Rose stands up. She likes to roam when she’s working.
‘We live in a world where we’re reminded to be aware of our bodies – how we eat, if it’s processed or non-processed, how much exercise we take, running or weight-lifting. But the impact of emotional stress on our bodies is covered much less frequently and that’s a huge disconnect because our minds and our bodies are inextricably connected.’
She walks around the table on the terrace, forcing the retreat guests to turn in their chairs.
‘Think about your body now. How does it feel after yesterday and this morning? Looser, tighter? Where do your emotions hide in your body? For some people, it’s a tautness in their head and their neck. Others feel it in their shoulders or the gut.’
Shoulders and guts – she sees Keera look up when she says this.
‘How do you feel physically right now?’ she asks Keera. ‘Your shoulders are tense. Can you let them drop? Is your jaw tight?’
Keera nods at Rose. ‘I grind my teeth,’ she says.
‘Don’t we all,’ India mutters, then turns to Keera. ‘Sorry, babe, interrupted you.’
‘We carry emotional tension in our bodies,’ Rose says. ‘All the hurts and traumas show up in us physically. It’s important to be aware of that. If your physical self becomes locked with certain people or in certain circumstances, that means something.’
‘My mother …’ Keera hears herself say the words without thinking. ‘She … she makes me anxious when she’s annoyed.’
Rose nods at her with that calm, kind face: you wouldn’t know what Rose is thinking, Keera feels, but it’s always thoughtful, gentle. She would never hurt anyone.
‘Can you think of any specific times when this happened?’ Rose asks.
‘When an article appeared about me in February. It was inEmpress. It’s a women’s magazine, movie star interviews, the perfect wardrobe for spring, and that sort of thing.’
She stops.
‘My mom hated the way they wrote about me but she blamed me for it. I took a lot of medication that day. And drank. Oh yeah,’ she adds, remembering, ‘I smoked a joint with a complete stranger in the back yard of a cool restaurant.’
Her gaze goes curiously blank, as if she’s blocking another memory.
‘Did any of that help?’ Rose asks.
Keera winces. ‘What do you think? Sorry,’ she amends. ‘No. She still gets mad and it still makes me nervous.’
Rose just nods at this information.
‘Let’s try a group practice,’ she suggests.
She takes a rounded pebble about half the size of one of the villa’s morning bread rolls and puts it on the table in front of them.
‘This is from our beach,’ she says. ‘It’s a little bit of Corfu. Blasted in and out of the sea for generations. It was probably bigger once. Now it’s smaller and round, burnished by the water. I’m going to leave it here and I want each of you to stare at it carefully.’
Dutifully, every eye is on the pebble.
‘Now move it with your mind,’ says Rose.
As one, the group looks up.
‘That’s ridiculous,’ says Dan.
Rose nods. ‘India, what do you think?’
‘What is that – telekinesis?’ says India. ‘Not on my CV.’ She laughs.
‘Nobody can move it without touching it,’ snarls Bernard. ‘Or is it a trick question?’
‘No trick,’ says Rose. ‘Dianne?’
