In Loving Memory

Jennifer Lynn Stelly 1973-2011

I first met Jennifer Stelly in 2005. I was teaching a large BodyTalk class, but Jenn was one of those people who stands out in a crowd, and I noticed instantly that she was the star of the class.  She was clear, present and focused with a sharp mind. She had strong energy, and just in case I missed that, she asked a lot of really thoughtful questions. She had just started studying BodyTalk and was already planning to change her career in Chemical Engineering to become a BodyTalk practitioner. She was full of talent, confidence, and enthusiasm, and she definitely made an impression. She was passionate about BodyTalk and the message that this work teaches the world and started organizing classes to get the message out. It wasn't long before she wanted to be an instructor and proved to be an exceptional teacher.  There were many things that Jennifer could have decided to excel at but luckily for us she decided that her passion was BodyTalk.  She contributed tirelessly to the BodyTalk community and performed many volunteer functions for the IBA. She did so many things behind the scenes to promote BodyTalk that I lost count long ago.

The last time I saw Jenn was in February 2010. She was setting off on a yearlong adventure to explore the country teaching BodyTalk to as many people as she could. I marveled at her drive, enthusiasm and courage, as she set off on her pioneering journey. I was shocked to hear of her cancer diagnosis later that same year. When I realized that she must have already been unwell for a while, I had even more respect for her courage in setting off on such an adventure. In the months that followed her diagnosis, I was continually impressed with Jenn's ability to stay positive and optimistic in the face of such difficult odds.

Our friend and colleague, Gilly Adkins, organized a team of practitioners to do sessions for Jenn. Below she has shared some thoughts about her and her experience of being Jenn's practitioner.

- Ka'imi

In Memory of Jennifer Stelly

...the passing of a friend and colleague - a few thoughts for us...

by Gilly Adkins, Sr CBI, Vice President for Instructors, IBA

Many of us were privileged to be 'with' and observe Jenn as she faced her health challenge with determination, fight, courage, optimism and eventual acceptance and grace. It was a shared journey with her at the helm and she taught us much.

Jenn gave so much of her life's passion to BodyTalk . She loved this system, learning it, sharing it, practicing it and teaching it. She was always looking to see where else she could assist getting the word out about BodyTalk. She had great ideas about marketing and public relations and did so much behind the scenes for us, including contributing to the website and putting together the coordinator packets. Her energy and enthusiasm were palpable and contagious. She will be missed in person, and yet she still lives on in those of us who knew her and the contributions she left behind.

I was fortunate to be part of Jenn's BodyTalk team, from her diagnosis to her passing. I was pulled in and held willingly in this matrix. It challenged me many times and in many ways and invited me to address many questions that I wasn't always comfortable answering.

I watched where I could be of service and where I felt I could not. I realized how appreciative I was of all the others in her team and the roles they each played. She was loved and supported by so many, in so many different ways and BodyTalk was just one part of that.

My father once said "Life is for the living. Don't be sad when someone dies, it doesn't help them. Instead celebrate who they were to you, what you learnt from them, what you learnt about yourself from being with them. Find your similarities and observe your differences, let their life and death inspire you to live more fully".

The passing of a loved one, be it a family member, friend or colleague, gives us moment to pause and consider life and death and what they mean to us. As death chooses us in its own special way and time, we cannot but hypothesize what that might mean. However life on the other hand is right in front of us every moment, waiting to be lived. Are we living fully? Are we embracing life as much as we wish, as much as we dare? While we have life force residing temporarily within us, how are we expressing that force? What are we doing with it? How are we managing it? Where do we squander it? How can we magnify it?

When someone close to us dies, it brings our own mortality into question. It brings us face to face with what will one day be our own reality. What does this mean to us? What does this mean to us as a practitioner? As a CBP how do we deal with the serious health challenges of a client and / or the passing of a client? How do we feel about their life threatening diagnosis, their death? And how does it relate to what we do? Did we fail? Does this system work? Why couldn't BodyTalk have forestalled, changed, helped this from happening?

It brings into question the very nature of our work. What are we doing when we practice BodyTalk or any other healing modality for that matter? How are we helping? What is the best outcome? We often assume it is optimizing life and living, except when that is clearly not the case. How do we hold the duality of life and death in balance when we work with our clients? Not ultimately knowing what is best, learning to trust in a far greater story unfolding, of which we are but a small part. Holding out for a miracle whilst simultaneously accepting what is or will be.

The beauty of The BodyTalk System, I get to see again. We can offer balancing, synchronization and communication at any and every aspect of this life and death cycle. Sometimes we get to observe links that seem to promote peace and well being for living, at other times we observe links that promote peace and wellbeing for dying or transitioning.

Most of us do not want to die, but we all will. When our time comes, will we be ready? How can we learn from those who go before us? We are all part of this cycle and we all share in the way of it.

Blessings to Jenn's family and friends and much gratitude for her life.

Gilly

 What BodyTalkers Want 

The 'Ethics of Successful Practice' audio lecture series was the first online course by Dr Pilipovich. Featuring lessons about how to excel in practice, from logistics to the role of the practitioner and our own learning journey.  We were so pleased with the level of interest and participation, and sent out a survey to gauge how well this course served the needs of BodyTalkers so we can ensure future courses continue to be of value to you. Thank you to all who responded. To see more information about the courses go to www.bodytalkunlimited.com.

The survey results were overwhelmingly positive and we learned a lot about what participants wanted and how to make products more user friendly. 

Estie Matteus from South Africa asked about the Switching Reflex Point: "In Access, I was taught that Kid-27 was right under the clavicle, but in Mod 1&2 I was taught that it is about a thumbs width under the clavicle. Which is it?"

The location varies a lot, so both answers could be right. The most likely location is right under the clavicle, and this is the 'official' location for the point. But in reality, you find the point by feeling for it. So trust your instincts and allow your hand position to vary if your hand wants to adjust slightly.

Cheryl Russell from British Columbia asked "How do you describe the possibility of distance/remote sessions in a way clients can expect?"

You would be surprised at how many people are open to distant sessions.  Firstly keep it simple.  Explain that BodyTalk works by offering a mental suggestion to the client's subconscious mind or innate wisdom, and not through any physical techniques. Physics supports the idea that consciousness can be communicated across an arbitrary distance. From a practical standpoint, explain that many BodyTalk practitioners offer distance sessions and that your own experience indicates that your distance sessions are as powerful as in person sessions. You could also give them a link to my distance session study at                                   http://www.bodytalkunlimited.com/resources.html.   

People who will be open to distant sessions will respond to a simple explanation and your confidence.  People who are not open to it are unlikely to be swayed by any argument so don't try to hard or beat yourself up. Some people are just not ready for that paradigm shift.

Cameron Walker from New Zealand asked "I have a 5 elements/TCM question: Why doesn't the Sheng cycle follow the Chinese clock?"

Because they describe different relationships. The meridian clock describes the way that energy circulates around the body, and includes an understanding of which points connect one channel to another. The Sheng or generating cycle describes a functional relationship between the organs. There are more functional relationships between the organs than can be described by a linear flow of energy around the body.

There is a lot of symmetry in meridian theory, so I understand the desire to have it all fit together, and I spent a lot of mental effort early in my career trying to reconcile the meridian clock with the five element chart, before I realized I was trying to force a mapping between two concepts that just didn't fit. Interestingly, there are actually three different five element diagrams, each with different clinical utility, and I actually use all three in my practice. After much focus I gave up and decided to that I was trying to solve something that didn't need solving.

Cheryl Russell also asked "If we are all on our own karmic journey and everything that is going to happen is already written, so to speak, then why do we bother trying to facilitate healing for anyone at anytime anyway?"

Timely question, Cheryl. We bother because that's what we do in life, we take actions and live. Philosophy is a nice idea, but it pales in comparison with love of life.  Even if you accept the idea that everything happens despite you, that doesn't mean you know how it turns out, so why waste your time thinking about it? Do your best to be present to the moment and do what seems right. On a personal note, I was part of the team of practitioners for Jenn Stelly (see article above). I knew the official prognosis was pessimistic, but I did my best to be open to miracles, because miracles happen everyday in my life. I hoped for the miracle where the cancer was reversed and that she lived. But she told me towards the end of her journey that her relationship with herself and with those close to her had healed tremendously, which is another kind of miracle. I was willing to be present to either miracle, and I couldn't not try just because I didn't know how it was going to turn out.

The bottom line is, even though you don't know what role you are going to play, play your best. And then forgive yourself for your 'failures', because that was going to happen anyways. The only purpose of the philosophical perspective is to get you to relax in life or anything that you do so that you can be your best, and to let go of your shortcomings from yesterday to be more present to today. Being present means knowing that if it is someone's day to heal they will, and knowing that they will also go to a practitioner who can play their role well (that's you). If they aren't meant to heal at all, they probably won't get help. And being present means knowing that you can't predict what the healing looks like.

Breaking the Rules

Make BT easier

Make BT more fun

Be comfortable to break the rules

Open up your intuition

Make your sessions more powerful

1&2 Advanced Practical  

A rare opportunity to take this one off class with

Adv Sr Instructor

Dr. Don Ka'imi Pilipovich

Boulder, Colorado  

30th April & 1st May 2011 

Whether an advanced BodyTalker or a new student

this course will increase your understanding

of the foundations.

Price $575, Early Bird price is $500 before 2nd April

Go to our store to sign up and pay

Go to information about the course   

In this course you will learn:

• To escape the difficulty
• To be free in your sessions
• To relax with your muscle checking
• To know how and when to break the rules
• Key insights of each procedure
• What you need to know
• What you don't need to know
• What to say to clients
• To open up your intuition

Take this rare opportunity to take this one off class with Ka'imi.  This class was last taught by Ka'imi in 2008.  

Module 1&2 is the foundation of BodyTalk and to truly master it represents a huge learning curve. But you don't need to master it to be good, you just need to get the basics. Kai'mi has a reputation of taking complex topics and distilling them down to the essentials. In short, he makes BodyTalk simple. In this course, you can take advantage of his ten years of experience and discover the essence of BodyTalk.

The course will includes lots of Q&A time as well as focused practical sessions. All the important topics you need to know will be simplified to their essence so you can relax, start practicing, and begin to witness miracles.

Price $575, Early Bird price is $500 before 2nd April

Go to our store to sign up and pay

Go to information about the course    

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." 

- Albert Einstein

This is a great quote and the reason why I love teaching the Advanced Practical because it takes you back to the power of the basics - Ka'imi