The Calling Of A Body In Need Of Surgery

Hi there!

My name is Corine.

I am an anesthesiologist and a meditator.

I am so honored to have you here.

Thank you so much for letting me help you on this journey into surgery.

Having any kind of sickness is something that nobody desires and if your path to cure involves a surgical procedure,

Well,

That may be even more challenging.

What I'm willing to point out today is that in life,

When we are faced with difficult moments like these,

We have two choices.

Or we succumb to grief,

Anxiety,

And suffering.

Or we use the experience to grow.

The choice is within you.

You do have the tools,

You know.

Maybe they just need a little polish and adjustment,

But they are there inside you,

Just waiting to be used.

When I say grow,

There are many possibilities,

But today I want you to really look at your physical body.

This sacred,

Beautiful body that your soul got as a gift for this journey on planet earth.

We tend to understand our bodies as if they were almost like robots,

Don't we?

As if we were formed by trillions of cells,

Compacted in the form of organs and systems,

Where chemical,

Physical,

And biological reactions occur 24 hours a day,

Just like a modern factory.

All covered up by our skin.

This layer of epithelial cells that we imagine separates and isolates our system from everything that is happening on the outside.

We are taught that an illness is the result of a malfunction of one or more of these systems.

We are given medications to fix the chemical imbalances,

And when that is not enough,

Or maybe not the case,

Our bodies need to be opened up and mechanically repaired by human hands,

Or modernly even by robot hands.

We are also taught that our genes are responsible for all of our diseases,

And that we have little to do about that besides becoming resilient and accepting our fate.

Well,

In my experience and what has been discovered by studies over the last years,

This is not true at all.

First of all,

We do not resemble even closely to robots.

Within my 24 years of experience as a physician,

What I realize more every single day is that medicine,

As a knowledge,

Is far away from being an exact science.

Each and every one of us is a unique combination,

Not only of genes,

But of physical elements.

In Ayurveda,

We understand that these five elements are earth,

Water,

Fire,

Movement,

And space,

The same elements that form our whole entire universe.

And this exact perfect uniqueness is what's responsible for making our health needs and reactions to illnesses appear in so many different ways.

Second of all,

We are not isolated from everything that is outside of our skin.

Every reaction,

Chemical or physical,

That goes on inside is highly influenced by the sunlight,

The moonlight,

Cold winters,

Hot summers,

Dry days,

Rainy days,

Even windy days,

Calm environments,

Busy agitated surroundings,

Sad and scary spaces,

Situations,

And other people's energy.

We are in constant interaction with all our environment.

We are our environment.

The way that we maintain ourselves healthy is when we understand that and permit the flow of life to run within us in synchronicity with the world outside.

We are not robots.

We are human creatures that need to adjust to our surroundings,

Just like every other living creature on this planet.

The problem is that we built a society that totally ignores that.

We invented clocks,

Became slaves of their TikToks,

And stopped minding the sunrise and the sunset.

We invented long corporate working hours,

Ignoring our need for rest.

We decided that the same kind of diet will work for everyone,

Independent of their metabolic constitution.

And we also decided that eight hours is the magical number to sleep,

Independent of the time we go to bed.

And we agree to exercise as if we were soldiers preparing for war,

And anything less does not have any value.

No pain,

No gain,

Right?

Oh,

That's so wrong.

The alarming truth is that over the past years,

There has been an exponential rise in the number of what we call non-transmissible chronic diseases.

What exactly are these?

Diabetes,

Hypertension,

Heart diseases,

Obesity,

All kinds of gastrointestinal disorders,

And even cancer.

Many of these are the triggers of other problems that will require surgical intervention.

I will tell you one more thing.

None of these illnesses just magically appear in our bodies from night to day.

We ourselves seed them and cultivate them,

So they grow silently,

Just as some plants grow their roots underground for a long time before appearing on the surface.

We do that through our everyday choices.

But our bodies are so intelligent that they send us signals as if they were whispers of the universe that something is not going right.

Usually,

These signals are so subtle that we may not even perceive them,

Certainly not while we are so caught up living our busy lives.

These signs and symptoms are hard even for us physicians to put under a label of a clear diagnosis.

Most of them are there way before a disease appears.

They may be so slight that we may not even know how to describe them.

We just don't feel well.

My point is that we need to listen to our body.

And if you have to go through a surgery,

This can be a precious time.

Life is forcing you to stop even for just a brief moment and open up,

Literally,

To look inside.

Your body is desperately calling you.

It's time to hear it.

Okay,

Let's go into our meditation now.

Find a comfortable position and do all those little adjustments you need to feel relaxed.

Gently close your eyes.

We are going on a small journey inwards.

Let's take a deep,

Slow breath together,

Breathing in and slowly breathing out.

Imagine yourself inside your pulsating heart as if it were a bank of a river.

Take this place to your attention.

Feel its energy.

Feel the pulse of life with each beat of your heart.

So rhythmic and strong,

Yet smooth and gentle.

From this place,

Energy is sent to every cell of your body.

To this place comes everything that your body does not need anymore.

It is a cyclic flow of pure existence.

Now,

You look around and see a small boat.

You get on it and realize that there are no rows.

So you just let yourself go to where your beating heart is sending you.

To the place of your body that is needing your attention at this moment.

Go on,

Dear one.

Don't be afraid.

You're safe here.

When you arrive,

You get off the boat and barefooted walk on the bank of soft,

Warm sand.

You keep walking until you approach a cushion.

You sit down and start hearing a sweet voice coming from nearby.

Hey there,

Can you hear me?

It's been a long time since I've been trying to speak.

I want you to know that I love you so much.

The only purpose of my existence is to serve you.

When you came here to this planet,

It was because you desired to have a family.

It was because you desired to have a physical experience.

I was so so happy and honored when I was chosen by you to support you on this journey.

I do only my best so that you get to have this incredible experience.

But I do not have the power to work on my own.

We are a team,

Remember?

In order to do everything that I am made to do,

I depend on the energy and the love that you give me.

The energy that comes from everything that you decide to eat.

We,

Your cells,

Depend on the nutrients that come from all of the foods that are taken in.

We're not picky.

What we need is so simple.

Just food that Mother Nature so kindly provides.

What have you been giving to us?

I am so sorry,

But sometimes we get confused and do not know how to use some of the molecules that are coming to us.

We end up not using them and they accumulate around here.

We,

Your cells,

Depend on the vital energy that is taken in with every breath that you take.

You cannot imagine how much we get energized when you breathe fresh air,

When you listen to nice sounds,

When you look at nature,

Or when your skin feels the warmth of a hug.

When you are far away from these things,

We miss them so much and can't accomplish our tasks as we need to do.

When you do not sleep well,

We feel exhausted.

When you don't take us to exercise,

We become stagnant and lazy.

If your mind is occupied with worries,

Pain,

Stress,

All of that energy comes right at our door.

We politely let them all in,

But they surely make a bit of a mess around here.

My dear one,

I have been trying to send signals to you for quite a while.

Have you received them?

We need your attention.

We need your love and support.

Without some changes,

We will not be able to maintain you healthy no matter how hard we try.

Please,

After all,

We are in this together.

We do not exist without you,

And you will not exist without us.

We love you so much.

We are here for you.

Please,

Be here for us too.

That voice softly fades away,

And you know that it is time to get back to your boat.

But as you look down,

You see a package with your name on it laying on the sand.

Just next to you.

On it,

There are instructions that it should be opened when this little trip comes to an end.

So,

You hold the present gently within your hands and go back to the boat.

Without any effort,

You feel the soothing gentle flow of your river taking you back to your heart.

And as you sit there,

Inside your heart,

The package opens up and you see a beautiful object.

It is something that is very,

Very important to you.

Something that will always remind you to connect to your body.

It can be a flower,

A statue,

A photograph,

Anything that has a special meaning for you.

What do you see?

Maybe it is simple energy that you can feel deeply inside.

Take it.

It's yours.

Okay,

Let's take one more slow,

Deep breath together.

Breathing in.

Letting it all go.

If you feel like it,

Please take your hands to your heart.

Feel the pulsation of the river of life that flows within.

Feel the love.

This is your body.

The sacred temple that is only yours throughout this whole journey.

Slowly open your eyes and come back to where you are.

If you feel like taking this meditation to a more practical level,

I do encourage you to actually seek and place this gift someplace where you can contemplate as a reminder to get more connected to your body.

How was this meditation for you?

What did you feel?

I would love to know how this experience was for you.

Please share any thoughts,

Feelings or even doubts that might have come up.

I will answer them with all my love.

Hoping to see you soon.

Namastubhyam.