Monthly Archives: January 2013

Friendship spaces

Connection is what matters to us.
It’s one of our core needs.
Focus on Michaelangelo’s famous painting and its the space between the fingers, the expectation of contact or is it release, that is the motif of the painting.

Touch.


The soft, unconditional touch as you caress a newborn child.
Holding a hand with compassion for someone who is ill.
The light touch of a Reiki treatment, and for the practioner sensing the unseen, immeasurable energy.
The sense of anticipation as you reach out for a loved one.
Even the spark of static electricity that some people have (I frequently spark!) as you reach out to touch something….

It was  Friedrich Neietzsche who said “Invisible threads are the strongest ties.”

The space between the hands in the photos is like the space between the notes in a piece of music. Invisible, yet strong.
Creating different harmonies as the energy is discharged.

How many ways can you be touched?
It’s not just physical touch.
A piece of music can touch our deepest emotions with its beauty, as too paintings and places in nature.
Friends touch us with their thoughtfulness when we are in need.
We can find friends in unusual places.
They can be around for years or just a little while.
Moving countries or interstate or even into a new neighbourhood, gives us the opportunity to make new friends.
Although I have been resident in Australia for many years, I am privileged to be part of a project to create a warm and inviting Friendship Space for migrant and refugee women in Melbourne.
The friendships that have already formed around this project sustain so many of us in different ways and we are building bridges between those who are familiar with the Australian way of life and the newer arrivals.


Moving on….

As the water flows down the waterfall, so too do emotions flow relentlessly when a parent dies and more so, when it is the last remaining parent and you become an orphan.

Many people are familiar with Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross’ Five Stages of Grief but  there are other variables in the process.
Many people would also be familiar with the quotation “No man is an island”, which was a sermon by John Donne in the 16th century.
No one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others.”

But what happens if you have a long term partner or spouse? 

Can you rely on the in-laws to emotionally support you as you go through your grieving process?

What about friends? 

Who would you rely on? 

It would be nice to move through the stages Kuebler-Ross outlined with no extraneous factors. 
So what if you are feeling bereft of support? 
Seeing a Grief Counsellor may help to work through underlying issues that were already in the family dynamic.

  

Meditation

wb051432Daily practice is what gets the results.

Most of the time we have good intentions and start a practice, but all too frequently I hear clients saying that  “Something came up” and they couldn’t continue.

It is precisely at those times that a good meditation practice is the most helpful. Through a regular practice of meditation, and it really doesn’t matter what style, it becomes easier to clear the mind at times of stress, access creativity and perceive the world in quite a different way.

3 simple steps to setting up your meditation practice will help you to start your practice.