The stillness of nature.
I believe there's something deeply transformative about being in nature. A few years back I attended a wonderful retreat in Glastonbury based at the Chalice Well Gardens. For many years I'd been held back by a debilitating anxiety condition which is why I was drawn to tai chi for instance and workshops like this. As I sat in the gardens drinking in the stillness surrounding me I looked down at a beautiful green leaf glowing with spring freshness. I swear it that leaf then spoke to me, (or at least a voice sounded in my head) which said; "There's nothing to be, just be. There's nothing TO be, just be......" Suddenly everything seemed to make sence. There's something within each of us; a deeper sense of stillness and calm that so easily gets covered up by the noise and bustle of everyday life, and in the never ending clamour of our thinking minds. Worry and anxiety are perfect examples. And we may spend years and years knowing that something's not quite right, yet fruitlessly searching "out there" for an answer. Perhaps it's that what we seek is actually so close within us, that we fail to see it; it's not even within our upturned palm, but closer than that.
Everything that happens in nature just happens as it needs to. And all of it occurs without an ounce of thought. Everything just is. And so, whenever we are surrounded by nature and can hold the intention of quieting our minds for a while, so the stillness of our surroundings can begin to resonate with the stillness and natural calm which already lies latent within us; we just need to allow it to happen. So I invite you; next time you're out in nature or doing the garden, just stop for a while and just n o t i c e. Allow your attention to be grasped by whatever takes it's fancy. Beware the thinking mind telling you to keep busy; that you should be doing this or that, or with it's urge to label and judge and instead.....
Click here for a site offering amazing weekend retreats on developing inner stillness.
Everything that happens in nature just happens as it needs to. And all of it occurs without an ounce of thought. Everything just is. And so, whenever we are surrounded by nature and can hold the intention of quieting our minds for a while, so the stillness of our surroundings can begin to resonate with the stillness and natural calm which already lies latent within us; we just need to allow it to happen. So I invite you; next time you're out in nature or doing the garden, just stop for a while and just n o t i c e. Allow your attention to be grasped by whatever takes it's fancy. Beware the thinking mind telling you to keep busy; that you should be doing this or that, or with it's urge to label and judge and instead.....
Click here for a site offering amazing weekend retreats on developing inner stillness.