Final Thoughts-June 2011

The theme for this past month has been Exploring Nature, and I have been having fun doing just that!  I tend to not leave the office and then go directly home without being able to enjoy the outdoors.  Yesterday, I did something SO indulgent, SO extravagant, you won’t even believe it…

I took a nap…in a park!

For those of you around the Twin Cities, you can agree that yesterday was pretty much PERFECT weatherwise.  I had some extra time to kill between a meeting with an accountant and seeing my own chiropractor in Uptown Minneapolis–oh so conveniently located near Lake of the Isles.  So, I drove until I found a spot that seemed perfect, grabbed my pillow (yes, I keep a camp pillow in the back of my car…because you never know) and camped on a partially shaded spot of very soft, fragrant grass.  Ahhhh….

Also this week, I was able to go on a lovely picnic with some friends out in Lebanon Hills in Eagan.  (Highly recommend going there if you haven’t…abundance of trails, picnic areas, canoeing–you’d never know you were near a metropolitan area.)

Anyway, it was a great event for me to share camaraderie and conversation in nature and revisit that sense of being connected to both people and the earth.  I still encourage you to connect with nature throughout the year and especially as we transition into July’s focus of Awakening Your Dreams.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July everybody!!

Stormy Weather

Seemed like a fitting post from the One Spirit Book of Days with the recent storms we’ve had lately.  Thank goodness for the sunshine today!

You may not get the chance to witness a storm at sea from a lighthouse, but a hotel restaurant or window will often provide great views.  Think of the double aspect of nature turned native–exhilarating but potentially destructive.  Think also of the precariousness of what we may wrongly perceive as a stable world designed for our comfort:  it wasn’t.  Watching a storm brew up and blow over is an object lesson in our frailty, and in the good fortune we enjoy when nature stays calm.

Zoo Trip

Great suggestion from the One Spirit Book of Days Planner!  Perfect time of year to get out and enjoy zoos and welcome the animal interaction.  Kristen Scanlon will be holding an Animal Communication class here at The Healing Loft this Saturday, June 18th along with an Animal Support Day: Honoring the Wishes of the White Wolf at Como Park Sunday, June 19th.  Visit here for details!  Enjoy!

Zoos have improved since the bad old days:  you may be surprised if you haven’t visited lately.  Animals are treated more sensitively now.  Take a child with you to get the best out of a zoo trip:  you’ll then experience the place not as an assertion of human supremacy but as an opportunity to learn about the strangeness and ingenuity of nature.  Show your young friend the positive side:  the touching keeper-animal friendships, the way some animals relish exercise–even in front of an audience.

Practice: Listen to Earth’s Symphony

Listening meditatively to nature opens our inner ear to the subtle harmonies of the world.  Find a comfortable place to sit or lie outside.  Close your eyes.  Take a few deep breaths, then breathe naturally.  Become aware of the sounds around you–bird calls, insects, flowing water, even a distant car horn.  If one sound becomes insistent, go into it and explore its distinctive melody.

Wind in Your Hair

Words of wisdom from the One Spirit Book of Days for this week:

In its fusion of rider and machine, cycling has a Zen purity.  You may not feel this in town, among the car fumes and careless drivers.  But whenever you get the chance, do some cycling in the countryside:  it’s the ideal way to travel through a wild landscape, so long as the hills are gentle and the road surfaces smooth.  Coastal cycling is a particular pleasure.  If you’re lucky enough to find a small, flat island with a good coast road, you might even be able to do a circular tour without once losing sight of the sea!

Set Your Intention for June

Nice little affirmation to keep your intention focused on Exploring Nature for June.  Enjoy!

Spending time in nature connects me with the great mystery of life.  I eat organic, recycle, and reuse, and tread lightly to minimize my impact on the Earth.

A Home in Bloom

Weekly words of wisdom from the One Spirit Book of Days:

Window boxes and hanging baskets abrim with flowers tell visitors and passers-by of the time you’ve invested in transient beauty.  Earthly pleasures fade, especially seasonal ones, but that’s no reason to stint on your labor.  Since the effect is for others’ benefit as much as your own, it’s a mark of welcome.  Having made the initial effort, don’t spoil the impact by skimping on maintenance–a self-watering system is worth the outlay.  Deck your home in the hues of nature.  Be uplifted with every homecoming.

June’s Focus: Explore Nature

The focus for June in the One Spirit Book of Days is Explore Nature.  What a great way to reconnect to passion and vigor and reclaim the power that resides within us (I know, it’s such a cliche thing to say isn’t it?)  Anyway, spring is here; summer draws nigh.  Enjoy!

You don’t have to teeter on the lip of the Grand Canyon to experience nature’s fascination.  Ski a mountain, canoe across a pond, weed the garden–watch a nature video even–and you can enjoy the psychological and spiritual uplift, and health benefits, of exploring the natural world.  Even resolute outdoor-phobes can participate: playing with a pet floods the brain with oxytocin, the same feel-good chemical our bodies produce during sex.