Healing in Brazil
I haven’t written my newsletter for several months and perhaps you are wondering why. This year has been a challenging one for me. The stress of dealing with family issues that stem from my mother passing, my own health concerns, and developing my work more towards a coaching model was taking it’s toll on my health and well-being.
I am writing from Brazil anticipating two more glorious days before returning home. Most importantly, I have put myself in a place where rest is the most important thing for me to attend to. Beyond doing just about nothing, I’ve found that I have received so much more than I thought possible from being in this energy field. Healing the mind, body and spirit levels brings awareness, release, and transformation.
Outside my window is lush green vegetation where the birds sing and chirp day and night. The sky lights up with lightning, the thunder storms fierce, the rain pours down in sheets strong enough to shower beneath, and then the sun comes out and warms my soul. But what I have been enjoying the most is sitting outside for all my meals and visiting with people from all over the world. This to me is a slice of heaven on earth.
In this place where people come for their own health and healing, they bring with them perceptions of what may or may not happen. Many are skeptics while others are confirmed believers. No matter what country these people have come from, their religious practices, belief systems, or fields of work, I find that on a soul level we are all very similar. We have all come seeking a major life change.
I have seen the expression of our similarities in so many people these past weeks. Faces of despair, anguish, pain and fear, as well as curiosity, serenity, peace, and love. Each of us has come to experience faith, love, and healing and we will all take away exactly what is intended.
Now as people are getting ready to return home they are asking each other: “Did you get what you needed?” We have learned here in Brazil to ask the question this way. Mostly, as humans, we want things for ourselves and so often we don’t get what we think we want. What we want is not synonymous with what we need. In this place of healing we get what we need and this often means that connecting the dots between our head and our heart can be a long journey. We are continually challenged to let go again and again. Acceptance and looking for the meaning of what we receive is the true blessing that takes place here.
When I leave here and reflect back on this beautiful trip, I’ll remember the amazing connections I’ve made with people. I have been fortunate to meet many people who represent and have demonstrated some of the most essential qualities of life. The seven people in this photo have made my trip a very memorable one. We’ve spent many hours over the past couple of weeks just hanging out and getting to know the ins and outs of all our varying lives.
The Qualities of Life
Respect: From a German doctor I saw genuine respect in how kindly he spoke and continually demonstrated this respect by bringing the conversation back to English when people at the dining table broke off with others into their native languages. He also had a great sense of humor and brought many smiles and chuckles to our gatherings.
Laughter: From a French Canadian woman with whom I laughed so hard I nearly cried. I hadn’t laughed so hard in such a long long time. Despite her dealing with insomnia, she was hilarious! She has a clever and humorous invention that I will be sharing with you once she has it fully developed. I was reminded of the importance of laughter in healing – it needs to be at the top of the list!
Positivity: From a fellow American, I saw a brave woman dealing with her own cancer, never mentioning it until she felt close enough to us to share her story. She was ever so careful to use the words all about healing her mind, body and spirit and was deemed to be the most entertaining and humorous one in this group. She is quick witted, dresses to her own beat and rhythm, and has a certain lightness to her being.
Smile: From a young man from Singapore who had recently lost his mother to cancer was still ever-ready with a big smile on his face. When I asked if he always smiled, he told me that sometimes he feels down but in this place and with all these great people, he couldn’t help but smile. What a gift to give someone who might need a little brightness in their day!
Vulnerability: A young Frenchman shared his fears and desires to understand and work with the emotions expressed in his body symptoms. His ability to share his vulnerability was more than touching. Someday he will make a wonderful life partner for someone because when we’re able to share our vulnerabilities, we can experience true intimacy.
Cheerfulness: From a young woman from Switzerland who was always smiling and was so incredibly cheerful from the moment she met the group of us sitting at dinner. Her business is writing songs for people to give to others. Right now her website is in German and when she has it translated I will be sharing it with you. She has a beautiful ability to express herself not only through cheerfulness, but through music and lyrics.
Nurturing: From Sweden was a woman who is a special needs teacher. Her love, patience, and kindness radiates from her. She and I bonded over our similar health issues and our appreciation for the Swedish culture (back in high school my family hosted a student from Sweden who, to this day, is like a sister to me.) She too has a wonderful sense of humor and added to the laughter we all shared.
What was most interesting about this eclectic group of seven was how we all gravitated to each other at meal times over the two short weeks we were together. We all had our own issues of grief, health concerns, and personal growth work to do and yet our bond over humor and lightness was so powerful. We never dwelled upon the work that we each came to Brazil to do but rather, chose to connect with each other as we were in that time and place. We were without our pretenses of society and the expectations that come with our work and roles. We just got to be our raw and beautiful selves connecting spirit to spirit and creating an atmosphere of love and acceptance. To me, this is healing on an unconscious level. I hope to carry this all back with me and keep this feeling of peace in my heart for a long long time.
12 Tips for Healing in Mind, Body and Spirit
Laugh, laugh, laugh! Find funny movies to watch, read funny books, call a friend and ask them to make you laugh! Spend 20 minutes a day laughing from deep within your belly – and yes, this is a technique you can learn!
Surround yourself with positive people. When people are negative, remove yourself from their presence and say something positive to yourself to shift their negative energy.
Take time to connect with yourself on a daily basis through meditation, prayer, inspirational reading, listening to your special music, or some other avenue of your choice.
Focus on what is working in your life. Is it not true that we tend to focus more on what is not working? Just think about it – there is so much more that is working than not!
Reframe what you think is not working. For example, you say: “I don’t have enough money.” You can reframe that by saying; “I am paying my bills and I have food to eat each day. When I am careful with my money I have all that I need to take care of myself.”
Be acceptant that what you receive in life is really what you need. What we want and what we get are often two different things.
Learn to let stuff go – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. We hang onto too much stuff that really is not important. Truly!
Be aware and allow yourself to get the learning from everything. Believe it or not, there are no coincidences.
Find your community of people who love and support you and encourage you to show up as your best self.
Learn tolerance, acceptance, and patience. Be gentle with yourself in this process as these are challenging things to learn.
Be kind, respectful, and loving. Practice this in your daily life and forgive yourself when you have an off day. We all are on a continuum regarding mastery.
Open your heart more and more each day. This will lead you to true peacefulness and help you to release the fight of life that we all tend to do.