Dear Reader,

Oh, the medicine of surrender.

I first heard those lines from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer's poem while in shavasana at Yoga Soup.

It comes with no spoonful of sugar. No promises, no backup plans.

I was kicking and fighting something I knew needed to release. Gripping, letting go, then picking it back up again. Her words named it.

The medicine of surrender never tastes the way you expect.

I asked Elyse, my yoga teacher, for the name of the poem, and started reading one of Rosemerry's poems a night from her book The Unfolding — and then, once I'd practically memorized that, All the Honey.

A poem a night is so much better than scrolling on your phone, or reaching for that self-help book doesn’t seem to help.

​I interviewed Rosemerry. She interviewed me. And then something wonderful happened— we became friends.

Oh, surrender. The surest medicine that exists. There are infinite side effects: wonder, freedom, rawness.

On Friday, October 1st, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is coming to Santa Barbara for the Tell the Truth salon.

She has a new book out, Wonderment, which, yes, you will get if you come in person!

But that's not all — there are limited spots open for an half-day, in-person Wisdom and Wonderment Workshop with Rosemerry and me the next day.

If you need to let go of something, want to stop holding back, and are ready to move into living with more wonderment, sign up. Surrender.

It’s the only remedy that can help you
be whole. The only real medicine there is.

Surrendering with you,

Diana

Dr. Diana Hill Your Wise Effort Guide

The Medicine of Surrender

By Rosemerry Whatola Trommer

comes with no spoonful of sugar.
No promises, no back up plans,
no returns, no insurance.
The medicine of surrender
never tastes the way you expect,
never tastes the same next time,
seldom has the hoped for effect.
And if there were some part of you
that thought it might not be affected,
that thought it might hold back,
that part is most likely the first part
to be flooded with the relentless
truth of what is. Oh surrender.
The surest medicine that exists.
There are infinite side effects.
Wonder. Freedom. Rawness.
It’s like opening the dictionary
to the word heaven. Or obliteration.
And knowing it’s the same thing.
It’s like playing spin the bottle with life,
and you French kiss whatever you get.
It’s the only remedy that can help you
be whole. The only real medicine there is.

​​​​​​