My morning prayer is that I will see, hear, touch, taste or smell something that fills me with a sense of wonder. This morning it was the sound of a woodpecker in the far off distance and I simply stopped and listened. I just listened. For those few moments I was filled with a sense of wonder and curiosity. It wasn’t mental. It was felt in my body and verified by the smile on my face. I didn’t open my computer and study woodpeckers or ask anyone to validate my experience. It was communion in the purest sense.
We are living in a chaotic world and just below the surface of that chaos is something quiet, pure and simple. I have shifted my orientation in life to being here in the present moment; gently attuned to my own physiology and to the unconditional nature of the living world. The present moment feeds my nervous system cues of safety, stability; belonging and the natural world infuses my soul with curiosity; wonder and beauty.
I don’t want to underestimate the distance between the mind made world of confusion and the world of the senses. It’s a chasm that must be crossed with care and respect for the amount of conditioning and undigested trauma that lives in the human physiology. It’s a journey from survival to simply being here. Remember when you were a little one and would spend hours playing in the dirt with sticks, leaves and rocks. Remember the smell of the ocean and the feel of sand between your toes or the softness of a warm puppy. I’m sorry that so much shit happened to you that you split off from the world of the senses into your mind. It wasn’t your fault.
I saw a snail on the fence this morning and it had it’s little antenna’s out inching it’s way along the fence leaving a path of slime behind it. As I approached I noticed the antenna’s pulling back into the shell and knew that they had sensed my presence. We were suspended in time together for a moment as I slowly backed away and they slowly pulled back into their shell. I do the same thing when I don’t feel safe. I have always had a deep respect for nature and would never willingly “want to hurt a fly” but this is different. This is interconnectedness in the truest sense. We depend on each other.
I have always believed that the further we away we are from our true nature the more likely we are to inflict harm on other beings. And by other beings I include all of nature. This is so apparent in the world we are living in right now. There seems to be no regard for the shared nature of our being.
You may already be on this path of healing and awakening and feel a little disoriented by having one foot in the old and one foot in the new. You will quite likely be experiencing a lot of survival energy and strong emotions like grief and anger. You might feel a longing to join with others who are also moving into a new paradigm.
As a gift to your nervous system I invite you to join me for my Free Online Weekly Gathering: A Resting Place
“One of the most simple and beautiful practices I have ever been privileged to participate in.” ~ Participant
Love,
Candace
All of Candace’s services are Trauma, PTSD, Complex Grief, Chronic Illness and Benzo withdrawal symptom sensitive.