Namaste Dear Sonic Community,
I am just returning from a Spring Rejuvenation Retreat with my Yoga teacher Shiva Rea at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur California. What a gift to be able to unplug, disconnect and renew at this sacred juncture of the year.
When you are deeply immersed in a wild natural place, it’s so easy to remember the healing power of the natural world. Everything lives in harmony and peace together. It made me so aware of the disrupting energy of technology and how it increases stress and disease in our lives.
Esalen is an off the grid retreat center perched on the cliffs overlooking the great Pacific Ocean with healing hot springs, rivers and magnificent gardens. My favorite daily ritual on retreat was to sit in the hot spring baths and watch the moon set over the ocean.
Our daily practice included self-massage, meditation, mantra, asana, dance, and bathing in the sacred healing waters. We were also blessed to do a tobacco ceremony and sweat lodge with a native shaman. During this ceremony we chanted honoring our ancestors and acknowledged that we are borne of the 4 elements, earth, water, air and sky.The realization that we are not separate from nature is profound. When we are able to see the trees as our sisters, the cosmos as our father, the earth as our mother, the rivers and skies as our brothers, we can open to a deeper level of awareness. The connection to nature is a beautiful way to realize you are not alone on this journey, but you are one with something greater, something grander.
Spring is the time of renewal and rebirth. Yet it is also a time to connect deeply to the earth and receive her wisdom. We have recently celebrated Earth Day a time to acknowledge the importance of the natural world that sustains us and to give thanks.
We are now heading towards May Day which falls on May 1st. The ancient Celts called it “Beltane”—the day halfway between spring and summer that coincides with the return of fertility to the earth. Another great juncture to honor the gifts of the earth and her fruitfulness.
I cannot stress the importance of embracing nature as your teacher on the healing path of self-transformation. The Yoga practices are amazing for our health and our mind. But the connection to nature fuels our spirit in such a gentle natural way. There are no complex practices to master. Nature heals without asking anything from us.
When was the last time you watched the moon or sun rise or set, or gazed at the night sky, or followed a river or gazed at the ocean or sat down on the earth and felt yourself one with nature? I know how difficult it can be to live in our modern world and not be addicted to technology. But we do have a choice.
I promise you a week unplugged from technology and immersed in nature will give you more benefit than one year of Yoga and meditation practice.
Just being present in nature and connecting to its power is unbelievably healing. I was recently in a place of confusion. I needed to make a big decision. I was being pulled in two directions and was feeling anxious and agitated. No matter how hard I tried to use my mind to make a decision, I just couldn’t find peace.
So, I took a walk and I went into the woods near my home and I layed on the ground and just breathed. I looked at the trees and the skies and felt myself melting into them. I asked the question and just waited. I could feel my body being held by the earth and my constitution started to settle. The anxiety started to soften, I could feel it leaving my body and being absorbed by the earth. And then the answer came to me, it was clear as day. My decision was realized, and I felt completely at peace with it.
It was like a magical moment. But it wasn’t, it was just the inherent healing power of nature taking care of me. I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders and my energy deeply centered and relaxed. It was beautiful.
Here are a few of simple practices for you to connect with nature.
Earth Savasana
Find a quiet place in nature to lie on the earth. It can be on the grass, at the beach on sand or any natural surface. It can be anytime of day. You will find different benefits during the day when you will be bathed with sunlight and feel a strong connection to the trees and plants around you. In the evening you will be gifted with the healing energy of the planets and the stars. Just lie on your back and gaze upward. Breathe in the natural beauty around you and breathe out any stress, tension, confusion or fear. Feel your negative emotions being released into the natural elements and receive the healing power of nature. Allow yourself to realize you are one with the natural world. Surrender to her majesty.
Chant for the 4 Elements
This is a chant that we sang in the sweat lodge ceremony. You can do this on your own. Find a quiet place in the outdoors. Sit in open eyed meditation taking in the natural beauty around you and chant.
“Earth my body, Water my blood, Air my breath and Fire my spirit”
Moon Set Meditation
During the next full moon cycle on or around May 19th at around 6:28 am find yourself outside facing east. Align your central channel with the descending path of the moon. As the moon sets visualize it setting inside your central channel and landing in your heart. As it lands breathe and take in its healing nectar.
