Got a chuckle recently when I read my horoscope. It reminded me that “it is almost impossible for me to hide my originality or conform to status quo since I’m not meant to color inside the lines, and to just go ahead & be my most authentic self”. I got such a tickle from that one, and yelled “Amen, amen, amen!!!” while high-fiving Great Spirit. It was almost as if Source-Universe had shouted loudly to the world that this girl is perfectly fine and wonderful, and had given me permission to just BE me – no apologies, no explanations, no “wisha-woulda-coulda-shoulda”. Reading that made me remember all the times I felt I was different from the rest, that I didn’t belong – didn’t just quite fit.... misunderstood. I had struggled to be my authentic Self, hiding my gifts and God-given talents from the world. My ancestral family had supported me through my growing up years, taught me the ways of Nature and of Spirit. I had walked with Great-Granny through thick bushes, praying to unseen Spirit, picking herbs that would serve as medicine for those who couldn’t afford to see the Western doctors. Now with Granny being long deceased, and me having to immigrate to the concrete jungles of Brooklyn, those ways were forced to be tucked back into the recesses of my mind, as city folks never understood how I knew that scorched pepper leaf cured boils. Or how “Spirit” just walked in. Or how I would know that the aura around them was a little muddy. Or how it was going to rain because the birds congregated on the electric wires that ran overhead. Yup; I hid my talents - my Light- under a bushel, even though the Bible counsels us not to (Matthew 5:14-16).
Yet it was the journey from Critical Care nurse (more than ½ my adult years!) to Acupuncture Physician that cemented in me the confidence to BE ME. Although the gap is narrowing, there still remains a disparity between Western & Eastern medicine, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. There is no competition and no substitute; I prefer to call this approach Complementary Medicine versus Alternative Care. The ways of the Ancient ones led to the “discovery” of our medicines. Digitalis, for instance, came from the foxglove plant. Aspirin came about because of willow bark extract. (We even have an “aspirin point” – UB60 – in acupuncture needling). For me, the common link between these 2 approaches to holistic health care has been my innate ability to sense, work with, and track Energy – a gift that I silently USED to use in ICU nursing, yet openly embrace as a Healing Touch Practitioner and Reiki Master, and now proudly wield as an Acupuncturist. I look to the skies and the stars, to the 5 Elements (Earth, Metal, Water, Wood and Fire), to Great Spirit, and to the forces of Nature all around me, for my inspiration, strength and connection to remind me that it is my duty to be the best Me that only I can be. I can’t be anyone else but me. To do otherwise would be a disservice to Creator, my Granny, my family, and to all I seek to serve. So walking around the park today, I again connect with the world around me, and I “see” Anhinga – wings outstretched, embracing the sun and honoring the morn.
There is much to be learnt from our feathered friends & Anhinga is no exception. Anhinga is an important symbol of faith & spirituality in the Peyote religion, as it symbolically spreads its wings in prayer to the Creator. This 'asana' serves as a reminder for us to open up our Heart chakra, and to be open to the possibilities. Amongst other things, Anhinga teaches us patience – sometimes it’s better to be silent & to calculate all the odds….bide your time, wait until just the right moment to strike, instead of flailing around, wasting energy. I had seen Anhinga before on my morning walks, but today for some reason He really spoke to me. In Anhinga I see myself: I am at my best when the Sun is out and I can warm my Soul while recharging in its energy. When it’s light out, I have to find and face the Sun no matter what time of the day it is. My first time seeing Anhinga, I went home, faced the East on my front lawn, and did my Sun-Salutation series, all the while “being “Anhinga. I too, love the water, and like Anhinga, I stick with the shallower regions, with my neck always just above the surface – connected with Source, as Above…. so Below. Sad to say, this gracious bird has become somewhat of a barometer of how toxic our waterways are as a result of pesticide runoff, and so - like Anhinga - I am reminded always to set intention to release and clear any negative energies that may have settled in my energetic fields throughout the course of the day.
From the elements of Nature that surround us, the elements we take for granted every day, I challenge you today to find that part of Nature that resonates or speaks to your Soul, that calls you to be your “authentic Self”, for it is in that knowing, that honoring, that acknowledging… that we are healed. “To have faith is to have wings” (J.M. Barrie).
Audrey Steele,
Acupuncture Physician, Usui/Mayan Reiki Maser, Certified Healing Touch
Practitioner
Yet it was the journey from Critical Care nurse (more than ½ my adult years!) to Acupuncture Physician that cemented in me the confidence to BE ME. Although the gap is narrowing, there still remains a disparity between Western & Eastern medicine, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. There is no competition and no substitute; I prefer to call this approach Complementary Medicine versus Alternative Care. The ways of the Ancient ones led to the “discovery” of our medicines. Digitalis, for instance, came from the foxglove plant. Aspirin came about because of willow bark extract. (We even have an “aspirin point” – UB60 – in acupuncture needling). For me, the common link between these 2 approaches to holistic health care has been my innate ability to sense, work with, and track Energy – a gift that I silently USED to use in ICU nursing, yet openly embrace as a Healing Touch Practitioner and Reiki Master, and now proudly wield as an Acupuncturist. I look to the skies and the stars, to the 5 Elements (Earth, Metal, Water, Wood and Fire), to Great Spirit, and to the forces of Nature all around me, for my inspiration, strength and connection to remind me that it is my duty to be the best Me that only I can be. I can’t be anyone else but me. To do otherwise would be a disservice to Creator, my Granny, my family, and to all I seek to serve. So walking around the park today, I again connect with the world around me, and I “see” Anhinga – wings outstretched, embracing the sun and honoring the morn.
There is much to be learnt from our feathered friends & Anhinga is no exception. Anhinga is an important symbol of faith & spirituality in the Peyote religion, as it symbolically spreads its wings in prayer to the Creator. This 'asana' serves as a reminder for us to open up our Heart chakra, and to be open to the possibilities. Amongst other things, Anhinga teaches us patience – sometimes it’s better to be silent & to calculate all the odds….bide your time, wait until just the right moment to strike, instead of flailing around, wasting energy. I had seen Anhinga before on my morning walks, but today for some reason He really spoke to me. In Anhinga I see myself: I am at my best when the Sun is out and I can warm my Soul while recharging in its energy. When it’s light out, I have to find and face the Sun no matter what time of the day it is. My first time seeing Anhinga, I went home, faced the East on my front lawn, and did my Sun-Salutation series, all the while “being “Anhinga. I too, love the water, and like Anhinga, I stick with the shallower regions, with my neck always just above the surface – connected with Source, as Above…. so Below. Sad to say, this gracious bird has become somewhat of a barometer of how toxic our waterways are as a result of pesticide runoff, and so - like Anhinga - I am reminded always to set intention to release and clear any negative energies that may have settled in my energetic fields throughout the course of the day.
From the elements of Nature that surround us, the elements we take for granted every day, I challenge you today to find that part of Nature that resonates or speaks to your Soul, that calls you to be your “authentic Self”, for it is in that knowing, that honoring, that acknowledging… that we are healed. “To have faith is to have wings” (J.M. Barrie).
Audrey Steele,
Acupuncture Physician, Usui/Mayan Reiki Maser, Certified Healing Touch
Practitioner
