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Welcome to the 177th Carnival of Healing. This is the first time I’m hosting it and have enjoyed collecting the multimedia content presented.

To make the Carnival really fun and valuable, go ahead and visit each of the links, comment on those blogs to join the conversation, and also comment here.

One aspect of blogs that’s missed often is that real value is found in the comments that are sparked by the post itself.

Some of the content is actually in this post, while most of it links out to other blogs.

Make sure you spend time a little further down in this post with David’s The Blessed Discontent and Melanie’s healing energy charged art.

Your comments here would be appreciated in general, but you can also let me know what kind of content you most need, enjoy and would like to see more.

And in true carnival spirit, put on music you like best, make your favorite drink, settle and dive in.

Another way you can deepen this experience is to go back to the content you resonated with most and put it into practice, meditate on it and journal about it.

My collecting, reviewing and presenting of the material here was a considerable amount of work, so I hope it’s rewarding to you and I’d greatly appreciate your feedback.

Thanks also to all who submitted content.

Health tips

Maria Mora gives us detailed information about the many properties of the Helichrysum Species, which range from being antifungal, wound healing, good for muscle spasms and irritable bowel syndrome, to being used for colds, inflammation and allergies.

Edward Sanderson brings us ways to Wave goodbye to frozen shoulder which in Chinese Medicine is called 50 year shoulder because people tend to get it at middle age. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had shoulder pain since my twenties which healed greatly when I started meditating. Ed lists good solutions and links to some others as well.

Brad presents Cold Showers – Whew! including some studies that have been done regarding its benefits.

Julian Pollock presents Why Practise Qigong – for Health, Wellness, and Inner Balance in a simple, accessible piece.

Ross presents Health Benefits of Liquid Chlorophyll, a thorough look with a lot of support.

Healing / Transformation

And now on to some musical musings…musical and transformational. ggw_bach, yes that’s the name, is Bach in sunglasses! He composes classical music for today. You can listen to each piece at the end of posts, like the one he submitted for the Carnival: Step 19 – Regenerating the Core. After you appreciate it, go ahead and browse all the steps.

Here’s a quiet piece that packs a powerful message by Tim Rowe: On Healing. Tim’s post is full of golden nuggets about healing, the path and our place therein. Healers emerge from wounds; their own. He offers much including the basics of A Course in Miracles, synchronicity and projection.

Gina Loree’ Marks has “a strong belief in ‘messengers’.” There’s a quality of self-reflection in her posts that we could all adopt. In Discomfort Creates Awareness, she uses her interaction with a client to create clearer self-awareness and ask probing questions about how we hide from insights discomfort can provide.

Donald presents 10 Essential Tips to Change Your Life, a straightforward look at some cornerstones of change.

Lisis Blackston presents Finding Fulfillment. It’s a unique look at turning Maslow’s pyramid on its head.

Communication / Listening

Those of you who’ve studied Reiki with me, will be familiar with the next entry. Davina’s excellent post uses the simple quality of curiosity to lead to a richer experience and how it can become intuition. How Curious Moments Add Value breaks down ‘active,’ deep listening into three steps and what happens beyond…

Seth Simonds brings us More Than Listening: Being Present. In it he talks about the quality of being present that’s so lacking in many of our interactions: Truly caring about answers to questions you ask, feeling the subtext, and empathy.

Nonviolence

The Laughing Yogini, yes that’s how she is known, brings us Yoga Ethics #1: Ahimsa. This word literally means: a ‘non’ + himsa ‘injury.’ This precept isn’t only for the student of yoga, but for all of us. It’s quite the thorny one to practice and live, and Laughing Yogini provides much food for thought.

Miruh Sanderson comes to nonviolence from a different angle in Peaceful Thoughts. As I said, nonviolence is a thorny subject. I had blogged my thoughts about it back in Nov 08 in this post.

Healing Energy charged art

Moving through blocks

Moving Through Blocks

Melanie A. Stinson has a gift! “In Moving Through Blocks, the intention was to help individuals move through feeling “stuck” or blocked creatively and in any way in which the word applies.”

“The way to use the images is simply to gaze at them and breathe deep and slow as though you are breathing in liquid color and desire to “taste” the image with every fiber of your being. The colors and shapes invite the viewer to participate with the image, and, as in color therapy, the colors also serve to heal, transform, empower, bless, inspire and bring joy.”

Vortex of Creativity

Vortex of Creativity

“Vortex of Creativity, inspired by the Harry Potter books, holds an intention for creativity that I hoped would be as powerful as JK Rowlings’ books have been for readers all over the world.”

“The images have been used to help writers create in ways that extend them in new directions. The art works with the viewer as Reiki does, going where it needs to go. Viewers may notice thoughts, information, sensations, shifts in the body, and feelings that invite them to discover, investigate or move forward in new ways. My continuing intent in creating Reiki-treated and, more recently, CCT (Crystalline Consciousness Technique) conceived art is to share these energy/body-mind-spirit forms with people who might not seek out traditional bodywork forms of energy healing and spiritual growth, which I believe are such a blessing.” Learn more here.

And last but not least by any means, please take time to read David Wodtke’s piece below. David is a soul brother of mine, who I’ve met only on webcam, over the phone and via email. That’s the beauty of souls and technology!

He’s also known as Pine Tree and publishes an excellent ezine of archetypal messages from animal spirits, to which you can subscribe at Earth Service.

The Blessed Discontent

by David Wodtke

“Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory.”
–Tennessee Williams

Part of me feels very sorry. Sorry for myself and sorry for all of the sad people for being born into this miserable life of pain and disappointment. Failure and regret can eat away at your core until you collapse in a heap from exhaustion. But lately I’ve begun to feel oddly thankful for my discontent and to view it as one of life’s greatest blessings. It has been my teacher when I rejected all other guidance. Lately I’ve become grateful for my suffering which leads me in the direction I need to go. I’ve begun to feel a new source of strength and peace.

Of course, I want to be happy as much as you do. I’ve tried many ways to become happier and more peaceful. But all of the temporary pleasures of the world lead sooner or later to disappointment. This is most obvious with drugs and alcohol which seem to dull the pain for a time, but meanwhile weaken the body and will. That counterfeit peace soon causes even greater anxiety mixed with guilt. Other more benign pleasures can leave us feeling empty as well. Seeking happiness in romance, work, or even family can be disheartening. The lover leaves or dies. Work and family life go flat without a sense of inner peace and purpose. Everything in the world betrays us in the end. So what is behind this illusion? Where is the satisfaction that we all seek?

Do you remember a time beyond time when you lost all thoughts to the wonder and beauty around you? As a child I remember many times of great joy with no thought for the past or future. Music and writing take me close to that feeling of nowness. In fact, any time the mind is fully concentrated on one thing all worries vanish and a secret joy bubbles out from the core of being. Each moment is vibrating with sacred promise which can be felt in calmness. It’s only when the mind is scattered with thoughts of something more that worry and restlessness creep in. Where are the bursting joys and dire disappointments of yesterday? And where is tomorrow’s hope and fear of the unknown? All is happening now, the rest is imagined. I take comfort in the fact that the source of eternal love is always with me. I just need to relax and look inside myself to feel the blessing.

Meditation is a source of great peace and joy when the mind is calm. Creation and communion with the inner creator add satisfaction to everyday life by unlocking the heart’s natural love. When you least expect it, the gift comes, slipping in the back door on stocking feet. So when I feel sad or anxious lately I think to myself that it is a blessed discontent calling my mind back to the source of all happiness. Let that fear, worry, sorrow, or even mild apprehension be the trumpet call announcing the presence of the creator, locked in a dream tower of doubt and distraction. The worst mistakes and failures of the past are your greatest blessings. Give thanks for them and the prince charming of inner peace will come with the ladder of forgiveness to release you. Trials are not meant to destroy us, but to awaken us to the inner source of strength and beauty.

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