The Giving Gift

When I was around 8 years old my parents wanted to learn about meditation. I remember the experience like it was yesterday because we were included in the process and there were steps involved that we had to complete by ourselves. The only details I remember as far as the actual program we were learning was that it was founded by Maharishi. I remember his photo on the wall at the facility that we went to. We learned how to mediate with the Transcendental Meditation program or TM. Over the years my dad did keep up his practice of meditation and I would do it from time to time when I felt overwhelmed but I really did not do it as much as I should have or would have liked to.

I recently started adding this meditation practice to my daily routine and I already feel it working. I absolutely love that my parents thought to include us in this process all those years ago because even though it's been almost 25 years, I still remember the TM technique.

The other day I was watching Oprah's new show and was surprised to see that there is actually a community inIowathat is filled with people who are actively practicing TM and it is part of their everyday lifestyle. They even  have a Maharishi school where they are teaching young kids to practice just like I was taught. They did interviews with high school and college students and they were saying how much more successful they were than so many of the kids they meet their age because they are more centered.

I had no idea the gift my parents were giving to me all of those years ago but now I do and I am so grateful!

I live in a chaotic world with a full plate and a great deal of weight on my shoulders. This lesson they shared with me is the perfect way to keep my busy life in order and my stress at a low level. Thanks Mom and Dad!

To learn more about TM check out http://www.tm.org/maharishi

The Good News is..Entry #1

 

 

News stories are mostly based on crime and saddness, but there is sooooooooo much goodness out there so this new section will highlight good news around the world.

Story #1-The Good News is..

From Aol/Huffington Post World News 4/11/12

This is AMAZING!

Argentina Baby Alive After 12 Hours In Morgue

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A mother in Argentina says she fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin in the morgue nearly 12 hours after the girl had been declared dead.

Analia Bouter named her newborn Luz Milagros, or "Miracle Light." The tiny girl, born three months premature, was in critical but improving condition Wednesday in the same hospital where the staff pronounced her stillborn on April 3.

The case became public Tuesday when Rafael Sabatinelli, the deputy health minister in the northern province of Chaco, announced in a news conference that five medical professionals involved have been suspended pending an official investigation.

Bouter told the TeleNoticias TV channel in an interview Tuesday night that doctors gave her the death certificate just 20 minutes after the baby was born, and that she still hasn't received a birth certificate for her tiny girl.

Bouter said the baby was quickly put in a coffin and taken to the morgue's refrigeration room. Twelve hours passed before she and her husband were able to open the coffin to say their last goodbyes.

She said that's when the baby trembled. She thought it was her imagination – then she realized the little girl was alive, and dropped to her knees on the morgue floor in shock.

A morgue worker quickly picked up the girl and confirmed she was alive. Then, Bouter's brother grabbed the baby and ran to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, shouting for the doctors. The baby was so cold, Bouter said, that "it was like carrying a bottle of ice."

A week later, the baby is improving. Bouter said she still has many unanswered questions about what happened. She said she had given birth normally to four other children and doesn't understand why doctors gave her general anesthesia this time. She said she also doesn't know why she wasn't allowed to see her baby before it was put into a coffin.

She said she had to insist on going to the morgue's refrigeration room, where she brought her sister's cell phone to take a picture of the newborn for the funeral. Her husband struggled to open the lid, and then stepped aside to let her see inside.

"I moved the coverings aside and saw the tiny hand, with all five fingers, and I touched her hand and then uncovered her face," she said in the TeleNoticias interview. "That's where I heard a tiny little cry. I told myself I was imagining it – it was my imagination. And then I stepped back and saw her waking up. It was as if she was saying `Mama, you came for me!'

"That was when I fell to my knees. My husband didn't know what to do. We were just crying and I laughed and cried, cries and laughter. We must have seemed crazy."

She says the family plans to sue the staff at Hospital Perrando in the city of Resistencia for malpractice, and still wants answers. But they've been focused for now on their little girl, whom she described as amazingly healthy despite being born after just 26 weeks of gestation. So far, she hasn't needed oxygen or other support commonly provided to preemies, she said.

"I'm a believer. All of this was a miracle from God," she told Telam, Argentina's state news agency.