Do you have a healing place? Do you need one? Is there anybody who is so healthy and well balanced that they do not need to stop and just be to let their mind and body rest in healing peace?
I have the problem of my brain running miles a minute with chores to be done, or editing, or new stories to write. When it gets to running in circles over and over in a panic that I’ll forget something, I know it is time to stop, because I become less functional.
Yesterday, I ran a red light. I was horrified because I thought I was being attentive to the heavy traffic. When did that light turn red? Where did it come from in the first place? Who knows where my mind really was. It was clearly time for me to allow my body to catch up with my brain by slowing down and sitting in quiet healing peace.
I’m fortunate that my healing place is my own living room. As the home to three dogs, it is not a tidy place but its windows look out on my gardens so I sit surrounded by my plants. The inside wall of my living room contains my dear piano, a gift from my grandfather given in love. It is old and filled with the wisdom of music.
In the peace of this place I can let go of the thoughts and just exist. The world around me sits silent and my thoughts become silent. I don’t have to do anything right now. Really, it is seldom that in any given moment I have to do any specific thing. Eventually, my chores must get done, but I find they get done faster with less angst if I’ve spent some time sitting in the healing peace that allows my poor body to catch up to my brain.
In working with at-risk youth, I discovered my own need to have a few moments of uninterrupted quiet. My co-workers and I used to talk about how we could get our kids into their happy place—someplace they could go leaving behind their problems and just be happy for a while. For some of the children this turned out to be their blanket fort. Others liked to go sit in the car all alone. Some could be happy on their beds. Others needed to be outside running or swinging.
Over the years, my healing place has changed. As a child, I knew that sometimes I needed to get on my bike and just ride and let the movement and peace flow over me. Other times, playing the piano has been my healing place. This morning I will take the time to sit and look out at my flowers and feel my body letting go of the tension I didn’t know it was holding.
Everybody needs a place where they can be in the moment whether it is inside or out, alone or surrounded by family or friends. In this space, we don’t worry about time. Time will take care of itself. Now, the body needs to let go of the thoughts that destroy health and the mind needs to let go of the circles and circles of nonsense that keeps the thoughts churning.
Peace and health to all of you.
I have the problem of my brain running miles a minute with chores to be done, or editing, or new stories to write. When it gets to running in circles over and over in a panic that I’ll forget something, I know it is time to stop, because I become less functional.
Yesterday, I ran a red light. I was horrified because I thought I was being attentive to the heavy traffic. When did that light turn red? Where did it come from in the first place? Who knows where my mind really was. It was clearly time for me to allow my body to catch up with my brain by slowing down and sitting in quiet healing peace.
I’m fortunate that my healing place is my own living room. As the home to three dogs, it is not a tidy place but its windows look out on my gardens so I sit surrounded by my plants. The inside wall of my living room contains my dear piano, a gift from my grandfather given in love. It is old and filled with the wisdom of music.
In the peace of this place I can let go of the thoughts and just exist. The world around me sits silent and my thoughts become silent. I don’t have to do anything right now. Really, it is seldom that in any given moment I have to do any specific thing. Eventually, my chores must get done, but I find they get done faster with less angst if I’ve spent some time sitting in the healing peace that allows my poor body to catch up to my brain.
In working with at-risk youth, I discovered my own need to have a few moments of uninterrupted quiet. My co-workers and I used to talk about how we could get our kids into their happy place—someplace they could go leaving behind their problems and just be happy for a while. For some of the children this turned out to be their blanket fort. Others liked to go sit in the car all alone. Some could be happy on their beds. Others needed to be outside running or swinging.
Over the years, my healing place has changed. As a child, I knew that sometimes I needed to get on my bike and just ride and let the movement and peace flow over me. Other times, playing the piano has been my healing place. This morning I will take the time to sit and look out at my flowers and feel my body letting go of the tension I didn’t know it was holding.
Everybody needs a place where they can be in the moment whether it is inside or out, alone or surrounded by family or friends. In this space, we don’t worry about time. Time will take care of itself. Now, the body needs to let go of the thoughts that destroy health and the mind needs to let go of the circles and circles of nonsense that keeps the thoughts churning.
Peace and health to all of you.
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