Healing
- At September 01, 2020
- By admin
- In Annes Letters
0
September 1, 2020
Dear Family and Friends,
Ito San is a friend. She has her own travel agency, which these days is suffering badly. Even so, she has kept her place open, works hard, and hopes for the best. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, before he resigned, started the “Go-To” program, making trips nationwide (except Tokyo) be half price. So, the government is on her side. I wanted to help her, too. But how? I listen to so much American news that I am rigid with concern about the Coronavirus, even though here in the northeast of Japan cases are very few.
I went to discuss with Ito San what I could do for her, where I could go and feel safe. “I know of two wonderful spas that you will love,” she told me. “One has an easy hiking course nearby and the other is renowned for its healing properties. Yes, I think they will be perfect for you.”
I was still a bit apprehensive, though. But Ito San reassured me. “First of all, not many will be traveling. And the ones that do will follow basic rules: masks, social distancing, hand washing. Buses now pump in fresh air from the outside every 5 or 10 minutes, plus you have stops when you can get out for more fresh air. Don’t worry. You will be fine.”
Dear Family and Friends,
Ito San is a friend. She has her own travel agency, which these days is suffering badly. Even so, she has kept her place open, works hard, and hopes for the best. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, before he resigned, started the “Go-To” program, making trips nationwide (except Tokyo) be half price. So, the government is on her side. I wanted to help her, too. But how? I listen to so much American news that I am rigid with concern about the Coronavirus, even though here in the northeast of Japan cases are very few.
I went to discuss with Ito San what I could do for her, where I could go and feel safe. “I know of two wonderful spas that you will love,” she told me. “One has an easy hiking course nearby and the other is renowned for its healing properties. Yes, I think they will be perfect for you.”
I was still a bit apprehensive, though. But Ito San reassured me. “First of all, not many will be traveling. And the ones that do will follow basic rules: masks, social distancing, hand washing. Buses now pump in fresh air from the outside every 5 or 10 minutes, plus you have stops when you can get out for more fresh air. Don’t worry. You will be fine.”
She was right. There were all of three of us on the highway bus, and about five on the local bus to the first spa. So, social distancing was easy.
I hiked the second day through a gorgeous landscape dotted with small crater lakes.
Later I went over the mountain to the medicinal spa. It was very different because most of the guests were people with serious illnesses. Yet, they were also some of the most lovely. “We are all sick here,” one said to me, “so we must be kind to each other. We must help each other. Otherwise, how could we live with hope?”
I sat in those baths, in a building made of cedar wood, smelling both earthy and divine. This was my third day of soaking, and I began to realize that over that time, I myself had gradually started to heal. I sensed how my body had quietly opened up, releasing tensions so deep they had always seemed part of the make-up of who I was. I thought about all the people who had kindly helped me, either with confusing bus changes or with proper ways to drink sulfur water to cleanse my body inside, just as the baths were outside.
As I reflected on these things, I heard myself saying, “So, this is what healing means. It is people accepting basic guidelines for safety, and graciously working together to make sure everyone is all right and supported.
Then I thought of the spas themselves. Hot healing waters rising up from deep within the earth. Coupled with our openness to let go of what we thought defined us and fully accept what is offered so abundantly and graciously.
Can our very troubled world do this? Can we move into a consciousness of truly wanting healing, a healing that rises up from deep within? Can we grow in maturity enough to work hard for it together, and then allow it to happen?
Love,
Anne
(Besides, how could I not feel safe with a truck like this in front of my bus?)
The hotel itself was on the edge of a National Park. It had mostly outdoor baths. They were literally boiling hot, but had piercingly cold water from mountain streams flowing into them to make the heat bearable. The water was a murky white because of volcanic ash. It supposedly had healing properties, so people would eagerly pack it onto their faces and bodies. And sure enough, after doing so, my own skin felt remarkably soft and smooth.
I hiked the second day through a gorgeous landscape dotted with small crater lakes.
And in the evening, I was back in the baths, looking at the star-filled sky. The following day, before dawn, I headed to the eastern bath to watch the sunrise.
Later I went over the mountain to the medicinal spa. It was very different because most of the guests were people with serious illnesses. Yet, they were also some of the most lovely. “We are all sick here,” one said to me, “so we must be kind to each other. We must help each other. Otherwise, how could we live with hope?”
I sat in those baths, in a building made of cedar wood, smelling both earthy and divine. This was my third day of soaking, and I began to realize that over that time, I myself had gradually started to heal. I sensed how my body had quietly opened up, releasing tensions so deep they had always seemed part of the make-up of who I was. I thought about all the people who had kindly helped me, either with confusing bus changes or with proper ways to drink sulfur water to cleanse my body inside, just as the baths were outside.
As I reflected on these things, I heard myself saying, “So, this is what healing means. It is people accepting basic guidelines for safety, and graciously working together to make sure everyone is all right and supported.
Then I thought of the spas themselves. Hot healing waters rising up from deep within the earth. Coupled with our openness to let go of what we thought defined us and fully accept what is offered so abundantly and graciously.
Can our very troubled world do this? Can we move into a consciousness of truly wanting healing, a healing that rises up from deep within? Can we grow in maturity enough to work hard for it together, and then allow it to happen?
Love,
Anne
