Healing
Resources
“The
world is a spa, a nature retreat, a wealth of healing resources.”
Melody
Beattie (Journey to the Heart)
This
morning, someone posted a video on Facebook of Noccalula Falls near
Gadsden, AL. As falls go, Noccalula is normally a calm little thing.
Right now it looks like a mini-Niagara. We've had so much rain that
ground water is literally bubbling up through the expansion joints in
peoples' basements. My back yard is a swamp. Mother Nature is running roughshod down here in the South. Right this moment, at 7:30 a.m. on
December 28th, my porch door is open and it's a balmy 72
degrees. We love the warm weather, but as one of my friends from
church quipped, “It ain't natural!”
I
have to admit, however, that watching that video of the falls was
mesmerizing—not as good as being there in person, of course, but
still hypnotic. Nature, whether “natural” or not, has a way of
rebooting our systems. Just a few minutes a day spent outdoors is as
good as one of those Ayurvedic warm oil drips when it comes to
bringing us down to earth, lowering our stress level and calming our
monkey mind. Even if all you do is sit and watch the trees respond to
the wind, you can't help but relax.
One
of my favorite memories from when I studied, years ago, with Carol
Proudfoot, a Lakota Sioux medicine woman, was welcoming the
sun. We gathered at dawn to watch it rise, and again at dusk, to see
it set. There was something both reverent and respectful about
that—acknowledgment of our dependence on the sun and our connection
to the earth on which it shines. A silent recognition of our humble place in the
family of things, and a deep understanding of the rightness of that place.
Nature
is our home. Hopefully, we can take advantage of this winter
opportunity to spend some time with her. She will calm us and restore
us to sanity if we let her.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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