Sign Up For Our Free Quarterly Publication
         
We respect your privacy. All information is kept confidential.
Subscribe to blog Subscribe via RSS

Healing Touch Blog

Latest news and information from Healing Touch

July 2018 President Communication

Posted by on in President's Update
  • Font size: Larger Smaller
  • Hits: 1865
  • 1 Comment
  • Subscribe to this entry
  • Print
Landscape
 
July 2018 President Monthly Ezine
 
I have been thinking a lot about family for the past few weeks. In June, I visited my family in Virginia for the week following Father's Day. I was pleased to have a week filled with activities with my dad, siblings and in-laws, and my nephews. My biological family is very important to me, and I'm heartened that we've grown closer as the years have passed.
 
My chosen family is just as important to me. For me and many others, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, chosen families often fill the gaps in our needs that biological families are incapable of doing, either consciously or unconsciously. I'm grateful and fortunate to be surrounded by a chosen family of folks far and wide who love me unconditionally and support my personal growth. Many of those individuals are also part of my Healing Touch family. Nowhere is that more evident that in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
 
After my week with my family, I drove further north to observe a Healing Touch course in the Shenandoah Valley as part of my instructor training. The course was taught by Gina Bondurant, who leads the practice group there that I still claim as mine. That community is an extension of my family and continues to support me.
 
Shirley Kirkwood is one of the individuals in that community who holds so much grandmother wisdom. When I was dealing with the aftermath of a personal loss and the ways in which I felt I was being misunderstood and dismissed, she said to me, "I'm always suspicious of people who have the answers to questions they've never been asked." That succinct, truthful wisdom has stuck with me ever since. On the member spotlight page I set up last month, Shirley wrote the following:
 
Joel, I am no longer a member of HBB but am the one responsible for the HT trainings that began here in Rockingham County, [Virginia]. When I was president of the local massage unit, I arranged for HT training for needed CEUs for massage therapists to be held in Harrisonburg. Judy Holt and I started the first practice groups, which continue today. I scheduled and arranged these groups until a few years ago when I asked Gina Bondurant to do that...[she] does a great job with it. I volunteered to provide HT for a seminar [Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR)] that began at Eastern Mennonite University after 9/11 and provides training for persons who have experienced trauma. I can no longer do that work because I have Parkinson's disease and getting up and down to do Scudder [Meridian Clearing] is no longer possible. Pat Cheeks and others volunteer and continue to do that. I volunteered to do Scudder [Meridian Clearing] at the Bridgewater Retirement Community where I now live. Others have now filled in for me. I've given workshops to various women's groups about HT and its benefits. And the practice group has grown because of Gina's trainings. Our numbers are growing and I am so pleased to have been a hand in making this happen.
 
Having just been in Harrisonburg for my first observation as an instructor in training, I loved the fact that I was instantly enveloped into my old community there. I was able to see several of my Healing Touch family members there, and I was struck by the lineage and connections from Shirley, Bill and Louisa Painter, Gina, and others-how we're all connected through this heart-centered practice we all love.
 
Member Spotlight
 
Got a story to share like Shirley's? Let me know! To get a better handle on all of the great things our members are doing so that we can spotlight these activities, I've created this online submission form. If you'd like to share what you're doing in a member spotlight, please use this form to let me know what you're up to! I'll then incorporate these stories into Perspectives in Healing and future ezines, as above, to share with our global community.
 
Quarterly Group Read
 
Our new read for this quarter is Subtle Energy Techniques by Cyndi Dale. Laura Hart recommended this little tome to me last year when we were working on the new textbook. At the time, she said that she had read it three times already. Each time, she learned something new. As we approach our conference in September, it seems like the perfect time to read this book.  
 
Bimonthly Zoom Sessions
 
In June, I had another online Zoom session to provide a space for support, connection, dialogue, and understanding. During the session, the conversation turned to mental and emotional health because we met following the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, who died by suicide. We talked about what we could do as students, practitioners, and instructors of Healing Touch to support patients struggling with depression or other mental health issues. Afterwards, I reached out to a few CHTPs and CHTIs to help me pull together some resources for our community on the topic of mental and emotional health. Stay tuned for that ezine. In the meantime, here is a link to a literature review that Lucrezia Mangione, Diane Swengros, and I wrote on biofield therapies and mental wellbeing that was published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing in November 2017. The article was chosen by the editorial board of the journal as the practice paper of the year for 2017 and has been made freely available.
 
If you would like to participate in future Zoom sessions, you need to sign up so that I can send you the connection information. Follow this link to sign up and get information about the dates and times.
 
Meditation for July
 
Given everything that is happening in the world right now, I thought it might be good to revisit the Tonglen meditation from my February ezine.
 
Tonglen meditation is a gift to others-a gift of compassion, of mercy, of understanding. Roshi Joan Halifax has written about Tonglen here. You can listen to Pema Chodron talk about and guide tonglen on YouTube here. Finally, here is some lovely music for meditating on compassion and releasing fear from Meditative Mind.
 
Become an Evergreen Supporter
 
Join me in becoming an Evergreen Supporter of Healing Beyond Borders in this our 22nd year. I've pledged to support the mission and vision of Healing Beyond Borders through an automatic credit card deduction each month. For more information, including giving levels, visit the store on our website and click on the Evergreen Support tab.
 
Online Store
 
And speaking of our store, have you seen all of the new products in our online store? There are quite a few new resources, supplies, and gifts that can support your learning, practice, and teaching. Profits from the sale of products from our online store directly support Healing Beyond Borders.
 
In light,
Joel G. Anderson, PhD, FGSA, CHTP  
President, Healing Beyond Borders Board of Directors

Comments

  • Tondeley
    Tondeley Friday, 21 September 2018

    Hi Joel, A wee note.I just returned from our National conference in MN. Wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. The Key Note Speakers were excellent and I am really looking forward to revisiting their presentations when I log into the videos and tapes. I have signed up to your zoom session in October and I am hoping I will be able to connect. I am expecting a new grandchild anytime so I may be caught up in all of that. My grandson is 2years old and he says he doesn't want a baby sister, so we may have our hands full! Life happens.
    Your July Update was very heartfelt. You should know that there are many of us who respect you and what you are
    doing in your role as President. I really like that you give us links to so much information. I am not very computer savvy so find these very helpful. Thank you. Tondeley.

    Reply Cancel

Leave your comment

Guest
Guest Thursday, 18 April 2024