Writing
poetry became a powerful source of healing…
It
was the Saturday of our next to last weekend of teacher training. Our teacher,
David Vendetti, led us through an intense breath work session to strip away our
defenses and our ego and help us tap into our Source, our Strength and the
Truth of our Being. As we sat in our tribal circle after the breath work,
David asked if anyone had anything to share. I raised my hand and he called on
me. "I feel as though I was broken into wholeness." "Ooh,
say more," he said.
I
sobbed deeply from the depths of my soul. During the breath work I became
keenly aware of how numb I was and how close I was to a spiritual and hence
physical death in December of 2006 when my body basically shut down in the
guise of post polio syndrome, a progressive neurological disease.
The
dis-ease was in large part a result of disconnecting from my Spirit - the life
force within me.
My
Spirit went into hiding as a result of paralytic polio followed by 9 years of
unrelenting trauma at the hands of an alcoholic father and neglect from a drug-addicted
mother. But what's important here is not that it happened but that I found my
way back through KMI Body work with David and now another amazing healer,
Joseph Welch, LMT; my yoga practice, meditation and my Spirit's incredible will
and desire to not only survive but thrive!
My
pen became my divining rod to allow my Spirit to run free!
I found it did this even in the early
days of my body being confined in a leg brace and wheelchair. Ever since
February of 2007, poetry has been the vehicle through which my Spirit speaks
her Truth.
At
4 am on Sunday morning I woke up and thankful for the moment before me this poem flowed out of me --
There Comes a Moment
There comes a moment
a culmination of
moments really
when Truth becomes
stronger than fear
when heart breaks
open into wholeness
and the power of
love crushes all that went before.
There comes a moment
when the soul and heart's desire
becomes crystal
clear
and you lovingly hit
yourself on the forehead
why didn't I see
this before?
There comes a moment
when the old ways no longer serve
and you realize
you cannot possibly
serve two masters
the two masters
being fear and love.
There comes a moment
when playing small
and staying in the
'comfort zone'
becomes intolerable
when passion burns
so brightly
lies are consumed in
its flames.
There comes a moment
when you wake up
to the magnificence
of who you really are
and tears of joy,
relief and release
like an ocean wave
on a hot summer's day
bathe you in the
waters of rebirth.
There comes a moment
and that moment is now.
~
~This poem is from my Songs of Freedom:
Mary McManus poet, blogger, and yogini left her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 to heal her own life. During the dark night of her soul she began to express herself through poetry. Her pen became a divining rod for light, love, hope, possibility, health and wholeness. She began her journey of transformation and healing which took her to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and, in 2011, to her yoga mat. Mary holds a BS in Public Relations from Boston University and an MSW from Boston College. In January 2013 she will be a graduate of South Boston Yoga's 200 hour Body Awakening Teacher Training Program. Be sure to visit her website here and follow her inspirational blog here To hear Mary read selections from “Songs of Freedom:Poems From a Healing Odyssey” visit her youtube channel here. Mary's books of poetry are available on Amazon here.
~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~
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