Non-resistance Exercises

A friend of mine, who knew I had reservations before moving into the house I'm now in, read my blog and said, “It sounds like things are working out really well.”

The answer to that would be, “Yes, they are, and the issues have not been resolved. If anything my reservations have been confirmed.” Does that change the very real and positive benefits I am experiencing from my home spa vacation? NO.

I’ve come to the conclusion that life just comes with opportunities for resistance and contraction, no matter how hard I may try to create the ideal circumstances. So why wait for it to be otherwise before beginning a nurturing spa vacation—as a matter of fact, what better time is there?

Here’s a little routine I began years ago as a way of “managing” my hair, but before I share it let me give you a little background. I have very fine, curly hair and as a young girl I wanted it to be thick and straight because that was what was in style. I would blow dry my hair, use a curling iron, etc. Then in the early 80s perms were in and not only did I not have perm-type curls, but I had beaten any curl I did have into submission, so I started perming my hair. As the years went by it became more of a struggle to get my hair to look the way I wanted. No wonder, it was probably waiting for me to make up my mind about what was acceptable.

Somewhere along the way I met a stylist who did something called hair balancing. She cut my hair in a way that she said would allow it to find its natural shape, and she said the best idea would be to just love it and work with however it wanted to lie. Wow, what a concept—just let something express the way it was intended to! It was probably the best hair cut I ever had. My natural curl returned and I slowly let go of artificial means of styling, i.e., blow drying. Although if I am totally honest I have to admit that I do henna my hair because I like how it conditions it and makes it shiny and as I’ve gotten older it covers the gray. Okay, so I’m not completely there yet on letting it express the way it wants to. Ha! Ha!

Well here’s the wonderful little practice that has transformed my hair and constantly has people commenting on how beautiful it is. It so easy, it is just massaging my head, and quite vigorously. After I have washed my hair and dried it really well, I bend over and let my head hang down while I massage the scalp thoroughly. Not only does this feel really relaxing it also helps my fine hair have more body. You don’t have to bend over to massage it, but that works well for my hair. I continue to massage it after I stand upright until it is dry, and run my fingers through it in a feathering type motion. In total I probably spend 5 – 10 minutes on this process.

I finally convinced my mother to try this, since she was constantly complaining about how she couldn’t do anything with her thin, fine hair. I emphasized the part about loving what she had to work with as being the most important element and said just try this for a month and let me know what results you get. Sure enough, when she finally gave into the process she was amazed by the results.

Remember: Resistance is Futile. Now relax and enjoy!

Aaaahhhhhhh!