commemorates the visit of the three kings to the Infant Jesus. The Magi, according to the story, had followed a star until it stopped over the place where the child lay.
I wonder if they were “surprised” to happen upon this scene, a stable? Were they expecting something else?
I remember the stunning epiphany of the word ‘surprise” while being “the Client” for a “practice” session of Rubenfeld Synergy during my four-year training. The place was Scottsdale, AZ in the home of the now professional Synergist, Kim Evans.
It hardly looked like a stable, this gorgeous home in the desert. But ‘stable’ it was, when it came to the release of unrecognized grief frozen in my body some four years earlier.
Lying on my back on a padded table, eyes closed, intending to deeply relax and be fully present to the method of Rubenfled Synergy, Melissa Shreck, places her hands on either side of my head in ”First Touch”.
“What are you noticing?” she softly inquires.
“Surprise. The surprise of my thirty-ninth birthday party!” I exclaim, intrigued by the image that has appeared in my head of its own volition.
“Surprise” she repeats allowing me to hear, feel and deepen my experience in the present moment
“Surprise” I wail as the image of arriving home to the flashing lights of emergency vehicles burst into my awareness. The image expands to include my eldest son, Vincent, bouncing up and down on the frozen driveway in his bare feet, arms flapping like a bird desperately trying to leave the scene—while my son, Reed, his bloody face draped, is wheeled away on a gurney.
Sobs shake my body as the “thawing” of this unconscious, frozen grief begins.
Completely surprised by this intense embodied grief, the shock now being released reverberates throughout my entire body. Melissa stays present, her hands never leaving me. Our supervisor, Maddie McDougal, piles blankets on my now freezing body. The image in my mind’s-eye is that of a frozen tundra. I have no words only the anguished tears of grief.
Cared for, held, protected and supported, they are not frightened by this grief.
At last the tears subside, my breath becomes even once again and my eyes open as the epiphany “I never knew I held this grief after all the tears I have shed” reveals itself.
Now as a Grief Guide, I empower clients to release their grief with this safe, deep method and discover the epiphanies of their body.
Sitting quietly this day, notice your breath. With your feet touching the floor or knees bent as you lie on your back, allow yourself to say aloud the word “surprise”.
What happens?
What star leads you?
What epiphany reveals itself to you?
If you’re struggling with the emotional process of grief...
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