I expand my possibilities by cultivating the opposite in myself. When I was young I did not have much choice. As an adult I do, so I use my free will to be the antagonist from within. I understand that no matter how correct I think my decisions are, or how black and white a situation seems, there are always shades of grey or layers of circumstance that I may be unaware of. This requires humility beyond the four decades of lessons I have learned. A set frame of mind can be my own worst enemy. Cultivating the opposite moves my life towards the pursuit of liberation. Freedom from all lesser pursuits (that often revolve around money, food, sex, and power) can be greatly empowering. The value of seeking change and enlightenment enriches my days beyond what I have previously dreamed.

I have a compulsion almost, to remain grounded during moments of stress. As a massage therapist, and a spiritual being, whenever adverse notions enter my day I consciously remove myself and identify the situation. Unfriendliness, fear, greed, power plays etc. once identified can be categorized and cultivated into the opposite. It is easy to smile and make myself feel secure by trying to share or help in any way I can. Fighting fire with fire no longer is beneficial for me. We have all been conditioned through repetition to behave in ways that normally meets the least resistance. Concentration on nervous negative habits, and our responses, will help put an end to them if we are willing to change. Not to mention, kind and just actions produce positive karma and luck.

The opposite of strong, motivated, and driven is surrender. Our minds, but more so our spirits, crave the freedom of the release of our egos. Massage from an experienced and dedicated practitioner can help to neutralize our stress thus equalizing our often taxed thresholds. The result being an increase in ability for spiritual gain rather than emotional pain, which literally produces physical knots and blockages. Like breathing itself, the dual purpose of life is expansion and contraction, receiving and releasing. It behooves us to partake of life without trying to “hold on to it”. The principle of reversals is the ying and yang of our lives that brings contentment, peace. Spiritual growth is infinite, and cultivating the opposite from within will produce transformation, as we open our arms and hearts to the world around us.

(Todd Pequeen has been massaging in Manuel Antonio since 1999. He is a graduate of the N.Y. Institute of Massage, Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in the U.S.A, and can be reached at 8847-2010. He works independently and is available at his home studio or on location.)

“I know that touching was and still is and always will be the true revolution.” – Nikki Giovanni

We should all touch ourselves. I often fantasize with my clients on how wonderful it would be to get a massage every day. Imagine having your favorite masseur at your beck and call to get your fix whenever needed…how glorious would that be? Well, we all do have this available, we can utilize ourselves. While sitting on my board surfing, waiting for waves, I massage with both my hands my head and temporal regions. Just a minute of small circular strokes helps to further relax and loosen me up. Every day I massage my own hands and forearms, it has become a routine, it allows me to know where my aches and pains are as well as flushing out stagnate blood revitalizing my tools of the trade. We are all socialized into the language of the senses and in my opinion have become impoverished with hands-on nonverbal forms of communication, relying instead on disengagement and so called sophistication with each other. Sight and hearing (distance senses) rule our days while taste, smell, and touch (proximity senses) are almost a taboo. A shame in my opinion but adopting a philosophy of touching oneself can help bring us into the light.

Touching begins within the first minutes of birth, exactly where love and humanity begin. Most important to our foundation of experience and growth is the language of touch, where powerful communications are transmitted. Oh how wonderfully we touch and support our children, but as we begin to grow older so does the neglect of our friends and family, and of ourselves. The Western World has taught us to deprive ourselves in exchange for relationships with consumer goods and unnecessary necessities, does anyone else out there feel possessed by their possessions? Touching is simple to do and the best way to begin to make a more loving and compassionate self. Touch is a direct line to the human heart.

Touching yourself can and should begin the moment you wake up. Rub those eyes open, stretch and lengthen those arms and legs and flowered with a light slapping, can wake up those rested cells. Circulation is one of the keys to massage, eliminating old stagnant blood and replacing it with rich oxygenated blood is like bringing your insides to the cleaners. I like to massage my feet before I put on my socks and shoes. I almost feel lighter and more fleet footed after doing so. Showering is a great time to massage ones own entire body, instead of just soaping up use more force and give yourself a massage, I guarantee the results will amaze you. Not only might you discover any abnormalities such as bug bites or bruises, changed birth marks or sub-cutaneous bumps, you will also feel more energized and alive. Touching those sprained fingers, massaging that sore shoulder, lightly needing muscles after exercise are all important self preservation tools we can use to make ourselves know ourselves more deeply. Of course, there is nothing quite like a professional body worker taking over once a week but in the meantime, touching yourself should not be forgotten.

(Todd is a New York Institute of Massage Graduate and Nationally Certified in the USA. He has been practicing deep, therapeutic massage here in Manuel Antonio for over 10 years and can be reached at 8847-2010, tpequeen@yahoo.com.)

There is always something to stress about. Even when health and happiness are present we often create stress for a variety of reasons. Living this way, in this space, is a mistake. Time is a delusion the mind is happy to hold hands with. I’m sure the cynics are chuckling right now but let me explain. Inside our heads our minds are looking to identify with something. Most of the people I know dwell on memories from the past or their plans for the future. When is my next vacation turns into I don’t want this vacation to end. There is a compulsion to expel the present for the next job on the list, or to space out on what was so good and how to get it back. Obsession with this occurs simply because we can firmly identify with the past, as we have already lived it, and the perfect future is a dream, perhaps even a promise we made ourselves which will be the end all, be all. Whichever we choose, they are both illusions.

Since I’ve returned from the States I’ve noticed my thinking is following this pattern. Two months away from anywhere will obviously change who we are, but my stress has been interesting for me to recognize. I have a million thoughts about projects for my house and for my business, not to mention my health program and social obligations, add in some financial stress and I could be a wreck. Thus, I have bought into time being an important factor and have been slightly removed from the most important obligation I have as a human…to be fully present and in the moment. To be lusciously enveloped with whom I am talking too, what I am doing, graciously accepting each occurrence that transpires. I do this easily when I massage or surf, but when I am out and about, or doing manual labor I can veer into the wrong lane. Back to the unreality of what is to come. Just writing my thoughts brings me home, back to where I need to be, the space where the rest of my life will unfold. The now, the present, just today is the factor that is constant, the place where my mind is free. Here I let the magical forces of life come to me. My head, heart, and happiness depend on it.

I know that tomorrow will take care of itself. I also know that if I take care of myself the best way I know how, I am setting myself up for more success. I have been living this way for so long that it is strange I have had a temporary lapse into negative consciousness. It feels wonderful to me to be exempt from pain, fear, worry, doubt, where suffering cannot remain within me. Negative influences need time to exist, they cannot when I am in the Now. Playing with time in our heads can be a disaster. We can, just today, feel brand new in present time and end the habitual patterns that rely on escaping the Now, with simple awareness of it. Anxiety ridden or pleasure filled future is no more real than dwelling on anything from the past. Wow, it is great to be back in Manuel Antonio!

(Todd Pequeen is a graduate of the N.Y. Institute of massage and has been working independently here in Manuel Antonio for 10 years. He can be reached at 8847-2010.)

“With nothing to risk the Gods need no courage.”

Courage is a relative word by nature. It cannot stand alone, by definition it is simply a response. An ability to welcome something new, difficult, or challenging. This process is positive and fun for some, negative and stressful for others. I propose that we all look at ways to welcome courageous acts into our lives. Day to day living normally isn’t seen as a courageous thing to do. It can be however, to a great advantage. Our daily routines and responsibilities can feel like new if we simply add awareness to the people and events of the world going on around us. By having the courage to do more, be more, care more, and spread more love our daily lives will feel more vibrant and satisfying. I have always been delighted by people who “put themselves out there,” only risking playing the fool. It is no easy task to go outside of our own boundaries, but if we do we can reap the benefits of evolving and becoming wiser.

Our attitude while facing a situation that is perceived as challenging, or painful, requires courage. Anytime we withdraw or shy away from something, it is because we do not have the fortitude to face the facts and to work through it. I have always considered life to be a series of hardships that will never end. I get tremendously bored when nothing new is happening either internally or externally. I am the one responsible however, that must instigate new challenges, lofty goals, and to be ready to risk failing. When I do this personally, physically, and spiritually, life feels fresh and rewarding. Courage to change and to achieve is our responsibility alone. Our free will is a gift from the heavens, we must use this to challenge ourselves and to summons courage. A fearless attitude toward new things results in greater self-knowing and moves the process of maturation on and on endlessly. Great awards await those who seek them out.

I wonder why some people accomplish more, live with a higher energy, spread more smiles, joy, and positivity to society around them. I believe the simple answer is courage. Courage lies both within the solider fighting overseas and with the committed parents of a child. Courage is doing the right thing and extending more than a helping hand, when its the last thing one wants to do. I see courage around me within the friends I have in this jungle community, who left their families and culture behind to form a new one here in Costa Rica. Progression takes courage and doing the same old thing over and over again is simply fear. More vitality can be achieves by liberating our own thoughts and judgments and opening our minds to the benefits of possibility. Maybe today is the day to try to surf a wave, ride a canopy tour, raft a river, or to simply go out and make a new friend. Manuel Antonio has always been a location of courageous people, laced with a bit of selfishness. Locals who have a high value on their time and take it or give it appropriately. We can explore courage on every level and if we take the time to engage the physical, emotional, and spiritual courage we have; we may just be able to slow the hands of time! Fearless of what may come with the challenges we drive ourselves to explore.

(Todd Pequeen is a graduate of the N.Y. Institute of massage and has been working independently here in Manuel Antonio for 10 years. He can be reached at 8847-2010.)

I hope all of us are “living the dream.” To me it is a matter of relevance. Advantages vs. disadvantages. A beach life style vs city or suburban living. The reliance and convinces of hunting down goods, services, and entertainment compared to the beauty and simplicity of mother nature. For two months I have been uncomfortable when I am told by my massage clients, or random tourists, that I am “living the dream.” Let me say first and forehand that yes, I am honored and feel blessed to be living in Costa Rica for almost 10 years. I personally know that I am living my dream, I give thanks for it every day. I suppose my issue is the tone and the envy of the complement. I hope and assume everyone is living, or at least working toward achieving their “dream” as well. That is what I was taught life is about, and what I see my friends teaching their children. When we listen to and trust our heart and soul, we make decisions correctly and organically become what we dream of.

We can’t have it all and almost everything we do have requires sacrifices. These are easy to dismiss by outsiders looking in. As I look more closely at my dream living I see an annual salary on par with poverty rate status in the United States. My car (known as the Red Rocket) was purchased for $2,000 eight years ago. It has a hole in the back door that can house a small dog or cat. I wish my dream included cash for my clunker. My dream includes a one bedroom, one bath house with no stove, garage, or air conditioner. My electricity goes off with no reason and for years I would not have water for days at a time (our suppliers deemed water more important for hotels than the local community of workers which are the bloodline of the hotels). Did I mention the bureaucracy of getting anything done, or two hour lines in banks – the dream indeed. My dreams nightmare also includes petty thievery that is out of control, no holidays with my family in 10 years, a change of seasons that include rain, or no rain, and a legalization process that if you are pursuing it now….well, God help you!

When it comes down to it, location and lifestyle does not produce “the dream”. An ideal tourist vacation is nothing remotely close to how we as locals live and breath. The majority of us come here with a true passion and vision of what we wanted our lives to fruit with. We sculpted with hardships, perhaps more than our brothers and sisters in our home lands. Our lives were built here through optimism and peace of mind. There is one difference however, and that is the confidence of faith in greener pastures elsewhere and facing unknowns as opportunities. There are alternative ways of achieving and blossoming outside of our cultures and the countries we were born. Often the rat race is just a self imposed mindset. I hope everyone is living their dream and helping others around them fulfill theirs too.

Todd is a New York Institute of Massage Graduate and Nationally Certified in the USA.  He has been practicing massage for over 10 years and can be reached at <a href=”mailto:tpequeen@yahoo.com/”>tpequeen@yahoo.com</a>