Daily Practice

Every day, try to remember to put aside a period of time when you make conscious contact with the Otherworld. Whether that’s letting Deity sweetly illuminate every cell of your body, or watching your power animal explore your sickness, calling the Elemental Beings to rebalance you, or simply spending time becoming better acquainted with your own inner worlds, make the time to do it. Ward life can be very boring, and the more boring it gets the less likely we are to make good use of our time particularly if we’re anxious. The more we attempt to make best use of our time, the less boring it becomes.

When you eat, eat consciously

Just before you eat, look at the food and be grateful for it, whatever it looks like. Food is as powerful as medication. See the food breaking down into nutrients and those nutrients flowing to wherever they’re of most use. See how the cells which need particular nutrients call to them, and nutrients call to the cells, how well they fit each other and how much good they do together.

When you drink, drink consciously

Just before you drink, look at the water and be grateful for it; clean, fresh water that we are privileged to have. Water is as powerful as medication. Feel the coolness of water freshening your mouth, making your throat more comfortable, helping those nutrients get where they’re going, moistening and lubricating every organ, bone and fibre.

Breath consciously

Breathing can be troublesome in hospital particularly if you’ve had surgery, in which case it’s even more important that you breath deeply. Breath is a cleanser, carrying life to every part of our bodies. Lying in bed doesn’t make deep breathing much of a priority yet as we heal we need to support our own healing as much as we can. Simply breathing into the base of our lungs increases oxygen circulation, decreases impurities, gets our blood moving. It’s not called the breath of life for nothing.

Be concious about the experience of entering a liminal space

of not being part of the world and being in the place where your control over what happens to you is very much reduced.

There's a lot to be learned from observation

Stare into the middle distance for a while. Let your mind wander a little and see what there is to learn from illness. How is power used by different staff and by patients? What symbolic behaviours and rituals are there on the ward, from Drs rounds to washing, bedmaking and meals? What does service manifests? What warps it? What can you learn about your own use of power, symbolic behaviours and service?

Being ill is tiring, so sleep as soon as you feel weary

Sleep is a great healer. Allow Hypnos, Morpheus, Asclepius, Apollo or the pantheon or Deities of your choise do their work.