After being laid up with a broken leg all summer I felt due for a vacation. Lured by the magical mineral springs with special healing powers, I decided on Desert Hot Springs, California. I booked a room at Miracle Manor http://www.miraclemanor.com; I knew the hotel had been renovated by April Greiman, the L.A, Designer who had visited the College of Creative Art some months ago.
The springs delivered as promised. After a 20-minute soak in magnesium, sodium, sulfite and other soothing ingredients, I felt weightless and energized.
The next part of the trip got exciting, driving along the coast, passing Santa Cruz, Carmel, Big Sur, and Monterey, photographing like mad. Considering that my camera had been gathering dust due to my moping around, dragging a cast, this was excitement to the highest degree.
After several days in Cali (I like to call it that), I realized the state was grabbing me. I was captivated by its mountains, desert plants and the Milky Way stretching across the big western sky. And a moon so bright sinking below the horizon, waves crashing against enormous rocks, people, dogs, the eccentricity of Los Angeles, I loved it all! I loved that within hours I could catch a glimpse of a dreamy billion-dollar estate in Carmel, a solitary fisherman beside a trailer on an exquisite placid lake, or witness a car of rappers blasting their music rolling up to an L.A. corner gas station. This was heaven, and more photo ops then I ever dreamed of. This strange state offered a mix of spirituality and Hollywood glitz that totally captured my attention.
Four months later, I began renting a house in the mountains. We’re about 3,000 feet above the desert with a view that spans for miles. I shake myself in amazement. It’s not always easy starting a new life, but the road trips along the way are definitely worth it. Enjoy my slide show, below.
Untethering the Soul
While I was laid up I had the chance to read the “The Untethered Soul” by Michael A. Singer, described as a read that could “free me from limitations (and) allow me to soar beyond my boundaries.” This sounded appealing since I was feeling the boundaries of my cast pretty intensely.
It turned out that I did find some freedom in the pages of this book. In the chapter, “Pain, the Price of Freedom,” for example. Singer writes: “As long as you are afraid of pain, you will protect yourself from it. …. To spend your life avoiding pain means it’s always right behind you.” Wow, did that ring true! My mind ran through scenarios that I had feared over the years and the energy it had taken to keep the very things I feared most from happening.
This time, after falling into my pool, breaking my leg, then being rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, the disturbance to my entire being was unavoidable.
Singer says you must be willing to accept pain in order to pass through to the other side, the side of peace, beauty, love and joy, and that every time you resist and close around the feeling of pain, “it’s like damming up a stream.”
By freely feeling the physical or emotional pain, by experiencing our worst fears, it is like pulling the stop out of the dam, allowing the water to rush and flow, which can be soothing, relieving and even exhilarating. Take it from me; feeling the water moving against my bare leg now, walking slowly and steadily down a path, no longer bearing the weight of a cast, is pure liberation!
People in My Life
Sweet musings of the soul and the taste buds: Ever been in a sour mood, looking for something to bring you out of it? What brings me around is the taste of Chef Johnny Brannigan’s food. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, the chef and author of the cookbook “Eat Taste Heal,” creates magic with each plate he prepares. He is also meditation teacher, and teacher of the 7 Secrets of Meditation. As I like to put it, Brannigan has a direct line to Krishna.
With the speed of light, Brannigan heaps a plate with pasta, cilantro pesto sauce, sautéed veggies, and aromatic spices, a plate of perfectly balanced ingredients that will bring your taste buds into a state of blissful delight.
Don’t expect to dig right into this scrumptious meal, though, not before the food is blessed, that is. Brannigan places a gold framed image of Krishna set into a collaged background painted by the chef himself, then he lays out several brightly colored roses beside the photo. He lifts a small brass bell tied with a purple ribbon, and begins to chant Krishna’s prayer. The sweet sounds of the bell vibrate over the divine offerings; he closes his eyes, hands in prayer, and stands silently for a few moments. Finally with a warm smile and twinkling blue eyes he announces that it’s time to eat.
How does food balance you to a point where your spirit, mind, and body feel in harmony, promoting a state of complete well being, even divine bliss? Part of the answer lies in the combinations of foods and spices offered through the ancient art and science of Ayervedic Cooking. The key to health, they believe, is centered in our ability to digest and absorb the foods we eat.
Ayervedic sees the person as a whole. Everything we do, say, eat, all our actions and thoughts are responsible for what we manifest in the world. As we encounter certain stress in our lives it throws our constitution out of balance, and the more we ignore this, the greater our chances of encountering disease. To counteract this, we need to cultivate awareness of when this occurs and consume the appropriate foods and spices to return to a balanced and healthy state. To learn more about his book, meditation, and the practice of Ayurvedic visit Johnny Brannigan’s website, www.thevedicchef.com.
“Real power is cultivated within one’s heart and soul, a truly ‘Powerful Person’ sits alone atop the mountain, and the mountain sits with them.”
dalesparage
Dalesparage's Blog 