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Recently I had the good fortune to attend an Energy Medicine Mastery seminar in St. Petersburg, Florida that covered information regarding heart health. We were taught a number of techniques to keep the heart healthy as well as to recover from challenges we might be facing along physical, emotional or spiritual lines that affect the heart adversely. Little did I know that I would need and use several of the techniques I had just learned on our trip home.
My mother and father lived in Florida during a number of their retirement years. My dad had early onset Alzheimer’s when they moved there so he really wasn’t able to appreciate the warm setting away from cold, icy and snowy St. Louis weather or the many opportunities that the retirement community they had selected offered. My mother, on the other hand, was so fortunate to be there during this journey – not only for the wide variety of people and activities available but also because the state of Florida and the medical community there was so far ahead of the curve in the understanding necessary to care for Alzheimer’s patients.
My father passed away twenty-one years ago and my mother passed eight years later. We had not been to the part of Florida where they resided since her passing – so I asked my sweet husband if we could swing by the National Cemetery where they are buried (my dad was a veteran and wanted to be laid to rest there and wives/husbands of these veterans can also able be buried there as well). I also wanted to visit “The Villages” where they lived.
I was not prepared for my emotional reaction – from both a personal and more national perspective. When we drove into the “The Villages” a lot of wonderful memories flooded my being – even though I had experienced great loss there, upon reflection I had also had many happy times especially with my mother – laughing, talking and just being together with family. The tears I shed were both happy and sad at the same time.
National grave site.
When we visited the cemetery – I was filled with a sense of gratitude as we passed row after row and area after area of white tombstones where our country’s veterans and some spouses had been laid to rest. I was also overwhelmed with a great sadness, which was more than personal – here was a graphic picture of how many men and women had served our country with honor and dignity. As I reflected upon the times we now find ourselves sharing as a country – I couldn’t help but wonder just what those men and women would be thinking if they were with us now.
So there I was – ruminating on personal as well as national issues – that had been bubbling up in me for quite some time – what do I do – how do I honor and handle these heart-felt emotions. But wait – I had just the information I needed to stay in my heart space and begin to heal what I had not – I worked with a number of the exercises I had been taught and felt infinitely better. While all the information I learned is too lengthy to share here, I will probably be teaching a class on heart health in the fall at our local college. In the meantime, just one simple exercise can be a good start. Simply by physically touching the space on your body where your heart rests, you will find that the wisdom of your heart will be available to you. While this seems rather simplistic, new research tells us that the heart has much more wisdom than our head and this is one way ancient cultures tapped into that wisdom. May it be so for you and yours – ashay and amen.
ldisbell@aol.com / www.NewDirectionsForHealing.com / (256) 764-1153
Linda was raised in the Midwest, graduated from Saint Louis University and hired into a corporate position with Reynolds Aluminum. She met, married and traveled with her husband for a number of years before moving back to his home place – The Shoals in Alabama. There Linda was introduced to life coaching and took to it like “duck to water”. Her empathetic nature coupled with a desire to help people help themselves; led her to and through a number of certifications, in different modalities. Linda currently practices as a Wellness Coach plying her trade in Florence, Alabama.
Photo credit: annmariechiassonmd.com
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