All posts by Gina Kleinmartin

health, meditation

Epiphany

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Today is not one of the days in the carol, but it is the final day of the holiday season. Last night was Twelfth Night (which yes, Shakespeare named a play after, and was supposed to be performed on the last night of Christmas)  and we spent it with friends, eating and having a good time.
Today is Epiphany, Three Kings Day, Kings Day, or some other name for it. It’s the day the Kings made it to see Jesus (after following that star). For many people, this is the gift giving holiday. My grandfather used to tell me of leaving straw out for their horses, and they would leave presents in your shoes.

Other children in Italy get presents from La Belfana. She’s basically a witch, and her story is sad, happy and motivational.

As my mother told me, there was an old woman who opened her house to the Magi as they traveled to visit the baby. They invited her to come with them to meet the child as they continued on their journey, but she refused, saying she had too make chores to do. She would catch up to them.
When she had finally caught up, the family had left, and she had missed her chance to give the child presents. As such, she is doomed? blessed? to travel the world giving toys to little children in the hopes of eventually giving them to the child she missed.

This is an adorable story to explain the magical presents to children that also makes them kind to old women, because you never know if this one may be ‘Grandmother Witch’. But there is another lesson, which I could not believe my mother had missed after telling me this tale so often.

It’s don’t spend so much time working you miss the important things in life. I remember how shocked my mother was when I pointed that out to her.

So on this extra day of gifts and food, I will remember Strega Nonna and her eternal quest caused by her inability to simply stop and be in the moment.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. I enjoyed it.

 

 

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health, meditation

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Twelve Drummers Drumming

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This last day of Christmas has me thinking about the drummers, and how important it is to follow a rhythm. For many of us, we spend our time chasing emergencies and urgent things that have to be done right now, leaving us little time to breathe let alone get the things we want to get done, done.

It’s easy to go from emergency to emergency, and then be just so exhausted you want to rest until an emergency forces you back into rush mode. It can be very hard 6to break that cycle, especially if your life is running from emergency to emergency. I have been there, and I understand how hard that can be. But if the issues are coming from a lack of pacing, then that can be controlled.

Taking smaller chunks out of a project can seem like a cop out- are you really cleaning your closet if you only do a two foot stretch? Isn’t it better to dump the whole closet on the bed, then get stuck, then have an emergency pop up and at bedtime through it all back in because you need to not sleep on the pile of clothes?
It’s important to listen to your own psyche. Stop a job before you get overwhelmed because then you will burn out. Find your pace, your rhythm and keep moving forward in a way that allows you off time and a chance to recover, without guilt. Remember, that by over extending yourself, doesn’t actually get more done in the long run.

So when I hear this last gift, I will remember to pace myself and listen to my rhythm.

 

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Forward to Epiphany .

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The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Eleven Pipers Piping

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Finally the musicians have arrived at the party! And it ought to be a great party, with twice as many musicians as dancers.

While thinking about writing these meditations, I found this article and video about seals in a hospital in Cornwall being ‘treated’ with music to calm them. By a ‘piper’, no less.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLZoW75i4pI

The idea is that by listening to the music, the seals would relax and heal faster, without the stress of being confined in a strange area and not feeling well adding to their damage. The experiment worked, and the seals were much happier. I can’t tell, myself, and am trusting their staff when they say that. I do know that as humans, we feel better and energized and more relaxed when listening to music we enjoy as well.

So for this day, I will remember the healing power of music, and to try to include it on my daily life. There are so many times we opt not to listen to music or to merely listen to ‘whatever is on’ without carefully curating it to help us into a better place. We live in an age with so many tools to allow us to find appropriate music to help us, that there is really no excuse not to have a few songs or styles set up for us to turn to when stressed or sick or nostalgic or in need of a lift. Right now for me that’s holiday music we’ve been collecting over the years, and that I will be saying goodbye to very soon.

As much as I love audiobooks and Netflix, I will try to remember that sometimes, old reliable music can be the best to soothe a heart.

 

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