In 1998 I was fortunate to discover two seemingly different articles about tensegrity. One by Harvard Professor Donald Ingber (Scientific American), talked about tensegrity being essential to the architecture and functioning of cellular life. In the other one (Yoga Journal) Carlos Casteneda talked about tensegrity practices that facilitated the use of energy by body and consciousness. He talked about tensegrity practices which were “physical movements” he called magical passes.
The term “tensegrity” was coined by futurist Buckminster Fuller to express tensional integrity to describe structures kept stable by the push-pull of internal and external forces. His geodesic dome is a human-made example of tensegrity.
Since then I have been writing about and exploring tensegrity of the cell, the facet of biological decision-making, the cellular intelligence managed by the tensegrity features of our cells. I deemed that the most exciting part of biology. I still do. That the mechanical forces on our cells affects their genetic expression, life and death. Our cellular strings are keys to tensegrity, the psychology and health of our cells. Stretching of those strings generates vibration and energy. Even some scientists postulate that they are the seat of consciousness.
And though I bought and read Casteneda’s book Magical Passes years ago, what I have done, for the most part, is to kind of discount that work as ‘too esoteric’ or simply similar to yoga or qigong – practices with which I am familiar. That was enough to know. Or so I thought.
But this weekend everything has changed.
This year I have been given the great gift of working with an energy healer who is taking me even deeper into the truth of our cells and life. What I had discounted is what I didn’t know or fully believe in.
My belief kept me focused on the power of the body and learnable skills and abilities to access our cellular healing powers. What I had not been willing, or educated to do, is to access or explore the more esoteric energy forces, such as written about by Carlos Casteneda and other energy discoverers.
What my own knowledge has been lacking is an energy experience that goes beyond body or even chi/qi.
So here is where science and consciousness, the courage of exploration and maybe even the articulating forces of the universe converge.
I don’t see energies. I can feel or sense qi having been schooled in those energy practices for more than two decades. I have worked with shamanic practices as they pertained to the imagination and sound. I’ve mined bodymind medicine for healing strategies that I can explain in terms of our cells. And while one reviewer of my book said though he loved the cell biology, there was too much emphasis on the shamanic and the spiritual. For me, there was not enough spiritual.
Now that I am preparing to do my first workshop since the release of my new book Secrets of Your Cells, I recognize that the cellular awareness of our strings, can even include a few Magical Passes. Why was I so willing to discount or overlook these series of movements? I lumped them in with what I already knew rather than what I had to explore next.
And so this afternoon, I began discovering for myself the first series of intending and my body feels energized as does my mind. It’s a beginning. You can learn more about these specific Magical Passes from people who are trained to teach these practices who worked with Casteneda or his students.
Our cellular structures need to be stretched and compressed. Pulled and released. Life needs movement at all levels. Our patterned behaviors need to be stretched to something that feeds our souls better. When a teacher thinks she knows whatever she needs to know, that’s the time to look at what she or he must learn next.
My next two workshops will take us all on the journey of discovering the strings of our cells through movement and sound. We will explore together some of the movement series given to us by ancient and modern shamans to heal our body mind and spirit as well as shift the energies that surround us to healing our planet. For it’s no longer just about what’s good for me or good for you, its alway what’s good for future generations, how can we contribute to the field of the future by what we do now?
I have been touched by the emails I’ve received from people who are reading my book. I have truly been amazed by your stories and its now time to take the lessons of our cells to the next round, dancing with your cells, playing with them, elevating our potential.
Come join us and discover your cells your self.
A day long workshop SECRETS OF YOUR CELLS at Fort Bragg, CA at the Spirit House Center August 10
Weekend workshop SECRETS OF YOUR CELLS in Petaluma, CA at Earthrise Retreat Center Aug. 23-25
