Warm southern wind, blow softly here;
Green sod above, lie light, lie light -
Good night, dear heart, good night, good night."
- Robert Richardson's "Annette" adapted by Mark Twain
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| Reflections: Summer in the Garden at Grove End Road James, Jacques Joseph Tissot, Oil on canvas, 1880 |
I'm making it official...Smiling Heart is going on a holiday.
Since I arrived home from Montreal (fabulous city, by the way..DO go visit if you get the chance), I've helped my son and daughter-in-law move into their beautiful new place here (did I tell you they were relocating after six years in Las Vegas? I'm a happy, happy mama), had a couple of brief local trips to see friends, and am now awaiting the arrival of The Graceful One, who will be spending nine whole weeks with us this summer...that's more consecutive days with her in the summer months than we've had with her in over ten years!
Add to that the news that my son and his beautiful family are planning on moving out of our house in a couple of weeks (yikes, it will be tough seeing them go, but I know it's the right thing for them to do...they will have a two minute commute to their gym, and separate bedrooms for the Littles), and you can see what my life will look like for the next couple of months.
I am excited beyond words. To have all of my children in the same city for more than a few days during the holidays makes me feel incredibly lucky. I've been given the precious gift of time with my family, and I want to make the most of it.
It's time to face reality. I mean real life reality. My virtual world, although it's forged some very real friends for me, is about to take a hit. As there are only so many hours in a day, and I have so many things I want to do this summer, and so many people I want to cater to, I need to spend less time on the grid and and more time on the grill...so to speak.
My world will be a little bit smaller for a while, but I will continue to read your blogs when I can (even if I don't comment, I'll try to "leave a stone" (♥)so you know I've been there), connect when possible on Facebook, and always hold you in my smiling heart.
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Speaking of "smiling heart," most of you who have been with me since the beginning of this blog know this, but others might not be aware that the name of the blog is a reference to a meditation that I learned a few years ago that has been central to a sort of transformation I experienced at that time.
The meditation is called Inner Smile, and through this exercise, I've learned to feel more gratitude for the complexities of the human body than ever before. For a biologist like myself, that speaks volumes. I've learned to express appreciation for the entities within us (our vital organs) that work together to provide us with wellness. Alternately, I've learned that we sometimes store some rather toxic emotions inside these organs which can cause "dis-ease" within us. By allowing ourselves to release these toxic emotions, we can actually increase our wellness.
Here are a few brief suggestions for you while I'm away. Based on the Inner Smile meditation, which is based in Taoist philosophy, I encourage you to:
- Visit your heart (symbolized by the "Sun" element) daily, smile "into" it, and thank it for the work it does to serve you every day. It has beat for you since before you were born and will continue to do so, unasked, until the day you die. How awesome is that? Be grateful for it!
- (Know that we sometimes store harsh judgement in our hearts, and allow yourself to release it and free the space for acceptance. You will feel so much better for it.)
- Visit your spleen and digestive system (symbolized by the "Earth" element) each day. Smile "into" this system and say thank you for the hard work it does on your behalf. Tasting, swallowing, digesting, absorbing, and eliminating waste are incredibly complicated tasks! Be grateful if it works well, and be sympathetic if things go awry.
- (Know that we store worry and anxiety in this system, and allow yourself to release it. Releasing any worry you may be holding inside...even for a moment, minutes, a few hours, or an entire day, will clear the way for calm energy to replace the endless, fruitless cycle of worry that only serves to rob you of your energy)
- Visit your lungs (symbolized by the "Precious Metals" element) each day. We can last for weeks without food and days without water, but only minutes without oxygen. Our lungs deserve our utmost care and appreciation. Smile into them and say "thank you" for the miraculous work they do, which is a series of complex chemical exchanges of gases that we call 'respiration.' Feel the miracle of inhalation and exhalation and be grateful for it.
- (Know that our lungs are where we may store grief. Although grief is an essential part of our lives and one that is important to us, we must travel through the process and not become stuck in it. Whether we feel grief at the loss of a loved one, a job, a relationship, our youth, or any other significant loss, grieve for it fully, then allow the grief to leave. Release it, knowing that in doing so, you can fill that space with appreciation and love for that which has been lost to us.
- Visit your kidneys (symbolized by the "Water" element) each day. Our kidney represent the Yin to our heart's Yang...the fire/water or Emperor/Empress of our internal system. Our kidneys produce urine, yes, but also do much more. Just as the Yin/Yang symbol illustrates, the kidneys create the balance in our bloodstream. They maintain "homeostasis," a balance of electrolytes, in our bodies. They regulate blood pressure by maintaining salt and water balance, and they regulate the acid-base balance in our bodies. Whew...it's all about balance with the kidneys! Thank the kidneys for the work they do, and feel gratitude for them.
- (Know that in our kidneys we can store fear. Not the reasonable fear that comes with a sense of warning at a danger that presents itself to us, but the unreasonable fear that keep us from moving forward, or from doing what we know to be best for us. Reject the fear that has no purpose but to bind us to our present situation regardless of the consequences. Release it, and allow that space it held within you to be replaced by the courage of your convictions.)
- Finally, pay a visit to your liver (symbolized by the "Wood" [or green, growing things] element) each day. A large and mighty organ (and gland), the liver is responsible for nearly 500 functions, including cleaning and detoxifying our blood, producing blood clotting factors, storing vitamins, and synthesizing many substances in the body. No man-made device can emulate the liver, and it is absolutely essential for our survival. Smile into it and thank the liver for the myriad of jobs it does for you!
- (As you might expect, the liver has the largest capacity for storage of all the internal organs. You can probably predict the most toxic of all our emotions, the one we require the greatest capacity to store, can't you? Yes, we store anger in our liver. Though we always feel justified in our anger, we should know that, ultimately, holding that anger only hurts ourselves. Please take extra care when you visit your liver to release any anger you may hold there, and to continue to release it until you feel a measure of peace take its place. It may take several days or weeks, even, before you notice a difference, but if you continue to do this exercise, you will eventually feel the beauty of peace and love and connection to all living things that comes from holding no anger within you. That is no small benefit.
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As the old commercial said, "Try it. You'll like it."
This simple meditation can bring your body and mind into a natural balance that you may not have felt for a very long time. The least it will do is remind you that your body is a magnificent piece of human machinery, worthy of your respect.
Oopsie. There I go again, getting all wordy on you. I apologize for the length of this post, but I'm trying to give you two months' worth of wisdom here.
Have a wonderful summer, surrounded, I hope, with family and friends. I wish you warm summer nights, soft southern breezes, and many opportunities to lie light upon the green sod.
The music selection today is "Un Sospiro" by Franz Liszt. Translated, it means "A Sigh," and seems perfect, both for meditation and for sweet summer nights. This is played by the now seventeen year old Jan Lisiecki,who was just 13 when he played this piece at the Minnesota International Piano Competition. An incredible talent, this young man has the courage to play this piece as it should be played...like a breath released beautifully.
A sigh. Enjoy.
