As you know, on Saturday, January 26, 2013, I had my second workshop in taking my Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery™ on the road. This first venue of 2013 was Atlanta, GA, and the day was absolutely amazing! Imagine: 16 of us, some with Parkinson’s, some of their spouses and partners and friends, some from Georgia, some from South Carolina, some from Texas and some from Florida, all in one place with one purpose…Parkinson’s recovery.
The room was alive with Parkinson’s recovery. We shared stories and ideas, and one sad, but true, thing surfaced: when you are taking the “I want to recover” approach to Parkinson’s, or the “I do not want to take medications” approach to Parkinson’s, or the “I want to eliminate the medications I am taking” approach to Parkinson’s, there is not a support group to support you. This is one of the reasons I am taking the Recipe on the road — when we get together and bond in a day of recovery, we become our own support group.
There was a moment like that at this workshop…it was magical. It was the moment when you could feel the change in the room as everybody there had a simultaneous realization: “I am not alone. This is my support group.” It was a group healing of everybody in the room. And their support of each other will continue with the exchange phone numbers and email addresses.
We did not have somebody outside of the workshop to take a picture. I am presenting two pictures so everybody, including the picture-taker of each picture, can be shown here.
The Atlanta group was a group of people not afraid of their Parkinson’s. The Atlanta group inspired me. They were people filled with courage and hope and faith and spirituality and gratitude and love and compassion. And, now, they knew they were not alone.
On my drive back to Tampa, I was reflecting on the workshop and I put an old cd into the player to keep me company. One song I had not listened to in ages began, “All the places I’ve been, make it hard to begin, to enjoy life again on the inside, but I mean to.” It hit me like a wave and I got teary. When the places you’ve been are fear and worry and anger and frustration and resentment and stress and anxiety, it’s hard to begin to enjoy life again on the inside with love and joy and happiness and compassion and gratitude. However, you need to. It is part of your Parkinson’s recovery.
The people in Atlanta felt it, and then they knew it. Please take inspiration from this group and feel it, and then know it…on the inside.
You are worth it!
All my best,
Howard
I wish one day I could do one workshop too.
But I am too far away… There is a big ocean between us.
blessings and kisses to everybody!…
Adelina Velho da Palma
Howard, you have given in SO many ways, but hearing your observation about each of us gathering around you, “I am not alone. This is my support group.” feels to me to be maybe one of your greatest gifts — as I read your Atlanta blog, looking into the faces in the photos. OMG — we are a global support group for each other — which was all the dearer for me coming out of a night with sleep issues, “wrestling with the angels,” and then being so touched by you, by my clan, all of us saying courageously in one voice, “I do not want to take medications,” “I want to recover.”
Howard…. I continue to be amazed and blessed by the breadth of your outreach and care …. a loving embrace inspiring us all to build community…to become whole as we become one…
I was in tears reading your experiences in Atlanta, particularly the forming of the support group. Having PAIN this morning I was going through all the negative emotions that you mentioned but now I will move on to gratitude, compassion, love and trusting that I know how to recover – already the pain is lifting as I write this message, Thank you so much again. Marilyn
I’m supported by you, Howard, and everyone else in this recovery community, including MYSELF!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
A bucketful of heartfelt thanks, again to you, Howard for reassuring us all in PD-ville that we are never alone, and that we support each other in spirit and that you are always behind us 100% . I miss our skype sessions.
Melanie
Howard, my dear friend,
So happy to hear that you were able to carry your inspiring message and the Recipe for Recovery to Atlanta to share. What a gift to the world! Building a community of support for everyone who is taking the bold steps of healing the Parkinson’s we were told could not be healed….that is so powerful. The community is moving out from you like waves across water, reaching further and further, touching more and more lives.
What I love most in the post is seeing your face, radiant with joy. congratulations on the wonderful work you a doing. We all love you!!
You are welcome. Thank you all for your comments, love, and well-wishes. This is very exciting. However, please do not lose sight of the fact that each and every one of you is the hero in your own recovery journey and life. Together, we create a safety net, a connection of humanity, that helps make each one of us stronger in soul, mind, and body…to persevere through whatever is necessary for Parkinson’s recovery.
With gratitude, blessings, and love,
Howard
I too am excited about the prospects of a support group. This is not your average support group. We not only know what it feels like to live in a Parkinson’s body, but we are unified in believing that there is something other than drugs to fight this disease. I have wonderful support in my family, but I’m not sure that they totally buy into this drug free recovery method. I am so thankful to know that there are others out there taking the road less traveled! Thank you, Howard, for bringing us all together!
Teri
Thank you for the photos.It is so good to see some of the faces of our co-recoverers.
It is great to know we are not alone.
Howard, I was just looking again at the joyous pictures of the Atlanta workshop. I wanted to share with everyone, the most important thing that I gained from being part of that special event (what I said in my email to you)….
… After your workshop, I’m no longer fearful. I have a deep, calm knowledge that my full recovery is imminent…
In my soul, I BELIEVE. I no longer have the distracting, fear based thoughts, that I allowed to distract me from committing to do the Recipe religiously (exercising the various parts 3 times a day)
Thank you for the Light-at-the-end-of-The-Tunnel
Blessings to all – we are united