Today is Sara’s 40th Birthday!
This day begins like every other has for the past 15 years; I think about Sara. She will always be my first and last thought of the day. What would she be like at 40? Would she have gone back to university and become a pediatrician? How many children would she have? Would we all still live in the same community? So many questions flood my mind.
This morning I rose and walked to the store to buy my Sara a bouquet of sunflowers. After I’ve carefully placed the sunflowers in my favorite vase and in front of her picture, I head out for another walk, this time so that I can do a walking meditation in the park near my home.
Meditation is my “go to” when my feelings and thoughts are overwhelming. I know I need this today and so off I will go to the park, where I can bring myself into the present. It’s a warm sunny September morning just like the day Sara was born. I meet the occasional dog walker or 2, we smile and say good morning to one another.
I begin with the “I am” meditation, where whatever I see, hear or feel, I acknowledge that I am that very thing. I am the warm sunshine I feel on my face, I am the sound of the water running in the nearby creek, I am the winding path that I’m walking on, I am the magpie calling out, and so forth. I remind myself that separateness is only an illusion, everything is energy, and energy cannot be destroyed, it only changes its form.
I shift my meditation from “I am” to “she is”. She is the warm sun I feel on my face, she is the sound of the water running in the nearby creek, she is the winding path we walk on, she is the magpie calling out and so forth.
I visualize Sara with me on this walk and I also visualize my spiritual mentor the late Thich Nhat Hhan, who looked at me in a gymnasium filled with hundreds of meditators and told me that “my darling is not lost she has only changed form”. This is what shifts me from my sadness to wanting to celebrate Sara’s beauty, and gentle soul.
Forever I’ll be grateful that I get to be her mom, and so today will be a celebration. My husband and I will spend the day with our grandsons who are the perfect reminder that we never know what joy is just around the corner waiting to be ours. We can feel our sadness but also embrace the joy that these three precious boys bring so much laughter into our life.
I’m back home from my walking meditation and feel my heart bursting full of gratitude and peace. I wish you all the same!
Namaste’
Loralee Scobie
Owner of The Mindful Spirit - Restorative Energy Healing, Loralee is a retired Registered Social Worker, Certified Hypnotherapist, Reiki Master/Teacher, Meditation Instructor, and Author of A New Normal - A Grieving Mother's Journey From Loss to Healing available for purchase through:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Barnes&Noble | Balboa Press | Indigo.ca
Available for purchase in-house at:
Looking to strengthen your meditation practice?
Loralee draws from both years of studying eastern philosophies and from her own 25 years of practicing and teaching meditation. You can explore her online school or reach out for a custom meditation to support you on your journey.
About Loralee J Scobie
For over 2 decades, Loralee Scobie has been professionally working with energy and helping women (and men) embrace the power of their own being. Loralee started her career as a registered social worker but always knew through her own childhood experiences with spirit that we are all more powerful than we know.
As a Reiki Master/teacher Loralee offers training in Reiki (Japanese healing art) and in meditation. Loralee is a firm believer to be an authentic teacher of Reiki one must work with Reiki daily (either on self or others), for the Reiki energy is the true teacher. In her full-time practice Scobie offers in person and distance (via facetime or zoom) treatments on demand.
Loralee believes that meditation is the foundation to all spiritual practices and should be incorporated into ones’ daily routine. She offers group training online and in person, where she teaches not only how to meditate, but how to create your own meditation practice. Loralee also provides a unique service where she will compose/record a personal meditation just for you, relevant to what you are working on healing in your life.
As a certified hypnotherapist Loralee has helped many clients young and older on how to use hypnotherapy to overcome obstacles in this lifetime. These sessions can be shared either in person or on zoom/facetime.
Loralee is the published author of her first book titled A New Normal-A Grieving Mother’s Journey from Loss to Healing. In this narrative Scobie shares what it took to move her through her grief and to go on to live a life of purpose, following the death of her daughter. She also shares what is and isn’t helpful for grieving parents and how others can best support the bereaved. Loralee can be booked as a guest speaker and welcomes the opportunity to read from her book and sign copies.
Learn more @ loraleescobie.com
