Reflections ►
Part 3 of 3
Dr . Lisa Roark — A Story to Tell
Joy — The Key Ingredients
by Dolores Halbin , contributing writer
“
Time is like water . You put your fingers in ; the water flows through your fingers . You will never touch that water again . As the water flows through , it is gone .” Dr . Roark looked deep into her husband ’ s eyes when she said this on the final morning of our visit , again sitting on Griff ’ s lap .
For all of our readers who have followed Dr . Roark ’ s story within this three-part series over the past two issues , thank you . And thank you Dr . Roark , for letting me tell it . If you missed the July or August issues , and want to catch up , you can find those past issues online at www . TheEvolutionmag . com .
These days , Dr . Lisa Roark isn ’ t wasting one minute of time , so much so that I had to track her from a camping trip with her kids to a Lifestyle Retreat for her entire staff to Mexico , where she is scuba diving with her husband while the kids are away at summer camp .
There were two reasons I wanted to learn about her journey . First was her absolute 100 % physical transformation . She had agreed to be a speaker for us at the Patients Out of Time Conference in the summer of 2022 . When she walked in , I didn ’ t recognize her . I recognized Griff ( her husband ). Through all the trials and tribulations , the man stands as sturdy and handsomely as ever . I looked at the woman on his arm , and I would have sworn a time machine had taken Dr . Roark back 20 years .
“ What have you been doing ?” I asked , shock registering on my face . “ Yoga ,” she said . “ And when I ’ m done doing yoga , I do more yoga . And when I think I ’ m done doing yoga ...” she laughed .
Dang it . It always comes back to yoga . I don ’ t know why . I ’ m the jumpy kid in the class who can ’ t sit still , but yoga has always been a struggle . However , since our meeting last summer , I have been doing
my own “ walk the dogs , stretch on the bridge , breathe , be grateful ” kind of self-adapted yoga .
I also wanted to write about Dr . Roark because I knew she had journeyed through the Fire Swamp and made the Journey of Anger . And she had come out the other side , shedding skin , leaving the cocoon behind , transmuting , and transforming into the amazing human being she is today . As a fellow traveler on the path from despair to joy , I am always looking for maps . And every good map has a starting point .
“ I think the first step towards my own recovery was treating myself a little bit like I was my own patient . I would go into our massage therapy room . It was quiet and closed because of COVID . I would stretch and breathe for five minutes . I didn ’ t call it yoga . I called it PT ,” explained Dr . Roark .
In the case of self-healing , the adage “ give them an inch , and they ’ ll take a mile ” is gratefully true . Most of us don ’ t know what we are getting into when we let in that five minutes of self-care . That little bit of time lets in a little light , which grows . We need to love ourselves enough to give ourselves five minutes . That five minutes is like adding yeast to bread . It is going to grow no matter what we do !
I have said many times God , the Goddess , my dead relatives , and
Dr . Lisa Roark whatever benevolent forces influence my life talk to me through whatever medium is available . The radio is a big one for me . But also , billboards , license plates , the lady at the gas station who told me I was going to kill someone thirty years ago , and even social media can lead us to major change . For Dr . Roark , this major shift began when the world opened back up post-pandemic , and she ran across a Higher Self Retreat in St . Louis .
44 September 2023