Ask + You Shall Receive
Last month I took a trip to Manitou to learn cupping therapy. Have you had cupping done before? You know when you see those purplish circles on people's backs? That's from cupping therapy! (And no, they are not bruises, but I'll save that explanation for another day.)
I've loved receiving cupping for a long time, so when I went to my friend for a facial cupping treatment, I knew immediately that I wanted to learn this technique.
And wouldn't you know, I received an email from my massage therapy association within a few days sharing about upcoming cupping course offerings. (Thank you for the easy button, Universe!)
The only offering in Saskatchewan from this particular instructor happened to be in Manitou Resort and I knew immediately that was the class I needed to take. So, I registered and off I went.
Now, I ran into some resistance when it came to stretching my comfort zone. Some of this resistance showed up in my head, and some of it showed up in my external experience. I'm sure you can relate, but let me share.
1) My mind was getting flared and telling me I was a fraud.
I don't do much for massage therapy anymore, as I found when I offered massage I was attracting clients who wanted to be fixed instead of the ideal clients I wanted to work with who wanted to participate in their healing. So here I am off to a CEU course for massage therapist going, "OMG, what if I don't remember my skills well enough?" Well what a ridiculous thought, but it felt very true and had me feeling mildly nervous.
2) I got an email a few days beforehand that my hotel room got cancelled as per the customer's request.
Ummmm, excuse me??? What??!
**Let me preface this by saying a couple days before I had the idea and desire of wanting to drive there the day before the class instead of the morning of so I could relax a little more and utilize the healing spa waters. HOWEVER, I felt some mom guilt for wanting to go away for two nights and felt a little guilty about spending $400+tax on two nights of hotels alone, even though it was a business expense.
All of this to say: Be careful what you wish for!! -- JUST KIDDING!!!! Don't be careful at alllll!
Claim exactly what you desire!
Anyway, I saw this email with my room cancellation and called the hotel to find out if my room was actually canceled and it was. It turned out that they had a malfunction with their booking system and the hotel was overbooked for the number of rooms they had, so they had to cancel some bookings.
How would you react or respond if this happened to you?
Close your eyes and take a moment to reflect.
I paused and took a breath. There was no point in overreacting or getting upset at a hotel concierge because it wasn't his fault, and that wasn't going to help either of us at all. I didn't need to throw emotion at him and I wouldn't do that anyway, so instead, I asked a question:
I said, "Ummm okay, well I'm in a course there, so I need a room. Is there anything you can do?"
There were no rooms available for Saturday (the night I'd booked) so there was nothing he could do. Instead, he offered me 50% off my next stay for the inconvenience.
Hmmmm... I said "Do you have any availability for the Friday night?"
He checked and they did, and so I asked if I could use my 50% off for the Friday night. He agreed, and I ended up getting a half price hotel room for the night before my course and I could drive up a day early.
Okay then. Now what? Well I still needed a room for the Saturday night, so I ended up having to book a room at a different hotel nearby, but it turns out that I instead got two nights of hotels for the original price of one night with my previous booking.
What the heck!? HAHA
I got exactly what I asked for! How does it get any better than that!?
Well, keep reading because it did get even better...
Here's the magic that unfolded:
> I got to Manitou in time on Friday to enjoy some time in the mineral pool.
> On the first day of class, I found a friend I knew who was attending the course, too. She practically tripped over my feet trying to get to an open chair within the first few minutes of me sitting down. She and I ended up catching up and partnering for the weekend and it was delightful!
> As the course got started, I was so pleasantly surprised to find out that the instructor had a background in Chinese medicine and acupuncture, was a Registered Massage Therapist, a reiki practitioner and a Register Nurse. (In case anyone else needed to bust the belief that you have to pick one career or do only ONE thing... that's baloney!) This also meant that the course I was attending was not strictly treating clients from a physical perspective as I had assumed when signing up for the course as a RMT.
> I was so pleasantly surprised to hear my instructor explain that we are not only working with detoxing and suctioning the physical body, but also that cupping can help with mental and emotional detoxification as well--which was right up my alley as I'm sure you know! I was also
> I got to REALLY stretch my comfort zone and try fire cupping.
> I received a cupping therapy both days as I practiced with my partner, and it was truly wonderful to get to gift and receive treatment while learning this new modality.
> I went back to the pools after day one of class and ended up recognizing someone I had met years ago at an Advanced MindScape course in Regina. We recognized each other and had the most soul-filling visit while in the healing waters of the pool. I learned she practices evolutionary astrology and ended up having a session with her last week!
Morals of the story:
1) ASK FOR WHAT YOU DESIRE + THEN BE OPEN TO RECEIVING IT. Let it in! (even if it shows up as a hotel cancellation email)
2) PURSUE YOUR CURIOSITIES.
You've been intrigued for a reason--don't waste it.
3) STRETCH YOUR DANG COMFORT ZONE ALREADY!
When you show up and lean in, even in the midst of the mind stories, resistance, and discomfort, that's exactly when the magic shows up for you because you chose to show up for yourself FIRST.
4) PERSIST WITH ALIGNMENT + AN OPEN MIND EVEN WHEN YOU FEEL THE RESISTANCE.
Don't stop leaning in.
(And when you're ready--or even if you're "not"--join me for MindScape or Advanced MindScape and let's peel back our layers, together.)
