 “The heart is an organ of fire.” ~Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient The limbic brain, the seat of our emotions and learning as human beings, can be destroyed by unhealed trauma. Ancient Christian mystics, often called the desert fathers and desert mothers, referred to this brain as the heart brain. Our emotional world, governed by the limbic brain, can feel like a fire that is raging out of control. Some trauma survivors are affected oppositely—they become shut off to feeling altogether. Often we shut ourselves off from emotion by choice, afraid of what feeling them might do to us. Our emotional world and other matters of the heart are much like a fireplace that keeps a cabin warm. If the fire rages, it can burn the cabin down. If the fire dies, the cabin goes cold. Recovery teaches us how to keep the fire in balance—properly tended to create for us a beautiful warmth. Invitation: Interlace your hands together and place them over your heart. If directly touching your body feels too activating, you may hover this cross-fingered gesture a few inches away from your heart. Spend 3-5 minutes in this position and listen to what messages your heart—and the emotional world it represents—may be giving you today. Prayer or Intention: May the emotional fire of my heart create warmth—not destruction—today and on the path ahead. Excerpt from the forthcoming, Trauma and the 12 Steps Daily Meditation Reader, releasing on September 30, 2020 from Creative Mindfulness Media Photograph & Meme by Dr. Jamie Marich
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Dear Friends
Do not fall back asleep Although the days are short And the night is long. Do not fall back asleep If your heart still beats for humanity I beg you. Go find your kindling Reignite the flame within your heart. Do not fall back asleep Remember 401 years of terror for Black Lives. Reaffirm your commitment to justice Do not fall back asleep Remember we still can’t breathe - even though we find a way to keep smiling, laughing, drumming, crying, working, marching Do not fall back asleep For me and mine there is no option We can not step out of our Black skin and take a day off. There is no day off. Our ancestral melanated garment calls us to action everyday. Do not fall back asleep My dear Ally There can be no peace in our land if the blood of Black people continues to flow through the streets. Stay awake Do not fall back asleep. Poetry and photography by Dr. Kellie Kirksey  If you can’t handle me in three or more dimensions You don’t get to have me in two You one dimensional fool If you can’t digest my substance and my messiness Seeing only the perfect image you behold You won’t get any of me, not anymore If you can’t treat me with the respect You would want any man to show your most sensitive daughter I withdraw any respect I ever held for you If you keep putting me on hold when you were Once so eager for me to answer the phone This fantasy of ours will cease to be reality Poetry by Jamie Marich
Mixed Media by Jamie Marich based on a photograph by Michael Gargano  I love you with an old-fashioned heart
Maybe the leftovers of another lifetime My God, loving you was easier then In this time, in this place I am just another misfit with an Old-fashioned heart and an even Older soul who hopes we can one day Find ourselves on the same page of Our tattered storybook A single tear runs down my face Smearing the ink off my lonely page Soon there will be an empty canvas And I do not know what will be created A solo piece, or a call and response For now, the not knowing must be enough Photography of Jamie by Ellen DeCarlo (2004)  The earth and sky are one
Just as Jesus and Hanuman are One How could one ever go back to sleep After being this awakened? How could anyone hear their name Shouted in anger again When they've finally heard it Whispered with such love. The earth and sky are one Just as Jesus and Hanuman are One The truth finally found me May I never get lost again Photography (of Jamie) by Ola Sobanski  Jack's NestEgg Diner (Warren, OH) July 2018  In the supreme quiet of morning
I can just be Sitting on the deck Surveying the landscape Both internal and external It's good to have land Especially when I can walk on it As myself Breathing fully into The possibilities of each day The water neutralizes The fire within me And I swim freely Refreshed and renewed Returning to sit once again How sweet it is to be home My anchor, my ground My renewal and hibernation The wayward come and go Filling my space with delight My home lives and breathes Ebbs and flows like the seasons The common thread is Profound gratitude for having Learned to come home to myself.  My strength
the flow of my creativity the power of sensuality the channel of divine Grace Thank you, my sweet hips For expelling the demons from my sacred body Even when I felt pain from your struggle I know with a scared certainty You have never once abandoned me And as I access your precious energy Your dances will lead me home Steadfast, to the authentic joy that I am. Poetry by Jamie Marich, featuring of photograph of Jamie by Lauren Bergamo  Warmest water, balm to my body
Salty sensations, purify my soul I dance in the waves at sunset Giving my burdens to the sea How could I ever leave this place? The convergence is perfection The ancient peoples knew this truth And now I am learning I want to swim in the waters forever And yet my sacred duty is to emerge From this ocean restored, revived To carry this medicine to my native land
Buy your own roses
Light your own fire Go out, ignite this bleak world |
Dr. Jamie MarichCurator of the Dancing Mindfulness expressive arts blog: a celebration of mindfully-inspired, multi-modal creativity Archives
September 2022
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Dancing Mindfulness/The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an organizational member of the International Association of Expressive Arts Therapists, the Dance First Association, and NALGAP: The Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Addiction Professionals and Their Allies; Dancing Mindfulness proudly partners with The Breathe Network and Y12SR: The Yoga of 12-Step Recovery in our shared missions.
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