Presence – A healing lunch

Presence – A healing lunch                                                       Monday 23rd July 2018

I would like to share a special healing experience of presence I had on a recent holiday in Thassos, Greece and hope I will be able to describe it in a way that will do it justice.

When my husband and I went up the mountains in Prinos – Megalo Kazaviti, we came across a beautiful, magical square with an amazing tree in the center of it and a restaurant that had placed tables all around it.

The tree had such a strong presence even though it was compelety hollow inside, or maybe because of it. The center was burned away by a fire and only the outside bark was left and it was still very much alive. I always assumed that the inside of a tree was the most important bit.

 

I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Not only because of its looks, but there seemed a strong force – presence around it. We started to relax and drop as soon as we sat down at our thoroughly chosen table. I kept looking at the tree on my left hand side being in awe of it. Then my husband told me to look to my right. There I saw the most amazing cat. It also had such a strong presence. I instantly thought: “Wow, Yoda incarnated”. It was totally cool, cute and adorable. The menu had clear instructions not to feed the cats and I pointed at the menu showing and telling it that I am not allowed to feed it. It looked at me as if saying in a cat-like way: “I don’t need your food.” I was torn between looking at the tree and the cat, both beaming with a strong presence. We sat between the two and I felt that we were being held by both of them. My husband and I started to drop and relax more and more. In hindsight I was pretty sure the tree and the cat were doing a cranial session on us.

On top of that I chose the most amazing soup for lunch. It was marked as the restaurant’s special and I have learned to trust to go for specials in greek restaurants. It felt like medicine food and was superdelicious. I had never felt such a strong presence in a tree, a cat or anyone or anything else. Well, maybe Yoda. Presence is not always the same. It changes from one moment to the next and maybe we were just there at the right time when it was particularly strong in both of them. To be present and have a strong presence is an important issue in both chi kung and craniosacral therapy. Maybe that’s why I felt that we were getting a cranial session. I feel honoured and grateful that I was able to experience such a special lunch and have such unexpected teachers – a reminder of how it feels to be fully present.

Heike Clarke – www.findstillness.co.uk

Monday 23rd July 2018