When I lost my husband so suddenly, I just kept going. That was what I thought I was supposed to do, so just like the bunny in that battery ad, I shifted into high gear and I didn’t stop.

Of course, doing that didn’t give me the time I needed to process what had happened. Neither did it allow me to take care of my body properly, and my body was really asking for help. All the unresolved stress I was feeling was impacting my body in serious ways.

Then one day, when I was about at the point of collapse, I had to choose between going home and going to bed or staying for a program I really wanted to hear. The fellow who was giving the program happened to be a doctor. I’ll never forget what Ted said when I told him of my dilemma: “For heaven’s sake, listen to your body! The body never lies!”

What a gift that was! I felt as though I’d just been given permission to take care of myself. What Ted told me not only has stayed with me through the years, my body’s signals have become a sort of inner wisdom that I try my best to honor.

As I see it, the body’s signals are a lot like the rudder on a ship. The body always knows what it needs, and it will tell us if we will just pay attention. I’ll be the first to admit it isn’t always easy to not do something you’d like to do “just” because the body is saying “no,” but why undermine your health when it can be so easy to support it by simply honoring what your body is saying?

Oh yes, I’ve missed out on some things I really would have liked to have done, but I have never been sorry that I listened.

Donna Miesbach

I have been on a spiritual path all my life. I was first introduced to meditation when I was seventeen. I knew this was an important tool, but I wanted to go deeper than that particular method allowed, so my search began. I attended workshops and classes, read books and tried every form of meditation I could find, to no avail. Then in 1994, my life changed dramatically. My husband died very suddenly. Soon after that, I lost both parents, too. They say when the student is ready, the teacher appears. This student was certainly ready. About a year after my husband’s sudden death, I learned about Dr. Deepak Chopra and his teachings. It was like finding the light at the end of the tunnel. I took meditation training from Dr. Chopra and began attending his courses. They fed my deep roots and made such a difference in my life that I committed to being certified both in meditation and yoga so I could share these wonderful practices with others. I have studied with Deepak and also Roger Gabriel both here and in India. I also studied sound healing with Jonathan Goldman, and remote viewing with Dr. David Morehouse, having completed all five levels of his training. As my teaching became established, doors began opening that allowed me to teach meditation to at risk youth. Then another door opened and I found myself working with Playmakers Mentoring Foundation, a Sacramento-based outreach. Together with their Executive Director, we wrote a book and then opened a chapter here in Omaha. In addition to my work with Playmakers, I continue to teach meditation in the Omaha NE area, offering both private and group instruction. I also hold group meditations and programs five times a year, and speak to groups on various aspects of spirituality upon request.   It has been an amazing journey, one I never could have anticipated. I didn’t know it then, but I know now that it is possible to get to the other side of grief, and that is what my book, “From Grief to Joy, A Journey Back to Life & Living,” is all about.

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