Swimming with elephants: my unexpected pilgrimage from physician to healer

306 Pages·2017·3.756 MB·English

by  Seidelmann, Sarah Bamford

“Sarah Bamford Seidelmann has amassed heaps of wisdom in her courageous
leap from the safe realm of medical science into the unknown—the world of
spirit. In this incredibly honest and compassionate memoir, you feel as though
you’re soaking in her courage and wisdom on every page.”
—JAIMAL YOGIS, author of Saltwater Buddha and All Our Waves Are Water
fter two decades in the study and practice of medicine, Sarah Seidelmann
took a three-month sabbatical to search for a way to feel good again. Having
witnessed human suff ering early in her career and within her own fam-
A
ily, she longed for a way to address more than just the physical needs of her
patients and to live in a lighter, more conscious way.
Swimming with Elephants tells the eccentric, sometimes poignant, and
occasionally hilarious experience of a working mother undergoing a bewildering
vocational shift from physician to shamanic healer. During this tumultuous
period of answering her call, Sarah meets an elephant who would become an
important spirit companion on her journey, has bones thrown for her by a
shaman in South Africa, and travels to India for an ancient Hindu pilgrimage.
Ultimately, she embraces an entirely diff erent way of healing—one that she had
always aspired to—and fi nds her true calling.
“An entertaining and moving front-row seat in the drama that unfolds when a
Western-trained physician does the work required to become a true healer.”
—CHRISTIANE NORTHRUP, MD, New York Times bestselling
author of Goddesses Never Age
“This is an exceedingly vulnerable, beautifully written book
and the most genuine spiritual memoir I have ever read.
It is also—in many hilarious moments—laugh-out-loud funny.”
—MARIA BAMFORD, comedian and star of
Netfl ix original series Lady Dynamite
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“A fascinating, amusing, and wise account of how someone fi nds her way back to her true self.”
—MARTHA BECK, New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Adam
“This is an exceedingly vulnerable, beautifully written book and the most
genuine spiritual memoir I have ever read. It is also—in many hilarious
moments—laugh-out-loud funny.”
—Maria Bamford, comedian and star of
Netflix original series Lady Dynamite
“I loved this book. Sarah takes us on an intimate tour of the Hero’s journey.
She’s a brilliant storyteller—making sense of the baffling journey from the
ordinary world into the mystical and back again. I didn’t want it to end.”
—MeiMei Fox, New York Times bestselling author
“This is a fascinating, amusing, and wise account of how someone born
with a shaman’s predilections, raised in a rationalist culture, finds her way
back to her true self.”
—Martha Beck, New York Times bestselling author
“Sarah Bamford Seidelmann has amassed heaps of wisdom in her coura-
geous leap from the safe realm of medical science into the unknown—the
world of spirit. In this incredibly honest and compassionate memoir, you
feel as though you’re soaking in her courage and wisdom on every page.
Even better, you do so laughing.”
—Jaimal Yogis, author of Saltwater Buddha
and All Waves Are Water
“From the lakes of Minnesota to the Ganges river in India, Sarah Seidel-
mann’s transformative journey from MD to shamanic healer is a refresh-
ingly honest and very funny tale of spiritual growth.”
—Matt Adrian, author of The Guide to Troubled Birds
“A glittering, honest account of what it means to search and also to find. If
you are a dreamer or an overworked parent, if you are someone who rec-
ognizes the magic in animals or wonders what it would be like to make a
truly bold choice even if you are halfway down your life’s path, please pick
up this beautiful book!”
—Sara Corbett, coauthor of the
New York Times bestselling A House in the Sky
“A poignantly honest journey which beckons us all. Sarah Seidelmann
takes us right along with her through the looking glass and out the other
side into a magical reality that pulses with life, adventure, and intelligence.”
—Llyn Roberts, award-winning author and
acclaimed teacher of healing and shamanism
“Swimming with Elephants is an entertaining and moving front-row seat in
the drama that unfolds when a western trained physician does the work
required to become a true healer.”
—Christiane Northrup, MD, New York Times
bestselling author of Goddesses Never Age
Swimming
with
Elephants
also by Sarah Seidelmann
Born to FREAK: A Salty Primer for Irrepressible Humans
The Book of Beasties: Your A-to-Z Guide to the Illuminating Wisdom
of Spirit Animals (May 2018)
Swimming
with
Elephants
MY UNEXPECTED PILGRIMAGE FROM PHYSICIAN TO HEALER
SARAH BAMFORD SEIDELMANN
This edition first published in 2017 by Conari Press, an imprint of
Red Wheel/Weiser, llc
With offices at:
65 Parker Street, Suite 7
Newburyport, MA 01950
www.redwheelweiser.com
Copyright © 2017 by Sarah Bamford Seidelmann
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informa-
tion storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, llc.
Reviewers may quote brief passages.
Every effort has been made to trace copyright ownership and to
obtain permission for reproduction for the quoted material in the book.
ISBN: 978-1-57324-701-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request
Cover and interior design by Kathryn Sky-Peck
Grateful acknowledgment to Jody MacDonald for permission to adapt elephant
photography into front cover artwork (www.jodymacdonaldphotography.com)
Printed in Canada
MAR
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mollie Catherine Ashworth
Contents
Author's Note ............................................. xi
Introduction ................................................1
Part One: angry Bears
Chapter 1: Spirit of the Bear ................................5
Chapter 2: Hitched and Launched ...........................9
Chapter 3: Realization and Refusal ..........................13
Chapter 4: Lightening the Load ............................19
Chapter 5: The Unraveling Begins ..........................23
Chapter 6: Breathing Lessons ..............................31
Chapter 7: Sick Leave ....................................37
Chapter 8: Feeding the Bears ..............................43
Chapter 9: Needle in a Haystack ............................49
Chapter 10: Radical Sabbatical .............................53
Chapter 11: Slam-Dunk Diagnosis ..........................61
Part twO: Heeding tHe Call
Chapter 12: Throwing Bones ..............................69
Chapter 13: Ecstatic Encounters ............................83
Chapter 14: Doin’ the Mamba .............................89
Chapter 15: Alice Arrives .................................97
Chapter 16: Hugging Horses .............................103
Chapter 17: The Healing Stones ...........................109
Chapter 18: Family Healing ..............................115
Chapter 19: Everything Is Alive ...........................123
Chapter 20: Soul Retrieval ...............................127
Chapter 21: Sunglasses and Brass Knuckles ..................131
Chapter 22: Emergency Sabbatical .........................139
Chapter 23: India Calling ................................149
Chapter 24: Laid by the Universe ..........................157
Chapter 25: Saint Teresa .................................165
Chapter 26: Into the Shadows ............................173
Chapter 27: Hellbent on Honey ...........................179
Part tHree: india
Chapter 28: Agra ......................................185
Chapter 29: Mela-Mobile ................................193
Chapter 30: Light Karmic Rinse ...........................203
Chapter 31: Troubled ...................................213
Chapter 32: Kumbh Mela Redux ..........................221
Chapter 33: The River ..................................227