It has been exactly three weeks since the completion of our first session of courses for poetry therapy. I have been wanting to write about the experience almost everyday, but each day I have not. I am not sure why, perhaps because the experience was so Grand that I do not see it fit to contain it in a blog. The above picture is the first group of students of the Institute for Poetic Medicine, to find out more about Poetic Medicine click here.
I arrived from UAE mid day on thursday, and my family came to pick me up from the airport. I have a beautiful family, but like all other families we have our own issues and our own masks we wear in front of each other. I unpacked and had lunch with the family and then my nephew dropped me off with my little suitcase at Vallambrosa. A place in Menlo Park where John Fox had arranged for our group to meet and stay for 2 nights. It is like a little piece of heaven on earth. The property, the trees, the light, and the air carry with them resolution. There are 3 bunnies running around on the property that are so adorable.
We met the group in one of the rooms in the great mansion… There were a total of fourteen of us including John Fox and Janet Childs who was co-facilitating the group. We had come together from all over the US, Canada and of course me from the Middle East. The beauty of the cohort is that we have all come together for one purpose and that purpose is poetry therapy in our hearts.
The importance of poetry in each of our lives is the key that brings us all together, and the realization of what poetry can do for others is also so important . This is what has fed each of our inner beings and brought us together.
You might ask your self what is poetry therapy… and here is the best answer I found in John Fox’s words:
Poetry is natural medicine, it is like a homeopathic tincture derived from the stuff of life itself–your experience. Poems distill experience into the essentials. Our personal experiences touch the common ground we share with others. –Excerpt from Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-Making.
Poetry has indeed been a medicine in my life. After years of therapy and counseling and years and years of trying different anit-depressants, one day I started to write…. and since then the songs of my heart have been so heard. Most importantly poetry has given me a place to release, and also to let go but also a place to heal old wounds. Poetry has helped me understand that every experience in life has a place and when one is able to find a place for each piece of the puzzle one becomes able to hold the puzzle in new light and look closer with in.
I will be writing more about my experiences in the Institute over time as I learn heal and grow.
I just wanted to give you a small glimpse into the beautiful time of healing and growth.
If you would like to try a bit of poetry therapy for yourself….
All you need is a piece of paper and a pen, an open heart and a poem to read as a prompt.
I will include one here that touches my soul… and perhaps will do something for you.
When you read the poem, and reread it which is the ideal thing to do, then just choose one sentence that really captured you and write it on top of the page as a prompt….
Then write for 5 to 7 minutes… just write with no agenda. Remember the verses do not need to rhyme or even have reason, they just need to have your inner being open.
I invite you to read this poem and write: You are welcome to share your experience with me on my blog or if you would like feel comfortable to email me. Thank you for being open to this beautiful art of healing…
When Someone Deeply Listens To You
When someone deeply listens to you
it is like holding out a dented cup
you’ve had since childhood
and watching it fill up with
cold, fresh water.
When it balances on top of the brim,
you are understood.
When it overflows and touches your skin,
you are loved.
When someone deeply listens to you
the room where you stay
starts a new life
and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind’s eye.
It is as if gold has been discovered!
When someone deeply listens to you
your barefeet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.
— John Fox
And here is the gift of the Rose for my travel companions, thank you for sharing such a beautiful time with me.
Bahareh-thank you for your beautiful words. I think you captured our time together so well.
Blessings to you, my poetry companion.
Traci
Dear Traci, thank you for your gentle being and for being on my path. I look forward to the unfolding of this beautiful chapter of our lives.
I welcome any additional comments or writings that would help others understand better our time…. please feel free to comment and add your own thoughts. Bahareh
Bahareh,
This blog entry demonstrates deep listening as well as describes it. Thank you. Poems are such deep ears, both the ones we read which speak keenly to us, and the ones we write/cultivate when we open to language. To be heard is to be seen is to be recognized is to feel belonging both within yourself and within the external world. Thank you for this entry. It will be fascinating to read your public reflections as we evolve through this amazing program. You and each member of the cohort along with John and Janet are part of me now, knitted into my heart.
love, Cyra
Thank you dear companion of this journey and friend. Thank you Cyra. Indeed it is such a beautiful feeling to be heard and listened to. I feel fortunate for each member of this cohort and especially for the healing hearts of John and Janet. I am currently in a Writing for Healing Conference in San Rafael, John Fox is among other teachers. It is magical… I give gratitude to be in this new space of hearing, listening and healing each and every day.
Oh, Bahareh—-I’m happy for you. I feel a little sad that I was not able to be there myself, to be a part of this first cohort, but the time was not right for me. Blessings to your own continued healing and work.
Dear Chris, both you and I know well that when it is time, it is time and you will know. Your comment encourages me to write more as we learn and weave the beautiful tapestry of healing through words. Thank you.
hi bahareh
i am from emirates national school you came to ourschool and your speach was really nice, i really liked it, i just want to ask you question because we have to write a poem about the UAE, so can you give me some idea about how do istart my poem with?, thanks.
Dear Maram, hello, it was a pleasure being at your school. Yes, you have a wonderful question. For me to write about something happens best when i ask myself how does something make me Feel and what are the Images that come to my head. So in this case you may want to say. UAE makes me feel…. or you might write about the sounds, scents and other things you feel with your senses….. When I am by the sea I feel…. When I am in the desert I see…. Hope this gives you a good start. By the way you might want to look at the poem I wrote about the UAE 40 years 40 Lines: ).
Best Wishes. Bahareh