More dinner conversation, Notes from the orgone box, Lurker extravaganza

At dinner last night, The Cop said, “Yoga is doing something.”

“Really?!” I said, feigning surprise.

He noted my sarcasm and went on. “It’s doing something to my body. I’m not sure what. Or where.”

Then he thought about it for a moment and added, “It’s cracking something open, something I don’t know about.”

Yup. It’s working.

***

From Moola Bandha, The Master Key:

Character armour, for [Wilhelm] Reich, represented layers of defence mechanisms which had been psychosomatically transferred into the physical body and could be pictorially schematized similar to geological or archaeological stratification. As such it represented the ‘solidified history, of the patient, the deeper tensions being the oldest.’ Reich states that conflicts which have been active at a certain period of life always leave their traces in the character, in the form of physical and mental rigidity. Each conflict forms a layer in the individual’s character. Each of these layers in the character structure is a piece of life history which is preserved in another form, that is, physically, and is still active. He demonstrated that by loosening up these layers, the old conflicts could — more or less easily — be revived. If the layers were particularly numerous and functioning automatically, if they formed a compact unit which was difficult to penetrate, they seemed like an ‘armour’ surrounding the living organism. The armour may be superficial or deep-lying, soft as a sponge or hard as nails.

I haven’t thought about Reich in years. And the moral of the story: go easy on the conflicts you construct and cultivate and absorb!

***

Lurkers’ Amnesty. A couple of things. It’s so nice to hear from folks! Thanks, you guys. Still, though, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Unless, of course, it’s my Mom who made those other couple hundred hits yesterday. If so, Mom, just log in and say “hi!” And quit watching my life so carefully. It’s creepy!

And Kayla, seriously — there are no cool kids. Anyone who thinks they are, isn’t.

And a housekeeping note: Carl will be away for vacation and unable to run the next Lurker’s Amnesty. Perhaps you would like to, Yogamum? It starts on Tuesday. And when you are handing off, perhaps you can check with Carl and see if he’s ready? Though if he’s suffering from debauchery in Encinitas, he might need another week off.