Is it really French I'm learning?

I'm am still surprised at times
when I realize that my journey
here, to France, is so much
more than experiencing a foreign
culture and learning a language.

While my  French is improving
with daily study and interaction,
it is another language that is
seeping ever deeper into my bones;
the language of healing.
This language and all the words
inherent within it is not
new for me.

Years ago, while in
my twenties and early thirties,
I lived within a Catholic community
called Madonna House. The community
was situated in  the small village of
Combermere, in southeastern Ontario,
 a rural area where the locals
had to "stone" their fields each spring
before plowing.

madawaska river

.
It was during this time that I began
to experience the language of healing.
Surrounded by the natural beauty of this
rural landscape I was  greeted each day
 by  the magnificent Madawaska river
which wound her way past our shores.

our lady of combermere

While the community was founded
upon Catholic teaching it was the rhythm
of the daily life that began to heal me;
   ~ morning and evening prayer with the community
   ~baking bread in an outdoor Quebec oven or
       climbing high up a ladder and picking apples
    ~weeding in the large gardens
    ~ eating yogurt, and cheese and bread and even
     trout, all produced organically
    ~perking the best cup of coffee over an
     open flame on a frigid, snowy winter morning
     ~and looking up into a starry night,  millions of dots of light
       piercing a jet black sky

Here, in France, "living at the end of
my comfort zone," the language of healing
and her rhythm invites me yet again.

I have discovered Deepak Chopra's
21 day Meditation Challenge.  
You can sign up for free and access the
previous meditations or simply start
from today.
"Through meditation, we can reverse
the effects of accumulated stress and
toxicity.  Meditation takes us into inner
silence, allowing the body to restore
balance and repair itself."  Deepak Chopra, MD

If the thought of closing your eyes and focusing
on your breath while listening to soft
music sends your heart racing than I invite
you to try tapping, an incredibly easy and
fast technique that can help heal physical and
emotional stresses in your life.

"Tapping is a set of techniques which utilize
the body's energy meridian points.   You can
stimulate these meridian points by tapping on
them with your fingertips---literally tapping into your
body's own energy and healing power."  Nick Ortner

And finally, if you want to read about a woman
who knows all about the healing process,
 meet Heather,  a survivor of mesothelioma
cancer, who invites us to "throw your fears into the
fire."