The Mending Wings Healing Practice

I'm including the video below, which is the archetypal story of the Wounded Healer. I
want you to take it to heart, because you who are doing this Practice, are the Wounder
Healers. Starting with you, and then with others, changing the world within, changes us
all. After watching he video, begin your journey into
THE PRACTICE OF HEALING USING THE LINKS BELOW

When I first read the quote, “Suffering is an option,” And now someone is saying
“suffering is optional?” I thought they must be insane! If you have read my
"About Me Page" you can understand why.

What I did find in my 20 plus years of research was how to pull the information
together and create change in my life. From this culmination of wisdom I
developed what I call, "The Mending of Wings Healing Practice."

Of course, this Healing Practice isn’t to be taken in place of Medical or Psychiatric
advice, but rather to work in conjunction with these sciences; the practice is
actually “soul advice.” I've developed a week by week system to instigate
movement towards healing one's soul.

The great thing about the practice is you don't have to do it month by month. You
can start with May, or December, or stay with one part of the practice as long as
you like. Because even if the Practice may create progression in your life, the
Practice is about movement not achievement. The movement will take place in
your weekly practices. It is my hope that the users of this practice will continue it
by using it as model to work out places where they are stuck in their lives.

The Practice echoes the words of Robert Frost when he said, “The only way
around is through.” And the purpose of this practice is to help one take their focus
off their suffering and move forward with their lives by a process of accepting our
pain and transforming it. It comes with the recognition that suffering is just as
much a part of life as joy. The Practice is detailed below.

It is my hope for those who chose to do "The Practice of Healing" that you will
find your own inner Healer, and realize that at this moment the first life you need
to save is your own.

USE THE LINKS TO MOVE THROUGH THE PRACTICE OF HEALING.

JANUARY 1

ASPIRATIONS

Weekly Movement Practices:

INTRODUCTION TO THE MENDING WINGS
HEALING PRACTICE

NEXT TO
ASPIRATIONS

“The Practice of Healing” is based on a monthly and a week by week period. Each
month will contain four aspirations, which will cultivate movement towards
healing. You will also be given a commentary as a guide to the intent of the
particular practice of these weeks with its healing properties and pitfalls. (Notice I
use the word “aspiration.” This will be explained more fully in the “Aspiration”
part of the practice.) How this works:

		Each week will have an aspiration for the practitioner to repeat every
		morning to set the intention of that day.

		As supports you will be given quotes to help you cultivate the week’s
		aspiration. Write down the quote and put in a place where you will see it through out your day and repeat to yourself as necessary in order to train your mind to think differently.

		On the 7th day of the week, it is a day of rest and review. Just relax and
		without judgment see how much you stayed with the practice.

		Model: This week I was able to (name your aspiration.) Breathe in the
		feeling of the ability to stay with that aspiration. Breathe out the wish: May all those who wish to feel (personalize your feeling) sharing this positive feeling with others.

		Then without judgment look at your short-falls. This week I felt
		(personalize the painful which pertains to the aspiration feeling). Breathe in your painful emotion and breathe out the wish: May all those who feel (name negative emotion) be spared from this suffering.

		You don’t necessarily have to use the words written here. It is most
		important that you recognize your feelings positive or negative and let them go with the knowledge that everyone feels these types of emotions.

		The movement in this is not to hold on to these feelings allowing them
		to harden in your heart. I go into this in more detail in the monthly practices.

THE THREE M’S:

Please remember these words when dealing with the healing of your soul
"Although, the world is full of suffering;
It is also full of overcoming."
~ Helen Keller~

		MEDITATION: Man I loved transcendental meditation. I was lifted so high I
		felt as if I could almost taste the nectar of heaven. But when I came back to earth, I found myself still walking through a cesspool of self denigrating thoughts. One doesn’t have to give up transcendental meditation in order to do this practice, but if one truly wants to heal oneself, Mindfulness Meditation is the most helpful way. Instead of rising above your mind- sewage, you are called to put your hip boots on and wade through it. This form of meditation is transformative, because it helps one to actually see the thoughts which are adding to their suffering. For this practice it really doesn’ t matter if you do it 10 minutes or an hour. However, I would recommend no less than 15 minutes per day. So you can get a true sense of how your mind is working.

		First get comfortable, take three deep breaths in and out and visualize
		something vast, like the sky, the ocean, giving one the sense of openness.

		Then begin to slowly breathe in and out, trying to keep your focus on
		your breath. As you breath let your mind flow. (Emptying the mind isn’ t necessarily the goal of this meditation; more importantly one should pay attention to what ever thoughts arise.)

		As thoughts arise you say to your self the word “thinking,” then you let
		your thoughts go and return your focus to your breath, without struggling against thoughts.

		During the course of the meditation, if you notice a painful thought
		arise, instead of pushing it away you breathe it in fully, feeling the depths of your pain. Stay with the emotion by breathing out and breathing in for as long as possible. This teaches you not to fear your emotions, and empowers you to move through them. When you feel you are ready to move back to the breath, think of something that would help ease this pain, and exhale that wish for yourself and to the whole world. The reason for including the “world” in this process is to bring to mind the recognition that we all experience these types of emotions and that you are not alone.

		For example: If a moment of jealousy arises during your meditation,
		you breathe in this feeling of insecurity and breathe out a feeling of being secure about your abilities to perform. (If you want more in depth information on this practice you can find in a publication by Pema Chodron called the *"Nobel* **Heart.")The reason for doing this meditation practice is to enable one to become mindful of their negative thoughts and transform them into more positive ones. This meditation type of formal meditation practice will help you move into the process of “Mind-Training.”**

		MIND-TRAINING: The truth about the mind can be summed up in a quote
		by John Milton, "The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven." “Mind-Training” simply put means that you train your mind to stop those discursive thoughts and transform your thinking into a more compassionate mind-set. Mind-training is actually similar to Mindfulness Meditation, it is a practice that takes place in post meditation. So, whenever, you find yourself in a situation that brings up strong negative emotions, you can actually stop it by taking in a breath, and label those thoughts by using the word, “thinking,” let that feeling go right on the spot and breathe out a comforting thought, just as you did in the meditative process. I guess one could say it is sort of like counting to 10 with a twist, which will help you to respond to a situation rather than react to it. Let’s face it, the mind will think things whether we like it or not, but it is important to remember just because you think something, doesn’t make it true. You can change your mind at any time, let it go, and move on. However be aware even if you may need to change your reactions to certain situations, you should never repress or deny your feelings about it. You must feel in order to heal, in order to move on.

		MOVEMENT: Movement towards healing the soul is the alchemy of The
		Practice of Healing, because it transforms us from being stuck, or habituated in dysfunctional behaviors into a more open life full of possibilities. Movement is an outflow of “Meditation and Mind-Training.” Movement accepts that each day comes with its own potential. There will be some days you will float through your day feeling contentment, and other days you will have to put your trudge through a river of stressful situations. Movement is a constant letting go thereby freeing us from our self imposed cage of limitedness, giving us the wings we need to be a limitless soul. Through this practice you will come to the recognition that nothing is as solid or as permanent as we think; life is actually more fluid, more open. As you start to move, you will realize that the main thing that is holding you back from your potential is how you perceive yourself and life in general.