.....squatting down

Yogis,
Summer is the time for slowing down. Softening the edges on the rigid schedule to drop out of that ever present thinking mind and tune into the feeling mind. The one that can actually appreciate all of the smells, sensations, colors and sounds of this glorious season. Often easier said than done.

Not sure what it is this year. Maybe the tumultuous weather which has us running for the relief of shade one moment and undercover from a sudden thunderstorm the next. Could it be the wildfire smoke? The morning headlines or my post-menopausal hormones? I’m not sure.

Here we sit already staring at the end of July on the calendar and I have yet to feel settled into my summer rhythm. I am doing all the things. Weeding my garden, watering the plants, watching the birds and eating tomato salads but it feels a little rote. Distracted. Not the freedom I crave and enjoy in the warmth of the summer sun.

I still had the rental car this week as I tried to be patient. Rental policies no longer allow dogs in the cars, so my daily trips with Phoebe to our favorite woodland spots have been on hold. One day I began feeling trapped and grabbed an hour when my husband’s car was home to head to the woods of a local park. We walked the edges of the field. Starting down through the trees the temperature drop they offered felt incredible. Arriving at the end of the trail I announced it was time to head back.

Phoebe would not hear of it.

She plopped her butt on the ground and faced downhill into the ravine…..her favorite stance for watching the world go by. Oh well I guess I will give her a moment.

It was only then that I noticed the chanterelle mushroom next to my foot. I squatted down to photograph her incredible color and the way she swirls herself about. I now see that a little further down the path there is a whole field of them. I look up and notice the way the tree which has fallen is shedding her bark in delightful wooden ringlets.

Looking over only this small patch of earth I discover more mushrooms and plants. The way the sun dapples through the leaves. The sound of my breath. My own stillness. The quiet. Exactly what had been missing. Seeing the world from a squat…..or a seat….. displays the world on an entirely different canvas. Together we watched for a while as the Universe painted.

Sitting here is like sitting under the Bodhi tree. My mind is mindfulness itself, calm and at ease, free from all distraction.
~Thich Nhat Hanh

I thanked Phoebe and we finished our walk. She was the one who knew. I was the one that needed the reminder.

Squatting down to see,
SARAH