Meditation #10 The Healing Touch of Human Hands

Meditation #10 The Healing Touch of Human Hands

This is truly a topic where life has revealed its secrets to me in powerful ways. It began when I volunteered as a teen at an adoption house. It was a setting where I was supposed to teach children to read and write, but something powerful drew me to the neonatal wing, where Sister Nora, who took me under her wing eagerly, told me that what those babies needed more than anything, was to be held. The ones who did not make it did simply lacked enough holding, caressing and human contact. I remember feeling so useful, so important, so loved, by holding those tiny bodies, some so light that they managed to hold no heat of their own, requiring the “kangaroo” treatment, being held close to my body and inside my clothing, in a ready-made pouch of love. Some of those babies had been left in plastic bags at the door of the adoption house, discarded like trash, but only those who were held survived. That is the power of the Human touch.

I also remember watching a movie that was brutal in its sincerity, “Life as a House”, in which a man with an illness of the soul more severe than his illness of the body was hugged by a nurse and literally dissolved in helplessness and relief, realizing how long he had not felt the power of human contact, how desperate, how utterly lost he had become without the warmth of a caring human hand communicating love to him.

Within the American culture, I was told not to hug too much or dare to touch my student’s hair, as they loved for me to do, since it could be seen in the wrong way. I grieved for a society where touch has become associated with threat, but life in its mysterious ways reminded me that Truth does not remain hidden for long. 

About three years ago, I was led to discover Reiki, the therapy that heals with human hands. I was told all about its ancient origins and its carefully detailed technique, and though I respect its method, at its core, I believe that its life-changing effects reside in the simple act of total surrender to other’s hands, to the healing energy provided by the will of someone who cares enough to touch your skin and desires to help you realign your body, your mind and your soul, reminding you that you are tremendously loved, important and unique. Perhaps what those hands are in fact doing is allowing us to rewind to those first months of life when we were held, touched and fed by the human hands of those who cared for us.

During this week, look back with gratitude in search for all of those who have fed your being with the magic of touch. There may have been pain in some of the contacts you experienced, but focus on the love you have received, the powerful embraces, the relief of holding a hand when you felt helpless, a kiss of delight at the sight of you, the group hug of good friends offering support, the invisible one offered by a voice in the distance or a message of care within the power of new media. Inhale this healing power and venture with your own hands to heal those who might need a hug, a kiss, a warm hand on their back, reassuring them you have their back and reminding them that you love them and can feed them with your powerful human touch.

With a hug and a kiss,

Lina.

Meditation #9 The Richness of Lack

Meditation #9 The Richness of Lack

Last week we surrendered to the river of our tears, and now we move on to the joy found within our infant hearts. We were fresh, like rosebuds. We were held wide open by expectation, by a permanent sense of awe, and an eager senses stance towards life and the world.

Yesterday, as I was kayaking, I was reminded of this intense excitement by a baby who waved enthusiastically as I rowed by. I had quietly been navigating up the river for at least an hour and many people had seen me from the riverbed, but no one had jumped up and down and squealed in delight when they saw me, only a baby could have done that.

I remembered how I had been confused frequently when I first came to this country and I continued to smile at everyone I saw and naturally, greeted fellow walkers or joggers spontaneously. I was befuddled because most did not return my greeting or looked taken aback, but now I am used to it and rarely acknowledge the people I encounter. But seeing that baby’s joy reminded me of the wisdom found only in little ones, the thirst for life and zest for every new experience that makes a baby shudder and stare upon the simple encounter of another first…

What a loss it is to atrophy the will to seek connection, to reach out and meet another human being. We are born with an intense desire to look into another human being’s face, to get lost in the features of another, connect with their eyes and explore their humanity. We bring gallons of desire, of interest, of will, curiosity and hunger and then life dulls our rainbow of intentions. Within our lack of distractions, things and preoccupations in early life, we were wealthy in intensity of feeling alive.

Let’s look back at that time before the fears, the doubts and the conditioning of social norms restrained our natural reactions to the thrills of Living.

Being human in totality of experience is our true career calling. I have often found this spontaneity of Being in people who seem to have very little in material possessions, such as the natives I met in the Amazon. They had no access to technology and our conveniences and comforts, but they had the luxury of presence, of community and of total surrender to the moment. They live fully committed to the experience of their here, their now: like babies.

The world had been unfolding for centuries before we joined it, and it will continue to spin around without us when we leave this terrestrial existence, but this life we have been offered is our opportunity to squeeze the fruits pertaining to being human. I challenge you to live each day like a baby, unpacking it like a precious gift, exhausting the possibilities of existence and realizing that by focusing in that richness of life, you will lose your fear of death and find the key to real wealth: a life with no regrets.

With love,

Lina.

Meditation #4 "Inside The Golden Cocoon"

Meditation #4 "Inside The Golden Cocoon"

I am sitting by the ocean, the waves crash against the shore and the sound is so hypnotic, soothing, repetitive, and yet, always new. I imagine that's how life felt inside the warm, all-encompassing liquid medium that held me inside my mother's womb. Today I was pondering how Life is such a liquid medium too. Just a week ago, tears of grief were flowing from my eyes, as I let go of a butterfly and saw her soar on strong wings, far, far away. Today, my heart soars like she did, with gratitude and joy. I simmer in the pure, simple joy of being alive, letting the sun kiss my body and the wind tousle my hair every which way...

Today I want to take your hand and lead you back to that magical time when your life was entwined and completely dependant on the Mother that offered her body as your Home. I wonder what if felt like to BE devoted simply to being, surrendering wholly to the slow unfolding of my existence. To change from a tiny embryo that resembled more a seahorse than a human being unfolding and then feel the structures of my tiny body being perfected, cultivated for specialization, prepared for their unique, specific purpose.

Oh, if we could continue to surrender to life in such a way even when we leave the Golden Cocoon. Today, as I lay by the Mother of all Waters, I let go of the need to be busy, to know what my day will achieve and what I will do and I let my mind take me back to that state of expectation, of being held, without anchor or hoist, just floating, letting processes unfold on their own accord, at their own schedule, maturing into realization of the plan written within my own genetic material. When I was just a tiny baby, was I willing to let physiology melt me,like a caterpillar does before it can be housed inside a Golden Cocoon?

Now, as I meditate about that stage of becoming a completely new creature, whether my time in the womb was short, or tinged with uncertainty, can I renew my surrender to Life in order to grow in Patience and allow time and the wisdom of nature to fully ignite the being I was meant to be; a lovingly created creature growing my wings before flying off into a new life.

With love, 

Lina.

MEDITATION #8 Easing Into the River of our Tears

MEDITATION #8 Easing Into the River of our Tears

I woke up to find a tiny bird who had drowned in our pool today. It was a powerful metaphor for this invitation that I kept postponing to ease into the river of our tears.  We are led to ponder about the tears we shed as babies and the ones we hesitate to allow to flow as adults. I thought it was particularly ironic that the tiny bird I found had died, suffocated by the very element he so thirstily had longed for.

I have also felt drowned in liquid sorrow this past week. There was a death in our community, and though I did not know the young man whose death left so much confusion and pain behind, my written words were called to be part of the healing process and I was humbled to realize I was just being an instrument, helping to clarify the message of hope and love this young man’s life had planted in so many lives. Simultaneously, I was aware of my own daughter’s pain, who happens to be the same age as the young man being mourned, dealing with the challenge of starting a new life on her own. My mother has also been shedding tears of pain and desperation and I have navigated her feelings of helplessness with her. One of my best friends has just embarked upon a new challenge of higher learning and she is expected to write and read proficiently in English, and she feels unfit and incompetent in that respect, and has been brought to tears by her frustration. I was even gifted the opportunity to be my husband’s nurse as he recovered from minor surgery, and though I did not see him shed any tears, I did see him surrender to humility and resignation and allow me to serve him while his body healed.

As babies, we were powerful within our tears. They allowed us to communicate hunger, discomfort, exasperation or plain exhaustion and they were our right, our means to an end, and we used them without hesitation. When did our tears become a source of shame, guilt or embarrassment? Whether we were neglected or tended to, our tears were a powerful means of expression and a blessing, and we can reclaim that meaning for them.

I willingly dove into the river of tears that surrounded me this week. I shed my own. I comforted, shared, listened and let my heart inhabit the healing flow. I dissolved my own fears and pain as I joined others’ sadness and by letting go, I re-discovered the bond of One-ness that bonds us within our shared humanity.

Tears are blessing rain which allow us to evolve and fertilize the blooms of tomorrow. Rites of passage in life often require us to feel the pain today in order to rejoice in the evolution that the next chapter will reveal as the progression unfolds. Jump into the river of your tears without reservation, fear or hesitation. The river of our tears will lead us, eventually, to the ocean of empathy and serenity.

With love,

Lina.

Meditation #2 Every drop of water, every leaf on every tree, every petal of every flower, UNIQUE!

Meditation #2 Every drop of water, every leaf on every tree, every petal of every flower, UNIQUE!

Before I was held in the safety of the womb, I was already contained in the Being of God, whose breath infuses every living thing with purpose. I have been cherished and known forever. 
From the vastness of being encompassed by the massive universality of cosmic powder, we are focusing now on the minu

te, the individual, the tiny pieces of the puzzle that allow the whole to attain its strength and beauty, its complete-ness.
I envision the day before I was a spark of life; combustion created by the fusion of two beings coinciding in intention and relenting to my desire to enter the world. I had been held an cherished for all Eternity in the mind and heart of God.
I am pure presence. What was that pre-existence like?
Did I fervently wish to Be? Where was I? I can see myself as an energy, a light, realizing an imminent, dramatic change. I was required to leave everything I knew, everything I had, and enter a world of complicated strangers, arriving poor, defenseless, tiny and to make matters even worse, naked! Was I ready to come when I was sent? I do not know many of the answers, but if God's plan for the world included my presence in it, I accept the invitation. I am willing to live in the world, fully and intensely, knowing I will be guided, held, and instrumental within the artistry of the design of it all. Just as every drop of water is unique when seen under a microscope, every leaf distinct and every petal on every flower adds to the majesty of its bearer, I too have my individual vitality and my place in the world.
Ponder on your own individuality, imagine your pre-existence and journal and use your creativity as this week unfolds to relive your time as pure potentiality.  

With love, 

Lina.

Meditation #7 The Power of Surrender

Meditation #7 The Power of Surrender

Every time I hold a baby, I fall in love.

I am seduced by that total faith, that surrender to my embrace, the confident grasp that instinctively seeks my fingers and holds on tight, searching into my eyes to absorb my soul through that exchanged gaze and the spell is fully cast by that flicker of light when recognition and the thrill of exploring a human face ignites the connection.

I love the smell of a baby, the feeling of light and love that seems to envelop us both as we cuddle and then the delight when that baby gifts me with a chuckle! I had one such moment this week, and it fed me enough love to last all month, and it allowed me to open the memories of what it mush have felt like to be wrapped within loving arms, looking up and hoping that sturdy embrace meant this big person would know how to decipher me, feed me when I felt hungry, figured out how to relieve my discomfort and cared enough to explore my being and tell me I was loved.

Can we find still find within ourselves that willingness to let go? To trust in others and allow them to grow by being our caregivers, our helpers, our source of love, comfort, laughter, wisdom or simple presence? It is so easy to become trapped in the delusion of being self-sufficient, self-conscious, to believe everybody is watching to see your failures, or your weaknesses or deficiencies, and to refuse to ask for help, reach out for comfort and allow others to be the source of what we need.

In Spanish, we frequently say “me da pena”, the closest translation would be “it embarrases me”, and it frequently is applied to a situation where we will be exposed as vulnerable, lacking, needy or weak. But most often, it just means recognizing we are human and incomplete, and need the skills, the help, the cooperation of a team or maybe just one friend, to help us through and allow us to cross the threshold into realizing that it is in fact empowering and revealing to surrender, to allow another to hold us, feed us, listen to us and perhaps heal us by looking into our eyes and either by laughing along or joining our tears, serving us and opening our hearts once again, making us realize we have never really been alone. From the beginning we have been held, despite our broken, undeserving selves, we have been mended and tended, and this surrender is how we learn to trust not only others, but ourselves, in order to live without fear, and within love.

With love, 

Lina.

The Deeper Wound 9/11

A flood of memories...

9/11 is like a scar on our collective soul. When I sought solace, a book by Deepak Chopra, called "The Deeper Wound" helped me through. I never owned a copy, a dear friend of mine lent me hers. I met Tooba in a playground in Dallas, we poured our souls and shared our personal stories. She was Afghan, had been brought up in a Russian occupied compound and was married to an Iranian who was obsessive about collecting junk in garage sales. I was a Colombian, living in the urban jungle of impersonal, petulant Dallas, and was trying to understand my childhood wounds and the reality of feeling like a square peg in a round hole, our immigrant tales united us and our women's hearts drew us together. She told me about this book and how it had changed her heart. I never saw Tooba after I moved away from Dallas, but "The Deeper Wound" has become a part of my being, thanks to Tooba. That is the enduring power of a book!

I copied the book on my journal, realized the therapeutic power it had and started translating it right away, made copies and have given away at least 25 of them. It is a life-altering book and today, I choose one of my favorite parts to honor those who were sacrificed eleven years ago.

"Inside you is a space that NOTHING and NOONE can touch. Your body is like a house that gives shape to this space of peace and silence. When a house falls down, roof and walls tumble, but no harm is done to the space inside. In death we lose our bodily definition, but the inner space of peace is never harmed. Devote some time in your day to go inward and find your peace...It is important to remember that anything you can do to expand your awareness will automatically counter evil. Be gentle when you are tempted to be harsh. Pay attention when you are tempted to turn a blind eye. Accept that the negativity you are feeling belongs to you when you are tempted to blame someone else. Personal transformation on this level is the highest way to combat evil.

Transformation does not come about by being touched with a magic wand. Habit and use apply here, too.

If you find even the smallest reasons for sending out intentions of love, tolerance, forgiveness and peace, these centers will grow inside your mind. Your spirit counts on this growth."