Understanding and Exercise

This is the way life works.  Inside Out. 

Universal Principles

The healing insights that come form Reading the Body may seem like something new, but the insights are really quite universal.  While consulting for the Montessori Schools of Houston, Texas, I studied the teachings of Maria Montessori and found that many of her observations and the insights that arose from my own work were quite similar.  She stated that true learning requires both education and exercise. 

Education and Exercise

Education coming from the Latin which means to learn from the outside in.  Instruction, whether from a book or from a teacher, basically introduces a new idea from the outside, which might be mathematical, geographical, philosophical, etc.  However, the learning does not fully take place until the new idea is exercised.  Exercise comes also from the Latin, meaning to learn from the inside out.  In other words, the idea or concept must be played with, tossed around, taken apart, and put back together by the individual.   I do believe that any teacher would agree on this point.  Montessori built her teaching techniques around this simple insight.  Her teaching tools and classroom methods reflect the notion that real learning, and the benefits of real learning, require an inside-out dynamic. 

Inside Out

Inside out.  That is the way things happen.  Life stores all our resources for learning inside.  Our talents, skills, and gifts, all reside inside.  They may be tickled from the outside, and cajoled, inspired, and encouraged from the outside, but require the exercise of own own efforts to unfold.   

With regard to Reading the Body and gaining an understanding about your condition, it becomes essential that you exercise your understanding in a practical way.  Each exercise is designed so that your focus and efforts bring results.  It is not the exercise itself that brings the result, but the focus and intention that you bring to the exercise.  And what comes from your efforts?  Your own understanding begins to emerge.  And that is so very important.  It is your understanding that brings real satisfaction and adds determination to your efforts.  It is your own unique understanding of the healing process and your unique way of focusing and exercising that become most important.  It is not mine or any other practitioner’s.  You may be pointed in the right direction, and given some very real insight, but the long haul is all about you and your own understanding - you and your own exercise. 

True Understanding

We are brought up thinking that someone else holds the power, the key, the insight, the understanding, and the magic touch that is going to make a difference in our lives.  Health and healing were systematically relocated to the offices of specialists.  It is sometimes hard to believe that this is not as it should be.  Isn’t the priest the holy one?  Isn’t the doctor the one who holds all the knowledge and power to heal?  Isn’t it the professor who really knows the truth about life, the author of that book, or the guy on TV who has the inside track.  That is what we grew up thinking.  Hard to believe that its just not true.  Each one is the holy one.  Each holds the knowledge and power.  Each person holds the seed of true understanding. 

Healing, Teaching, Leading

The really good stuff comes from the inside.  The clarity, the inspiration, the revelation, all come from within.  The healer, teacher, or leader who acknowledges this simple truth does a great service to others.  The teacher points the way and encourages.  The healer will assist you in your efforts to make whole.  The leader makes opportunity available for learning about inner resources, encouraging the unfolding of every individual, setting the standard by his or her own efforts to learn.