Spirit in the Forest
In early April of 2012, I sat on the deck of the unfinished treehouse. I did this many evenings after my work on the project. With my back against the great red oak, I’d gaze into the forest in stillness. I’d listen to the sounds emanating from all around me. The evening songs of the birds and spring peepers, the settling of the squirrels, the flow of water over the fossilized rock from the creek below. I’d bathe myself in the experience of being in the forest, allowing myself to slow down into the serenity of the trees all around. In seeking communitas in this way with nature, I was called to let go, to let life unfold. On this particular evening, I let go.
What unfolded I choose not to explain in advance. Instead, I will share my experience. As I sat, lights began to appear in the forest, floating in my direction. There were hundreds. They had a buoyancy, emanating a steady light gently wafting as if riding an unseen, unfelt wave. Different from lightning bugs in that they were slightly larger and didn’t flicker. I was initially jolted by their appearance. My heart began to race a bit. I focused on settling into my breath and stayed present to the experience. As I sat with this phenomena, outside of time, the lights subtly danced around me til the evening fell fully into night. Slowly, they drifted away, disappearing into the darkness.
What explanation might one offer for such an experience in our contemporary rational world? Given my intention to connect on a daily basis with the forest for months at that point, my offer is that the forest answered my call. My call, offered within the realm of stillness and lightness, was met in the way it was offered.
Since that time, my connection to the forest and the wild spaces in and around Simplicity Farm has grown exponentially. I am continuing to cultivate my role as a steward of this place and I am deeply grateful for this relationship. A connection I am able to experience in partnership with the spirit of the forest.
Here are some journaling prompts to consider in exploring the concept of connecting to a sacred relationship with nature and place. Choose somewhere in close proximity to you. If possible, let the location choose you. Let it arrive. Someplace you can visit with ease. Consider these questions as ways to let go of one’s rational and/or egoic self:
What are my judgments towards this place?
What are my fears towards this place?
What do I love about this place?
How do I soften in this place?
What are my senses telling me as I sit in stillness, breathing gently, in this place? What do I hear, see, smell, feel on my skin? How is my body… my joints, my muscles… responding to the experience?
Whenever possible within this stillness practice in this form of forest or nature bathing, give yourself permission to simply breathe and let go. Let the process have its way with you.
References:
On reconciling the rational and the nagual (ie the tao, magic): Pi and Healing
On Forest Bathing: from my book, Language of the Soul: A Path of Simplicity: Chapter 4 Breath, subsection Stillness in Nature, pages 42-44
On communitas: from my book, Language of the Soul: A Path of Simplicity: Chapter 18 Stories of the Sacred, pages 169-175
