Equinisity ~ Healing Horses and Magical Forests OLD

Reposted ~ New Title Link

http://noticequietnature.blogspot.ca/2012/06/equinisity-healing-horses-and-magical.html

The Transforming Energy of Deadman Falls

For years, I have wanted to return and visit Deadman Falls. Finally, a Location Scouting assignment had me venture back up the beautiful Deadman Valley, past wondrous Hoodoos within a colourful landscape.

Listening to the constant noise of water pouring over the cliff while sitting grounded on a rock, I could sense something energizing. I could sense the electricity in the air from the hydro energy of suspended water particles descending rapidly into the chasm. I had this same sensation a few times before when under or very near waterfalls. It is very energizing! Therefore, I decided to rename Deadman Falls to Women Alive Falls!

A friend and I enjoyed the magic and energy of the Waterfall. We found we could easily walk out in low water to sit on a large rock directly above the 200 ft drop of water.

We discussed the shifting of perceptions: such as the duality of danger~anxiety to beauty~peace and the connectedness~separateness (from nature) as we sat on our daring perch. The lessons from observing Dualities teach us and reveal conflicts and struggles within.

Synchronising ourselves within the present moment of any environment can reveal personal myths and allow us to tap into the Power of the Universe! All we need to do is be centred and feel the energy!

No exaggeration~ the Deadman Falls viewing area is rustic and dangerous. The parking areas have tire grooves from 4x4 vehicles. Therefore, I can just imagine the huge mucky mud puddle during wet seasons! Presently the surrounding forest is tinder dry and there are lots of dead wind fallen trees. It is a hazardous time for forest fires.

When we are able to Trust, we can tap into our intuition and experience intimacy with nature. These experiences enhance our Depth Perception by consciously choosing to be 'in the moment’.

 Shapes shift, our perceptions are enhanced, and we notice our senses are acutely aware of

colors, sounds, temperature, smells, and other small nuances.

Do you focus or react?

Can you feel the physiological reactions within your own body?

 This Wisdom of Nature in the external landscape can have a healing or harmful impact on our inner landscape depending on how we choose to perceive. In many situations in life, we can become conscious of the multiple dimensions or choices of how we react to the situations or experiences that we are facing.

We can become aware of our patterns of interaction depending on whether we feel connected or separate from the natural environment that we find ourselves within. (This could even be just a patch of grass or a plant in the room).

My friend Janet Whitehead and I made an Offering of Gratitude to the Nature Spirits of the Chasm.

Janet is a certified Life and Business Coach Extraordinaire.

Her Coaching is available by phone, Skype or in person.

In addition, she is a Creative Muse Group Facilitator.

She has recently published, "The Demise of Noshud Hafta" 2009

 - an empowering storybook illustrated in clay.

As well, her excellent Work (Play) books are for sale and much more!

Janet L. Whitehead http://www.musingsandmud.com/

Janets Blog: http://www.musingalong.wordpress.com/

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“When we look at water in nature it is certainly an element that integrates a lot of things. It is artist, it is landscape architect, it is also in a certain way, engineer. Always water has enough space and time in nature. No matter where we look, our landscapes_ the shapes and forms – are very much influenced by water. Water is the ultimate landscape architect. We always see the borderlands between air and water and the shapes that the water leaves behind such as the wave patterns in sand after the tides have gone out. There is potential creativity in this water. No one snowflake is equal to another. Varied and dynamic, water is always changing. It lives in the beauty and artistry of little details such as a falling raindrop. And when we look at close-ups of water, we see that it is so magic and full of surprises. The magnified structure of water even resembles the early forms of life itself.

-Herbert Dreiseitl Pg xxi, ‘Waterworks’ a Foreword in the book,

‘Deep Immersion~ The Experience of Water’ by Robert Lawrence France PhD 2003.

Apparently, people hike up Deadman’s Creek down from the Valley road. I was told you have to scramble over boulders and watch for falling objects too. However, there are Pictographs at the base of Deadman Falls and other discoveries too!

This photo looks back at the main viewing ledge. The cliff edge is eroding and there is evidence some trees have been removed. (This must have been a rather precarious feat!) The ledge slopes towards the edge, which could trigger Vertigo for some people.It is magnificent to view the Falls despite the limited view without crouching down or clinging to a tree to peer further over the edge. However, this is what keeps British Columbia wild!

Directions: From Kamloops, BC take Hwy 1 west. Just past Savona and up the hill is the turnoff to the right onto Deadman Valley Road. It is mainly well maintained unpaved graded road. The waterfalls are 59.2 kms from the highway. The Deadman Waterfalls are up and beyond the turn off sign to the Vidette Lake Resort and about 5 km and a wee bit. Look for the Orange Pylons on the right hand side of the road.

If you are interested in exploring this beautiful area, follow the link to the Vidette Lake Resort. I have stayed here in the past and certainly enjoyed the quietude and the discovery of the ‘Centre of the Universe’. http://www.videttelake.com. A great fishing resort, for families or individuals looking for nature adventures!

Most of all respect the people and fragile nature of the landscape in the area.

A Journey Through Presence

A Journey Through Presence

For a week in January, I travelled the same country road in the Kamloops area. It is called Rose Hill Road, and it wanders through grasslands, and then through forests before it descends into river valley. I like this road for its quietude, wildlife and landscape. My awareness becomes acute to the subtleties of nature and I relax and revel in simple discoveries.

My journey is a great way to let go and “become presence” as described by David Abram in his book, ‘The Spell of the Sensuous’. David Abram explores the research of time and space by past phenomenologists and the lack of distinction of time and space according to indigenous cultures.

David Abram wrote,
“When I allow the past and future to dissolve, imaginatively, into the immediacy of the present moment, then the “present” itself expands to become an enveloping field of presence. And this presence, vibrant and alive, spontaneously assumes the precise shape and contour of the enveloping sensory landscape, as though this were its native shape! It is this remarkable fit between temporal concept (the “present”) and spatial precept ( the enveloping presence of the land) that accounts, I believe, for the relatively stable and solid nature of this experience, and that prompts me to wonder whether “time “and “space” are really as distinct as I was taught to believe? " pg 203- 204

Abram states,

“The sensorial landscape, in other words, not only opens onto that distant future waiting beyond the horizon but also onto a near future, onto an imminent field of possibilities waiting behind each tree, behind each stone, behind each leaf from whence a spider may at any moment come crawling into our awareness. And this living terrain is supported not only by that more settled or sedimented past under the ground, but by an imminent past resting inside each tree, within each blade of grass, within the very muscles and cells of our own bodies. " Pg 215

As well,

“It is evident, however, that when our awareness of time is joined with our awareness of space, space itself is transformed. Space is no longer experienced as a homogeneous void, but reveals itself as this vast and richly textured field in which we are corporeally immersed, this vibrant expanse structured by both a ground and a horizon. It is precisely the ground and the horizon that transform abstract space into space-time. And these characteristics—the ground and the horizon—are granted to us only by the earth. Thus, when we let time and space blend into a unified space-time, we rediscover the enveloping earth. " Pg 216

“It would seem, then, that the conceptual separation of time and space—the literate distinction between a linear, progressive time and a homogeneous, featureless space- functions to eclipse the enveloping earth from human awareness. As long as we structure our lives according to assumed parameters of a static space and a rectilinear time, we will be able to ignore, or overlook, our thorough dependence upon the earth around us. Only when space and time are reconciled into a single, unified field of phenomena does the encompassing earth become evident, once again, in all its power and its depth, as the very ground and horizon of all our knowing.” Pg217

The Spell Of The Sensuous by David Abram 1996

In what ways can we mindfully blend or integrate

“presence” wherever we may be or doing today

in the office, car, housework or while just waiting?

When you experience “presence” what do, you notice?

Hidden Harmony ~ The Sacredness of the Forest

“The mind is more comfortable in a landscaped park because it has been planned through thought; it has not grown organically. There is an order here that the mind can understand. In the forest, there is an incomprehensible order that to the mind looks like chaos. It is beyond the mental categories of good and bad. You cannot understand it through thought, but you can sense it when you let go of thought become still and alert and don’t try to understand or explain. Only then can you be aware of the sacredness of the forest. As soon as you sense that hidden harmony, that sacredness, you realize you are not separate from it, and when you realize that, you become a conscious participant in it. In this way, nature can help you become realigned with the wholeness of life.”

Eckhart Tolle ~ Oneness With All Life Treasury Edition – Inspirational Selections from A New Earth 2008

Is there a special place where you can let go

and become still and alert to feel

a sense of connection to nature?

Perhaps it is not a forest.

Perhaps it that same sense of stillness

and heightened awareness

when you pause to look at flowers or rocks.

What are you naturally attracted to?

Seeing Through the Fog

"Although by now the twenty-first-century mind should be well aware of the interdependent links between earth degradation and widespread depression, our behavior has not yet caught up to our awareness. In a fog, in a hurry, and apparently in a hungry search for purpose, we continue to consume dwindling resources in the form of plastic paraphernalia, marketplace fashion, and endless other artificial and personal prescriptions for life. This is psychic numbing, denial, alienation, and depression wrapped into a single package, a single pattern of unintentional and unconscious misbehavior~ a pattern we might call overconsumption or addiction. Most insidious, this effect is cumulative, leaving us increasingly blind, autistic, and misguided in a self-perpetuating geography of human invention, a shiny and seductive world of mirrors. Saddest of all, we have forgotten that we have forgotten. We are too far from the richness of sensory, sensual experience to remember, much less taste, what it means to be fully awakened and engaged. We no longer know what a depth of sensory awareness is. The outcome of our forgetting is a sleepy, comfortable denial of our loss."

- Pg 70 from 'Sight and Sensibility - The Ecopsychology of Perception',by Laura Sewall,Ph.D. 1999

"To limit our faith to the visible facts is to call our world a done deal- no mysteries left, no revelations to be discovered. Our recovery must weave the unseen realm of psyche into the material moment, restoring our faith in the embodied irrational, the blush and subtlety of maybe, the meaning of mythic. The mystery of mind must be called into the light of day, unabashedly rejoined with the visible world- which without our gift of imagination is too easily reduced to stuff, nonrelational and ultimately uninteresting. Recovery must begin with noticing what's truly there, with looking into and between, with revealing what has been left unseen, and with an offering of wonder and imagination."

-Pg 93-94 'Sight and Sensibility - The Ecopsychology of Perception',by Laura Sewall,Ph.D. 1999

What if all levels of our Governments created a 'Ministry for Sensory Awareness', how might this impact our Local and Global Economies?

Living Deeply

LIVING DEEPLY

“If you go out in the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise...for every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain because, today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic!” (Teddy Bears Picnic)

This is what I was singing in my head, while wandering around to see deeply through the woods, as my friend Lori laid down on the forest floor to peer through her camera up into the treetops. It is so special to share adventures with a friend who has similar interests.

I am feeling the holiday rush of timelines. However, I am also feeling creative and I want to make some decorations. Last Sunday I purchased Cedar, Pine and Boxwood sprigs for my planters. Yet I still need to go for a walk along the river in a peaceful place to cut some Red Willow. Now the trail is covered in snow drifts and there is a wind chill which feels like polar temperatures along the river.

After looking into the photo above, I was inspired to make some ‘earthy’ looking decorations. You see, when I am outdoors I often find little treasures that inspire me to create something. Often these treasures end up in my Studio tucked away until that special moment. Sometimes those special moments are years away! However, I will always consider why it is, I would like to take home something from nature. As a moral practise, such as native cultures do, I will ask the natural object permission to bring them home with me. As well, leave behind a simple offering of gratitude. Be it thankful words, a penny, or some other exchange. There are times when my conscience or intuition stops me in my tracks.

So.... I wanted to make some decorations....Well all it took was my awesome artist friend Jan phoning me from another city to ask if I still had some Wasp nest paper left over and possibly enough to cover a fireplace mantle. I did not. But that led into a creative brainstorm session that inspired her with more ideas and I rediscovered all these gems. Such as dried Rosehips on a wire, Birch tree bark curls, Lichen, Poppy pod stars, Milkweed pods (great little Fairy Boats Janet!), wasp nest paper (great for decoupage) and Pumpkin and Squash stems of various sizes (you can never have enough, or maybe I am too soft hearted to throw them in the compost bin!). So now, what I need are some glue sticks, and I am into some serious fun!

My creative treasures have accumulated because photography has become a more important aspect of my life than ever before. Since buying new cameras in the past 2 years, I came to discover a renewed love for photography. I find when I am out doing Macro photography especially, I become very grounded, calm, and focused. It gives moments of respite from chronic pain. Time slows down and the colors and textures around me enrich my senses. It is fascinating to find tiny treasures like Wild Strawberries with bite marks from Mice nibbling away or ugly Fungi puffing out small clouds of tiny spores. When these magical moments occur, the small simple pleasures become cherished memories of the times we ‘connect to nature’. I must add that I have these same wonderful experiences in my back yard and garden.

We typically think of our first teachers as our parents, caregivers, community, culture, and country. However, what often tends to be overlooked is our connection to nature. From a ‘Deep Ecology’ view, the natural world is our first teacher. It is a gift waiting for us to discover its simplicity and beauty.

What if we took ourselves, or our children/grandchildren, or our family/ friends, and just go outside for a walk or a breath of fresh air to notice some simple and natural pleasures! On the other hand, bring something from nature outdoors, to someone indoors. Or open the curtains, take your coffee outside, and stare at the snowflakes (Well that is for us who live in the snow areas).

You know we have all been there, stressed out because we blew our budgets, or never got the Christmas cards out on time, or a relative arrived with the main gift being, “A Cold!”. You might disagree with me but, I believe getting outdoors is far more healthy than ‘numbing out’ with a few drinks to ease the performance stress during the holidays or the indifferences because we have to endure time with the relations that we perceive rock our boat. Sometimes we may feel unable to meet the social pressures at this celebratory time due to loss, grief, or loneliness for people we cherished, loved, or let us down. At times of great loneliness, doubt, or overwhelm, we can all feel connected by witnessing something magical or intriguing in nature. Ask a pressing question, or say a prayer and then let it go. You may even get a natural answer or inspiration to help you through.

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What is Deep Ecology ?

Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess, was the first to coin the term Deep Ecology in 1973. He believes the core principal of deep ecology is, that like humanity, the living environment as a whole, has the same right to live and flourish. It is a deep subject with simple answers which invites a person to ask deeper questions concerning the “why” and “how” regarding the impacts of human life as one part of the ecosphere.

I have discovered a pleasant inspiring man on You Tube named, Satish Kumar. He teaches, lectures and runs workshops internationally in ecology, holistic education, and voluntary simplicity. He has a very interesting life story and someday I would like to read his books.

I like how he briefly describes Deep Ecology:

"In 2008, Satish Kumar presented a 50-minute documentary on the BBC as part of the 'Natural World' series. In the programme, Satish introduced the Dartmoor scenes and sights that most inspire him and contemplated the lessons they hold for humanity. A highly acclaimed documentary that mixed eastern philosophy with the western landscape of Dartmoor;

the programme was watched by over 3.6 million people"

As quoted from Satish Kumar's magazine website. www.resurgence.org

(Apparently this DVD is not available in North America yet, I hope it is soon!)

However we can watch it on You Tube

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=6de9FjR40g0

Earth Pilgrim – Satish Kumar 1-6

Do you remember finding special treasures in nature and felt as if they were a gift that came at a time when you were seeking guidance or answers during challenging times?

Have you ever noticed an increase in creativity when you were out in nature or thinking of times in nature?

A simple gift during the season can be to invite someone out for a walk, or drive, or bring something from the outdoors inside. Notice the natural smell, color and textures. Describe what attracts your attention and perhaps how it makes you feel!

Seasons Greetings Everyone!

The Wonder of Waterfalls- Reconnecting With Nature

Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray, BC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5i4EMtHSLY (14 seconds)

Listen to the waterfalls

The Wonder of Waterfalls -
Reconnecting With Nature

It was the longest and dreariest trip over the Coquillhala (Hwy 5) mountain pass that I had ever had to endure. The windshield wipers constantly had to keep up with the rain. The boys slept for some of the trip from Kamloops on our way to Vancouver (BC, Canada). My youngest son, who was around four at the time, became very restless as we descended the mountain pass probably due to ear pressure and the claustrophobic feeling of the car in dense rain.

This was beginning to affect me as I needed to focus on the road and there was nowhere to stop on the side of the road। I needed 20-30 more minutes of driving, before I could safely stop and let the boys out. My son began to cry. As a last ditch effort, I put some music by Yanni into the stereo, and turned up the volume so that the dramatic melody may distract his irritability. It did and he focused on some books on the back seat.

Further, down the road, I pointed out a small waterfall gushing over the cliff walls where usually a fine stream of water trickled. Both sons became intrigued as we passed by several little waterfalls with abundant water cascading down the valley hills and into the ditch. When Yanni’s music, ’After The Sunrise’, exploded in dramatic keys, the boys shrieked and laughed, ooooh –ing and awing as if they were on a roller coaster ride! Serendipitously, Yanni’s music was synchronized with the continual displays of waterfalls!

As the rain subsided in the valley, even the sun briefly peeked out, giving us hope that we could stop at Bridal Veil Falls west of Hope, BC. Sure enough, I was able to let the boys out to stretch and walk the rainforest path up to the Falls. The boys were full of enthusiasm with a renewed interest in waterfalls.

That car trip was never forgotten. Every time we descended the Coqillhalla (Hwy 5), the boys anticipated the waterfalls and requested the Yanni’s Waterfall music be played. They experienced pure Joy watching the wonders of Mother Earth. Frequently from then on, instrumental music became a car activity, as we searched for background music to match the environments that we travelled. However, Yanni always maintained the strongest emotional connection to the environment।

Sadly, this reminds me that some newer vehicles now have video screens on the back of passenger seats, so that kids in the backseat can watch movies. How sad that this activity can deprive children from discovering the wonders of the world outside from their car windows. Most importantly, it reduces their connection to their environment।

(Synaesthesia is profound sensory awareness. Good memories come from a sharpened awareness in the present moment.)

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In 1999, I discovered the awe inspiring website, 'Project NatureConnect'. It captured my full attention with its’ beautiful nature photography. It was the very first time I had heard of Ecopsychology. The website seemed to go on for eternity as it was difficult to grasp where it began and where it ended.

Excitedly, I joined the Online Ecopsychology training course. I struggled to do the activities in front of the computer, as in those days computers were quite noisy. I printed out the assignment and went out to the backyard to sit on the grass. To be quite honest, its content somewhat frustrated me, and my thinking demanded a linear format.

However, outside it finally dawned on me what Michael Cohen of ‘Project Nature Connect’ was trying to convey! I remembered that Nature is interconnected and we are part of nature. Michael Cohen’s teachings about the ‘Natural Systems Thinking’, reconnects people to nature! From applying the assignment and choosing to focus on a blade of grass in my backyard, to then remembering my son’s experience of waterfalls during a past car trip, I understood the profound relationship. Everything began to appear more vivid and alive, as I sat there on the grass.
I continued to use this focusing activity during my early morning routine of delivering newspapers. It drew me out of a sleepy, self absorbed, dreamlike state that one experiences upon waking up. I also learned that some people unknowingly are in a self-absorbed state for most of their lives! Cohen’s ‘Natural Systems Thinking Process’ awakened the curiosity and wonder that is natural in childhood. (Synaesthesia ~ profound sensory awareness! )

'Natural Systems Thinking' occurs in many different forms, in all cultures, in all religions, or spiritual practises. Modern societies often become disconnected from its’ simplicity.

"Project NatureConnect provides alternative, holistic, sensory tools that help our psyche genuinely connect with nature. Our personal and environmental well-being improves through sustainable education and counselling techniques that enable us to thoughtfully tap into nature's balance, grace, and restorative powers."
-Michael J. Cohen

“Moment by moment, natural systems and their grace, balance and restorative powers flow through all of life. This includes flowing through our mind and spirit, through the life of our thoughts feelings and perceptions.

–Michael Cohen

His book:

RECONNECTING WITH NATURE 2 : Counteracts the amazing lie and disconnection that underlies our great troubles. Readily access a critical but missing natural systems component of psychology, therapy and education. Powerfully increase well being in yourself, others and the environment. Learn to use and share new tools for hope.

Michael Cohen -From Project Nature Connect

Satish Kumar on Elegant Simplicity

As a child, was there a special place outdoors

that you liked to visit?

What made it special for you?

Are there places in nature that you connect to now,

because of those early experiences?

Seeing With Your Senses

Seeing With Your Senses

This past September, I experienced my first bout of ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’. As both sons had moved on from home and I was alone. For the past few years, I had yearned to arrive at this place in my life. Now it was here. The house felt huge and empty with just me and the cat, Lila. What am I going to do?

Well, here had arrived the time to do interesting activities that I wanted to do! So, I downloaded Janet Whitehead’s free ‘Tiddley Bits’ -Self Coaching Booklet (From Musings and Mud Coaching Studio). The workbook is fun and helps people explore, dream, and discover your unique ways of being empowered as you move forward to where you want to be. The workbooks are really...Playbooks!

So I drove out to Shuswap Lake, to sit on the beach during one of the last hottest days of the summer. I enjoyed the fact that the holiday crowds had disappeared. I nestled against a huge log and gazed over the beach and the lake. I had peace and quiet with no motorized watercrafts! The Workbook was fun and my imagination had gone wild. I was prompted to write a story related to an issue that I might like coaching on. I chose ‘How to Earn A Living’, as I am in midlife transition. Kinda sounds boring, but not from the viewpoint of a little girl !

Halfway through my story, I got the urge to go in the lake. As I entered the water, it took my breath away. I worried my muscles may defy me and cramp up as my heart beat wildly. I restrained any screams that wanted freedom, as I merged forward up to my neck. I stayed focused with deep breaths. Because, it would be really weird or silly to see a woman whooping and shrieking all by herself in the lake. Soon enough I fluttered in the water enjoying the hot sun casting sparkles over the water, as it rhythmically rocked me back and forth. It was cool to be at eye level with the lake. This reminded me of a poem I wrote during a camping trip a few years ago. The poem ended,

“...When thoughts are still, where does earth or sky separate, and water begin?”

Memories drifted me back to a time when I could manage the cadence of canoeing along to the trance of,

“Reach, dip, pull- Reach, dip, pull- Reach, dip, pull...”

I was curious as to why a lady had to sit right next to my blanket, when the whole beach was available? I left the lake with the weight of gravity grounding me on the beach. We chatted as I dried off in the sun and of course she had to ask,”What kind of work do you do?” As it happened, we were both ‘in the same boat’ in our lives. We acknowleged each other’s challenges and agreed how certain services could be more helpful than stressful, to support rather than hinder rehabilitation.

She carried on her journey and I thought back to my workbook story, wondering how to give it a, ‘Happily Ever After’ ending. Gazing back at the lake, the sparkles had me wonder, where was the sparkle in my life... right here..right now?

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The experience of Synaesthesia is profound sensory awareness. Good memories come from a sharpened awareness in the present moment.

As Laura Sewall says in her book,

“We remember the moments when our attention is fully drawn to a particular color, form, or whisper, to the sounds we hear and the scent of a place entering into us –

the moments when our focus sharpens.” 1. Pg 60

Sewall continues on to say,

“The revelation born of seeing and feeling in one seamless synaesthetic moment is that nothing in this world is unrelated, not a single thing. The boundaries blend as if a heightened awareness has begun to reveal permeable membranes between the things of the world, and between ourselves and the world. Distinctions blur and relationships emerge, shimmering and shining like light on the water. Where does water end and light begin, anyway? We see the glitter, the relationship itself. Each thing of the world becomes more than it once appeared to be. And all of it quivers, dense with possibility.” 1. Pg61

Where is the sparkle or glitter in your life today?

Where have you felt most connected to the environment?

Seeing Beyond The Color Brown

Seeing Beyond The Color Brown

I sat on the porch step waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light of the late afternoon sun. I scouted out distant plants in my flower garden. My quick judgement was , “ Awwh, everything is just brown, this is boring.” “Or is it?” I wondered.

I continued to peer out into the backyard with my new camera using a 70-300 mm lens . Soon I noticed the color purple in the Aster flowers. Most of the blossoms were curled up due frost damage, yet one or two was still in good form. Then the hardy Marigolds in yellow and orange caught my eye. This simple attraction caused me to get up and walk closer. Experimenting with various camera settings, I was absorbed into the world of rich textures and colors in the frost-damaged garden.

However, Lila’s constant meowing insisted I detach from my camera and turn to look at her. How is it that my cat knows, when she is not the center of my attention? Lila continued to meow at me and look up into the Peach tree. Perhaps she remembered this summer when I focused my camera on her, as she proudly perched on the branches. Such as a parent would do, I realised that I would have to include her in my activity. I gestured for her to jump up into the tree. If she feels like it, she will follow my invitation. However, it appeared more that she just wanted me to watch her. Her meowing stopped and off she wandered, checking back to ensure I was paying attention to what she was exploring.

Lila wandered over to the Strawberry patch. I was attracted to the brilliant red hues of the strawberry leaves. Seeing Lila attracted to a blade of grass, reminded me of my new Blog. Like a child, she toyed with the grass, smelled it, looked at me and then chewed it.

I crouched down and witnessed her connection to the nature of grass.

Perhaps you have read a book that has stayed with you for a long time. I have a few books that I like to reread. One such book is, Sight and Sensibility – the ecopsychology of perception, by Laura Sewall Ph.D. 1999.

David Abram describes in the Forward to Sewall’s book ,

“Sewall sets out to provide in these pages: an
invitation to genuinely see in new ways.” 1. pgxiv

Further into the Forward, David Abram states,

"The eyes are not autonomous organs and the way we see things is profoundly influenced by what we hear or even taste of those things, by the way we imagine their textures would feel to our fingers or against our skin. Indeed vision may well be the most synaesthetic of the senses – the sense most thoroughly infiltrated and altered by the participation of the other senses.” 1. pgxvii

Abram ends by stating,

“In order to think deeply about vision, then, we must learn

to think not only with our eyes but our entire body.” 1. pgxvii

Perhaps you have had an experience of,

'Seeing with your Senses'.

Ta Ta For Now !

WELCOME

I will be developing my blog over the next few weeks. So please stay to read and participate or suggest interesting material to read or view.

In the meantime, I encourage you to go outside, become quiet and just notice what attracts your attention in the natural world. It can be as simple as a blade of grass or as overwhelming as a waterfall. Or perhaps you are indoors and you can gaze at a plant.

The point is to just notice....There is no need to label or describe or analyse. Just notice what happens. Perhaps your breathing slows or the colors appear brighter, or you smell an aroma. Just be at peace with whatever you are noticing for a few seconds or a few minutes.

Then look away and notice if there is a difference in how your surroundings appear to you. Enjoy these subtle experiences with a sense of curiosity!

Feel free to share your experiences within this blog !


Ta Ta For Now