Flowing like water

IT FILLS OUR BODIES and encircles the Earth. It can nurture the land or tear it asunder. It is celebrated in rituals that span every era and culture. It sustains life.

"Water contains a unique spiritual energy," says author/healer Maril Crabtree. In her anthology Sacred Waters: Stories of Healing, Cleansing, and Renewal, published by Adams Media, dozens of writers and poets illustrate how revelation, clarity, and joy are part of a profound connection with this essential element of nature.

In her own essay, Crabtree describes a group pilgrimage to a waterfall: "There, gushing over the side of a rocky ledge, is a sheer curtain of water about 10 feet high, flowing into a stone-filled creek. I plunge into the icy curtain, letting the needle-sharp force pour over me from head to toe, [and] I imagine my soul's weary wounds closing, clearing the way for a fresh start."

Incorporating water into your meditation is especially useful if you're struggling to move forward, advises Crabtree. Picture a rushing river or still pool, misty shower or howling storm, sparkling ocean or ancient grotto. "When you meditate with these images, use all of your senses to put yourself into the scene," she says. "Hear the sound of the roaring waterfall or gently lapping waves; feel the salt spray or the cool raindrops. Dive under and become one with the water, or simply walk beside it. Let your inner water journey take you to new and unexpected places where you can once again feel the flow of your own soul's rhythms."

COPYRIGHT 2005 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group