Unexpected Healing Connections

Unexpected healing connections happen. This past weekend it snowed here in the mountains of northern New Mexico, after many winter weeks with no precipitation. Five inches of plush moist snow, on top of dirt dry dust. Stumbling out into the wet landscape Easter morning, it was magic. Breathing in such welcome moisture. Storms have been predicted, yet each one had passed us by. This time it dumped. By mid-day, the snowflake blessing had vanished, soaked into the trees, the forest soil, and our garden beds by a steady sunshine. It was another reminder of how much I’m not in control. How grateful I am for the mercy of Mother Nature, when mercy happens. It’s already dry again in our high mountain desert region a few days later, yet the memory of this possibility remains. Snow on Easter. Wow!

“Openness free of fixation” is a byword, sometimes almost a joke, in our family. It is a line from a Tibetan Buddhist prayer. It reminds us not to count on anything, open to what is. When I can be open free of fixation, free of holding on to particular expectations, life is easier, even if it’s harder on the outside.

The rub about unexpected healing connections is just that: they’re unexpected. You can’t count on them, or call them forth, or demand them. I just have to be open to notice when they happen.

When Kate O’Donnell and Cara Brostrom wrote the original Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook ten years ago, unexpected healing connections arose for me. The ideas for dishes, the kind and beautiful ways they presented ingredients, the ease of seasons flowing one into another, it was all quite inspiring. I didn’t see it coming. Now the 10th anniversary edition is here.

When I moved here to Santa Fe some fifty years ago, unexpected healing connections happened. Fresh out of college on the West coast, I landed in the nuanced multi-cultural life of northern New Mexico. Existence here, like everywhere, is an education. The newly formed Women’s Health Services hired my good friend Margie Sullivan and me as the first co-directors for $50/month in 1975, a salary we split. No, this did not go far. Margie did a tremendous amount of outreach and I taught local classes on women’s nutrition for the community.

A key part of our work was pregnancy testing and pregnancy counseling. Tests weren’t available at that time over the counter. Both of us appreciated the importance of our work, holding space for women making crucial decisions about their lives. It was important to us to not bias what we said to influence any woman’s decision. Often times I’d use a visualization, if a person was open to it. Imagine you’re at a split in the road. Journey down both paths. How do they feel to you? What do you see? We would validate whatever a woman chose, and give her all the information we had to pursue her choices. Access to care and informed knowledge about healing processes are still strong values for me.

Twenty years later, Ayurveda had become a strong focus in my professional and personal path, and women’s health continued to be part of this. In 1995, Dr. Vinod Verma wrote Ayurveda: A Way of Life. It was a revelation for me. We both were women writing about Ayurveda in English. Yet she had a doctorate in reproductive biology from India, and another in neurobiology from Paris. Her approach was remarkably down to earth and deeply relevant. She wrote, “While using Ayurvedic methods, you must keep in mind that in this cosmos everything is interlinked and interconnected, and all these move with a rhythm….to follow this cosmic music, first, establish a good relationship with your own physical and mental self. Then create a harmony with your immediate surroundings and the larger environment.” This advice I take to heart still. She is a prolific author of many texts, currently working on a book about death.

Another welcome surprise among healing texts was Ayurved for Modern Medical Practitioners by Dr. Kumud S. Nagral. First published in Delhi in 2008, this insightful book grounds classic Ayurveda and Sanskrit within an integrated medicine approach. Dr. Nagral specializes in reproductive health and family welfare. Think a section from Charak Samhita written by a wise and with it woman. Strong chapters include plant pharmacy, menopause, menstruation, pregnancy, family planning, and more.

Music evokes unexpected healing connections for me. Like the snow in early morning, it can be refreshing, enlivening, welcome. The sheer vitality of Nina Simone’s music is a medicine that lifts me in tough moments. Now as Spring is here, I especially think of how she sings Feeling Good, reaching out wide to Nature and all sentient beings. Her music, what a blessing on the path.

HE Garchen Rinpoche has said the medicine is love. To bring this forward is the job. Unexpected healing connections are more easily nurtured in a loving environment.

Baba Neem Karoli, the Indian sage, often said, “Love people. Feed people. Serve people.” World Central Kitchen supports health through nourishment in many disrupted parts of the planet. Their work can be supported here.

May unexpected healing connections find us all, just when we need them.

About the author: Amadea Morningstar works with Ayurveda, Polarity Therapy, and yoga online and in northern New Mexico. Her most recent book is Easy Healing Drinks from the Wisdom of Ayurveda.

Image: Unexpected healing connections Snow Easter morning 2025