CFR??

There are many reasons to love Santa Barbara.

It is beautiful city with all of the red tile roofs looking out on the blue sea. One of the reasons I love it is CFR. I know. What the hell is that? I took a class at Esalen.  It was a hurry up and pick something because work will pay for it and I am not going to be working here much longer kind of pick. And because I am feeling a little old, learning a better way to move and consequently maybe feeling younger sounded good. And how could I go wrong? It was Esalen. If nothing else food and hot springs baths are included. Hence the CFR? class.

CFR stands for Cortical Field Reeducation. 

CFR is based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais. It is really very hard to explain but after 3 days I believed in it.

CFR is based on certain truths.

Physical injury and limitation always involve other levels of consciousness. 

Emotional, mental, energetic, and spiritual aspects must be addressed as well as the physical for true healing to occur.

Learning is healing. It involves bringing back into awareness that which was out of our awareness. 

What is or is not permitted to move in our bodies restricts our experience of life. These limitations result not only from physical injury, but are a direct reflection of our rules, strategies and beliefs.

Your life cannot be any easier than your movements. Reduce the unneccessary effort in your movements and you reduce the effort in your life.

Almost anyone can benefit. 

Those who have looked to the intellect as the answer, gradually relegating the body to the status of a vehicle to house the mind.

Those who are dealing with old injuries never totally healed or a lifetime of stiffness from sedentary pursuits.
Those who want to optimize their athletic and sports performance and reduce risk of future injury.
Those who have focused on the spiritual without realizing that a healthy body, comfortable with itself, is a clearer channel for meditation and intuition.
Those who want to regain the ease and joy of learning and moving they had as a child.

UNTIL YOU BECOME AWARE OF WHAT YOU DO AND, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT, ACCEPT THAT IT HAS BEEN YOUR CHOICE – ONLY THEN DO YOU HAVE A CHOICE TO DO OTHERWISE”.

It is the mind and the emotions that can distort information. Emotions that seem to be appropriate at the present moment may really be the recordings of old past wounds. Fears and limits that seem sensible in the moment may really be the mind living in the future, trying to protect us from some imagined negative outcome that hasn’t even happened yet. So we stiffen, shrink, contract, raise stress levels, and our body can no longer clearly tune into or resonate with its own truth. WE NO LONGER HEAR OUR OWN UNDISTORTED INFORMATION TO THE EXTENT THAT WE NO LONGER FEEL.

It is about all that. But it is also about laying on the floor and moving in a certain way and rewiring your brain so it comes naturally. It is not something you have to concentrate on.

That is how Santa Barbara, my current location tie in to Esalen, Ellen and CFR. Ellen was one of the instructors during the 3 day course. One I especially liked. She lives in Santa Barbara and has a small gathering of students every Thursday at 1200. 

Thank you Ellen.  I will see you again in a couple of weeks on my way back home.

The lake and reading

We parked for the day at Lake Cachuma Lake Recreation Area. It was beautiful. The lake, the sky, the weather, everything was beautiful and perfect. 


There is a day use area, an RV park, a boat ramp and boat rentals, showers, a store and gas station, a theater area, several kids play structures, yurts and a nature center. There is even a pool, although I didn't find it.  


One very unique fact about Lake Cachuma is that it is a source of drinking water to somewhere, so NO bodies can touch the water. No swimming, no wading, no water skiing. I can't help wondering how hard that is to police.

P.S. We paid our day use fee which is good until sunset. Having all that time I decided to read a little. After about 2 pages I began to feel really weird. Kind of fuzzy and dizzy and lopsided. And really tired. I thought "Could it have been what I just read?"  It was kind of out of the ordinary but I thought I was use to it. I thought I could take it. Then I thought maybe I am getting too old for this kind of reading. Maybe I, or my reading has lost its purpose. Maybe I misunderstood. Maybe I am reading it wrong. Then I realized the truth. 2 pages is all I am capable of reading at a time. And now it is time for a snack and a nap.

Living the Dream Life

Well, this is it! My first real free day of my new life. Of the life I have been waiting for, in some way or another for 40 years, when I took my first job at Dairy Queen. I am hoping if I do everything right, according to some kind of plan, I may never have to work again. That's the dream.

The reality is, oh, so different.

My first day living my new free life. My first day of my 40 year old dream. I am sitting in the not very level parking lot of the Chumash Casino about 30 miles from Santa Barbara, which is where I plan to be on Thursday. Tonight at midnight, thank god, my pay check from my last days worked will miraculously appear in my checking account. Again, thank god!

When I left Monterey yesterday for the start of my new and improved life I had exactly $35.46 in my checking account, $18.00 in my pocket and a half a tank of gas. No problem. I am nothing if not flexible. I will just drive until my 1/2 tank of gas is near gone, add either the $18.00 or the $35 and then drive a little further.

At about the airport and highway 68, a friend and I, craving a burger, decided to have a last lunch together at Tarpy's. What was I thinking? 2 hours later I say goodbye with $35.46 in my checking account, a half a tank of gas and $2.00 in my pocket.

On my way through Salinas I stopped to pick up the windshield wipers that weren't available last week when I spent the last of my money making sure the house van was travel worthy. $65.00. (For windshield wipers?)  No problem. The owner will hold the check until Thursday.

I made it to Paso Roblos and added my $30.00 diesel at $3.49 a gallon. Don't the oil companies know I am really broke?!!

Back to living my dream. That gas is long gone as I sit here in this not so level parking lot with my out of gas light mocking me. Yesterdays $30.00 has not been deducted from my account yet so todays plan is to find another $30.00 of diesel and drive highway 154 towards Santa Barbara past Lake Cachuma and the Los Padres National Forest.

That will be free.