Description:
Listening deeply to your own mammalian nature has the power
to profoundly enrich your life.

* * *
Several years ago I made the acquaintance of a new friend
named Tara. She is as beautiful a Shetland sheep dog as I
have ever seen. Like many of us human beings, Tara had a sad
tale to tell. When just a pup, the first time she was taken
for a walk she came upon a horde of kids who suddenly
started shooting off firecrackers. Tara was frightened
beyond belief and she escaped from her leash and bolted into
the far distance. Perhaps never to be seen again her owner
feared! Several hours later though, Tara made it back to her
house on her own and in one piece.

When I first entered Tara's house for a visit, she was up on
the third floor where she normally hid when guests arrived.
Tara's owner told me that ever since the firecracker
incident she had difficulty getting Tara to go out for a
walk. Tara confined herself to the tiny backyard for her
exercise and toilet activities.

Tara's owner needed to run out on an errand. I asked for a
piece or Tara's favorite biscuit, broke it into several
pieces, and set the pieces out well in front of me. I waited
quietly for about ten minutes, before finally hearing the
patter of little feet upstairs. Upon hearing Tara gathering
up her courage and her curiosity, I began to intermittently
make some playful sounds as if I was a tiny firework,
showering its brilliant colors in the distance. Psss, Pahh!
I concentrated on being a beautiful firework, and not a loud
one. Then with my colors expended I sat quietly again and
waited. It took an additional fifteen minutes for Tara to
finally show her head at the top of the stairs, and then she
immediately ran all the way back up to the third floor. From
there it took another ten minutes before she made her way
down to the ground floor, ate one piece of biscuit and then
bolted upstairs again, with no intention of returning in the
near future. I marveled at her braveness and was exceedingly
pleased with the development of our relationship.

Starting the next day our friendship developed rapidly. This
time I sat on the floor and waited with the biscuits closer
to me. After a couple of fitful starts and stops, Tara was
sitting on my lap. Next I introduced the leash, but didn't
try and put it on her. By the third day she was making her
way down to my bedroom in the basement, wondering why I
hadn't gotten up yet. Finally, we were walking around
together out in the neighborhood, and passing by the very
place of her initial horror.

Tara's friendship has been a sacred gift to me. She has
helped me to better understand my own fears, and the fears
of my clients. She has also helped me to understand that
beneath our fear there is a longing to be reconnected to
life, and to loved ones. A longing to be out and about with
a friend on a mild spring day. Whenever I have a client who
seems frightened, I always start out by telling them about
Tara. It is amazing that a couple of cookies and a cup of
tea can calm a new human client as much as Tara's biscuits
helped to calm her.

Both fear and love have specific and different
organizational patterns within each of us. The
electrochemical network of fear and the electrochemical
network of love, as well as the network of muscle usage for
the two, are quite different. Once we learn how the body
communicates to us we can begin to interact and affect
change on the limbic level of primary experience. Deep
breathing, stroking by an appropriate other, hugging and
physical closeness, all help us to know that we are not
alone, and that we are protected. With our limbic-emotional
system taking in such sustenance, we can relax, expand our
spirit, and be in the world with a sense of belonging,
comfort, safety, and excitement. What more could we really
ask for from life?

Charlie Badenhop
http://www.seishindo.org