The Perseverance and Little Miracles of Nature

A friend of mine sent me these a while ago. You probably have already seen this but I so loved it, I thought I would share these again.

This is the Diga del Cingino dam in Italy.

But look closely. Can you see the tiny spots on the dam wall?
(You can hit the control button which is the "ctrl" button on your keyboard, and the + (plus) sign button, at the same time, anytime you want to make images on your screen larger, and the control button and the - (minus) sign button at the same time to make images on your screen smaller.)

In this picture you can begin to see them more clearly.

What?

Doesn't this seem impossible?

They are European Ibex. They eat the moss and lichen, and lick the salt from the dam wall.

I love this picture. Doesn't she look happy?

Lao Tsu, the mystic philosopher, author of the Tao Te Ching and founder of Daoism, lived in the mid 4th Century BCE and was influential in creating a major shift in Chinese cosmogony (understanding of the Universe and its origin's).
He was a shamanic mystic, and he taught that all of the answers that humans are searching for, on a personal or societal level, can be found in nature. Through meditation, immersion and observation he understood that the natural world around us is the perfect expression of the Dao, that one, perfect, balanced, mystical source of all things, and that people must simply look to nature to help us regain the right alignment with the Dao in our lives.

This happy goat is not daunted by the harshness of her environment, the steepness nor height of the wall, the precariousness of the purchase she will gain on the stones, or the meager offerings she will find there. This is her dharma, the full manifestation of her truly unique gifts and abilities, and it doesn't matter to her that the fullfillment of those abilities seem to be, quite improbable.

Nature finds creative, happy, successful expressions in even the most unusual circumstances.

I am going to listen to my friend, Lao Tsu and remember this goat's happy face and the inconceivable images of goats - goats on a wall! - the next time I am facing limited resources, a daunting task, unsure footing, or something that, from any reasonable perspective, could seem impossible.

"Perseverance is failing nineteen times and

succeeding the twentieth."

- Julie Andrews

 

 And speaking of Ibex...

My friend who sent me the pictures above, said he had to look up Ibex, because he was not exactly sure what an Ibex was. I thought I knew, but just to double check, I too looked up Ibex on Wikipedia.

There I found this. Another remarkable picture of an Ibex!
Just one more example of the miraculous creativity of Mother Nature.

"Blessed is he who makes his companions laugh" 

- The Koran

 

 

A very, very, very good thing:

 

Having a Hard Time Meditating Now?

Many people are experiencing difficulty focusing or finding the motivation to meditate in their traditional way.

 Try this meditation instead. Everyday take a walk, even if it is just for five minutes, and as you pass any living plant or animal concentrate on that plant or animal and "feel it" as you are walking. Just imagine what the energy of that plant or animal feels like and imagine it "feeling" you. At first you might not perceive anything, but just keep imagining what it might feel like and slowly you will begin to experience something very real. Of course you can do this on the way into the grocery or between meetings, but it is great to set aside time for a short meditation walk. Try to do this at least five times a week, and see how you feel.

Tired? Tense?

Many of my clients are feeling exhausted and are experiencing a great deal of excess tension in their bodies. Most people are needing more sleep and cannot tolerate nights of very little sleep as they once could. We should not underestimate how intense the world is right now and it is not surprising that it is affecting us.

Here are a few things that seem to be working well.

1. Incorporate very gentle, light stretching for five or ten minutes two or three times a day into your routine. Just listen to your body and let yourself gently stretch out any muscles, tendons and ligaments that are too tight. This is incredibly important at this time.

2. Be sure to stretch, gently - just before bed and when you first wake up in the morning.

3. This one seems like an overly simple idea, but for many people this is hard to do. Allow at least a half hour to wake up in the morning (and I don't mean three ten minute snooze alarm naps!). Once you are awake, take an additional half hour to really transition into the day. Wait until your body naturally feels like stretching itself, before you get up out of bed. This will help you to feel more alert and resilient throughout the day.

Remember tension in your body is the foothold of all disease and physical deterioration. When your body is tense your chi, prana, energy or life force cannot flow adequately in and through your cells and the energy structures of your body.
Tension held in the body also greatly affects your mood and can manifest either as anxiety or depression or both, depending upon your soul structure.
Now more than ever, I am seeing that gentle stretching is a critical part of our daily routines just as much as eating, brushing our teeth or sleeping. Try this for at least four consecutive days and see how you feel.

Bad Night of Sleep?

 

Grab an extra blanket.  So suggests a new Dutch study, in which a special body suit was used to control the surface temperature of sleeping subjects. An increase of .4 C or about .7 F reduced the likelihood of patients with insomnia waking up early by 5 times:

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2008/02/good-bye-insomnia-hello-warming-body.html

And if you are having a hard time falling asleep, or you are not sleeping soundly enough, try sleeping with a heavier blanket, it can make a big difference.  Often sleeping with the room temperature cooler, and a thicker blanket to keep you warm enough, makes for very sound sleep.