Just This Life {4} ~ holistic nursing

Diego's seal of approval

A sweet soul asked me today to tell her more about this "holistic nursing" thing. I'm quite certain she doesn't fully realize how meaningful receiving that simple question right now is for me.

I truly believe something bigger was acting through her. I'm certain it was for my own journey, and I suspect for a piece of hers, too. That's how it works - these interactions of souls.

Part of the work I'm doing behind the scenes right now is forming the vessel to honor the innate connection between nursing/healing and the power of creative engagement with art... my unique vessel of offering, that is.

Artist & Nurse are just titles, just words. They happen to convey very specific ideas in people's minds.

But what drew me to both is not how they look to the world or on paper, but rather Who I Am and my natural gifts. Those same qualities, and the rich combination of experience I have been blessed with because of them, are ready to birth rich offerings and perspective into the world... and, really, it feels like a whole new (dare I say) paradigm forming within myself.

There's a big difference between understanding something and actually feeling it, in your bones, in your cells. Once you feel it there, in your own skin, you have your compass.

And this reclaiming of myself as a holistic nurse, on my terms, who worships, lives, serves, plays and works in the arts, choosing to live life true to her values and practices, is a huge, crucial ingredient to my sustainable, creative business and life.

I'm finally feeling it. I have my women's circle, and our time in Sedona together, to thank for this shift.

It feels Whole... holistic, if you will... and the Universe just keeps showing me signs.... Finally, I can say with clarity, that my eyes and heart are aligned in a posture of wide open trust to receive and activate.

And I am humbled, I am honored, I am grateful, I am blessed.

~

Here's my raw answer to the inquiring woman about this holistic nursing stuff (in case you're wondering how I replied to her). It just poured out so easy and light:

In a nutshell, the heart of holistic nursing, I feel, is usually what drives people to go into nursing to begin with... to help the whole person heal in the face of tangible change (not just cure). You can find a lot of info about the more known practice of Holistic Nursing at the American Holistic Nurses Association website (AHNA - of which I have been a member). It includes a lot of nurses who incorporate into their conventional care other modalities of healing (energy work, massage, aromatherapy, healing touch, etc etc) For me, though, it has cracked open to include even more than the Association acknowledges outright... namely, the deep power of Art(-making) to heal.

I came to it first intuitively, then after realizing the landscape of conventional nursing practice does not afford time or space for the type of care I am passionate about (which is all about presence, time and empowering self-awareness, creativity toward life, and transformative, personal choice)... I left my job as an RN. I have no regrets, and won't go back to a traditional position.

My education as a holistic nurse has been all about self-study and continuing education... I study herbalism, the divine feminine, creative expression, greatness work, aromatherapy, earth-centered practices, nutrition, and art as a spiritual practice... as a way of life. All of this feeds how I serve others on their own journeys to finding their own true, heart-centered ways of living. That is the heart of what Holistic Nursing & Creativity are for me... seeing the whole person, witnessing who they are and the unfolding of their becoming - the glory and the mess - with love, educating and role-modeling, acting as an advocate for their truth, providing safe space and comfort, as well as nudges toward growth and expansion, and empowering them with tools for awareness, communication, connection and healing.

~

23 april 2013 Just This Life {entry 4} frequent spontaneous musings & prayers about my daily practice of Presence as Art in this one blessed life experience