Meadow bathing

Tangerine sunrise

The Japanese have a term, Shinrin-yoku, which means forest bathing.  Studies have shown that forest bathing is good for your health.  Other studies have shown that just being out in nature is good for you.

Old meadow, future forest, old woods in the background.

Since our forest is not yet a forest, and I didn’t want to frighten the two deer I saw in the woods, I decided to take my early morning walk in the meadows.  It may not have the aromatherapy benefits of a pine forest, but I find meadow bathing to be quite soothing.

As I slowly walked the meadow and future forest paths, I felt myself relaxing, melting, into the rustling sounds of the dry grasses.

I also enjoyed a different perspective on the pond.  Sometimes it was a wider, bigger view.  Other times it was framed by the trees or the meadows.

To begin, we let go.  We let go of our thoughts, our old scripts, our expectations, our darkness.  The solution is not to fight but to let go.  We let go of everything and hold on to nothing.  Over and over again, on the mat and off, we let go.  This letting go is a purification.  We let go and it is like dropping a pebble into a pond, the ripples slowly growing to encompass our every waking moment.  In our letting go we create an emptiness, a space that health and grace will move into.  We begin to live with a joyful awareness.

~ Rolf Gates & Katrina Kenison, Meditations From The Mat

Illuminated by the sun

Long time visitors to Life in the Bogs may recall that at the beginning of a new year, I pick a word or theme for the year.  This year I chose Letting Go.

Red oak

I am beginning to realize just how big, how ambitious that theme is to live with and to accomplish.  Perhaps too big from where I started.

I believe I am beginning to grow into it.

When I thought of that while out in the meadows, it made me laugh.  Here it is, autumn, near the end of the year, and I’m just beginning.

Watching the trees slowly bare themselves, I see how effortless it can be.  Still, there are times that I resist.  That made me laugh, too.

I am Locutus — of Borg.  Resistance – is futile.  Your life, as it has been – is over.

~ From Star Trek:  The Next Generation

I am such a nerd.  That’s what made me really laugh.  Resistance is futile.  (Sources indicate this phrase originated with “Dr. Who.”  I vaguely recall hearing it in, I think, the BBC television adaptation of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”  Or it could have been the newer, movie version.  I’m not sure.  At any rate, I thought the Borg quote from Star Trek was perfect for this post.)

On that note, it’s time for me to be moving along.  Thank you for dropping in and joining me on a walk through the meadows.  The weather has been an autumn hodgepodge of clouds and sun, breeziness, warmth and chilliness.  Transition weather.  It’s supposed to rain sometime overnight and/or tomorrow.  Sunday is looking pretty nice.  It might be a good day for a bike ride.

Wishing you a wonder-filled weekend!

I almost fell into the sky this morning

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