wash with those in authority, as it didn't fit with their beliefs. Until then, the earth was seen as the centre of the universe.

Germ theory also fits here. More than one doctor fought their whole lives to have hand washing bought in ( autosopy then onto delivering a baby with out washing your hands anyone? ). These two illustrations also fit with the Glabella point down lower in the body. I'll take the example in the opposite direction now. To me, it is so obvious that we are more than body and mind. We obviously have spirits and electrical fields, and as a result have experiences that don't fit easily into the medical model. How do twins on the other side of the globe know one is injured? How do some people sense other people’s feelings when they are in distress? It's a long list. The issue is taking in all information without bias and processing this information. When we are especially stuck or blocked in the process, this point can hurt.

When we are not in harmony within, it is hard to be in harmony with others. Which is our next point, Glabella.

Glabella – this is essentially between the eyebrows.

This point is more about how you feel and interact with others. Disharmony within us results in disharmony with others. If you have one opinion and others see the world differently, you can be “sulky not humble”. You may really take a dislike to egotistical people, or to people you think are arrogant, which is, let's face it, arrogant. You are humble when you realise and allow others to have different opinions. It can also show up when you feel everyone always treats you like you are wrong, or even if you are gaslit by someone (to cause a person to doubt their judgment).

Honestly, the most obvious time this showed up with people was during the covid Christmas. Ideally, we have our opinions in life, and we can peacefully and kindly negotiate with others that have different opinions. This I call “humble” for simplicity. When you are threatened, pushed or bullied by others’ opinions, or do the pushing yourself, this centre can hurt. Christmas time 2021 for many people resulted in nasty fights in families due to non/vaccination disagreements and people turning up to parties with covid and creating spreader events. There was over-analysing, justification of position and irritation at the egotistical nature of others… resulting in sulking.

In my experience these points can hurt like a pressure on the head, as well as tingling, itchiness, and other sensations. Didn't begin with an easy point again, did I? Please be aware there are many points in and around these two mentioned. If you get an ache near there, but can't relate to these emotions, it may be something else (a different emotion, a physical aliment etc). These points correlate with the location of the 6th Chakra. They may relate to the 6th Chakra, but are not it. Perhaps they represent two blocks of lego- in a house made of lego; when I work it out, I'll let you know.

I have a list of essential oils and flower remedies I have used to help people with these points so far. I am fairly sure there are a lot more to be discovered.

Tall yellow top . is a gorgeous remedy for alienation and isolation. It is particularly for when your mind takes over from your heart. Bush Fuchsia for integrating information.

Rosalina is an Aussie Melaleuca, related to tea tree. It is great for shifting heavy heart feelings.

Steady and Balance are doTERRA blended oils for re-centring and being balanced and calm, especially great for the over thinker.

I have taken several days and drafts to write this post as it was hard for me to express what I am seeing with these points. I still feel as though it has been pulled out of me not fully formed, so please let me know if it still doesn't make sense. Most of the time when I explore these points with people, I will get small pieces of info and occasionally a full story. I have persisted and presented this to you my dear fellow travellers as I consider them to be very important. How we see the world, and how we interact within ourselves and with others, changes everything else. I followed it on from heart 2 as they link with each other, and both are about perceiving and communicating.

May you Enlighten the eyes of your heart and see the world

xx Mary-Anne

Merci

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:00:22 GMT

Thank you

I do tend to like to do things backwards.

Did you know that the tendency to be grateful can be a personality trait? I didn't know this until recently. I am a Campaigner (Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting personality traits – ENFT) in the Myers & Briggs test. My sons’ school used 16 personalities to assist the kids to understand themselves and naturally I had to have a play. It appears Campaigners tend to gratitude. I'm going to just take this idea and go to town and express my gratitude.

Yesterday, my mischievous mother requested that my (one day) book be dedicated to her. After laughing it got me thinking about acknowledgements in books. I would like to do some acknowledging now, why wait?

I feel a bit like I can imagine the Wright brothers felt when they had their amazing idea to create a flying machine and they had been working on it for years. The general shape of the machine is coming together and they now have a prototype to try out. This is where I feel I am with the last 5 years of my "scribbles".

This process of observing, creating, and mapping has not happened in isolation. The first person to thank is my hubby; he's been backing me by supporting my adventures as well as with wisdom and money! Between him and a dear Curly haired friend, I've had all the technical problems workshopped and resolved.

How do you thank your own children? The truth is without my youngest's difficulties I wouldn't be who I am today. I actually think without his severe insomnia in the first (decade?) years I would not have moved from being stuck in my head to using my heart. Don't get me wrong, I've always been heart centric, but not as a practitioner. Before 35, I analysed everything with my mind. After 35, I used my perception. I was beyond exhaustion and I was unable to think, I had to find a new way to practise… what a blessing in the guise of torture. My eldest child has been my ra ra team, enthusiast and guy on the sideline literally saying " good job mum!". Thank you, darlings.

Next are my two old bosses, Trent and Tanya. With Tanya I found a path in the wood that was definitely the road less travelled and as result am the practitioner I am today. Bedankt. Trent encouraged me to follow what I was drawn to, even when it seemed like madness. Danke.

I also appreciate the many women mates that have cried with me, listened to me (over and over), and laughed with me. As one precious friend wrote in a poem only last year:

"You feel to think, I think to feel".

It was such a revelation! I sure do feel to think, now more than ever.

I am so grateful to have precious friends that get me to the core. My dear Kathy that was there at the beginning- your words of encouragement to write have been fundamental to me starting this blog. Love ya.

So who did I forget?

Ops.... maybe I should thank my mum? You're the best mum!

Mum and dad have listened to my fears, encouraged me, supported me at home with my youngest... so I could work. Without them I would not have been still in the work force. No, that is not an exaggeration. So when it comes down to it – I am most grateful to the three layers of my family. I get to do what I love most, which is help people with their pain. Merci.

I feel this feeling of gratefulness like a singing in my bones. It is a joy to be alive, a joy to be walking the path that I feel I was "made" for. To be. So... my dear friend, dear traveller, thank you for walking the path with me today.

Merci

xx Mary-Anne

Heart 2

Sun, 05 Feb 2023 23:56:35 GMT

Internal compass

Let me introduce you to a heart point. This point is one of several. It is essentially in the middle of the breastbone, the sternum.

I am confused and muddled because how I am treated doesn't match how I feel about myself.

An example is you are praised for doing something or being something and you feel it isn't justified. The praise doesn't match your own feelings of worth.

The inverse is being treated poorly when you know your own worth.

This is especially in regard to close relationships.

Deep down it is about wholeness or integrity being at balance within. If you are able to truly love yourself (related to heart 1), how others treat you will change.

I will tell you a personal story for this one.

I am frequently praised for being an amazing mum. One of my boys is "complex". He needs a lot of medical care, constant supervision, therapy… the list is long. I do not feel like an amazing mum. How I am perceived doesn't match how I feel about myself. People tell me what a great job I am doing, and all I can see is the mistakes and the things I have missed.

This is where the example shows changes. However, with time, I have learnt to accept that I have done a good enough job as a mum, and I can accept the spirit of the praise, which is encouragement. The mismatch in my own feelings about myself and what others say no longer has the same impact. This point is not an active wound for me (at this time!).

Heart 2 is a bit of a tricky one to start with, but as it is about how the Heart sees ourselves I thought it was appropriate.

There are several flower remedies and essential oils that are supportive to Heart 2. Some are: Rose Cone Flower , Red Grevillea as well as Cassia and Peace essential oils from doTERRA.

All points refer to and interact with other body points. Heart 2 interacts with a forehead point that is about being whole and about perspective as well as a chin point that is about giving up. I might share those with you later.

Please give me feedback as to whether this makes any sense and if it is interesting. We all continue to learn.

Vue des coeurs,

xx Mary-Anne

The plan for 2023

Sat, 04 Feb 2023 23:47:52 GMT

I have Five goals I wish to achieve this year.

One: Digitise my work so far.

I've already been working on this since July 2021, so you can imagine I have a lot of information to manually type into the Wiki I've created. I have hundreds and hundreds of body points that need their own page.

Two: Find the gaps in the information.

Mostly I have worked with middle class Australians. I want my body map to represent everyone. EVERYONE.

Children, men, women, the elderly, the rich the poor, those of different castes, social standings – all of it. I want to capture the rich diversity that is living in different parts of the world. I am certain the emotional experience of living in Europe in the Dark ages vs Incan cities would be different to our modern world. However, I can't time travel, so, I will likely miss some data there. I can, however, travel the globe, so that will have to do.

My wish, my prayer is that I get to sit with people of all walks of life and different ages and stages.

Three: Illustrate the patterns like maps.

I also suspect there are large patterns in the way emotions are expressed in the body. It is hard to explain without a picture. I am not ready to show this yet, but here is a simple example:

Dread may show up on the back of the head, around the kidneys, and on the belly (I made this example up).

As the digitising finishes and the "fill in the blanks" occurs, what looks like a pattern will either be revealed, or not. I continue to ask: are there patterns?

Four: Cross check the maps against other systems.

I have at least five modalities to cross check the map against. That means meridian points, trigger points and fascial release work – aka Anatomy trains. There's more, but I need to keep something back to share with you later!

What do I mean by cross check? My thought process: Does the GV 20 emotion relate to the emotion that is located in the same spot? Does the gall bladder meridian have the same emotions in my system? Do the muscle trigger point referral patterns mimic/ relate to the pain pattern I have noted? There are a few years worth of work there, I suspect. I have deliberately not looked at these systems before now so I don't muddle up the work.

Five: Get the work tested by my peers.

That's hopefully for the end of the year. I feel scared and vulnerable putting this down as a goal. The idea of someone looking at my work and judging it... yuck. Anyway, I may talk more about this towards the end of the year. I need to know if this map of mine is useful to other people. If it leaves my hands and is used by someone else – will it hold up? As my hubby said "Are you the secret sauce?" If the work is dependent on me, and I am the secret sauce, then it is useless to share it with anyone.

This brings me to my beyond-2023 goals.

IF it can be a tool for others, I will consider sharing it.

I have ideas about how that may happen, but I am so happy to have a better plan present itself to me!

Just last week someone suggested I travel interstate to a different city every few months and work there for a day or two... happy for invites in the future! In my mind I thought travelling to Asia for a week or two next year for data collection could work... but with a high-needs child at home, that may not work.

In the meantime, I will continue to observe, record, and map what I see.

As you can guess from what I have said… there is a lot of work to do. Three years ago I thought I would already have finished! Ha, what a joke. I am guessing it will be 10 or more years. Yes, I mean it. I confess I am not a patient person, so this is somewhat hilarious. It will be a matter of version one, version two and so on. At the very end, if I get it to a "finished " state, the last thing I will do is publish a book. So... I have a lot to do this year!

xx Mary-Anne

So what am I doing?

Sat, 04 Feb 2023 23:35:24 GMT

I like to describe feelings like the waves on the beach. The waves come in and they go. It is natural to feel an emotion strongly and then have it dissipate. Sometimes the tide is high, when feelings are big and strong. At times the tide is low, and our feelings are less intense. When a big storm hits and the face of the beach is impacted, dunes are eroded and seaweed is dumped on the beach and it rots. The impact of the waves is like our complex emotions.

It is normal to feel strongly, but how do you resolve things when the beach gets damaged? How do we release the emotions that get stuck in our bodies? These are the emotions that are like the rotting seaweed. There are multiple approaches that already exist to deal with stuck and held emotions (have a look at my resources page). I would like to share with you my observations on where these emotions are being held in the body.

So what am I doing? I'm creating a map. I'm creating a database.

I'm creating a list of emotions and where they can turn up in the body. I guess you could say it's like I am mapping the coastline of our bodies, like our beaches.

An example is:

Feeling utterly overwhelmed by a situation – people will tend to put their hand to their foreheads.

Severe anguish hits people in the chest on the left – close to the physical heart (but a bit lower). This is like the anguish when my child has been injured or a person has suddenly passed away. It can give a sensation like a knife wound.

The map is literally the places on the body that certain emotions can present. There are a lot of caveats regarding all of this, and I will explore them over time. Obviously, I am excluding actual structural body issues etc. If is utterly alien to you, start with Dr Gabor Mate's book, The body says No .

Love and Light,

Mary-Anne

The Journey so far

Sat, 04 Feb 2023 23:08:05 GMT

I have already climbed a mountain to get here – it’s been 5 years to get to this spot. I’ve also been using Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET) since 2000. 

As I said, in 2017 I started noticing the repetition of pain locations that had the identical emotional themes. So like the curious person I am, I wrote down what I noticed. Actually, I scribbled it onto a whiteboard. Hindsight is a magical thing!

If only I had a time machine to go back in time and tell myself to take it seriously and be more meticulous with the details! Oh… lamenting aside. Here I am several years later, kicking myself for the volume of data that has slipped through my fingers due to not having the opportunity or foresight to write things down. 

By 2019 I was using a beautiful blue book to record what I was finding each day. Each entry was a pencil scribbled note. Often this was in haste while working with someone. As you can imagine – this wasn’t beautiful scientific, detailed accurate (legible) notes. It was just scribble. As you can imagine – fast forward two years and my beautiful hubby is pushing me to digitise… and I have to unscramble my notes… (why I labelled it July 2021 I have no idea… fairly sure it dates to 2019).

I used the 2021 Sydney winter lockdown to start digitising and translating my blue book into three burgundy books. I am using a wiki as the digitising process. It is sooooo slow! 

I quickly discovered that working and writing was too slow and dramatically decided to close my fabulous practise of 8+ years last October (2022). For me, 2023 is a sabbatical year – in the true sense of the word; a year to research. 

In all of this I also tried to make some quick reference posters… but that was laughable – I just can't seem to get enough information onto them. 

My ongoing journey to the top of the far mountain range is the base for this blog. I have five major goals for this year… but I will share those with you another day.

Vue des Coeurs,

Mary-Anne

Enlighten my eyes

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:53:50 GMT

Enlighten the eyes of my heart. Vue des couers, French for hearts sight.

It's all about how we perceive the world.

Can you think of someone that sees the world with love and kindness even though they have had it tough? Or you have met the brilliant person who can't help but be grumpy and pessimistic?

Let's experience life being light, open, and joyful. Our bodies often store shock or shut down when overloaded, which makes it harder to respond to future difficult events with grace and ease.

I drew this figure many years ago after working with someone. It was as though their heart was making trouble for the rest of the body!

The world is experiencing a renaissance in understanding of how our bodies perceive and process input (events, emotions) and how it goes awry. I believe many native/ indigenous cultures understood this on a level we are only now scratching at. We continue to learn.

Vue des couers

Light,

Mary-Anne

Heart's Sight

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:44:00 GMT

Vue des couers

Welcome my fellow travellers.

I begin my journey with you, walking along with me on this path.

I have laboured and climbed a large mountain to discover a mountain range in front of me. I see my goal, far far in the distance. My pilgrimage, my journey, is so exciting I need to share it with you.

In the middle of 2017 I noticed something. A person would come in with a headache that had a specific emotion related to it (more about Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET) later). What really surprised me was when someone else came in a few weeks later with pain in the same spot – it worked out it was the same emotion! That was so weird!

In my 17 years of experience of using N.E.T this just blew my mind. After a while I just started writing down what I noticed with a little drawing. This blog is the story of my observations. A journey from within my heart and around the heart.

Join me

Love Mary-Anne