My parents were by no means hippies.  They were very traditional; my legendary dad, hard working, professional, pillar of the community, big network;  my lovely Mumbo, home maker, dress maker, meal maker, baby maker…

 

But they both believed in health and complimentary therapies.  My Dad always promoted playing hard as much as working hard, and by playing he meant sport…   My Mumbo was very health / food conscious, always making wholesome meals from raw ingredients, and on special occasions lashings of butter and cream from her European upbringing.  While my Dad played sports he also did pilates and yoga with my Mumbo.. My Dad still does his stretching routine most days…

 

While they believed in science and medicine, they also promoted the holistic therapies.  My Mum an avid fan of reflexology and they both regularly had kinesiology, something they introduced me to during the stressful exam times of my life.

 

So it is no surprise that I am also open minded to these alternative therapies.

 

Today, I embraced a double.  Reflexology and Reiki by the most wonderful practitioner.  While she works on my feet, finding the knots and pressure points, I drift off and I float somewhere in that beautiful space of unconsciousness before sleep.  And again while she performs Reiki, I allow my mind and thoughts to fly through my mind, creating a tornado that I just watch and let myself be lifted up off the bed until I could no longer feel it, just the warmth of her hands as she found different energy patches around my body.

 

While I find the whole thing wholly uplifting, healing and spiritual, it is always the ‘findings’ of her practice that interest me.  She explains that my stomach is in knots, which is no surprise.  I have learnt my IBS is always triggered by stressful events, rather than food.

 

And Reiki, she explains, while she can see the energy like the heat from a hot runway over my body (so she can redistribute it evenly), she also gets imagess passed from me to her.

 

My heart chakra is grey, but there is green in other areas around my body.  I take that to mean there is still a lot of love in me, just displaced… rather poetically, from my broken heart?

 

The 3^rd eye chakra is in the crown of your head, and represents spirituality as the colour purple.  And I take comfort in I have more than the common amount of purple; I am in touch with my spiritual side and I know that is giving me strength.

 

The image of a big sun appears regularly, and the rays of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds.  It reminds me of the passage I found once when trying to help a friend with depression:  you are the sun and it is the clouds that represent depression; they pass over you, but you are still the sun.  And I take comfort in that too, I know I am the sun, my natural state is ‘sunny’ and I am just hiding behind the clouds for a while… just showing a few people my rays.

 

And the last 3 images: a herd of elephants on my chest and eagles around me.  Both of these representing strength and courage.

 

Reading up on the elephants… is rather interesting with the parallels they highlight.

 

It is the size of the elephants that represents strength and the ‘dream well’ explanation says ‘Elephants then can appear in dreams when we are drawing on great inner reserves of strength.  It may be that we feel there are significant challenges to overcome, or a heavy burden to bear.’

 

As well as strength they are linked to phrases such as ‘the elephant in the room’ – something significant in our lives that we need to address…  and a ‘white elephant’ which is seen as a burden, one that is expensive to keep but even harder to get rid of.…  Interesting.

 

And I love this parable about the elephant…

‘Ultimately, our perception of elephant dreams will reflect our other perceptions of life.  Like the Buddhist parable of the three blind monks who felt a different part of the elephant’s body – one felt the leg and assumed he was touching a tree, another his trunk and thought he held a snake and the third felt the elephants side and believed it be a wall – to really understand the dream we need to look at it in it’s entirety, and not judge it simply by one part.’

A reminder that I need to keep the bigger picture in my mind and not just singular events.

 

So to the eagle…

‘When an eagle appears, you are on notice to be courageous and stretch your limits.  Do not accept the status quo, but rather reach higher and become more than you believe you are capable of.  Look at things from a new, higher perspective.  Be patient with the present; know that the future holds possibilities that you may not yet be able to see.  You are about to take flight….. If an individual has been going through a hard time, eagle not only signals a new beginning, but provides that person with the stamina and resilience to endure the difficulties. If eagle has appeared, it bestows freedom and courage to look ahead. The eagle is symbolic of the importance of honesty and truthful principles.’

 

All of this information, I take so much comfort from.  I can be and I am the heard of elephants; I am going to need to be in order to have the strength to do what I need to do.  And the parable of the elephant and the vision of the eagle remind me I need to take my time to reflect on the whole, not just the recent past or the current moment, nor the future or the longer term past.  I am back to trusting in the Universe, only it knows what the future holds.

 

So to the third image, which she hesitated on telling me as she didn’t understand it’s meaning, because of it’s unusual and persistent appearance during the session.  It was the Eiffel Tower… but upside down.

 

Paris has fallen.  The white elephant gone.

 

Just the sound of the herd of elephants keeping my heart beating strong with the true meaning of courage and the mighty eagle keeping my vision clear and the patience to see it through.