[sky dancer]

Any and all who want to discuss how you feel closer to your essence by being in nature or reading a poem or just being, please post your thoughts here.

What does the practice of love mean to you? What does the practice of compassion mean to you? To me, love is the genuine wish that I or someone else is happy. Compassion is the sincere wish that myself or another is free of suffering.

[Rhapsody]

There is a large wooden area behind my house and when I need to be closer to my higher power I often find that I will take a long walk in the woods and stand in the mist of the mighty trees as the warm rays of the sun brings my spirituality into a clearer prospective.

I could stand in that one spot for hours on end if life did not always call me back.

[sky dancer]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody

There is a large wooden area behind my house and when I need to be closer to my higher power I often find that I will take a long walk in the woods and stand in the mist of the mighty trees as the warm rays of the sun brings my spirituality into a clearer prospective.

I could stand in that one spot for hours on end if life did not always call me back.

That's a wonderful image, Rhapsody. Do you like the poems of Mary Oliver?

Her spirituality is like that too. All about cultivating presence in nature.

[Rhapsody]

Originally Posted by sky dancer

Do you like the poems of Mary Oliver?

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

[filifera]

DH and I spent our tax refund on a mountaintop "retreat" nearly a year ago that we treat as our sanctuary. It's 2.5 acres, about 50 miles from our house, up a long winding dirt road. We've added an old travel trailer where we can hang out, spend the night, and do a little cooking. I've brought my art supplies up there so I can sit and sketch or paint the scenery.

During the day, the skies are clear, the air is clean, and the only sounds we hear are ravens and other birds. Rarely do we hear a vehicle or any other human activity, and we can't see any of our neighbors. We spent an entire day once watching clouds form from wisps of vapor, then grow and slowly float downwind, then another cloud would form, and another.

At night when the sky is clear, we watch the stars, with the whole Milky Way above us. Sometimes we see shooting stars, and we've seen the space station and the odd satellite as well.

While we're up there, we just relax, hang out, and live in the moment. There's no pressure to do anything or be anywhere. We can hike around the hills, or look for interesting rocks -- geodes and agates are plentiful. We are looking forward to seeing the wildflowers again this spring -- the whole place was brilliantly painted with them last year, and this year promises to be even better.

This is all my DH and I need for spirituality, reverence for nature, and pure stress free relaxation and joy at being alive. There's no phone service up there (cellular or otherwise), no internet, no electricity (except solar), no water (except what we bring with us), and nothing much else except us and the ravens.

Lots of people probably believe DH and I are headed for hell because we don't go to their specific church or temple or whatever. I think heaven and hell are all around us, and whichever one you're in right now is because of your own beliefs. We are all part of a natural cycle of birth, growth, death and renewal. Don't need someone else's Sky Daddy to give meaning to my life, I can find all I need up here.

[sky dancer]

The Invitation Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Canadian Teacher and Author

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

© 1995 by Oriah House, From "Dreams Of Desire"
Published by Mountain Dreaming, 300 Coxwell Avenue, Box 22546, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4L 2A0

[Capp]

Mary Oliver and Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Two of the best female teachers of wisdom

Cap

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
These played an important part in renewing my self esteem.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

"What if the question is not why am I so infrequently the person I really want to be, but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really am?"
The Dance
Oriah Mountain Dreamer

[chaotic13]

I've created a little nook in my home where I retreat to and attempt to connect with the Spirit. I also tend to be able to go there during my morning exercise time. I have ADHD so I haven't been able to figure out how to just sit and meditate (like to learn some day). For me if I keep my body busy its easier to internally focus and make a connection. I've also found keeping a gratitude log has been helpful. Unless totally stressed, I try to initiate my connection with a few thank yous.

[sky dancer]

Originally Posted by chaotic13

I've created a little nook in my home where I retreat to and attempt to connect with the Spirit. I also tend to be able to go there during my morning exercise time. I have ADHD so I haven't been able to figure out how to just sit and meditate (like to learn some day). For me if I keep my body busy its easier to internally focus and make a connection. I've also found keeping a gratitude log has been helpful. Unless totally stressed, I try to initiate my connection with a few thank yous.

That's great. I go to Feldenkrais classes. Feldenkrais is awareness through movement. It's not yoga, but it's a way to get quiet and investigate how the body moves. It's slow, and the method is less is more.

I wonder if this would help your ADHD? Since you state that your way into focusing is through body movement.

Food for thought, anyway.

Moshe Feldenkrais was an engineer and he became fascinated by the human skeleton and how it moves. He created a series of 'lessons' that are gentle forms of movement and by so doing, muscle patterns of holding let go without effort.

[chaotic13]

[quote=sky dancer;972497]Moshe Feldenkrais quote]

Never heard of it. I think I will do a web search. Thanks.

What I've found that works fairly well for me is some type of repetitive movement. I will get on the eliptical, get warmed up, then close my eyes and focus on trying to just provide the exact amount of force to match the machine's resistance. Often I will have my head phones on so I will attempt to match the song cadence too. One continuous fluid movement. It is very difficult and it takes me out of the constant noise in my head and into my body. The stationary bike works too but I like the challenge of trying to balance and move all four extremities.

This is a great way to mix up your boring workout routine too. (Bordom sets in real quick with me...so I have to find ways to entertain myself during the winter months) Doing the eliptical or even the bike with your eyes close...totally different motor pattern, you will definitately feel different muscles being used!

[Michah]

There is nothing like the howl of a dingo or the hoot of an owl.........the darkness of pristine Australian native forest for miles with just a slight illumination from the moon and the milky way in the sky........

Nothing like it on earth.........that is true divinity.........

[sky dancer]

Originally Posted by Michah

There is nothing like the howl of a dingo or the hoot of an owl.........the darkness of pristine Australian native forest for miles with just a slight illumination from the moon and the milky way in the sky........

Nothing like it on earth.........that is true divinity.........

How sweet. I find nature very supportive of being present and cultivating 'presence'.

Novels sometimes move me too. The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You by Dorothy Bryant moved me.

It's about a very bad man, who gets into a car accident, and a dreaming society takes him in and nurses him back to health, and he is cured of his 'badness'.

[kittenkirk]

I was able to connect with nature..I'd go to my spiritual garden and watch nature perform. I found a spider's wed and I stood there for the longest time watching and noticing the work of her efforts. It was totalling amazing for me. I don't remember how long I was there since I was so absorbed in the creation. Time literally stood still. I was in the present.

When I was walking down the street and lo and behold I found a chestnut. I looked up and around for the tree and there wasn't one. But I held onto the chestnut seed for I came to believe that the seed was planted in me to become a sober woman. I prayed on that chestnut for deliverance for others to be able to find sobriety, too.

Back at my spiritual garden, I found lo and behold to my utter amazement...not one, not two, not three but 12 beautiful chestnut trees. Yes, I had found the mother load....and I filled my pockets and starting giving them away as gifts. If you have the faith in a mustard seed, well, I found the chestnut seed and I found it to a very powerful seed, indeed.
I need to go back there...maybe tomorrow since the weather is expected to be nice. Saturday in my spiritual garden. I can't wait!!!!

[sky dancer]

Originally Posted by kittenkirk

I was able to connect with nature..I'd go to my spiritual garden and watch nature perform. I found a spider's wed and I stood there for the longest time watching and noticing the work of her efforts. It was totalling amazing for me. I don't remember how long I was there since I was so absorbed in the creation. Time literally stood still. I was in the present.

When I was walking down the street and lo and behold I found a chestnut. I looked up and around for the tree and there wasn't one. But I held onto the chestnut seed for I came to believe that the seed was planted in me to become a sober woman. I prayed on that chestnut for deliverance for others to be able to find sobriety, too.

Back at my spiritual garden, I found lo and behold to my utter amazement...not one, not two, not three but 12 beautiful chestnut trees. Yes, I had found the mother load....and I filled my pockets and starting giving them away as gifts. If you have the faith in a mustard seed, well, I found the chestnut seed and I found it to a very powerful seed, indeed.
I need to go back there...maybe tomorrow since the weather is expected to be nice. Saturday in my spiritual garden. I can't wait!!!!

Hey Kit--

'Under the spreading chestnut tree....oh how happy we will be!'