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| Water/pastel on paper/Cathy Barney |
Wasn't that the first word Helen Keller signed to her teacher, Anne Sullivan? The wonderful cool gush from the backyard pump prompted her to want to know what it was by name.
Water sparks the same reaction in me.
One of the recent gifts in my life has been the closing of the pool at my local gym for a couple of weeks for maintenance. Of course, I didn't initially see it as a gift. I was bent on finding somewhere else to swim because I knew I'd sink otherwise. I started goggling what other area gyms had pools, if they offered short-term memberships and considering my best option.
Then it hit, they all included some sort of trial by potential members for free, so I started making the rounds. First off was the most spa-like and the one I could least afford at three times the price of my current membership, which was about to expire. Ohhh, but it was wonderful. I could show up with nothing but my suit and everything (unlimited towels, shampoo, conditioner, soap and lotion) was supplied, including lap and warm-water pools, sauna, steam room, a luxurious locker room and free coffee. Next was an older, smaller and somewhat-aging facility with a more hotel-sized pool. Finally, an urban gym with a younger crowd, but a gleaming pool hardly used, steam room and sauna.
I received from one-day to one-month free trials at each of these. Of course, I had to endure the sales pitch over and over. Got to be a game with the manager at the urban gym; he knew I wasn't going to join and I knew that he knew.
Today, I went for the last time, even though my gym's pool has been open several weeks. I was lured by the empty pool and the heavenly steam room. All of that happening in the glorious water. It's enough to make the pain melt away if even temporarily. After a brisk swim and stretching, I lingered longer than usual in the steam, soaking up every morsel. I sat in lotus position, deeply inhaling and feeling the layers in me shift ... as if the steam had a healing life of its own. Then I lay down and felt the moist warmth invade my sacrum and lower back. Yummy. I took a hot shower and dried off in the sauna. I was going to make the most out of this last experience.
What is it about the water that speaks to me? It's aliveness? It's healing ability? The fact it renders one close to weightless? Or that it's 11 times denser than air, so is a great strengthener without risk of injury?
My recent astrological report said, for me, water and spirituality are connected. That did not come as a surprise. Often, as I tick off laps, I pray ... well, after burning off the stuff on my mind. It's as if I feel God's loving tentacles gently holding me, yet allowing me to move freely and make choices.
Here, nothing is a burden.
• How does water speak to me?
• What else has that effect on me?
• Where and how do I receive healing?
• Where do I experience Spirit?
• Where do I feel the balance of being gently held and free?
that initial plunge
is so worth it
almost all weight
removed
and I feel strangely
freed, but also held
free to work through
whatever, but held
close enough so as not
to drown
breathing deeply
dipping my head under
propelling myself as I
can nowhere else
I feel the energy
I receive it
expend it
thrive on it
and also
pray that it's
healing properties
are there for the next
soul
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