A thought keeps coming to me recently- that I’ve never really explained why I chose the name
Tranquil Flame (now Neurosculpting) & Bodyworks 13 years ago, but it’s never made more
sense to me what a premonition that was until now. At the time, I thought, yes, Tranquil because
I want people to be able to relax, feel calm, and safe, although I knew I wasn’t going to be the kind of
Licensed Massage Therapist that just gives a light rub down while we listen to trickling water
spa sounds in the background. I knew people would come to me because they were in pain or
restricted, or immobile and they wanted or needed work done that would affect change. Not much
change happens in extreme tranquility (caveat: A LOT happens in meditation which is tranquil,
however, I’m talking extreme tranquility all. the. time.) In fact, if you sit in tranquil waters for too long
in the absence of heat, you will turn to ice.
Fire affects change. Heat warms and softens tight restricted muscles. Fire is also light. A
flame can show the way, be a light in the darkness, and reveal what wants and needs to be seen.
But too much of a flame, or not tempered, can burn. So the pairing of the two, I thought, is
perfect- cool, calm, peaceful, AND affecting change and shining a light through the heat and
luminescence of a flame.
In my own life and practice, after 13 years of owning Tranquil Flame, I had perfected the
Tranquil. Outwardly at least. Or I was trying really hard, convinced that I could ONLY be tranquil.
I was cool and calm, but had lost, or buried, the essence of my true self trying to be so tranquil. I
was becoming cold with resentment. I believed that in order to be tranquil, I couldn’t show any
“negative” feelings ~ those would be incongruent with who I am. And I am Tranquil…Ember?
Slowly but surely burning out? Sadly, yes, that is what I had become.
Thanks to my wise Neurosculpting boss and mentor, Lisa Wimberger, for pointing this out, I
opened my eyes to see that Tranquil Ember is not my vision and mission. In fact, my mission
statement I had written a year earlier says this, “To inspire, shed light, create safety in darkness
and teach how to shift, move forward, accept, clear, ground, be kind, and be true to your SELF.”
Yet I wasn’t being true to myself. I was only half true and it was causing incongruence for
me. A burning-out ember can’t shed light or provide enough warmth to affect changes that heal.
I am a flame. A Tranquil Flame. A flame that sheds light in the darkness and allows those shadow
parts in the deep dark recesses of the soul to show themselves because they have a voice that
wants and needs to be heard. I worried that they would sound like anger and people would find
that incongruent with my tranquility, but sometimes our shadows need to coexist with our light
for differentiation, for juxtaposition. If there’s just a flooding of light, we can become blinded by it
and not see anything.
I had become blinded by my own desire to be so tranquil that I lost the spark of my flame. The
danger in that is that by pushing down my “anger” so as to protect those around me from it, I
only let it shine out through a pinhole, but it was laser-sharp and strong. And when even that
much-repressed anger was met with resistance, I really felt the incongruence. What Lisa helped
me see was that it wasn’t actually angry, but a deep passion for things that mean something to
me, and underlying hurt stemming from frustrations at not being heard, understood, and
accepted for all that I want to bring and give to the world and people around me. And, yes,
sometimes that can cause me to get fiery or feisty even, but those parts need to be seen and
heard too. It’s the balance of the light with the dark. We need both. In order to accomplish my
mission and vision, I need to be both Tranquil and Flame. They work best together.
Years of self-introspection and work on me have created a path to my “anger”, my passion for
what is important to me. I’ve started dating my anger~ seeing it, allowing myself to feel it,
welcoming it as it shows up. Then it can just be little bits at a time and not so overwhelming and
hot. It allows it to be what it is~ an emotion, energy in motion. It allows it to dissipate instead of
building up. It allows me to not apologize for the whole of who I am or to be who I am but has to
prove or convince others that it’s really ok~ defending those stories is exhausting.
By dating my anger, I ask it questions, “Why are you here? What do you want me to do? How
do you need me to show up?” Dating burns that path in so it doesn’t get overgrown again and
the path is clear.
I’m still learning how to feel the fire and let my flame shine without burning others, but to also be
true to myself so I don’t burn out. The balance of my fire keeps my water from growing cold.
What a premonition that 13 years later the name still fits, more than ever. I continue to learn and
grow and share and create a space of calm and safety, but be prepared to see the light and feel
the heat. Namaste.
by Beth Rose