Surfing the Waves

This week I had the opportunity to watch a very moving protocol for trauma care in the Emergency Department where I work. A voice came over the intercom, clear and calm: "Full trauma arrival ETA 15 minutes." And progressively the announcement went until, "Full trauma arrival now. All hands on deck." 

Wheeled from the ambulance into the ER receiving hallway was a person on a stretcher with a neck brace, eyes closed, injuries obviously sustained. The normal chatter of the ER silenced, as all direct-care personnel stopped what they were doing, arrived and circled around the patient, three rows deep. All were alert, quiet, waiting at full attention while the charge nurse and ER doctor stepped in and began the assessment. We listened as call outs to appropriate care specialists were made and the newly formed team stepped forward to begin life saving measures. You could have heard a pin drop. 

A palatable reverence swept through the Emergency Room. From my station, I came back to my breath and began offering Metta.* I suspect I was not the only one. An elderly man poked his head out of his room and looked on with wide eyes. Within minutes the patient was whisked out of ER towards the operating room.

I was filled with a sense of awe for the fragility of life and those who are willing to step forward, ready to offer whatever supports life. Imagine if we could learn a similar protocol whenever we are witness to a person's decline, "Full trauma arrival now. All hands on deck." Imagine if we stopped everything we were doing and gravitated toward the one in need with full attention and an open heart, ready to give of ourselves. Imagine if we touched a deep reverence in moments of decline, realizing this truth--life is fragile, and we are only here for a precious amount of time. Can I be gentle with myself and others? Can I help repair injury? And if not, can I offer pure attention, in awe and reverence? 

Looking around the ER at the faces of caregivers, I went away from the experience gratefully inspired, uplifted and sobered. Everyday we ride the balance between birth and death, only most of the time we're totally unaware. Precious, precious life teaches ~ everything changes, constantly, dramatically and in ways barely perceptible. When full remembrance of this truth is practiced, we can surf the waves...up and down....beside one another.  

* Metta - practice of wishing well for another, said to naturally arise in the face of extreme suffering. Metta describe the feeling of care one actively engenders toward another. It is said to be the most natural state of who we truly are and can be compared to prayers for the benefits of all beings.

Bounty ~ 14 Days of Love

Poetry Friday, here we go....

Love’s Bounty
©Karla Johnston 2023

Dictionary gives two definitions, seemingly, entirely different:
Bounty – generous giving that is vast, natural and complete
Bounty – payment for capture and destruction of a living being
Hmm…LOVE,
this simple,
4 letter word,
doesn't tangle with word jujitsu.

Let’s just say, Love (with a capital L),
awaits your noticing
it is everywhere, all the time,
in every situation and circumstance
no matter how life-shattering it seems.

Love has put a bounty on your head—
you are priceless,
worthy
nothing you do
can separate you
from Love.
That's a period

I will be leading 14 Days of Love meditation Saturday, February 11 at 9:30am Pacific Time. Please come join in this no-charge Copper Beech Institute offering in whatever  ways you can, and if you can't make each days two meditation offerings, you will receive the recordings so you can soak it up at a time good for you. CBI facilitators are heart-guided individuals who will offer 14 days of infused and embodied practices. Enjoy! 

Rest ~ 14 Days of Love

Ahhhh, that feeling of coming to rest after being bone tired, when the body lets go to gravity, lets a comfy recliner, the bed, or another hold it….

What about the rest that comes while INSIDE the whirlwind of tension and chaos? This is what mediation is calling us to practice. When we come back to our breathing, that simple exchange of in and out, we immediately notice the whirlwind of the mind. “Rest, rest,” we encourage our bodies with the practice, and at times, it is achieved—a deep rest, a deep rest that is aware, alert, free and open hearted to what comes, whatever that might be. 

Recently, I was considering the deep transformational power of suffering. Think about the most life-changing moments of your life, more than likely, most of them involved a deep level of suffering. When it hits, as it will, in every life, can we go to the practice, can we rest? I think of the function of a Tap Root ~ to deeply stabilize, absorb nutriments, and store those nutriments when the times get tough. Can we build the strength of our Tap Roots, can we rest in the dark, maybe even probe deeper? What are your nutriments, the things that give you life? Music, friends on the path, a walk in the sunshine, a flower opening to spring? Can we take time everyday to rest in what nourishes us and store it for times of need, when we or our loved ones are called to transform? Rest, my Darling, rest deeply, knowing you are held and equipped with everything you need for growth, life and transformation. 

I will be leading 14 Days of Love meditation Saturday, February 11 at 9:30am Pacific Time. Please come join in this no-charge Copper Beech Institute offering in whatever  ways you can, and if you can't make each days two meditation offerings, you will receive the recordings so you can soak it up at a time good for you. CBI facilitators are heart-guided individuals who will offer 14 days of infused and embodied practices. Enjoy! 

Nourishment ~ 14 Days of Love

Day 1 ~ Nourishment

Hello Sweet Darlings, sitting by the fire, with Bene the cat curled like a monkey around my neck, holding his little 9 pound hunk of love and hen-pecking the key board, I know nourishment. I know love.  

Love is all around, everywhere, all the time even in the most dire and heart-shocking times. LOVE…IS…EVERYWHERE. Today's practice is seeing love, feeling love, receiving this truth. Today’s theme is nourishment. Oh, wait…press pause…hot tub just fired up outside, I don’t want to miss my love soak (see, it’s everywhere:)…OK, I'm back. 

The definition of "nourish," is to tend something to grow. How sweet that definition. What do you tend? How do you tend yourself? How do you tend others? Enjoy the contemplation today as we begin my Day 1 augmentation to 14 Days of Love--a program offered by Copper Beech Institute (CBI). It's with great gratitude, 14 Days of Love is highlighted in an encouragement for folks to come soak up two meditations a day and to practice: LOVE...IS...EVERYWHERE. It's a no-charge, donation based program.

I will be leading on Saturday, February 11 at 9:30am Pacific Time. Please come join in whatever  ways you can, and if you can't make each days two meditation offerings, you will receive the recordings so you can soak it up at a time good for you. CBI facilitators are heart-guided individuals who will offer 14 days of infused and embodied practices. Enjoy!