per·i·pa·tet·ic
ˌperēpəˈtedik/
adjective
  1. 1.
    traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods.
    "the peripatetic nature of military life"
    synonyms:nomadic, itinerant, traveling, wandering, roving, roaming, migrant,migratory, unsettled
    "I could never get used to her peripatetic lifestyle"
  2. 2.
    Aristotelian.
noun
  1. 1.
    a person who travels from place to place.
  2. 2.
    an Aristotelian philosopher.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Mittwoch Reflections--Becoming Centered


Last week in massage school I learned that the most effective massage results from becoming and remaining centered (grounded) on the client from the beginning to the end of the session. Some therapists begin a massage by placing one hand on the (prone) client's sacrum and one hand on the upper back, then gently rocking the client's body back and forth while meditating on delivering a positive flow of energy. I like to consider the action and meditation a form of healing prayer.


After only two weeks apart, hubby and I decided to meet halfway in Decatur, Alabama. Can you blame me for missing him? He sure knows how to have fun, even at a botanical garden. The one we visited is in Huntsville, and I'm thinking it might just replace Bellingrath as my pick for the Jewel of the South.

I was impressed with not only the overall design of the garden, which included many water features, but also the strategic placement of lovely potted arrangements.

Even the simplest of plants, like this butterfly weed, seem to have power that centers on healing. Asclepius takes its name from the ancient Greek physician and god who supposedly initiated the medical profession and whose staff and snake remain an enduring symbol of that profession. According to one website, Diamon Naturals, this native of North America is not only edible but also has medicinal properties, as well as playing host to the monarch caterpillar and providing nectar for the tiger and black swallowtail butterflies. Perhaps its most interesting attribute is its reputation for curing "love addiction." Apparently, its essence promotes commitment to long-term relationships when the first stirrings of love appear to evaporate into thin air and vanish with the passage of time.

7 comments:

  1. Botanical Gardens are great places to visit, Walk2Write - and finding a previously unknown gem must have been fun. How appropriate that your reunion with your husband included such a lovely stand of the faithful Asclepias... nice story!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  2. The photographs are great and it' s a good completion to the text of the massage school. I love Botanical Gardens and wish to spend some time in such a garden very soon.

    Have a good time Wurzerl

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  3. I'm glad that you enjoyed the story, Annie. I enjoyed the visit with my husband as well as the time spent capturing what it meant to both of us.

    Wurzerl, thank you. I hope you can visit a botanical garden as lovely as the one we went to in Alabama. I would love to read your impressions and see your photographs too.

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  4. I always enjoy visiting a botanical garden wherever I might travel; it's interesting to see different native plants.
    Thanks for the info on the butterfly weed--I ordered some this spring, but never knew much about it, other than the obvious attraction to butterflies. They certainly didn't mention its "love addiction" cure in the catalog! :)

    By the way, in case you don't have time to get back to an earlier post of mine, thanks for the comment on the farming situation here. I certainly understand your feelings about corporate farms and their misuse of government money. Most of the farms in our area are still family-owned farms, but the number of farmers is fewer and fewer as each one acquires more acreage in order to make some profit.

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  5. Thanks, Rose, for stopping by. I didn't mean to sound spiteful about the farmers. I know that it is a stressful occupation and that many farmers do not have the resources available to them like some do. I'm not against those small businesses receiving special consideration as long as every small business has the same opportunity. We used to own a small business, and when things got rough for us because of work drying up or more competition flooding the market, well, it was tough luck for us. We had to just do the best we could and hope things would get better. And they did, thankfully. I hope your rain situation gets better too. I wish there was a way you could send the clouds our way. We are parched here in Pensacola!

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  6. I hit the Atlanta Botanical Garden the other day, thanks for cattle prodding and making me upload my pics.. Don't you love botanical gardens I do..

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  7. I'm glad I could be of service, DF. I would rather take pictures of other gardens I visit than of my own. I tend to get weeds, bug-eaten leaves, and other unsightly things into my pictures at home. Plus, I feel a little conspicuous snapping photos of the same things over and over. The neighbors (who don't know about the blog) probably think I'm nuts.

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