At this site I have focused on the nature of integration and wholeness -- that is, on the pragmatic (eg: functionally useful & daily appreciated) synthesis of one's 'bodymind' (body, mind, emotions, and their interconnections).
         I also focus much on the practical application of self-healing methodology and appropriate attitudes toward preventative maintenance and well-being. Specific topics at this site involve "Body-Memory" and Mind-Body Correlations, "Body-Parenting," Body-Awareness-Enhancement, pain and related considerations; integrated therapies that combine connective tissue work, release of chronic muscle pain & habit patterns, energy-balancing and attunements, and personal growth processing, including the "emotional body" process.
         Briefly put: this has been developed from a certain intricate blending of Buddhist, Gestalt, Somatic, and New Thought Psychologies (with a body-centered innovation on Transactional Analysis for "Body-Parenting"), developed in light of each individual's assets in regard to the human condition, as well as each individual's particular challenges or insensitivities to same. Explaining the how's and why's of that can become "heady", I know, and yet I try to keep such writings understandable - at least by those with a lay person's interest in psychology, or at least it's practical application to achieving and maintaining physical well-being. Admittedly, analyzing and explaining concepts is something I very much enjoy (and certainly have a verifyable amount of experience at).

         I have been dedicated to the development and passing on of (very) hands-on grounded applications of such concepts. In response to those so "spiritually inclined" who believe that the physical and/or emotional (or "astral") bodies do not deserve to take up time, considering such endeavors as hedonistic or simply a waste of time: I respectfully disagree. What makes us "human" and special also provides the greatest spiritual challenges as well as spiritual opportunities, not to mention the essential (necessary) cauldron for transcendance - the process of attaining higher (certainly "the highest") states of well-being. Related Note: If one spends 20-30 years or more forming less than healthy habits, it helps greatly to understand that "the way back" is not going to be fully revealed in practical depth, let alone experienced, with one session with a health practitioner.
         More eclectic aspects are developed at various pages (ie: the "Extended Brochure" page), as well as in the "Perspectives" section of this page. And a few eclectic topics are treated further below. The "Body-Mind Integration" essays (including "The Science Behind The Body-Mind Relationships And Related Therapeutic Approaches" chart in the reference section) and "Tensing Yoga" pages develop the more technical aspects (physical & psycho-emotional), barely hedge toward the edge only here and there. More on that a bit further down the page, AND there are descriptions of each page in the next ("Essays Index") section.
         I also believe that what we call setbacks are, certainly can be, our systems re-organizing. Just like moving the furniture in the office while you're also doing the office work: It's slow-going, feels uncoordinated and clumbsy, sometimes confusing, consuming time and energy, all of which feels like it's being wasted at the time. Yet, all that is essential to the healing. And if we persist in trying to see it as such, assisting others appropriately through that process, the healing then effectively quickens. That's actually one way of defining a "cleansing reaction". Integrating all that into an graphic-backed affirmation or "Treasure Map" technique for self-healing application, is "'Getting Super': Sample Personalized Visualization Prayer Chart" at the "Notes on Beliefs, Healing, and Prayer" page.

         I used to say that the self-help writing here is kept basic, but that was because I had apparently either forgotten, or just didn't fully keep up with, the fact that others were just not as inclined to take note of same things as I do. Even as compared to other massage therapists. We are all experts at something, sometimes that applies to what we *intentially* or *consciously* focus on. [That is chuckled at in some circles, by the way.] My 1976 Kuder "Occupational Interest Survey" results (below) should have been a clue [but wasn't realized as such for many years]. Since the late 90's, questions by others have led me to look more often at how I look at things and why, hence the section just below. In any case, the concepts & resulting techniques still require some purposeful application in order to derive benefit. The essays provide links for elaboration and study for those interested in pursuing these things further.

"Elaboration on the Development of Perspectives at ChaliceBridge.Com"         In Summary: The perspectives here have been greatly influenced by various teachers and teachings intent on increasing understanding among the wonderous diversity on the planet - more specifically (here), to bridge a number of body and mind healing perspectives, approaches, and techniques. Particularly those related to my own professional interests which I consider valuable tools that were not, or have yet to be, popularly integrated. Especially those which, in some cases, appear to contradict each other in one or more areas, and thus leave apparently unsolvable oppositions. Knowing well each of ones tools (or methodologies) lends to knowing where, when, and how to apply them, plus the determination to solve the puzzles related to otherwise perceived conundrums, is the basis for pragmatic application of that old saying, "necessity is the mother of invention." EG: If one takes the best of various good systems, eliminate what would be shortcomings among them for a/each given situation, then we develop solutionary methods to conditions previously regarded difficult to manage. Nothing really new in such developments except increased realization of long-existing potential, right?         We could start off with good ole' physiology, at which I've always been a ready and quick learner, thanks to Dr. Hurn. Who some how came to teach college-level(!) physiology at Will Rogers High School (Tulsa, Okla, 1970). Wherein I made one of the only two 'A's among 100 students in the classes that year. I enjoy finding research that backs up, at least to some degree, the points I make. Psychological theory, let alone application, can be difficult to do that for, particularly somatic psychology, albeit primarily due to "civilized" society being so quick to ascribe so much "evil" to the body itself, to beliefs limiting the tools of mind and body. But I hope you will find these pages do a fairly good job of reclarifying the amazing potential of the physical and psycho-emotional body-minds working well together, or at least lead you to other authors and resources who will. And if that sounded like "the other" bodies have intelligence or knowledge to offer, you heard/ read correctly.         A "How so" Bio: What happens when one is led to compare philosophical perspectives, at first just one to another, where they agree, where not, and so on, then from different psychological view points? A natural student (also) of psychology and philosophy may come to intuit a "unifying thread", one that runs through all the worlds major religions and philosophies. One may also hear about such, as long, long ago discovered. For myself, that began in the mid-1970's.         I began to observe events from here, and journal these as a rough comparative analysis, and note references for possible future use. My intuition has become increasingly attuned to noticing potential sources of useful ways of explaining things, even as people explain how or why they do what they do. All the while, I'm "highlighting" the perspectives that seem to work, and work together, aggregating and integrating the favorite and compatible into what I thought might "work" towards that unifying thread. In doing that, I'm continually learning more about other ways of perceiving our inner selves and relationships to our "larger selves," if you will, including various metaphysical cosmologies, psychological perspectives, mind-brain sciences, and views on consciousness and healing, etc.         By the way, neuroplasticity, the re-organization of the neural networks for growth and healing, requires motivation. And perhaps it requires a little faith in some of these kinds of things making a difference, even through the cycles of our sometimes painful learning process. After All, it is said that cells renew themselves; that, in effect, that we have "a totally new body every seven years". That is, different types of cells take different amounts of time to do that, but the cycles overlap, such that eventually whole systems "new." Or rather, they can be, if we also recycle the energies associated with them. And there is a trick of magic to that, so to speak. Because the cells pass on the beliefs or attitudes --for good or for illness-- that they have been programmed with prior to and/or during those cycles. UNLESS and to the degree, as needed, our minds become aware of and take charge of that programming(!) More on that (and faith, persistence in positive messages to our cells) in the "Delayed Healing" section at the "Why Pain" page.         Speaking of the philosophical, we are going off on another thread here, so do feel free to skip the next two paragraphs if you like. But... we could call all that food for "Conflict Resolution from a psychological view of philosophy, or via a metaphysical epistemology.         I call it "Chalice Bridging", given the symbolism and meaning I attach to that: the dynamics by which Spirit flows into the "Body-Mind", facilitating our maturing and evolving, our balancing and integrating each ourselves, and thus Humanity, with our highest potentials while still "on the plane of matter".         Might such a "unifying thread perspective", as noted above, make it much easier for others to include an understanding, certainly a tolerance, of each others perspectives? How about possibly even an appreciation, certainly when considering those beliefs - about tolerance, for instance, as may best apply to each themselves. Would checking out the "Pragmatic Balance" section of the Chalice Integration Art page provide anything new, relative to what in our history and our apparent make-up shows us? That is, in reference to factors effecting how much or little tolerance, patience, listening skills, neuroplasticity, [etc] that we may have for each other, personally but also societally or politically(?) And about how we might change that for the better? How could so much possibly be there? Uhmmmm, something about what's new about how we have evolved, and how we may evolve (or not) to realise our effectively greater potential for listening and understanding? [2/28/11, 7/15/12]         I do the writing and the artwork on the "Chalice-Integration" or "Chalice-Bridging" perspective because I believe that, to the degree it is understood and employed, it may help clear the clutter out of our inner lives, our relationships, and and our religions, clutter that is causing disfunctionality (as the primary cause of unhealthy conflict, of war in it's worst case), and add a healthy amount of much needed psychological BALANCE, facilitate much healing, restore much love, joy, and cooperation, much of that due a healthy appreciation of the diversity (of species, race, religions, genders and orientations, perspectives and creativity, etc), much (if not all) of which is critically necessary for sustaining life on this planet.         Like yoga, it may provide an adjunct for health, albeit more on the attitudinal than physical level, since it (the "Chalice-Bridging" perspective) is based on a psychology of integration towards acceptance and equinimity, not comparitive/separative hierarchy. Hence, it would not be conducive in forming or even encouraging a religion or cult (in case you wondered), although it does encourage acknowledgement of "The Golden Thread," which underlies and connects All religions while honoring their diversity. The artwork fulfills an artistic need (certainly for the artist ) but it also has it's highly functional purposes, as it a) serves to potentially lead to or remind of the perspective and it's purposes, b) illustrates and assists in informing about sacred geometry, thereby the functionality of the proportions at the atomic and higher levels of biology and which is key and core to all life on this planet.

"In Context"

         I understand that one can only be focused on one thing at a time (no matter how "psychic" or otherwise gifted a person may be - albeit not withstanding the expansiveness of peripheral vision, internal or external). However, your reading what I say in any one writing -in context- with what I write elsewhere, may be important for understanding what it has to offer. For this reason you'll find many links from most any writing at my site to a number of other writings here. If you enjoy multi-tasking, you'll love this site. I can't wait to get those concept flow-charts developed for illustrating the relationships between the various multi-level dynamics written at this site. They might provide the only way for me to "keep it simple" before I'm even close to finished here. An early and limited example of the kind of charting that I'm talking about would be the at the "Goal Chart" page.

         Meanwhile, some context and synergy of "my work" overall can be gained by checking out the footers (last section) of each web page at the site, as well as by visiting the Organization Chart Page [ Wait, not yet! ], which page also includes the Oct 2011 added "Chart of Core Body-Mind Integration Concepts in Context", as well as "How and Why this Site Is Different" - A study in Cross-Discipline Knowledge Sharing and Utilization - how that relates to "Chalice-Bridging," Body-Mind Integration, and healing (including healing on the largest scale).
   

Some Elaboration On My Work and my place in it
(less formal than in my brochure)
          I have relied on my hands as well as my ears and eyes to tell me whether an approach is useful to the client. And I'm probably more than a tad intuitive when not overly focusing "in" on something. I am thankful to be physically strong, kinesthetically sensitive and appreciative of the more subtle sensory information. My life experience tells me that most people like sessions to include only your basic quiet massage. Others benefit from my "Let's see why this is - how we can make it work better" attitude when it comes to injury troubleshooting and treatment.
          Many also enjoy the empowerment gained from the preventative maintenance approach - the "Integral Body Awareness Training" that can involve "body-reading" (trouble-shooting or reading the textures of muscles, feeling the varying degrees of tension and patterning in the different muscles and muscle groups, noting the relationships between them if/as they exist), related discussion, and body-awareness instruction/counseling. And others find it incredibly easy to talk about themselves in this environment. What I really enjoy is the variance among all the people and each session, seeing what each individual brings each day. And do my best to learn from each person that has come in.

          My work is usually described as "thorough," "you always seem to know right where to go," "...don't waste any time" etc. I sometimes call my approach "Search & Employ," where I "go in" and find areas that are out-of-touch and bring them back "into the family," teaching a *Body-Parenting* approach to preventative maintenance. It helps greatly that I have always been unusually capable at varying the degree of pressure to apply when employing touch-based techniques, while sensing the optimal amount of pressure for a given area, allowing me to work as deeply as possible without causing the muscles to tense up further. ... More about what makes my work different at my Brochure, in "My Own Niche" Section.
          The deeper how and why, and a lay-person's technical core of my work, is put together at the "Body-Mind Integration" (Essays) Page. Newly Added on that page (May'11-July'12) on this page: "The science behind the body-mind relationships" (in the reference section) as well as addendum essays for clarifying these topics for *common sense* preventative maintenance application, as well as further completing the context and clarifying the dynamics and processes involved. Most benefits from the information at this page requires no focus on energy-work or the spiritual interface(s). The next three paragraphs do go into those aspects a little, while my extended professional brochure provides more about how that may (or may not) enter into a client's focus in work with me.

          You might find helpful the "Chart of Core Body-Mind Integration Concepts in Context" at the Organization Chart page. This compacts the key points into a relatively small visual space, providing a "Summary Of Connecting Points & Implications relative to body-mind preventative maintenance, pain management, other aspects, as well as links to their respective essays or sections."
   



Those "More Eclectic Aspects"
         Without trying to preach or convert, I've also focused occasionally (in some writings) on the "spiritual interface" of the bodymind with one's Higher Power, and the maintenance of this interface as related to living "in the world," (while not being "of the world" as the great master said.) And about maintaining this interface while one simultaneously develops within oneself the highest potentials one is capable of. Thence comes the term, "Multi-Dimensional." Respecting other's beliefs (or non-beliefs), I do not "push religion" or otherwise believe in spiritually "saving people." I do believe in "the Golden Thread ...which seems to form the common core of every major religion" as it is called by Eugene Whitworth. ¹   I believe that anything forced (given more force than actually needed, that is) -or manipulated- into someone's space eventually comes back in one's face.
         I believe that people learn and grow best in their own time and path, and that diversity in most every aspect of life is healthy, and is a natural result of essential individuality. I believe that diversity's natural occurrence is simply one requirement for society's growth towards communal well-being. More on that in the Pragmatic Balance section of the Chalice Integration Art Index page. [And no, that's not code; to me diversity refers to many different aspects, not just sexual orientation (let alone the fact that I'm straight and gay-friendly, which fact shouldn't be a big deal anyway).] I do believe in communal provision of special care, respect, and appropriate structure for the young, the elderly, and appropriate compensation for those less capable of utilizing opportunities afforded society in general. Three related perspectives: "On Potential Realities, Ideals, Goals, and Accomplishment" at the "Evolution Trends" page, "More On 'Ideals'" & "...the Concept of Perfection" at the page, "Compassion, Healing, and The Practitioner -- and Detouring 'Burn-out'."

Natal with Grand Trine & Cross

I mentioned above my focusing on the "(very) hands-on grounded application of concepts" at some pages, [vs] about "the more eclectic aspects" at others. Put astrologically, the Capricorn in me is VERY functional and concrete goal oriented, whereas the synchronous Grand Trine and Grand Cross would seem to have me consider most everything from most every other angle as well. Finding each their best place has been a learning process in itself, of course.            As for my ordination and ministry: I was most recently ordained by S.H.E.S. (International Assembly of Spiritual Healers & Earth Stewards Congregations, SHES.Org) in 2001 for (my own) "Chalice-Bridging Ministries" (eclectic, ecumenical, interfaith). (That's actually short for "Chalice-Bridging Body, Mind, and Soul Ministries".) However, I was first ordained in 1987, with New Age Fellowship (Seattle, WA).

          That was actually on August 17, 1987, "Harmonic Convergence Day". There's a little story about that, totally vain perhaps, but which has to do with the synchronicity between the all the astrological significance assigned to that day at the time, and my own natal chart as well as the transit for my chart for that date. Not just referring to the cardinal cross and grand trine in my chart, but also the placement of and transit correlations between various planets and asteroids in a configuration considered significant at that time (and since), especially concerning Chiron and a rare Neptune/ Uranus conjunction. [A friend suggested I should graphically assemble the charts to illustrate the line-ups, since the line-ups on that day sat "tight-orbed" over the two upper points of the grand trine in my chart (green lines), with Neptune right over my Chiron that day.]

          The "Chalice-Bridging" style chakra balancing is based in the view that we each are a bridge between Father & Mother God/Goddess [FtNote1], & thus form a chalice for the balancing & integrating of Humanity with the Divine. Or at least ideally so, as our systems are *attuned* & our batteries are *charged* & we fulfill our true role as human embodiments of Spirit. Just as "Body-Parenting" uses a metaphor to personify the cells to communicate with them effectively -since they respond to our unconscious thoughts and emotions anyway, this approach is based in the view (or a personification of energy dynamics) based in the view that we each are a bridge -- between the yin & yang energy-vortexes (personified here as) "Father & Mother God/Goddess, thus forming a chalice of Spirit" (a bridge of energy) "for the balancing & integrating of Humanity with the Divine". [FtNote1]. Having learned more about Qigong and 5-Element Theory (2010-2011), I could call my work "Chalice-Qi-Energy-Body-Work" - IF I wanted to relate the chalice concept to the Qigong energy format, and that is one very highly efficient system for development and maintenance overall. How about "Qinergy-Body-Work"? (Ok, I'll go for that!) But -ESSENCE-ially- 'Qi' is 'Ki' is 'Chi' is the 'Ke' in 'Reike' is (Universal Energy in various forms of bio-electric in the body) ... and so on, and it's usually (always?) more important to focus on the work that works for the individual, than to create more names for attracting a different market of people that need new names to attract them to do essentially the same thing. (phew!) "
      FtNote1: regarding "Father & Mother God/Goddess" and "Spirit": Or the Yin & Yang of Refers to Whatever or Whomever that created all elements of Life, and the interpermiating connecting flowing energy between them, that which makes that sparky bio-electric, bio-magnetic, bio-emanating, and bio-responsive light -around and often between living organisms- that has been called the "aura" long before electronic devices began picking up on it. Whether we name Him, Her, or Them, or It, or treat it strictly as a energetic phenomenon, or whether one is a an aetheist or an agnostic or a fundamentalist or a mystic... what this is all about is what we perceive as the functional reality of the experience of, and all about how our body-minds respond to, focused healing love, including as part of energy work via those who know how energy works, as well as how it works better. This goes with the other revisions lately (2012-13) to philosophically free up the perspectives on the chalice art of this artist, so as not to be laden with overly-religious conotations, even if some might be interprete that as too liberally eclectic or even humanist. The mystic part of me sees the universe as here for us all, and the chalice as symbolizing our path to balance and co-exist in love in that universe (in the most brief summary wording), and the associated metaphors or personifications as effective for focusing energy-work as well as for engaging useful dialog between different levels of being -- even if they also represent relationships that, to me, seem relevant to that universe.

          I'll close with the bottom line of the "Body-Mind Integration..." essay: that Body-Mind Awareness is the bottom line of preventative health maintenance, and therefore is one of the most simple, efficacious, & cost effective forms of health insurance that there can possibly be. That is not an incredible statement, given that this approach is not free - it will cost you the time and energy you invest in learning how to achieve that, and whatever you give for the assistance or facilitation by capable practitioner(s).

Thank you for listening!
-Chris