Like A River Flows

Recently my photography mentor sent me a poem by an Irish poet friend of his: I would love to live Like a river flows, Carried by the surprise Of its own unfolding - John O'Donohue

In truth, we do live like a river and this is the best analogy I've found to explain our health and the path of wellness.  A river is always moving.  If it stops and pools in an area, it stagnates and then bacteria populations increase, decay, stench - you get the picture.  This is the biggest reason I carry on about lymphatic drainage.  When someone is in a job that involves sitting for long periods of time, or someone is bedridden or injured and lying with a leg up for some time, then the lymphatic system stops moving.  This allows more bacteria to colonize our tissues, and it allows toxins more time to chemically interact with our tissues in a negative way.

Movement of the body, the circulation and our lymphatic system is crucial to health.  It keeps our joints and tissues flexible and strong, while pumping fresh fluid throughout our body bringing everything we need to every cell.  When it doesn't, cells die, tissues decay and disease begins.

As we move, we learn things about our body and we experience more about the world around us.  My early teacher in bodywork told me that we learn everything about our body by bumping up against the world.  Just like the river bumping up against the earthen and rocky bank changes the river ... in direction, in speed and even in the things it carries along with it.  We can learn a lot from a river.