Mother to daughter: passing on healthful ways
My childhood was healthy, thanks to my mother, and father. My mother gave me nutrilite, vitamins of several colors that came in a green plastic container with several compartments. We almost always had salad with meals, and we often stopped at the orchard market down the road for apples, peaches and pears. She encouraged me to play outside with my dog or my friends, even though due to her heart condition she usually could not join me and supported me in my modern dancing days because she could “vicariously enjoy” the movement. As she got older she got even more into her garden and made her own sprouts, cooked lentil casseroles and any other vegetarian food she could think of. What we did not share — yoga and massage — I have successfully shared with my daughter and she is slowly following my footsteps, and carrying on a legacy of healing movement. She is a peer counselor for college students in santa barbara, where she speaks and gives presentations on self care. She organizes yoga classes and chair massage for her fellow students, is learning more about yoga and will be teaching aerobics at LA fitness this summer. She has been receiving massages since her first day and before, and now is reciprocating.
She is also getting me more serious about working out.
My mother’s mother was a friend of Isadora Duncan, the free spirited improvisational dancer who danced as her spirit led her. My grandmother always asked me to dance for her, and I think she and I shared a connection with Isadora. My daughter has also been a natural mover and dancer from the get go.
May the power and joy that comes from these healing practices continue on, and on.
