Ten years ago next month, Cindy and I found home when we walked into the condo we now own. I knew it as soon as I turned my head: an expansive lake, staring back at me. Calm underbelly, light breeze rippling the surface of the water. My shoulders dropped away from my ears. I took a deep breath in. I relaxed.
I rely on the lake to remind me to find the calm under the surface of my days.
I understand my self in the smaller birds keeping away raptors. I watch my moods in the passing clouds.
Yet as pandemic continues, I’ve been stunned by the consequence of simply stepping outside. Inhaling fresh air. Hearing the sounds of nature, even amidst human-made sounds of traffic and construction. My body relaxes and perks up.
Qigong teacher Robert Peng breaks everything into three stages:
Get Ready, Do It, Receive the Benefits. I’m good at Doing It. Less skilled at Getting Ready. And a novice at Receiving the Benefits, letting it sink in.
Walks outside are how my body/heart/mind/spirit best receives the benefits. I need the whole chorus of life singing together in order to find my place, to let life’s light in. When I let the light in, allowing myself to be recharged, I spontaneously feel myself opening, responding as in loving kindness meditation, ‘living from the joy of my own true nature.’
May we all let in the light of spring, letting it recharge us.
May we all find ourselves living from the joy of our own true nature.
Rev. Mary
