[From The Doctor]
Remembrance:
Give Us This Day Our Daily Med
Nadia Linda Hole, MD
Here in Hawaii, we’re blessed to have from our backyard, views of Auntie Pele, pouring into the ocean.
Pele destroys whatever’s in her path, and at the same time gives birth to the newest land on earth.
In the wake of the bombs of the Boston Marathon, to the wake of the bombs of child soldiers in Africa, to the “bombs” each and every one of us, are being called to wake up to – especially for our children, Mother Earth, families, & more – what is it time to offer to Pele, to be burned away? What is it time to give birth to? What is the real medicine?
As citizens of humanity, how do we each somehow find the sweet fire within ourselves, to make “pono” whatever’s before us, no matter what? Pono in Hawaiian, means to make “right” or “straight.”
As a physician and mom, when I meditatively ground, center, and anchor myself within, to that “still” “zero,” “in the zone,” “flow” state of simply Being, doing my best to breathe each breath into the present moment of NOW, my kids, my patients, my staff, and even my EKG machine, wordlessly shift as well.
In medical school, rather than studying meditation, I chose to experience it. My 1st meditation teacher was a Yale PhD. biochemist, Dr Spector, who taught us to breathe consciously into our hearts. (Heart Qi, Mar/April 2012) Dr Wilson, a Duke University Christian psychiatrist, taught us to give thanks constantly, no matter what, and simply trust the blessings in disguise. For both Dr Spector and Dr Wilson, the real medicine, is of course, Unconditional Love.
Teachers I’ve since mentored with have included “masters” in vipassana, mindfulness, body awareness, authentic movement, visualization, guided imagry, BPI, sounding, chanting, dance, tantra, Daoism, Buddhism, Oneness, Ho’oponopono, centering prayer, of course QiGong, and more.
While studies abound on the unarguable benefits of meditation, the meditative process is not always easy, or pleasant. For much of my first 10-day silent meditation retreat, I wanted to crawl out of my skin. On the 1st day of my 21-day silent retreat, I passed out, violently ill. Purging the unconscious can be overwhelming.
Holy Shift! How are we to handle the effects of Earth and solar changes, gamma rays, etc on our psyche? (Yin Yang of Solar Flares, May June 2012) How to find stillness amidst chaos? How to transform pain into awakening? How to bring peace to ALL our relationships, especially our relationship with ourselves? (Joyeux Noel, Jan 2012) How to awaken our own inner knowing, innate wisdom, sleeping dragons, and the healer within? How to reconnect to Source, and remember who we truly are? Our Purpose? Passion? Loves & bliss? How to tap into the collective consciousness, and effect real Change?
Clinically, as a physician, one of the most powerful meditation tools I’ve experienced is a practice called the Remembrance. For a series of 350 consecutive patients who presented with complains of pain, we shared the Remembrance. Without touch or any other intervention besides the Remembrance, 349 reported, after only one session, significant relief of their pain.
What is the Remembrance? Experientially, make each breath Sacred. Intentionally breathe each breath into your heart, some name or quality fo the Divine, via a Qigong belly breath. Without judgment, give yourself permission to authentically feel whatever’s so. Breathe in “good” Qi. Breathe out “bad” and “stuck” Qi. Focus on receiving. Allow the Qi to naturally cleanse and free you. With each , start remembering the Love, & the Light that you truly are. (Holy Shift Dec 2011)
Beware, by the way, of any meditative practice which insidiously has you deny your feelings with instructions e.g. to “focus only on joy.” Beware of dissociating from your authentic feelings no matter what. Remember – gotta feel to heal. Trust the Qi
Besides relief of physical pain, people who practice Remembrance, usually report life questions and challenges answered as well, often with transformative life changes.
Children, family, and intimate friends, especially significant others, are of course our greatest teachers. Remember to give thanks for all they mirror back to you, no matter how uncomfortable you may feel. As a world class “surfing Qi” friend Nigel Butler puts it, simply “make every breath a coming home, whole body, heart, breath.” Breathe into whatever feelings you may have, trusting that all’s somehow in Divine order, perfect as is. Let go, let God, let Love.
Speaking of family and friends, one of our favorite past times is to hike over the lava, out to Pele, with those we care for, in a meditative walk, to see before our own eyes Pele pouring her live lava into the ocean, birthing the newest land on earth.
Each step to Pele is a prayer to let go of anything and everything that no longer serves you.
Each step from Pele, is a prayer for this step to be the first step of the rest of your life, best of your life, & allow new life to be born through you.
Each step to or from Pele demands, still-mind, full-body attention, as one miss-step on lava, in a heartbeat, can easily draw blood.
By the way, for Pele, there are no obstacles. Faced with a seeming “obstacle,” Pele doesn’t stop. She simply goes higher, or wider. On the flip side, out of rock hard black lava, grow vibrant greenery and sapling coconuts.
For the unprecedented challenges facing us nowadays, what is the real medicine? Besides the healing power of love, “Give us this day our daily med… “ From Aramaic, another possible translation of this line of the Lord’s prayer is “Grow through us, each moment, this moment’s light, insight, & wisdom.” (Prayers of the Cosmos, Neil Douglas-Klotz).
In Remembrance, as the sun rises over the ocean of Pele’s glow, another day begins. Happy Qi! Love, & Blessed Be. (Sept-Oct 2012)
As a man thinks, so he is
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light …
A merry heart doeth good medicine make…
The way that can be spoken is not the way
As light gets lighter, dark gets darker…
The children will lead the way…
Nadia Hole, MD