"Physician, Heal Thyself"--sine qua non
Given that I learned to honor and take care of myself in the thick of working all day long helping others with their health, I was aware of the danger of falling back into old habits once that structure and motivation were gone. My intention was and is that the clinic experience was transformational for me in this respect; although I’m not working at that pace right now, I’m holding the space and entrainment to continue to work with people, at that degree of intensity when necessary.
So here are some of the ways I’ve been continuing to take care of the sacred vessel; many of these will merit follow-up posts of their own.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Monday, 23 May 2016.
Posted in WholeHealth, Ela Recommends, Mindfulness
meditation's destination/sex&laughter
My dry yard is feebly dominated by the standing carcass of a wild olive tree. An oleaster, I guess it would have been called. I've seen my neighbor's cat get up in it, but mostly it's a perch for birds, and those mostly doves.
Doves and olives together--symbol of hope since the time of the Flood, when the dove brought back an olive branch to the survivors of the human race in their Ark, a sign that there was dry land (with trees on it) somewhere in reach. The olive branch was a symbol of peace back then all over the Mediterranean and Near/Middle East.
And the doves, ubiquitous pigeons?
Written by Ela Harrison
on Thursday, 25 June 2015.
Posted in Mindfulness, Tucson
this side, that side, the dark side
Since it's full moon today, I want to share a bit about this month's Sufi new moon meditation. That's not as illogical as it sounds: I've now had two weeks, since new moon, to practice the meditation and harvest something to say about it!
The meditation is a variation on alternate-nostril breathing, commonly used in yogic disciplines. It seems appropriate that a practice that involves harmonizing our own two reflecting hemispheres be associated with the moon, whose daily existence in our lives is an enactment of the subdivisions of a sphere.
Written by Ela Harrison
on Thursday, 06 November 2014.
Posted in Mindfulness