What you encounter, recognize or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation. When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace. ~ John O'Donahue
Spring is one of my favorite seasons. It is a time in which I most palpably sense and feel the vibrant and thriving web which animates ALL life.
Although always present and pulsating, there are times I forget my connection to this field. My awareness lies dormant, held by a modern culture that has pulled itself out of belonging. And yet every spring it’s as if my entire being is irresistibly awakened by the electric aliveness and
vibrational tone of ephemeral blooms, budding trees, birds nesting, and LIFE pushing it's way up through moist soil, emerging anew. Spring beckons. Nature calls us home!
To come into contact with the natural world - to attune with it's rhythms - is one of the most healing and nourishing practices I know. We can experience this powerfully in the wild, yet it is just as accessible in our urban environment when we choose to slow down and listen…when we allow our inner nature to encounter the natural world around us. Choosing to RELATE in this way - to our bodies, to those in our lives, to the natural world - becomes an invitation to (re)member where and what we belong to.
Through the dance I have learned many avenues to support this process - to connect and come home to myself - to slow down and BE Present with what is arising, within and around me. Through movement we each integrate, relate, and grow in our capacity to know…in our bones…our connection, our belonging, and our interconnectedness with all beings.
This Earth Day, take time to find a place of beauty in the natural world. Consciously feel the texture of the space around you - of the way in which your body comes into connection and communication with the environment. Stay mindful. Open your field. Notice where your attention is drawn. When we walk on the earth with this kind of reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. And then...in that moment...when nature reveals herself, RELATE TO HER. Feel into the exchange of energy. Feel your belonging.
You ARE nature! We BELONG to each other.
I love you. Keep going! Teresa