Our
Spiritual Health
A Journey Inward,
a Journey Home
by Jayne Peterson
Several years ago, my younger children,
Dylan and Blythe, and I were enjoying the spring flowers
and colorful hanging baskets at one of our local
nurseries. While walking to our car, Blythe, age
3, ran across a busy parking lot and just missed being
hit by a car. Trying to remain calm, I gave her
the necessary safety lecture. Dylan, being the
older brother, age 4, apparently felt the need to expand
on my lecture. With tremendous seriousness, Dylan
said to Blythe, "Do you want to die, Blythe? When
we live here on earth, God lives in us, but when we die,
we live in God!" Children are such incredible
teachers. I was astounded at Dylan's
conceptualization of our relationship to God. The
imagery it evoked for me of my innate connectedness with
the Divine remains very present with me to this day.
I was raised in the protestant
fundamentalist tradition and, even as a very young
child, I can recall feeling disconnected from the
teachings I was given. As a young adult, I went
many years avoiding any exploration of religion or
spirituality. As often happens with young
families, John and I desired to resume attending church.
We settled on Suquamish UCC. The openness that
this spiritual community provided in those first years
created a safe place for me to explore my beliefs,
values, and spiritual connections.
All I had ever known was a judgmental
male God, and I was angry with this God. Under the
guidance of Reverend Robin Reid and the Women's
spirituality group, I learned about alternate images of
God. This was a trying time for me personally as I
battled depression, explored the consequences of being
raised in an alcoholic family, and tried to keep it
together enough to be a wife, mother, and continue
working as a nurse. I spent many years searching
for healing outside of myself with little resolution.
I was fortunate to have the support of several wise
women from the church and my women's support group.
I discovered the practice of moving
meditation via the 5 Rhythms Dance, developed by
Gabrielle Roth, just at the time I felt all "talked
out." The dance facilitates the integration of the
physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of
myself. The practice of the dance is to "get out
of one's head" and to let the body speak. I have
had many "a ha!" moments while dancing. A very
profound awareness occurred while dancing with my
teenage daughter Amber. Our relationship during
those years was very strained. The exercise in the
dance session was to dance with a partner, being totally
present with that person while simultaneously keeping
complete awareness on yourself. Within second, I
was mirroring every move that Amber made. I had
completely abandoned my own dance. This "a ha!"
moment helped me to see through the actions of my body
how I was totally giving my power to her, abandoning
myself, and then feeling resentful and angry toward her.
To this day, the meditative dance practice is key to
maintaining my sanity and spiritual connection.
Reflecting on these past years and my
spiritual journey, I see the development of a very solid
spiritual connection that guides me today in all that I
do. The most profound change for me spiritually is
the shift from an external connection with the Divine,
God being a presence outside of myself, to an internal
connection with the Divine, God being a presence
completely intertwined within every cell and every
breath of my being. Coinciding with this
shift is the transition of my own identity, from a
persona of victim-hood to a belief in individual choice
and the ability to create our own realities. This
spiritual shift that has so greatly impacted my personal
life is also affecting my professional life.
Having been a register nurse for 20
years now, I am well indoctrinated in the traditions of
western medicine, which tend to minimize the mind/body
connection to illness. This is changing, however,
as research in the field of mind/body medicine, also
known as psychoneuro-immunology, increases. My views
professionally have progressed to a more holistic view
of health and illness, with a strong emphasis on the
internal versus external influences on our health.
Our bodies have a miraculous ability for regeneration,
growth, and healing, and individually we have the
ability to access and influence our natural capacity for
healing. My changing professional philosophy has
led me to obtain certification in the use of guided and
integrative imagery for healthcare. I am currently
developing a private practice in this field, utilizing
imagery techniques for relaxation and stress management,
accessing inner wisdom and resources, coping with
chronic illness, pain and symptom relief, and
preparation for surgical or medical procedures.
Imagery, a natural thought process that creates a bridge
between the conscious and subconscious mind, is a
powerful tool that was can utilize to influence the
internal pharmacy of our body and create change.
I have come to understand fully what
Dylan many years ago was expressing, and this belief
resides wholeheartedly inside me. "To heal" is
linguistically related to the word "whole," which is
related to the words "holy" and "sacred." I
believe that health, or wholeness, occurs as we
recognize our innate, divine connection with God.
Here on earth, God resides within us. The Divine
is not external.
To learn more about
guided/integrative imagery, Jayne can be reached at
360-297-0029 or 360-620-4460. Brochures for her
imagery practice, September Grass Imagery, are available
at the church office or in Stuart Hall.
For information regarding the 5
Rhythms Dance, contact Christine Havens at 206-842-8130.
