Surrender to the wind
The booklet is titled Surrender to the Wind: A Healing
"Handbook" for Hairpullers - Daily Inspirations for those of us living with
trichotillomania. It's about 50 pages, complete with a resource list in the back, but the
last time it was update was when the booklet was printed in 1995. It's a great book for
both individuals and support groups. It has short essays, followed by suggestions for
group discussion/journaling, meditation, drawing, and movement. Very spiritually based,
with a strong focus on self compassion and self awareness. The book sells for $10.00 each.
Below are two excerpts from the book, New Beginnings, and Hands that Heal. It will give
you a good sense. Hope this helps,
Today is a new beginning. No matter where I've been or how I failed or succeeded, today is
always new. If I pulled last night then today is the tiniest first step to forgiving my
actions, embracing my sadness, and reaffirming my commitment to care about myself no
matter what. Unconditional loyalty to myself... A goal to reach for and aspire to, to love
my hands and head and heart no matter what. If last night I let it grow, then hallelujah!
another day to grow, to celebrate a new kind of freedom. To feel what life is like with
hands that heal and hearts that sing. The place to get to, though, is caring about myself
either way, in success or failure, because my soul is whole no matter what, and deserves a
continual flow of praise
and kindness:
Image to meditate on: A lush gorgeous forest, thriving and growing. Touch the trees and
feel the energy pulsing there; kneel down and watch the blade of grass push up from the
soil, melt into the earth. The earth is Mother, Gaia, melt into her, let Her energy wash
over you and fill you up, that same energy that pushes up the mighty oak or the tiny
blade. Feel the comforting connection with all life.
Movement: Put on your favorite music. Close your eyes and move your entire body like a
blade of grass; push up through the soil; grow like a tree. Do this alone or in a group,
all eyes closed. Feel your body and follow its impulses.
Journaling: Write a letter to yourself, praising your efforts and desires, whether you
have succeeded or failed. Be genuine. Be kind.
AFFIRMATION: Today always begins with just one tiny step.
Hands That Heal
What a wonderful phrase, what a beautiful concept - hands that heal, my hands, where power
and energy and love flow out all the time, creating new days, new lives, new hearts.
My hands have been my opponent for too long, leading me down roads I do not want to go.
But my hands are just expressions of my heart. And when my heart is sad or angry, my hands
just dance to that powerful tune. Hands that heal... how can I transform them into allies
and friends? I must begin by forgiving myself and forgiving them -- asking their
forgiveness for all my nights of frustration and pain. They have been unloved by me. Can I
forgive myself for rejecting them? They are always helping me to express my deeper needs.
Pulling for answers, pulling for comfort and safety, pulling for buried
happiness and joys. My hands are mere fishing lines, seeking that which I truly need and
want. Let me love those fishing lines whether they pull out prize winning trout or clumps
of dead seaweed. Let me celebrate my hands true purpose - to build and reach, to hold and
lift up, to stroke and touch, to express and dance. Hands that heal... that's what they
truly are.
"In olden times, the fingers were likened to legs and arms, and the wrist joint to
the head. These beings can dance, they can sing... The hands are beings in their own
right."
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Image to mediate on: A sea of hands, dancers in a primitive celebration, fires blazing in
the middle of a forest, a pale giant moon, drums pounding, flutes drifting in the still
night, the graceful hands of children and women waving like palm leaves in a tropical
breeze; hands moving and waving like the ocean, like dolphins, swirling like schools of
rainbow fish. Flow and movement, flow and movement, flow and movement.
Mirror exercise: Spend 5 minutes a day in front of a mirror looking at your hands. Put on
your favorite music. Let your hands dance, wiggle your fingers, move your arms, kiss your
palms. Give your hands their moment in the sun!
Journaling/drawing exercise: Trace your hands on paper. Write a silly or serious poem
praising them. Hang up the poetic portrait and say good morning to your hands every day.
AFFIRMATION: My hands can heal me.
copyright 1995 - Marcia Zina Mager
This booklet can be ordered through Marcia directly. Please e-mail her with your request.