HYACINTHS TO
FEED THE SOUL
"If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul."
~ Musharish-Ud-Din Sadi
Women hold a great position of honor in this world. We have traditionally
been the primary members of society who have served as the healers, the
caregivers, the teachers, the speakers of truth, the sharers of wisdom and
the peacemakers. We do these things with great passion, with love, with
unselfishness and, most of all, with concern for the well-being of present
and future inhabitants of our world at large. These traits are traditions
we havelearned from thematriarchs who have come before us, and will be
passed down to the women of the future by us as we serve as their mentors.
However, we cannot get so involved in the giving of ourselves to the needs
of others that we forget the importance of taking care of our own selves.
We must never forget that a dry well cannot give water; nor can a dry spiritual
well give living water to humanity. In not taking time to replenish our own
spiritual wells, we could no longer give with generous hearts to those with whom
we share our universe.
This segment of Woman Awakening is a place where we offer ideas to consider
to keep our spiritual wells brimming in order that we may continue to give
with full hearts. The ideas presented here are simply starting points for
you to customize to suit your own unique needs. Feel free to modify ideas
here to suit the parameters of your own lives.
The only aspect written in stone is that, as women of the world, it is absolutely
vital that we replenish our spirits regularly; because our love, our compassion,
our wisdom and our connection to the spirit of life must be fed to allow us to
continue to give generously to the universe of the future. And that is our legacy.
This Issue's Hyacinth
There are times in all our lives when we find that the worries, stress and general
negative emotions of daily life become too much for us. We may start feeling so
overwhelmed that we begin to feel a physical impact resulting from the many things
we are trying to handle.
At times like these, our bodies may react in all kinds of ways that are not only
unpleasant to us; they are also counter-productive to coping with the very
things that cause them. What most of us know intellectually, but can't accept
on a gut level,is that when our bodies react in unhealthy ways, they are often
giving us warning signals that we have been ignoring ourselves and our lives have
gotten out of balance. If we don't do something healthy to help restore balance in
between our emotions and our physical bodies, the price we pay sooner or later will
escalate to the point of becoming deadly.
Women are particularly susceptible to the dangers of allowing these stressors to build
up to a point of being too much to endure and still maintain our physical and
emotional health. Because we try so hard to shoulder the burdens of our loved
ones, ourselves, our careers and our committments while still trying to keep
daily life running smoothly, we often start to stuff more and more stress inside
us. We still want to be superwoman, and fill everyone's needs -- while ignoring
the price it's costing us in our own lives.
Then we often choose unwise ways to cope with these stressors. Some may overeat or
undereat; others may turn to an array of chemical substances from smoking to drinking
to using drugs; still others may exercise to the point of excess, gamble or engage in
other extreme and dangerous activities. Rather than getting to the root of the problem
and working to change it, it's often much easier to numb ourselves to whatever
may be putting our lives into such a state of imbalance.
This issue's Hyacinth is a much healthier way to calm the mind and emotions.
It is also particularly effective on those nights when stress keeps you from
sleeping. It is a visualization exercise that can be helpful in allowing you to
release the tension that is keeping you awake.
Birds of Peace
Lie down in a comfortable position in a dark room.
Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Inhale slowly and deeply, and then
exhale in the same slow and deep way, until you feel your body begin to relax.
Imagine each of your stressors are black birds, circling around your head,
swooping down close to get your attention.
Focus on the largest black bird and name it after one of your biggest stressors, which
it represents.
When it swoops down toward you, catch it in your hands. Feel how light it is.
Release the bird to fly again, and along with it, the stressor it represents.
Watch it begin to soar upward, turning from black to white as it flies higher
and farther away from you.
Repeat this process with each stressor that's disturbing you, catching each black
bird, feeling its lightness, and releasing it to soar away as it turns white,
until all the black birds have flown away.
As you release each bird to fly away, allow yourself to pause and feel the peace that
comes with its release.
By the time you have run out of black birds, you should be feeling much more
relaxed and may even fall asleep before you realize it!
Original text � 2000, Mary Lynn Hatfield
Reproduced with permission.
Artwork:
"Hyacinth Bouquet"
by Mid Gordon
Graphics for this page by: 