Monday, August 20, 2012

A New Look and Other News


You may of noticed recently that Massage Essential has taken on a new look.  Over the past 3 weeks, I’ve been working with graphic designer extraordinaire, Lynn Rawden (http://www.interrabang.com/) to overhaul every aspect of the business’ image from the logo, colors, pictures and text.  She also pointed out to me how easy it is to start a Facebook page for one’s business. Check it out:  go to http://www.facebook.com/MassageEssentialOfSanMiguel to see pictures, more info and links  related to Massage Essential.  It’s been a very easy, fun and creative process and I do highly recommend Lynn for any of your graphic design and web development.   
          In between designing, giving massage and continuing with the house construction, I have been wrapping up a few busy months in the theatre.  In June, I acted in the Playreaders presentation of Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun by Norm Foster. The second and third weeks of July, I played Brother Felix in the Michael Hollinger comedy, Incorruptible and last week it was back with Playreaders again portraying Billy in Better Late by Larry Gelbart. 
Recently, my interest in improvised acting has been roused after an 8-year hiatus.  Joseph Bennett, here in San Miguel, has put together a group of actors of various skill levels which meets every Monday night to hone one’s abilities in this very fun style of acting.  The improvised form of theatre uses no script, but instead uses a variety of games involving audience suggestions of place, characters and situations.  It is immensely helpful in learning to think on your feet and build confidence all through a variety of theatre games.  Also, Joseph and his partner, Eli Hans, periodically offer acting classes and workshops throughout the year.  You can contact them at joseph@artbybennett.com and www.actingclasses.webs.comMay your inner thespian be roused as well!



Monday, July 30, 2012

Incorruptible



    “[S]ometimes I think a true love truly realized must be the greatest miracle of all”.... a poignant line from a recent play I performed in called Incorruptible by playwright Michael Hollinger.  This was my 3rd full production this year and certainly my favorite.


     In this 121st Players Workshop production, I played a lovesick monk called Brother Felix in a 13th century monastery in Priseaux, France.  Our church is in ruins for lack of pilgrims who previously came to pray to our Saint.  But, for over a dozen years, Saint Foy (pron.: “fwah) has not granted any miracles.  And so, the pennies have ceased to hit the plate.  The eldest brother and the father of the monastery eventually succumb to corruption and begin digging up their past parishioners’ bones to sell off to other churches as saints.  But, all good things must come to end especially as people only die every so often.  Now the maniac monks must up the ante:  they must find an incorruptible —a saint so holy it’s body refuses to decay.  And thus, the stage is set for one rollicking romp of a play full of blasphemous twists and turns.
      Although I won't be acting in any full plays in the near future, I will be performing in what's called "Playreaders" the first week of August.  This is a less polished form of a play yet, no less entertaining.  Essentially, we have 3 rehearsals and then 2 performances in which we read from the script. 
  
     This Wednesday, August 8th and Thursday, August 9th, Playreaders will present the not-to-be-missed comedy Better Late by Larry Gelbart at St. Paul’s Church.

     As the play opens, Julian is forced by a sudden illness to move in with his ex-wife and her current husband and with each passing day the situation spirals further and further out of control.  The part of Julian will be read by Steve Schlam, Nora, his ex-wife, by Marty Fraser, Billy, their son, by yours truly, David Galitzky, and Lee, the current husband, by John Wharton.  Lola Smith directs.

    Performances start at 7:30 PM, or earlier if the house is full.  Doors open at 7 PM.  A 20 peso donation is requested.  For more information, please send me and email at roma_zap@yahoo.com.
     Thanks for supporting the arts in San Miguel de Allende.  See you at the theater!
ps- check out the video below for an excerpt from the play, Incorruptible (from a different theater company)...



Que Hay de Nuevo? What's New?


    Alas!  After a long hiatus from blogging, I have returned to give an update on the latest.  Rest assured, I have been far from sitting on the proverbial butt and procrastinating about writing —well, ok, there was some procrastination going on. Anyway, your massage therapist has been busy “hamming it up” in the world of local San Miguel theater performing in 2 separate plays at the Santa Ana theater:  Inherit the Wind and Last of the Boys.  As if that wasn’t enough pork on my plate, my wife and I loaded up some more meat and potatoes by breaking ground on our new home! 

      Back in early February, we were very fortunate to have our good friend, Gray Wolf, come and perform a beautiful cleansing and blessing ceremony on the land.  By the peaceful energy in the air   —and the sudden convoy of burros, campesinos and their perros nonchalantly strolling through— the invitation was opened —I presume— for us to be stewards of our small plot of land at San Gamaliel 66.  We had begun to realize our homesteading dreams! 

       After just 20 weeks, we are all very excited at the rapid progress achieved so far —our daughter, Camila, included!  Now, it’s just a matter of keeping up the pace, making timely decisions and of course, allowing the wealth to flow inside and out. As all continues to go well, we hope to be moving into our new “Paraiso” abode by December 21, 2012 —hmm, that date has an interested ring to it.  This will also be the new home of Massage Essential and later down the road, my new Watsu services which I hopefully will christen some time in 2013.   

        “What the heck is Watsu?,” you say.  Watsu is a gentle form of body therapy performed in warm water, (around 35°C / 90°F).  It combines elements of massage, joint mobilization, shiatsu, muscle stretching and dance. The receiver is continuously supported while being floated, cradled, rocked and stretched. The deeply relaxing effects of warm water and nurturing support combine with Watsu's movements, stretches, massage and point work, to create a bodywork with a range of therapeutic benefits and potential healing on many levels.   



            Stay tuned for more updates as the project continues… 

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Rebirth: A Journey with Ayahuasca


The old house stood at the foot of a beautiful ravine. Groupings of rocky bluffs jutted up from the far side of the wooded arroyo. The sky was clear, the sun was shining and the air was cool. Inside, I sat in a chair in a living room. Amongst me were 6 other people, all of us forming a circle. There were candles, beautiful paintings and music playing. We each had a cup in front of us containing the medicinal liquid: thick and brown like the color of mud.

We gave thanks and expressed our intentions for the journey that lay ahead. We each took a cup and began to drink. After struggling somewhat with the ultra-bitter taste, we managed to finish the drink to the last drop. We exited the house and followed a narrow and winding path up the ravine. We arrived to an area with two leveled-terraces that overlooked the gully.

Tribal-sounding music floated through the air. We began to breath deeply and meditate. After a while, I became very sleepy and decided to lay down. My notion of linear time continued to obscure as the potent rhythm of the music carried me into a trance-like state. With eyes closed, yet feeling very aware, I continued to be dazzled by ever-changing intricate patterns of brilliant colors. I opened my eyes and saw that the outer world was very different. The colors of everything around me were vivid and bold and seemed to have a comforting radiance about them. Birds, plants and insects of all kinds caught my attention. My body pulsated with energy and life.

After what seemed to be a long while swimming in these savory new sensations, I experienced a temporary “coming-down” off of the heightened state of consciousness. Feeling quite hungry, I got up and went back down to the house. When I arrived to the kitchen, there lay a bountiful spread of food. Soon, a few people joined me including the Shaman of the ceremony, and we began to feast on the variety of breads, soups, casseroles and desserts.

It was as though I was rediscovering the simple act of eating to my heart’s content. Tastes and textures exploded in my mouth and brought pleasure to my palate. I felt as if I was eating human food for the first time with a body that I had just been gifted to me. A wave of silliness started to come over me and I started to laugh almost uncontrollably. This escalated into sort of a “silly-panic” as I couldn’t quite regain my composure. Soon, this passed. Then, the shaman said that the “window” would end soon and it was time to go back up the ravine.

Just before reaching the door though, I felt a sudden twinge of hesitation. My thoughts were telling me that this was too much too fast for me and so I decided to stay in the comforts of the house. This was the beginning of my descent into fear. Intermittently, it seemed, I would lose the connection to myself that I experienced before the more I allowed my attention to focus on fearful thoughts. I told the Shaman what was going. She told me to breath, to put my awareness in my heart and lay down for a moment. As quickly as these techniques brought me back to center, my digression to an agitated state caused me to slip out of equilibrium. I felt as though I was struggling to balance upon a knife-edged ridge with incalculable drop-offs on either side. From the experience, I could see how much I didn’t want to take responsibility for staying in my power and trusting my heart. It was like I had regressed to an immature state whereby I needed someone on the outside to take care of me.

Soon, my vision started to radically change. I saw a type of holographic pattern with brilliant colors that vibrated faster and faster. It formed a type of tunnel and the image repeated itself ahead of me into what seemed like infinity. The energy of this tunnel was such that I was being invited to go deeper and deeper into it. I knew the best thing for me to do was just to breath, trust and let myself psychologically “jump” into it. However, my hesitation due to fear of this unknown destination caused me to halt once again. The more I resisted the faster the energy of the tunnel “pulled.”

By this time, the shaman had left. I looked around in desperation. In the kitchen, a woman was eating. The thought to call out for help hung floated in my mind, but as much as I tried to call to her, I couldn’t —I wasn’t able to make any sound come out of my mouth. Now, the fear and panic of being completely alone in the world reared its ugly head. Not wanting to slip further into this unsettling state, I managed to collect myself enough to trust that this was simply something I had to go through on my own. I was faced with an existential dilemma: Do I yield to my fear and stay in limitation or do I “jump” into the unknown and see what can be experienced in the great beyond?

Suddenly, it all became too overwhelming. I rushed to the bathroom and forced myself to throw up. As I did, I experienced what I would describe as a purging of my limiting self-identities. In other words, it was like a spontaneous release of beliefs: “I am not enough,” “I cannot know true love,” “I am only human.” This was proving to be one of the most intense and difficult rite of passages I had come to know, and yet, there was still more to come.

After purging as much as one possibly could, I proceeded outside and walked toward the trail. As I ascended, I realized I still felt very much in doubt about everything. Just before reaching the terraces, I saw the Shaman coming toward me. I asked her why I felt so completely uncertain about who I am. She looked me straight in the eye, smiled and said, “You are letting go of all the old limiting factors that you believe make up all of who you are. It’s seems so scary, I know. You can let all of this go either with resistance or without; it’s your choice.” Her encouraging words immediately resonated truth inside me. She continued to explain: “There is light at the end of this tunnel. You must get back into your heart and feel the love that emanates here. You will find that is who you really are. You must trust again that you are supported even though you can’t “see” who or what is supporting you. Connecting to your heart is how you will navigate from now on.”

Having somewhat alleviated my agitated state, it was time to put what she said into practice. By this point, I was so desperate to get back to my center, that I began talking myself through it: “Put your hands on your heart. Focus here. Breath. Know that I am supported. Feel the love within that has never faltered.”

Then, on one of the terraces, I saw another man who was on his hands and knees. He looked to be in a similar state that I was in, so, I approached him and asked if he needed help or something to drink. He shook his head and continued to shift from one position to another. From extending my hand and offering help to another person, I realized that I connected, albeit faintly, to my heart once again. Although this was comforting, I noticed how quickly my ego latched on to this simple act and made it into something I should strive for: “If I just continue to help this person, everything will be alright.” In a split second, the disconnect from myself occurred once again. But now, through paying attention to the subtleties of my thoughts and emotions, I found it increasingly easier to steer my awareness back into my heart where I felt rooted and self-contained.

I moved to the other terrace and began to voluntarily purge once again. However, this time a shift inside me occurred. I realized that this was the conscious “I” of a higher vibration making the choice to “let go.” No longer was the “little me” of density and fear in control. I felt so incredibly humbled by this realization; it was like a glimpse of what it’s like to be finally freed from the prison of the fearful mind. I was now out of the “birthing canal” so-to-speak and firmly planted in the “captain’s seat” of my own self. A beautiful wave of lightness, came over me. My whole being softened as I experienced a deep connection to this indescribable peace. All I could do was just bask in this pure, undiluted and unshakeable bliss.

Feeling so grateful and appreciative for the lessons learned, I now understood the importance of trusting myself and trusting that I am always supported. I now know that I can always get through the worst of my fears remembering that the answer to everything always has it’s root in love —true love which resides within the human heart.