Stephanie has published articles and taken part in the following:

Reiki and Physiotherapy for Acquired Brain Injury: A Collaborative Approach to Improve Outcomes. by Sian Owen and Stephanie Cookson. Poster presentation, Acquired Brain Injury Network Conference, Toronto. November 2010

‘Reiki – The secret of inviting happiness….’ Stephanie Cookson, Outspoken Magazine, Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario www.cpa.org  Winter 2011
 

"The Journey"

Beginning on the Path
awareness of Ruth before
a sense of adventure.
Moving through different turns
different sections, phases, places in life.
New territory
exploring, excitement
the unknown.
Seeing the centre, being close to it
touching aspects and glimmers of what is there.
Many others are on this journey.
A need to carry on 
out again to the outer edges
away from the centre
in twists and turns.
A long path, keep going
and out onto the very edge, could I fall off? 
but I am drawn back in again.
The path continues
and I am brought back closer to the centre
to new areas of life I have not been before 
and revisiting of places but from a slightly different perspective.
Getting near the centre
an excitement, but there is more to do first
and an eagerness in arriving.

Stillness

Leaving something behind
what is it I shed as I retrace my steps?
Quickly back on the outer edge 
allowing it to fall away.
A lightness of step
the journey is a delight. 
A further cloudy place comes and goes as I turn inwards
must I go back?
In fact it brings me back closer to the centre 
brushing on the grasses, feeling the Spirit wind.
Then turning outwards with a newness
and a constant reminder of Spirit in all that is.
I free myself.
I want to sing, to skip, to laugh
back into new places.
The edge has a newness
there is no fear.
A final time near the centre and then 
looking back on the sacred place.

Leaving 
and the path ahead lies clear.



Quotes

 

Every situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity to heal.

~ A Course in Miracles

Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.

~ Hippocrates

When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science.

~ Albert Einstein

 

"The Invitation"

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon “Yes!”.

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand at the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer,  by Oriah from the book THE INVITATION published by Harper San Francisco (c) 1999. All rights reserved. Posted with permission by the author. www.oriah.org

 

 

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