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 5/17/14 A Rainy Day Sheets of Liquid drop into the street like so much heavy cellophane… all of the color washing away. From the window, as I point myself to work, Just rain fills my vision. I notice my heart populated with difficult memories: dripping hair, prickling goose bumps and wet, chafing clothing, coming to Mind and Body. And Cold, cold as I come in to an air-conditioned office from the humid spring day. Wet feet inside my shoes, the unavoidable puddle has seeped, amoeba-like past the poor barrier of leather and stitching. “Danger, discomfort, unhappiness,” says the body-mind. “Avoid, Avoid.” I see myself already at work, hunkered down and miserable at my desk. Shivering and resentful. Having arrived like a wet rat, emerging from a storm drain. Gazing out from a place of warmth and safety in my dark living room, I wonder what other possibilities exist? “Shh, sweetheart, I understand. You will be fine”, I comfort my pre-distressed self. “Open your heart to this rainy day. See the choices arrayed before you.” Now, Leaving my abode and entering the wildness. The rain in my face is a sudden, sweet bath. A breath and a mindful leap over the muddy torrent in the gutter, lands me on my toes. Surprised, my playful self awakens. Driving, I note disdain on the faces of other motorists, distress in the attitudes of pedestrians. Parking the car, I must become one of them and cross a mighty river of traffic. Aha! I see the cars sweeping up cascades of water as they skim the curb and try to spray me. But I am too quick and aware. Navigating the blindly speeding cars with skill and patience, I come to the other shore in safety. The wind picks up and the rain flies cross-wise. I’m grinning now as my happy child-self has come to play. The wind bucks my umbrella, like a stubborn pony’s halter in my hand. Laughing out loud, the sound engenders delight. Entering my workplace, the energy of joy, flows into the room, touching everyone… They look up, in wonder.  Breathing in I feel anticipated distress
Breathing out I smile to my body Breathing in I notice memories Breathing out I send tenderness Breathing in I invite playfulness Breathing out I open to what is true Breathing in I fill with Joy Breathing out I send happiness May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.  4/19/14 Dear Magnolia Here is a love letter for you. In the deep crystalline winter when my bones ache with cold A moment of radiance falls on the white white snow And I ride like an angel on the frigid winter wind; the golden beams allowing me to see now, and then, and will be. Lifting my soul, I soar briefly on these delicate wings and plummet into startling existence. I wait to tell you. I wait for spring. I don’t think you can bear the pain of hope, in such deep sleeping through so much suffering. Looking deeply into the umber branches. I know that sustenance is being drawn from melted icelets and mysterious minerals in the soil. I see the fragile sunlight tempting life into continuation. I know the sap is flowing and the hearts of infant buds are alive, within. I see them; tiny, unformed, full of promise... I call to you as gently as I know how, inviting you to be as you are. Offering you reverence with awe and heart, Opening with joy into this mutual life in one plane of being. Looking deeply, I see you now, as I saw you then, and see you again: Magnificent crimson petals gracing those elegant boughs. Wafting down to the mossy carpet in the penetrating rain of early May. Gorgeous emerald leaves uplifting to the Summer sun. Fall Falling Fallen to the mother earth, transforming again and still, becoming soil and food and compost for the renewal of life, even at harvest time. This year’s grown branches having joined their sisters, Waiting now, for their own rimy blanket, soon to come with Winter’s embrace. Dear Magnolia This is my love letter to you. Breathing in I feel my breath Breathing out I smile to my body Breathing in I embrace difficulty Breathing out I come into being Breathing in I breathe into life Breathing out I embrace change Breathing in I smile to transformation Breathing out I am filled with peace 
May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere.
-Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.  To hear the audio version of the meditation, please scroll to bottom. Spring is coming and the long troublesome winter ends. We are very comfortable labeling events as good or bad, and we do love to complain when the weather is uncooperative. So we focus on the difficulty and it fills the whole screen of our experience, making it harder to bear. But experience is complex and each event is laden, with the possibility of discomfort and hardship, as well as joy, opening and growth. When we enter into the present, a vast number of outcomes become accessible, and suffering may be allowed to fall away. Dark Wings of Spring Have you ever entered into a moment carrying a great winter cloak? Draped just so, around your shoulders to keep you warm and safe? The cold has been so sharp; penetrating the gut, the heart, the soul. The earth so hard in its arctic shell, we have lost touch, we lose touch with our foundation. The heavy woolen shawl a burden we carry, a protected space, moving with us. It is heavy and wet, smelling slightly of sheep. We are slow, lumbering through this dormant time; sometimes asleep and dreaming, sometimes awake and suffering. Do you know how to enter a moment with the brilliant aura of Spring? Starting with a tiny thaw, we see the earth has softened. Tinged with a reticent green, hiding a tender black layer of loam beneath. Now, bend and come close. Let your hand move in a sensual way, down into a moist resilient pocket. Gently take the offering. Smell the rich darkness, the compost of life. Breath renewal into your being and taste it. Let the energy spring from the earth into your naked foot. You begin to rise like the sap in the wakening trees. Like heat and light, a blazing power lifts you upward. Arms stretched in flight and you, Profoundly balanced on one leg… Open your eyes. You see Bran-wen, the Raven. Dark as night and full of the shining glory of this day. His wings extended, gathering the sunlight, supremely present. On a tree top, facing you; magically, in concert with you. You know he sees you, feels you, with your wings mirroring his own. You join him, embraced in his wisdom, his mischief, his spirit. He is part of you; your humanity, regret, and your heart. Now you know, In this one-ness you survived the winter. In this one-ness you thrived, and now renew. Lifting up, we are uplifted. Breathing in I embrace the present Breathing out I release aversion Breathing in I relax into what is real Breathing out I am here Breathing in I kneel into acceptance Breathing out I am one with the earth Breathing in I am infused with spirit Breathing out I arise May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.  To hear the audio version please scroll to bottom of text 2/3/14 Let the Tigers Go Life stalks me like a mighty tiger Bounding across the savanna of my days Threatening to overtake me, to make a meal of me. With his amazingly fierce talons and rippling muscles, his pursuit is relentless. There is no escape Entering the jungle, I flee hoping to vanish, elude him unseen. Impossible, and I know it. The towering figs, palms and rubber trees Even in their grandeur, are only obstacles Blue and gold Macaws, colorful Gouldian finches A brilliant blur with no form. Mangoes and Passion fruit hanging in luscious abundance, swallowed in haste and never tasted. The forest clears and I burst onto the scene Atop the fabled cliff, my toes curling to prevent my headlong fall. The tiger is coming and nowhere to go, but down. Terrified I cling to vines and roots, the sweat moistening my grip. Muscles screaming, I begin my descent. A huge bellow arises behind me as the great beast nears his prey. Scrambling downward, I begin to pray. And then I hear the answering roar of the Tiger beneath. She is waiting, sure that her mate will provide sustenance this day. And then, and then, when there is nowhere to go I remember to breathe. Time stretches to accommodate this grand moment. A rocky cave mouth appears, as if by some magic or glamour. Entering, I have Now. It is vast and filled with joy. Vast and filled with possibility. With fulfillment and sensation. With love and pain and color and calm. Let the tigers go. Let the tigers go…  Breathing in I am aware of running Breathing out I notice what I miss Breathing in I take my breath Breathing out I enter life May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute.  Life manifests In the dark secret places where you cannot see The hot steamy swamp hidden in a forest of mangrove, No human eye can perceive This region of untold, immeasurable activity where molecules, organisms, ions and the subatomic interact; colliding, deliberate, crazy and wild. Creation is erupting, causing reality to flow. It isn’t pretty. A brewing cauldron, a miasma of dark odors, bubbling and seething with hard and soft edges; with ease and discomfort, beginnings and endings. Glowing in brilliant colors that do not complement. Radiating into being. At the core of this great, unknowable mess, a microcosmic set of elements and acids coalesce; a microcosmic slip of spirit energy attaches. You cannot touch, nor see it manifest Yet, you know it has begun to arise Here, in the hidden recesses of your physical being,
the deepest seat of your primal self, the cauldron boils. Making nothing from something, something from nothing, tzim-tzum. There is a way to look in, but only to see a pale, pale reflection of a reflection. Is it real? You have lived in this state now, for a long, long time, as a vessel of creation, a plaything of the universe Engaged in the most sacred of rituals you are swept along, on the mighty river of metamorphosis Tossed and turned, prodded, and stretched, a burgeoning awareness becoming a certainty: another life is coming. His world is the swamp. Gulping fluids and pushing against the confining earth, his lifeline gently wrapped around his body, he surges against you. Pushing as he will be pushed. Perplexed as his world begins to contract, preparing him for another reality. Do you remember being, like this? Cosmic forces finally coming together, savage and rhythmic Your body, drowning in transformation, shaken, overtaken, again and again… The horror of it pales against your passionate engagement with this dizzying chaos, Somehow, You are mindful welcoming it all. With infinite persistence, and deliberation, he is coming From the swamp, from the cauldron, You choose to let him come Into this moment, into this world, inviting him to emerge. Creation has traversed you, employed you Causing a powerful transformation, a catastrophic event. Leaving an empty space that is eternally void Yet forever abundant with the unborn. The lifeline is cut and his mortality begins. In awe, you avert your gaze from the startling signs of his passage, the evidence of some mythic realm at your core, the center of all being. Now he has arrived a tiny manifestation of humanity, breathing air in this fresh version of a world you thought you knew. You are cleaned and stitched and separate beings for the first time. Amazed by his perfection and the suddenness of his appearance, a single tear of joy and sadness wells. A wholesome warmth and happiness comes, to fill the emptiness. And You hold him close to your heart where he will live now, forever. May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com  11/17/13 Difficulties Arise The brittle edges of a painful situation occur like shattering glass Sharply bringing us to attention Like a clarion call to battle. The trembling psyche prepares As the seeds of past hurts arise into awareness. Transforming themselves into thoughts and words and memories. The heart beats in trepidation as the Defenders assemble, stern and resolute. Surrounding the vulnerable, damaged parts of the spirit; lying broken and weeping, like hurt children, on the crimson floor, in the caverns of the soul. The Defenders are frightened for them. They whisper in a voice so soft you cannot hear: “Protect, protect, send the Dragons to the gate. Protect the children with fury and rage. Protect.” Mayhem might ensue. All will be lost. Riding the breath, on wings of mindfulness, the Compassionate one has been invited. Calmly noticing the shards of glass, she sees the damage that has been done. With the sword of clarity, she deftly separates old wounds from new. As her angelic arms enfold the crying children, the tenderness she sends enters their very pores. Infusing their beings with lovingkindness and courage. The Defenders stand down. Help has arrived. The healing begins. Breathing in I am aware of my difficulties Breathing out I open to them Breathing in I am mindful of my injuries Breathing out I hold my hurt self tenderly Breathing in I feel relief Breathing out I send lovingkindness May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com  10/22/13
Sunrise Sunrise occurred this morning,everywhere Arising in majesty, like any moment peeking over the shoulder of time passed. The vanishing night Grateful for another day, I vow to enter many moments with mindful joy. Grateful for another day I offer lovingkindness to myself and everyone. Grateful for another day I rest in the center of being and intend to return as best I can. With each burgeoning moment, more golden light floods my consciousness. Breathing in I become luminous Breathing in, I am open to whatever arises: Difficulties and delights, loss and fruition, pain and pleasure, troubles and ease, Each one, deserving of my consideration and gentle care. As they are all my children. I intend to love them; holding them with tenderness and knowing them deeply. Some requiring great attention. Some happily playing on their own. Remember, remember, attend to every one. As they grow up into wholesomeness and joyful existence, beyond the scope of any words to describe, Together they become a family in the home of a happy life. May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.  Pumpkin
Indian summer flirts with us all. dripping with color and tears of farewell to seasons past. brisk mornings and humid afternoons, cool shivery nights with brilliant skies. A dubious spell of time, somehow, neither there nor there a lesson in unpreparedness and the unexpected Just here... A field of emerald green grasses replete with the glory of a long summer’s work, somehow gave birth to a pumpkin, Fruition incarnate. Manifesting before my eyes in orange splendor atop a velvet cushion, its sweeping curves Pregnant with past and future. Someday gracefully decomposing to reveal the white seeds of becoming. Now, bursting at once with being, existence and death. Filling us with life and hope... Breathing in I am aware of my being Breathing out I encounter this moment Breathing in I am full of life Breathing out I feel able Breathing in I know what I have to give Breathing out I cast my seeds. Breathing in I am here Breathing out I am fulfilled May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.  9/1/13 The Little Things The stripe of sunlight on a warm oak table A quiet moment where nothing else occurs A New Yorker magazine illuminates a coffee cup An orange cover reflected up. Glowing with an easy, cool fire Calling the eye to touch reality. A simple lampshade holding the patterns of a lace curtain. Reading glasses of my loved one, promising his return A stack of magazines inviting the curious, to learn. Pages filled with who knows what Find serenity here. Sitting in the stillness of a morning bedroom Sitting, breathing, a body at rest. How beautiful, the graceful lines and colors, the patterns; A wonder that has come to be Cast your gaze afar Through the window, there's another world of vibrant green A brilliant backdrop to books on a nightstand Clutter and tone, just reflecting something true. Find your center, here. May this content benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere. -Ellen Adelman © Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, poetry and photography all rights reserved. Mind Body Intelligence™, and MBI® are trademarks of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute. For more information about our programs, visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com. |
