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More than an old wives' tale, women's intuition is real, according to author Paula Reeves, a pioneer in the study of the biochemical relationship between mind and body. Because most women separate mind from body, many are not aware of what their intuition may be trying to tell them. In
her first book, Reeves helps readers, through stories and practices, uncover the blocks preventing this singular channel of wisdom from informing their daily lives. Through years of study and practice, Reeves has developed her ground-breaking program of Spontaneous Contemplative Movement, an original, simple, and emancipating way of evoking body-based intuition. Readers can use Reeves' easy-to-learn approach to tap their own intuitive power.
In her newest book, Heart Sense, Reeves introduces the reader to the
seventh sense, the heart's intelligence. Through a number of well crafted and evocative exercises called Heart Notes Reeves teaches us how to use a mirror while we look into our own eyes and learn to
love and have compassion for ourself. Each chapter opens a door into a specific area of self discovery, such as, What Your Heart Knows; What Your
Heart Loves; Where Your Heart Lives and What Your Heart Wants. Reeves is unapologetic when she tells us we have a soul and it is teaching us through
the language of our body. She reminds us anew that when "you neglect what matters most to you then that will become the matter with
you."
Paula's unique use of the mirror to evoke a deep and
intimate sense of the embodied Self first introduced in her book, Heart
Sense, is leading participants in her retreats and readers of her
book to share their experiences with others.
Mindful MirroringTM
is a practical and immediate teaching tool that allows one to become
immediately aware of the lack of connection she has to her own body.
Since the invention of the full length mirror (called a Psyche) in the
nineteenth century women have been taught to view their body from the outside
inward. This is a highly evaluative perspective that does not allow
a woman to value herself--her matter--just as she is. Her view of
herself is always colored by her immediate comparisons to or with
someone or something outside herself. Hence, what matters to her in her
very cells is less significant than what she feels, or worse, fears that
others think of her.
One of the first mirrors of the soul is found by the
infant when she looks into the eyes of her adoring parent. If she finds
unconditional love and acceptance there she will grow fully into her own
skin feeling good enough just as she is. If the eyes that greet her are
unable to give her this reassurance she is left feeling empty and not
welcomed--destined to search for an elusive blessing from others instead
of an affirmation from within. When we learn to look deeply into our own
eyes what we discover is that infant looking back--that young soul
waiting to be acknowledged and found good enough just as she is.
Mindful MirroringTM awakens compassion for ones self--a deep sense of
tender caring and forgiveness. Paula's skill at taking each client or
participant to the level at which he or she is best suited to work is
remarkable. She has a long and carefully developed relationship with
the issues of attachment, self esteem and the relationship between mind,
body and soul. The participants in her retreats come with a broad range
of concerns; illness, sexuality, lack of joy, lack of faith, or a search
for meaning. From the very first five minutes together Paula tells the
participants that they alone know what will heal them and she asks them
to take out their mirrors and answer in two sentences or less the
question, "What brings me here this week?"
Paula teaches that "When you do not know in your heart
what matters most to you, then that will become the matter with
you." Each participant uses a body map--an outline of her own body on a
canvas cloth--along with a mirror-- to seek the answer to "What is ailing
me--body and soul?" Amid laughter and tears each woman finds
herself involved in the deepest relationship she has ever had with her
true self. Each morning as the group gathers in silence Paula "gathers" the night's dreams as each one reads her dream aloud
and then looking into her mirror names the essence of that dream's
meaning. The sense of sisterhood and our profoundly connected humanity
emerges and surrounds and fills the room as we work together.
Paula herself says, "I am moved to tears when I
witness after only two days together the women sitting and looking with
intent inquiry into their own eyes as they work on very painful
questions about their lives or with the grief that they have been unable
to address fully until now. These same women were unable to look into
that mirror before they arrived without criticism and scorn and shame
for the woman they saw reflected back. Now the tenderness and the tears
and the compassion causes me to lower my eyes in humility. I give thanks
every day for the privilege of having uncovered this way of working and
for the gift of being able to lead these retreats."
Mindful MirroringTM is not an easy
practice--it takes a woman right to the soul of her being. It requires
discipline and intentionality and a willingness to change. The result is
nothing less than finding that you are capable of meeting yourSelf as if
for the first time and loving the woman you are.
To learn more about Dr. Paula Reeves,
please use the links on the left to guide you through the rest of the site. as
you explore her thoughts and reviews of her books.
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Paula's New Book
For your heart quote of the
day
go to HeartMath.com
Prayerful response to
September Eleventh
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