Knitting Circle Charity Project

By Jennifer Perry

The Knitting Circle at The Resiliency Center has been working on a project, named 'Warm Hugs', to deliver 170 lap blankets (36"x36") to patients in a local Nursing Home.  Our goal is to benefit nursing home patients by providing physical and emotional warmth.

Warm Hugs was inspired by the mother of someone in our Knitting Circle. She spent the last three months of her life in a nursing home. Her family visited throughout the week and gave her love and care she needed. Not all the residents were as fortunate and she noticed that some did not have the benefit of care and visits from relatives and friends.  While no one can take the place of a caring family, Warm Hugs hopes to show love to the patients by providing them with a colorful, warm and handmade reminder that someone cares.

So far the Resiliency Knitting Circle has completed 60 lap blankets which will be handed out to the nursing home patients in January.  When we go to the nursing home to deliver the blankets the Activities staff will identify the patients who do not have family or visitors so they can receive priority in benefiting from our 'warm hugs'.

This has been an effort of love and caring by people in our Knitting Circle.  They have given much time and love to make this a reality. This is an on-going project.  There are 170 patients in the Nursing Home.  Our goal is to continue to provide their patients with our 'Warm Hugs' on an on-going basis.

If you like to crochet or knit or would like to learn, we could use your help to make lap blankets for even more patients.

Join us at http://www.meetup.com/resiliencygatherings/events/219738506/

The Knitting Circle meets the Second Saturday of every month at 10am.

Listening to the Body

By Dana Barron

The human body has the innate capacity to heal, given the proper conditions. While outside interventions may facilitate healing, the body is doing the actual healing work. The more we can tap into and enable that innate capacity, the healthier and more resilient we will be. The first step is to learn to pay attention to and respect the body’s messages. Symptoms are signals, guides. They indicate that our system is out of balance, that we need to take action to return to equilibrium. Pain is a message to stop. Fatigue is a message to rest.

This all may seem obvious, but it is not what we are conditioned to do. We are more likely to fight our symptoms than to heed their signals. We live according to clocks and calendars, not the rhythms of the body. And so we learn to “power through” discomfort. We treat symptoms as nuisances to be overcome or quieted. We respond to pain with medications, fatigue with food or caffeine, and use antacids and gas pills for indigestion. And medicine – with its focus on procedures and pharmaceuticals -- is based more on fighting symptoms than on asking why they are there in the first place. Quelling symptoms may allow us to continue to function, but over time the cost of ignoring what the body is telling us can be very serious.

As a health coach, I start with helping clients reorient their understanding of the body’s messages. We look closely at symptoms, physical sensations, and emotional reactions. We enlist them as clues in the search for root causes. This is the first step in creating an environment where healing can happen. We start discovering correlations and patterns, many of which point to easy solutions. Often we find that removing something can be more powerful than doing something or taking something.

Listening to your body is also of way of regaining power and control over your health. Many people see their bodies as a “black box,” a machine that requires an expert to repair.  There are certainly times when medical intervention is essential and miraculous. When symptoms get strong or persistent, it’s wise to seek expert guidance. View it as a partnership – bring your knowledge and wisdom into the exam room. Enlist health professionals as allies in your search for the reasons behind symptoms. Be cautious about interventions that just mask symptoms.

If something is bothering you, give this strategy a try. Track your symptoms along with your diet and your daily activities. Try pausing when a symptom arises, and think creatively about what your options are. Can you rest briefly rather than reach for something to perk you up or relieve an ache? Try a dietary or lifestyle change and see if it helps you feel better. Over time you will cultivate your intuition and wisdom and the benefits will multiply. 

Resiliency in Action – The Story of Phoenixville and the 2014 Firebird Festival

by Elizabeth Venart

The town of Phoenixville has been hosting an annual Firebird Festival for ten years. The ceremonial lighting of a magnificent 30-foot sculpture of a wooden phoenix is the pinnacle of the festivities, which also include music, crafts, and a parade through town. Amidst dancing and drumming and in front of crowds of thousands, the enormous bird is set ablaze and burned down to ashes.

An Ancient Myth that Speaks to Phoenixville’s History

The ceremony dramatizes the mythical Phoenix Rising, a sacred firebird that lives for 500-1,000 years until it builds itself a nest where it meets a fiery end. From the ashes rises a new, young, or re-born, bird that lives as long as its original self. ¹ During the Phoenixville ceremony, small ceramic “peace birds,” which have been created by community members of all ages, are placed at the base of the sculpture and fired in the kiln of its flames. Like the mythical phoenix, these little birds carry the promise of new life. Twelve months later, from their ashes, the phoenix stands stories high and is burned again.

Phoenixville organizers created the ceremonial burning of the as a way to honor their town’s resurgence. Phoenixville named itself after the Phoenix Iron Works and had a strong iron and steel manufacturing history until 1976 when the renamed Phoenix Steel Corporation closed due to rising competition and falling demand. Phoenixville experienced a period of tremendous struggle, yet it faced these challenges with creativity and determination.

The Firebird Festival celebrates Phoenixville’s rebirth and, like Phoenixville itself, it has grown steadily over the past decade. This December 6^th was scheduled to be the 11^th Annual Firebird Festival, with predicted attendance of over 12,000 people. However, in the early morning on that Saturday, vandals burned down the giant phoenix statue that artists and builders had spent months constructing. In a true testament to the strength of this local community, volunteers donated their time, money, and wood to aid in the heroic reconstruction of a new Firebird in time for the evening’s festival.

A Wonderful Metaphor for Resiliency

Initially horrified and saddened by the news that the beautiful sculpture had been destroyed, I was profoundly moved to see how people rallied behind the event organizers and actively worked to create the new structure. In this photo, taken that rainy evening among a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, I see the phoenix rise and a resilient community further empowered.

Life will undoubtedly throw curveballs our way. We strengthen our resiliency not by avoiding the inevitable bumps and detours along the journey but by growing to face them – and transform ourselves in the process. The people of Phoenixville demonstrated the vibrancy of their resilience this December. I was honored to witness and be a part of it.   

To learn more about the event, check out this article by NBC10 who covered the story, focusing on the outpouring of support that insured the 11^thAnnual Firebird Festival would still happen [Insert link to: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Community-Pitches-in-After-Vandals-Burn-Down-Firebird-Festival-Phoenix-284979371.html].

¹ Phoenix Mythology, https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Phoenix_%28mythology%29.html

Staying Relaxed during the holidays?

by Delia Nessim

It seems ironic that on Thanksgiving Day we give thanks for all the riches and bounty in our lives, and then the very next day is the “biggest shopping day of the year”. If we truly believe we are blessed, why the mad dash to keep buying more? 

While we may enjoy holiday shopping and even derive satisfaction from choosing the perfect gifts for friends and family, this time of year can also bring tremendous stress. There are the crowds, the extra time required for cooking and shopping, holiday-themed school activities, and the financial strain of extra money being spent. Add to the list all the expectations we have to make everything perfect for the holidays – undoubtedly strengthened by Hallmark movies featuring a large, happy family gathered around the table enjoying each other’s company. Given all this, the holiday season can certainly take its toll on us physically and mentally.

When we are frustrated or stressed, our clarity and mental capacity are diminished. Our immune system is compromised. It is easier to have accidents, make more mistakes, and use poor judgment. Maybe we didn’t need to buy that third present for our niece, bake pies for three different gatherings, or offer to pick up Uncle Walter at the airport when he was okay catching a cab.  In the midst of juggling all the competing demands of the season, we may lose our perspective on what is most important, spending too much time, money, and energy on things and activities that deplete us rather than bring us meaning and joy. 

During this holiday season, it is critical to make our emotional health a priority. Here are a few simple strategies to help you stay relaxed as you move through the coming month:

·      Wake up a little earlier than usual to meditate, read an uplifting poem, or go for a quiet walk in nature.

·      Focus on your breath, noticing its reliable in and out, deepening it whenever you are feeling stressed during the day. 

·      Build yoga, qi gong, or some form of regular exercise into your daily routine.

·      Practice laughter yoga – laughing at any time for no reason at all – to help you keep perspective and a sense of humor.

·      Bring a feeling of love into your heart by focusing on your gratitude for the people and animals dear to you.

Delia Nessim, MFT, is a Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice at The Resiliency Center in Flourtown, PA. In addition to individual, couples, and family counseling, she offers a group for divorced woman and leads workshops on Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/Tapping). She is also trained in clinical hypnosis and offers individual sessions in both EFT and hypnosis. For more information, see her website at http://www.dncounseling.com. 

Generosity in the Season of Giving

by Elizabeth Venart

Generosity is a big part of the holiday season. Movies often highlight the theme with humor and poignancy. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a curmudgeon who never cared for anyone but himself, yet, by the end of the film, he is transformed into an openhearted, generous, and kind man. Miracle on 34^th Street concludes with Macy’s Santa “Kris Kringle” delivering a desired new home to the cynical young girl, causing her to believe in magic after all.  It’s a Wonderful Life shows an entire community of people coming together to help save the beloved main character, a giving man who, in his desperation, had doubted the value of his own life.

Invitations to be generous in December are numerous. Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are celebrations with distinctly different origins and traditions – yet all include the exchange of gifts. Toys for Tots collection sites are scattered along our commutes to and from work. Men dressed as Santa greet shoppers as they enter stores, ringing bells and asking for money for the Salvation Army. Adopt-a-Family programs like the one organized by the Kelly Ann Dolan Memorial Fund (http://www.kadmf.org/holidayprogram.cfm) invite us to buy clothes, presents, and other needed items for struggling families in our community. Nonprofit organizations count on people being willing to do a little more for others this time of year. And, consistently, we prove them right.

What prompts us to be more generous now?  Is it simply the season? Does the month of December (like the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future) have the power to make us a little softer, a little kinder, and a little more willing to give? Probably not. Perhaps, instead, we have within us a natural desire to be giving and, between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, we simply receive and answer more invitations to be generous.

Our natural generosity is evident in the outpouring of support that comes following any local, national, or international tragedy. It can also be seen in the behavior of young children, expressing joy as they help bake cookies, make presents, and share gifts with those they love. The drive to be kind is an intrinsic part of being human. While sometimes it may be thwarted or distorted by painful early experiences, the vast majority of us continue to be kind. Giving is natural, and being generous feels good.

This season, as you consider how you wish to express your generosity, you may want to reflect on the kind of giving – and receiving – that feels most joyful and satisfying to you. Consider being mindful and intentional with your giving, not simply from the perspective of “what would I like to give” but equally evaluating, “What are the ways I can be giving that will also be uplifting and nourishing for me?”

Giving mindfully doesn’t involve spending more than we have or overextending ourselves and ending up depleted or sick. Mindful generosity asks us to acknowledge giving and receiving as an exchange – and to be intentional with where and how we direct our energy. Often, the best gifts are gifts of time, thoughtfulness, and companionship. Consider baking a loaf of cranberry bread for a neighbor, making soup for a sick friend, extending an invitation to dinner, making a book of free babysitting coupons for a friend who is a single parent, or connecting by phone with a long-distance family member.

As you contemplate the many ways to be generous this year, consider also giving to someone very deserving: You. Be kind and gentle with yourself. Lower your expectations to “find the perfect gift” and consider instead carving out time for yourself to simply be. Take a walk in nature. Spend time with people who make you laugh. Sleep in. Go to bed early. Listen to your favorite music. Re-read a beloved book. Spend time enjoying the dark, sitting in candlelight and sipping a cup of hot tea.

The joy and magic of the holiday season comes into focus more clearly when we listen to and honor our own needs, cultivate a spirit of generosity with ourselves and others, and slow down to fully experience the present moment. Today and throughout the year ahead, I wish all of us true presence, mindful generosity, happiness, and deep, abiding peace.

Elizabeth Venart, M.Ed., LPC, is the Founder and Director of The Resiliency Center and a Licensed Professional Counselor who offers individual, couples, and group counseling. Her focus is on enhancing resiliency, cultivating compassion, and supporting people in healing through comprehensive, trauma-informed care. Elizabeth provides clinical supervision and EMDR consultation to therapists seeking to deepen their understanding of the complexity of human struggles and to respond in meaningful, effective ways.  To learn more, visit her website at www.elizabethvenart.com.  

Periscope View by Dean Solon

sitting, with an unfolding to a wider view, to a larger, broader, more extensive perspective of landscape, of mindscape.

sitting...rising above the easily seen...is a spacious view of  big sky stretching to distant horizons...is a view of a vastness of ocean, opening expanding reaching out to distant shorelines...is a view that fills, and spills over the banks the barriers and the boundaries of our limited awareness;  is a view that transcends belief and logic and scientific theory.

ripples in the sunlit pool.
you are seeing ripples in the sunlit pool...ripples streaming from left to right...
a perfectly manifesting expressing of a spaciousness
for a seeing, in this         this         this         moment---
              that all concerns and cares
             of this world
             are ripples in the sunlit pool.
             are ripples in the sunlit pool of human time.

a raised view, looking down upon a planet whose surface is mainly water.
waves---ripples on the water---streaming on a great expanse from left to right.
all of it---all of this---attractions, distractions, all of the movement and motion, all of the light allowing a seeing of the motion, all of the expressing and embodying and manifesting of the increasing activity that is the living of the planet and is the living of you...ripples on the water.
grist for the mill.

the dance---Shiva's dance,
the rocking and rolling and swaying of zikhr (remembrance)---
the only dance there is.
ripples on the water.

it is a view of loosening the reins.
it is a way of letting go.

Exhale into Gratitude with QiGong this Thanksgiving Season By Karen Steinbrecher

With inspiration from the Rumi poem, “the Guest House”, I share my Thanksgiving story with you.  From Rumi, “This being human is a guest house.  Every morning a new arrival.”  In September, I experienced a surprise health challenge.  I fainted in my home and fell across a bookcase, hitting the floor on my forehead.  My husband found me immediately and did all the right things.  I broke my past record, having never been overnight in a hospital since birth.  Results from the many tests, X-Rays, CAT scans, etc., and bloodwork showed nothing broken and no concussion.  Low blood pressure and blood sugar may have caused this.  I was a scary sight with two black eyes and facial bruising.  With much gratitude and thankfulness I share this story.  Through all of this I practiced and danced Qigong, whether it was in my mind’s eye in the hospital bed, or physically standing and practicing the flowing movements after arriving home.  People are amazed at how well I have healed and how fortunate I am.  I agree.   Traumatic experiences and worry can cause more worry, problems, and block the energy flow.  Remembering what I tell people I practiced more Qigong.  It is so much more than the physical movements.  The slow and flowing movements send a signal to your brain, your body’s repair and maintenance center to rebuild.  Hold these thoughts, and when you are feeling “out of sorts” practice more Qigong.   A little “pre-Gong” suggestion to empower yourself with Qigong practice, is to turn off all distractions.  Say a big “thank you” to the Universe for the opportunity to be present of mind and body. This heart centered practice helps us connect to a deeper state, the stillness that holds everything together.  Qi dao Yi dao. Where the Qi goes, the mind flows.   Inhale to your heart.  Let go of the personal [worries].  Go inwards and allow your inner arms to support and enfold you with pure love.  Rest in balance in the here and now. Exhale gratitude.                                       

To quote Rumi from the “Guest House”:  Be grateful for whoever comes

                                                                   Because each has been sent

                                                                   as a guide from Beyond.

As Thanksgiving approaches I want to express and shout out my appreciation to the Universe and to all of you, my gratitude for reading my story.  Namaste.

Karen teaches QiGong on Thursdays at 2 P.M. and at 6:15 P.M. for a 1 hour class @  $10.00 per class. In addition to the WuJi QiGong movements, I am incorporating the healing TaiJi Hua Gong practice.

On Wednesday Nov. 19^th Karen Steinbrecher and Dean Solon offer a Free Resiliency Center Workshop. Resiliency through Meditation and Qigong   7 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.   Come join us!