I was—and still am—fairly ignorant of natural healing and am very much enjoying the learning.

But I wonder just how much I and so many others are missing out, and possibly suffering, because of a lack of awareness of simple healing truths. This desire to make more people aware of truths and modalities that can truly help is why we devoted 12 pages to energy healing last month; many, many more people should reap its benefits.

Here’s another health truth that I did not know two years ago: Emotions are stored in the physical body.

One article in this issue, When Emotions are Physical: Bodywork for Trauma and Grief, takes as its point of departure that truth.

I must need some healing here, for I am thick into a second book that addresses this topic in depth, and I was not aware of that when I started reading it, just as I was not aware that the psychotherapist Toni Galardi’s book The LifeQuake Phenomenon would lean heavily on somatic therapy. A message from the Universe, perhaps?

The title of Chapter 5 of what I am currently reading, Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance, is “Coming Home to Our Body: The Ground of Radical Acceptance.” And she opens the chapter with a quotation:

There is one thing that, when cultivated and regularly practiced, leads to deep spiritual intention, to peace, to mindfulness and clear comprehension, to vision and knowledge, to a happy life here and now, and to the culmination of wisdom and awakening. And what is that one thing? It is mindfulness centered on the body.

The Buddha  

A short passage in the book states that science has demonstrated that emotions will arise and disappear in our bodies in about two minutes if we do not feed them. I will add that there should be great emphasis added to “if.”

By “feeding,” Brach means “rationalizing”: I am angry with so-and-so because he did X, Y and Z. If one continues to feed anger then, like a stray puppy, it will make itself at home.

Brach teaches us to observe negative feelings, locate where they manifest in our bodies, focus our attention on them, note how they feel with as much detail as possible and track them as they move in our bodies and change.

By following her instruction and breathing mindfully throughout, I was able to dissipate angry feelings in about 90 seconds. Amazing! I had no idea.

Brach says: “When we feel and release the past pain held in our body, we become increasingly free to meet our present feelings with a wakeful and kind heart. We discover, as Rumi writes, ‘The cure for the pain is in the pain.’”

Beyond this month’s article, I suspect we’ll further investigate the connection between negative emotions and health challenges, and what can be done to heal both. After all, accelerating awakenings is what we’re about.

An Appreciation

This issue ends the tenure of Lucretia Robison as writer of the column “Walking Each Other Home.” I doubt it’s really goodbye, and we will always welcome her warmth, wisdom and insight.

Lucretia’s role in the magazine has been crucial: She has been our voice.

Yes, I am the owner and publisher, but I cannot be “the voice” for the very simple reason that 80 percent of our readers are women.

When I met Lucretia, I immediately saw in her our quintessential reader—a woman who is awakening in multiple ways and who is constantly striving to evolve. Moreover, she has overcome several huge life challenges that demanded significant course corrections.

But could she write?

Fortunately for you and me, the answer was a resounding “yes.” What I’ve valued and enjoyed most is her power of keen observation: how she can take any little thing from a day full of activity, and understand that it, too, can be part of one’s path. Her awareness, understanding, and desire and capacity to evolve inspired me then, and continue to do so now.

Thank you, dear Lucretia, for sharing your journey with us; it’s been an honor and a privilege. May you find that wherever you stand, the grass is always greener.