Mindful muddy meditation
Have you found activities that help you rebalance and reconnect? Hiking does that for me, even more so when the conditions require extra concentration. Today brought a 60 degree mud path, while last week was 25 and snow packed. In both cases, I would describe each step as deliberate, or intentionally placed, glancing ahead for a general trajectory, but bringing the focus back each time to the next foot placement. Sometimes, like today for instance, I watch the ground so closely, that I run into a low slung branch. (FYI, bangs don’t just hide wrinkles). It’s a gentle reminder to look ahead for clarity, but also to appreciate the ongoing physical and mental rebalancing that can happen in nature. Health and wellness. With purpose.
The rebalancing happens from within as a reaction to the surroundings I suppose. From the tiny plants that miraculously survive the seasons and haphazard trampling, to the rivers that alternately freeze and flow, to the forehead thumping branches on the dormant trees. I’m reminded of On Miracles by C. S. Lewis, as he discusses the logic of miracles through the laws of nature and the human mind’s capacity to comprehend:
“Each has come into Nature from Supernature: each has its tap-root in an eternal, self-evidence, rational Being, whom we call God. Each is an offshoot, or spearhead, or incursion of that Supernatural reality into Nature.”
These are my reflections, not particularly well defined, just dri
fting out here for you. If a morning hike at a local state park can produce these gifts, then the miracles of renewal and regeneration are never very far away.