On Wednesday August 9, 2023 Joyce Hawkes Phd passed into the realm of the Divine while walking her beloved dog Rama near her home. We honor her many years of dedicated service to humanity, her compassionate grace-filled way, her laughter, and her determination to make a difference in the lives of her family, friends, and clients.
At this time Helen and Annalisa are taking a pause from the work to mourn the loss of Joyce from their lives. Please know that we will resume work soon.
No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.
— Voltaire
What do you think of that approach? In your life have you solved all problems by sheer sustained thinking? Me either. And I suspect that, perhaps later in life, Voltaire ran into a few problems that did not yield to thinking of any kind.
In the realm of energetic healing our experience is that every single person we meet, though physically made up of the same atoms, molecules, and tissues, and almost identical DNA, is in fact utterly unique. And one size never fits all.
We respect the tools that science and modern medicine utilize to rule out and diagnose diseases and maladies. Diagnosing is not our purview. Finding ways to bring healing to a particularly unique individual is what we are moved to pursue.
There is nothing wrong with sustained thinking. It is just not the whole ballgame for us. Here is another approach.
My master teacher once said, “The guru does not solve problems. The guru dissolves the state in which problems exist.”
I’ve been chewing on that one ever since having a direct experience of a problem dissolving as my state changed. Now that happens almost daily. And has for about 34 years.
How is that possible? I have replaced assaulting problems with entering an altered state through meditation, or sometimes dance, or singing. It is almost the opposite of thinking. One could call it ‘allowing’, or ‘letting go’, or ‘stilling the mind’. This is not New Age stuff, it is an ancient science and technology of the mind that has been handed down for ages.
Learning to trust the inner spaciousness as a remedy for even modern problems has helped me become a better person, a more reliable friend, and a stronger support for others.
— Helen
For one of the best books on meditation look for Meditation for the Love of It
by Sally Kempton.
Sally says, “The meditation that will work is the meditation that you will do.”
This is the friend I most often walk with. (Yes, I know that should read “with whom I most often walk”) My hair is a lot longer now. His is about the same. Today I noticed something about myself and the walking routine. When I’m with him I focus on where he’s headed, how hard he’s pulling, and if I’m about to be pulled over on my face. (It’s a good test of bone density, but I don’t like to take it too often.)
After our walk today I decided to go out again on my own to pick a handful of blackberries I had spotted the day before. I didn’t want him along, as berry vines have a way of having their way with anyone who ventures in. But before I even got to the patch, while climbing the hill (well not really a hill, just an incline at most) my focus was all on me. Oh my knee, oh my hip, oh my back.
Without my pal I was all about me. Woe.
Later a friend called and wanted a bit of healing energy sent her way. The call to action opened a inner door for me that said, “Yes! I can do that, I’m so glad you asked.” We laughed about how Looney Tunes the world seems right now. And it was good to laugh. The connection itself was healing for me, and lifted us both up.
We need these connections. Even long distance, even socially distanced we can offer a smile as we pass each other on the path, a word, a song, a little offering of ourselves to another. We’ve learned that even with a mask it’s possible to ‘read’ a smile in the eyes of that person coming along the way. And those eyes, how beautiful they are. My knee feels better.
I learned this song from a most beautiful posting on YouTube which included an invitation to sing this Algonquin Women’s Water Song to and with the waters of the earth. Look here to find it: Sing the Water Song
I was captivated and inspired not only to sing it at the local river here where we live, but also to record it with a personal prayer. I have done so with respect to the originators and to my own First Nations teacher, SiSwinKlae Laurel Boucher of the Coast Salish peoples. In the later tradition we call in all directions that our prayer be heard.
My teacher has added that the Coast Salish peoples call in the directions starting in the East and turning counter-clockwise. Therefore we offer this prayer anew asking for rain to cool the earth and put out the fires. Ah Ho! — updated 9/15/2020
The four-year-old in our lives came to visit last week. As adoring Grandmudders (her word) we take great delight in her insights, energy, and imagination. At the local playground, her swing and mine began to move forward and back together. That prompted us to teach her the word ‘synchrony’, which she dutifully repeated again and again while swinging, climbing, and later while eating pancakes. Synchrony happens.
Synchrony, coexistence, coincidence, concurrence, concurrency – the coming together of things, people, ideas, events, and swings. At such times we experience flow, the flow of that which unites us, that brings life, that fosters connection, and ignites the awareness of unity.
In a healing session, the ability to come into harmony with the client is something we experience on many levels. The room is ordered and decorated with that in mind, we attend to the conversation, the desire of the person who is with us, and to the hidden prompts that arise in the course of the work. All of this allows a resonant atmosphere to emerge and provides a foundation for positive results to happen.
Jenny, one of our esteemed students, shared this link with us recently of just how magical that coming together is in the physical world. May you enjoy this demo of the ebb and flow of synchrony in a pendulum wave. https://youtu.be/JsIgubUjTck
In the Great North-Wet (our neck of the woods) it is actually possible to hike all day and not get wet. We have a kind of misty, drizzle that refreshes without drenching. It is a perfect formula for what the Japanese call Shinrin yoku, a form of nature therapy that has widely reported benefits to body, mind, and spirit. Just today we ventured out on the trail above a beloved river, traipsing through old growth trees, wading through newly unfurled ferns, and passing mushroom communities of several varieties, while avoiding the Devil’s Club – a rather nasty but lovely bush that brings experiences befitting its name. I touched one once. Once was enough.
The forest is always breathing, quite literally creating the oxygen we need for life, but also producing helpful chemistry that we can take in through the breath. These organic compounds have been shown to provide benefits to the immune system, blood pressure, improved sleep, and lower stress levels.
We took note recently of an article in the Journal Science about the ability of the trees in a forest to share through underground connections with other trees, including trees and bushes of different species. They can and do share nutrients such as sugars, and other helpful compounds. No tree stands alone.
We treasure our time in the woods as a source of renewal and wonder, a time to practice connection with nature, and with other souls that walk the path. Nature heals, restores, and revitalizes our existence. It is a treasure beyond compare.
It is a common occurrence in our practice to have a client say, “I’m too sensitive, please fix it.” They want to get rid of their sensitivity, run away from it. It’s a hard-sell to convince them that their sensitivity is in fact a gift, one that helps them navigate the physical, mental, and emotional currents of their world. It is that same sensitivity that allow us a healing facilitators to do our work.
Our sensitivity is a built-in tool for survival, giving us information about the nature of potential threats, dangers, and pitfalls. At the same time it biases our bodies to take action as needed. Our sensory systems take in our surroundings and interpret for us, so that we can avoid pain.
Roadrunner ready to run
Our senses also bring us the beauty of the world, the taste and fragrances of good food, the warmth of camp fires and close friendships, the knowledge of great teachers — in short, many countless blessings. We would be lost without these things.
Sometimes extreme sensitivity includes the inability to tolerate our increasingly polluted environments of both chemical and (dare I say it) man-made electro-smog, such as cell signals, wifi, microwaves, and other sources. The air we breath, the water and food we take in are not the same as they were even a few decades ago. We are living in a different soup these days. These things are not going away, so the body must adapt and we must become more aware of what we need to help ourselves move forward.
It is not likely that we will give up our cell phones, tablets, or computers and live in a tent, though some with extreme sensitivity have to do so. Most of us will soldier on, making some adjustments here and there. I am not writing this on a stone tablet, but I no longer let my microwave oven spew out waves into my home. (The meter went off the dial when I tested it with the door securely shut.) We are more careful about what we eat, choosing less processed, less treated, less sweet, more complex foods.
Added to these measures are the time-honored practices of the spiritual traditions that have informed our lives and that we teach our clients and students – prayer, meditation, chanting, movement, music, mantra, study of the wisdom teachings, time in like-minded community, silence, and practices for clearing the body and mind.
Clearing is a favorite standby and we refine its use everyday as the need arises. For me it means taking the time, many times a day if necessary, to let go of what I may have picked up consciously for unconsciously from the environment, including from other people. We all do this, pick up stuff. Letting go can mean looking out the window at a tree or the horizon and sending anything I no longer need in that direction. (Don’t worry, letting go will not harm the tree or that mountain in the distance.)
I often repeat, “May anything no longer useful to me to dissolve and flow away.” Invoking the 5 elements of the ancient world as a means for clearing is simple and effective – asking earth, water, air, fire, and/or space to remove and transform the dross that has accumulated in my being over time. Movement, a walk, dancing, singing can all come into play as ways to clear.
Let me be clear – your sensitivity is a gift. Be clear and see.
The election is over, and there is much to be healed. Here at Cell-Level Healing that is our life’s work, our passion, and our dedication. We are experiencing a new level of efficacy in our work, and look forward to teaching people what can happen when we take into account both the scientific discoveries and the subtle energies that surround us all.
If you want to heal, if you want to discover you own ability to heal then we are excited about helping you get there. Joyce and Helen have set most of the 2017 teaching schedule up, but there may be a few more adds before long, so stay tuned. You can find the current list here.
Erika is ready and willing to work with you as well. Eriko is onboard. Just click on their names to see more about these amazing practitioners.
Blessings to you and peace. Be kind to yourself and others. Everyone is important.
