HUMMINGBIRD THERAPY

     

       

Hummingbird Therapy

             One of my favorite living beings is a winged being, native only to the Americas. There aren’t any other birds that can achieve patterns in the air quite like these little sky dancers. I think that they have always fascinated me and that I am intuitively, instinctually aware of their presence. Even before my eyes catch the quick darting movement of their flight or I hear their sweet chirping calling me to pay attention as mother earth’s child of happiness is near. It is the hummingbird. For the Lakota they symbolize joy as Native Americans every living thing was referred to as “all my relations”. A female may have been known as “sister hummingbird”.

            Sams and Carson (1988) write about the symbolism of hummingbirds in their book, “Medicine Cards, The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals”, as representing joy.  “The song of Hummingbird awakens the medicine of flowers. Hummer sings a vibration of pure joy. Flowers love Hummingbird because nectar-sucking brings about the reproduction of their families. Plants flower and live because of Hummingbird.”

            The authors explain the magic of hummingbird flight with, “Hummingbird can fly in any direction- up, down, backwards, and forwards. Hummingbird can also hover in one spot and appear motionless. Great Spirit created Hummingbird to be slightly different than other feathered creatures” (p. 213).  

              When I had Indian Creek Bed and Breakfast in the California Gold country I hung eight feeders from the lofty log lodge built by a Hollywood producer in 1942 from every balcony that overlooked the valley and the seasonal creek. On one weekend we had guests from Europe who had never seen these little birds before and they stood at the sunroom window as the birds flocked to the feeders. I used then, as I do now a simple sugar and water combination, one to four, and I would fill the feeders daily. The European couple marveled at the hummingbird antics where they would chase each other from the feeders, darting back and forth, straight up into the air and around again. Hummingbirds are capable of maneuvering in directions that pilots envy and would love to accomplish in their most sophisticated, high powered helicopters. One of the hummingbirds dominated his chosen feeder and consistently chased other birds from that one. He had quite a rotund belly for such a little being and we named him “L.P”, short for “Little Poop”. L.P. returned for several years to the same feeder and his branch on the oak tree where he surveyed his territory. It was a wonderful experience to be able to share hummingbirds with the European couple as they are so prevalent in the states that I have lived in, and yet they don’t exist anywhere else in the world except in the Americas.

            When we lived in the Oakland Hills we went through a gallon of sugar water daily! The air was filled with the buzz of hummingbird wings, Anna’s, Ruby Throats and the seasonal migration of the brilliant bright red and orange Rufus Hummingbirds. One afternoon while I was sitting reading in the backyard a hummingbird swooped so closely that I felt his wings brush my eyebrow! They were everywhere. When I watered the bamboo they would soar through the water flow, up and back and through again singing their high pitched songs of joy. I know that their presence was recognized by the two women that purchased our home, helping the house to sell so quickly, and I understand that they continue to feed them today.

            Several friends have shared their love and connection with hummingbirds. One afternoon while I was looking out a window in my home in Amador City thinking about a dear friend who was actively dying from cancer, a hummingbird came and hovered for quite awhile in front of me in the window pane and then swiftly departed. I knew immediately that my friend was gone, which was confirmed through a phone call shortly after. Another friend shared her experience with a hummingbird that she knew appeared with a sign from a departed friend of hers as well. Her friend had suffered bravely and gracefully with cancer for quite awhile, and during one of their last visits together her friend assured her that she would let her know that she was alright where she was after she had left this existence. A few weeks later while hiking with friends, my friends hiking partners alerted her that a hummingbird was chirping very loudly in a tree upon their path. My friend had been a rocker chick and was hard of hearing due to loud musical career, but when she became aware of the hummer calling she looked up, connected with the loud caller and realized that he friend was letting her know that she was at peace.

            In the early nineteen hundreds, a scientist conducted research study noting the body weight of people immediately after they had passed, and the measurable amount was six grams. The weight of a hummingbird is six grams… the weight of a person’s soul as it leaves the body.

            When we decided to move to Texas I immediately got online to check if hummingbirds lived in Texas as well as California, they do, and that alleviated some of my angst around change and the unknown. Realizing that hummingbirds could continue to be a symbol of joy through nature in Manor, Texas, and that I could continue providing them with flowers and sugar water to attract them, allowed me to realize that although there would be numerous changes occurring because of the move, I could retain my relationship with Hummingbird and count on their presence for grounding and centering. We have two feeders hanging off the decks at Kumbaya Farm and my therapeutic relationship remains intact with Hummingbird. They grace our days with their songs and winged sky-dances.

Blessed be,

Jay

Therapy Dogs

It might be appropriate to begin this blog with an explanation of the origin of Silken Windhounds, the breed of dogs that we share our home and lives with. The breed originated over twenty years ago in Austin, Texas and the founder, who was and is a good friend of Kents (and now mine) started the new breed of sight hounds with a borzoi and a whippet. Sighthounds are dogs that were bred to hunt with their eyes as opposed to their noses like bloodhounds. Among the sighthound breeds, besides whippets and borzois, are greyhounds, saluki's and afghans. They are sleek, fast and very flashy in appearance. You often see borzoi in deco paintings and in art with women dressed as flappers, and elegant long hair dogs by their sides. Silken Windhounds have just been recognized as a new American Breed by the Untied Kennel Association and they still remain relatively few, numbering around 1200 worldwide, in the United States, Mexico, Japan and several European Countries.
A number of years ago a dog became famous for her ability to detect cancer cells in petrie dishes in laboratories. Her name is Cat and she lived in S. Africa when her family moved there to continue their research. A couple of years ago as the family was in transition Cat came to live with us for a few months and as it turns out she is a cousin of our two oldest Silkens, Loki and Dita (short for the Buddhist word for happiness "Mudita").
Silkens seem to be natural born therapy dogs, and Loki and Sandy Beach have visited the residents at an elder care facility where I worked as a clinical intern for two years in San Francisco. This is the story of their remarkable visits, and the residents that they touched and who reached out to touch them.
Silken Windhounds are amazing beings. Not only are they athletic, we take ours lore course racing, which they love, they adore a group romp on the beach and they coexist in happy packs with their own kind. When people meet a Silken for the first time at our house they often express their surprise at how gently they are greeted and how well behaved our family is. They make us proud.
Loki's first visit to the residential care facility will forever remain ingrained in my memory. Loki is very striking in appearance, more borzoi in size and he has long flowing lustrous hair that sweeps the ground as he walks. He is brilliant white and seems to be almost a mystical creature. When he visited the second floor at the facility where the residents lived he sparked a life and a voice in a women who I had never heard speak lucidly. She was a lovely woman with advanced dementia who spent much of her days walking the halls slightly bent over as if searching for something. She never spoke clearly and my exchanges with her were beyond language, with an energetic connection that didn't require language. I would often wait in her path as she pace the halls so that she would have to stop when she arrived near me where we would both break into laughter and she would continue her quest for something unknown, to me. I adored her and felt that was mutually shared. On the day Loki visited I intentionally planted him in front of her well traveled path and when she saw him, to my delight and astonishment, she spoke a dogs name, knelt down to him and petted him lovingly. Somewhere in her clouded mind she relived a moment with another furry four-legged being and she ceased her pacing to enjoy that memory. One of the big lessons that I learned from the elderly is to be in the moment which was/is such a gift as there are religions worldwide that teach devotees to seek that in this lifetime!
When Sandy visited the responses were equally gratifying. Sandy is tiny and petite, very much a girl and she sat next to an elderly woman who spoke only Russian, which made communication with her equally challenging for me, but as an intern I learned ways to transcend language in order to assist and be there for them to nurture their health and well being. As Sandy lay next to her she stroked her softly and hummed an unknown tune, possibly a lullaby, and seemed to travel inward to place of deep contentment and serenity. Our visit could have lasted all afternoon, however we couldn't stay, as I had other things to do and places to go, as youth always assume we need to do... However whenever I saw that lovely woman again seated on the same couch she smiled at me as a connection between us had been created that hadn't existed before.
Animals are so healing and I have been fortunate to witness that with the gorgeous creatures I live with. I have experienced unconditional love form them as never before. This is yet another reason why we are creating Kumbaya Therapy Farm and there will be more stories revealing other beings healing energies.
If you have had a story of an animal, bird or any other living being that has touched your life please share it with us. We'd love to add your connection with the natural world to our collection!
Blessed be,
Jay

Returning to Life as a Farmer

A year ago my partner and I moved from the Oakland Hills in Northern California to the Austin Texas area and purchased a fourteen acre farm near Manor. We had each had eras in our lives when we lived in rural farming settings and found ourselves yearning to reconnect with some of our earliest roots. When I was a kid I could hardly wait to get off the farm and experience an imagined, exciting life in the big city where all of my dreams would be attainable. Ten years in Hollywood and another twenty in Northern California, along with the changing priorities, and re-evaluating that occur with aging, I longed to surround myself with other four legged and two legged feathered beings. In cities Mother Earth is not as easily accessible, it takes forethought, desire, time, and travel in order to continue feeling connected to the source of all life. As the Universe often opens doors unexpectedly for new opportunities when AT&T laid off twenty-seven thousand employees on one day, we found ourselves, yet again, facing the prospect and trepidation that accompanies the need for change. We chose to move to a state that many Californians hold with disdain, to be nearer to family and to build a new dream, to become more self-sustained on a farm, which could hardly be conceived as financially attainable in the over-priced and overvalued California real estate market. Our home, blessedly sold after ten short days on the market, yet another sign from the Universe and we packed up some of our belongings and our family of Silken Windhounds and caravanned to Texas. I had to leave the clinical internship that I so loved, working with the elderly in a residential care facility as a psychologist but I was also aware that moving forward and ahead would be very therapeutic and healing for me. As scary as change may be once it is embraced it can be very stimulating and invigorating going through the process.
Have you experienced the positive aspects and aftermaths that can occur through challenging changes? Please share with us.
Blessed be,
Jay