MAGICAL HANDS
“No,” I replied. And then I thought
to myself, “Does she feel my history, my ancestry in my body?” I recalled then
Carl Jung’s theory of the collective consciousness, which suggests that our experiences/knowledge/wisdom
are inherited. Scientific experiments have revealed this phenomenon to be
possible, and that the information is stored in the form of nucleic acid codes
within cells. There is speculation (some call it evidence) that certain
sensitive-types can tap into this pool of material, person to person. Maybe Kay
is one of those sensitive-types.
Of course, while I technically did
not grow up on a farm, I was born on my maternal grandparent’s farm, spent the
first two years of my life there and was a frequent visitor during the rest of
my childhood and into my adolescence and far beyond. While I have always been aware
that I carry my farmer ancestors in my heart and mind, I didn’t understand
until Kay’s inquiry the extent to which I also carry them in my body—how they
are etched in me, blood, muscle, sinew, and bone. Further into the hands-on
examination, Kay found and then probed certain hot spots on my body and
proclaimed, “Ouch, that hurts!” Here I was trying to be all stoic and brave,
and she voiced my pain. You have to appreciate a person like that.
This set my mind awhirl about Kay’s story, as
well. Maybe I’m reading too much into her, but I’m wondering if she is a bonafide
medical intuitive, like Caroline Myss. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Kay
sees into my soul and knows how unmindful I am of my body most of the time. I
bet she sees so clearly the love affair I have with my brain with its sparks of
spirit that set it on fire so often. My brain keeps me company. It comforts me.
It talks to me like a best friend, whereas my body delights in jabbing me at
every turn with aches and pains and has been relentless in that pursuit since I
was sixteen. No wonder I turn away from it whenever possible and romance my
brain.
However (there is always a however), it has
come to pass that for my own good, this love/hate affair cannot go on any
longer. For inspiration, I tune my ear to Buddhist psychological teachings—voices
that instruct me about a spiritual view of the body. They say the body “is the
soil in which understanding grows.” Zen teacher, Norman Fischer in his SAILING
HOME, attests further that “the body calms and grounds the mind and heart, and
a stable mind and heart produce wisdom and happiness”
The Zen route to this grounding of the body
is through sitting meditation, a process in which all else falls away but the
body/present. There is no running away from this body/present, which Zen
pronounces as one’s true self. There is no escape into the nostalgia of the past
or flights of fancy into an impossible-to-know-future, for the reason that the
body, which is the container of the mind and heart, exists exclusively in the
here and now.
By way of
Kay’s instructions in therapeutic exercises and meditation on the here and now,
I have high hopes of easing into a healthier relationship with my body with its
own brand of magical hands that are at the ready in the formidable gene pool of
my ancestors.©
***
Every Thursday morning through hot June and
July, I have and will continue to trudge along to my physical therapy session.
It is hard work and afterwards, I have been tempted to reward myself with a
stop at Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae. However, I have come up with a
better, healthier treat in the form of a refreshingly simple, cold soup sitting
elegantly on a shelf in my refrigerator. It has been referred to as a smoothie
masquerading as a soup. I like to think of as a soup topped off with sweet
toppings such as sugar-free whipped cream, sugar-free vanilla custard, low-fat
vanilla yogurt and the like. I often swirl in a scoop of Slimfast’s Rich
Chocolate Royale Powder.
The recipe for 6
servings of COLD STRAWBERRY AND YOGURT SOUP:
. 1
pound fresh strawberries or 3 packages (10 oz. size) of thawed frozen
strawberries in syrup
. 1-1/4
cups vanilla yogurt, divided
. 3
tablespoons confectioners' sugar or equivalent amount of stevia sweetener
. 2
tablespoons orange juice concentrate
. 1/8
teaspoon almond or vanilla extract, or 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
In
a food processor, combine the strawberries, 1 cup yogurt, confectioners' sugar
or stevia, orange juice concentrate and extract; cover and process until
blended. Garnish each serving with a dollop of remaining yogurt or other
toppings.
***
Multi-award-winning
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historical fiction and memoir of her ancestors, receives rave reviews:
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