3 posts tagged “grounding”
Carrot Therapy
Oregon’s coastal mist rolls in, darkening the tree line. Shapes of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce and alder fade as rain pounds on the barn’s tin roof. Its another gray morning at Ocean Ridge Stables, where my neighbors have given me an open invitation to visit, pitch hay, muck the stalls or engage in any other desire of my heart.
The air is cold on my cheeks, reddening my hands. I zip my jacket, pulling the collar around my neck. It’s early, 6 a.m. Only the horses stir, assuming I’m the person who’ll dump grain into their buckets, throw sections of alfalfa into their stalls. But today, I’m not here to feed them, but to nourish myself.
All week, I've sandwiched my writing, early morning, late at night, around the twelve-hours each day of a care-giving job. Stressed and exhausted, I need to renew myself, not with a beach walk, a mountain hike, nor a hot bath or gardening but with carrot therapy—offering vegetable treats to these four-legged friends.
As I lift the metal lid on the feed barrel, the horses whinny and neigh, trying to get my attention. Feed me! Feed me! I scoop a handful of grain and carry a shoulder sack full of the sweet, orange roots from my garden. Strolling from stall to stall, I nod at Curly, Smokey, Tinker, Choctaw, Flower, Star and Woodchuck. The horses paw and stomp in their beds of straw.
Curly reaches toward me with his muzzle. Stretching his lips like a chimpanzee, he begs and I offer the grain. Choctaw, a colorful brown and white Appaloosa with black spots, whinnies with his head high. He’s looking for breakfast and snorts at the orange appetizer, but munches it down anyway. I run my cold hand down the warm hairs on his neck.
Offering carrots, I savor the musical crunch and chomp of each horse. Woodchuck, a coffee brown Arabian, stretches his neck toward me for another treat and I oblige. These animals have shown me a giving and receiving of sensual pleasure, similar to chemistry with the opposite sex. Their sounds, smells and textures satisfy a primal part of myself. Perhaps that’s because I was born in the Chinese year of the horse.
I delight in their neighing and the smells of hay. I love their warm breaths on my hand. In feeding them, my soul is
nourished, my body grounded. I return home, refreshed and present.
RAINMAKER’S PRAYERS, Align with Global Harmony
CHAPTERS:
Prayer: “Communion with the divine is a deeply personal and mysterious experience…Some chant their prayers and some dance their prayers and some paint or perform or swim their prayers.” Sherry Ruth Anderson & Patricia Hopkins, The Feminine Face of God.
Ceremony: “Ceremony—the harmonious blend of symbols—invites a confluence of spiritual rhythms, universal principles and archetypal forces.” Mircea Eliade, Dictionary of Symbols.
Sacred Space: “The sacred is not the space itself, but what happens there.”
David Morgan, Encyclopedia of Religion II.
Grounding: “Forces greater than the intellect guide evolution. When we consciously align with them we harmonize with the process.” J. Lotterhand.
Connection: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” John Muir.
Indigenous Wisdom: “If you love something enough, it will talk with you.” George Washington Carver.
Co-creation: “Co-creative science is the study of reality and how it works by man and nature (nature intelligence) working together in a partnership, as peers. Machaelle Wright www.perelandra-ltd.com
Tools: “This earth is a shared adventure. Healing begins with ceremony. Each human has contracted agreements with many others, seen and unseen.” Ariana Houle, Conversations with Nature.
Ripples: “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver.
Resources: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead.
Ten Zen Seconds introduces a new, powerful approach to mindfulness. It is a book, a practice, and an invitation to live a more centered, grounded, and meaningful life.
Marrying Eastern and Western techniques, it builds on the simple idea that deep breathing coupled with right thinking is the perfect tool for growth, healing, and transformation.
The first in a series of books exploring this next step in the practice of mindfulness, Ten Zen Seconds offers you the tools to make changes, solve problems, and simply feel better.
Learn more about the book and the practice here. You'll find a slide show that introduces the Ten Zen Second incantations, a daily mindfulness quote, practice tips, and more. There is much to explore, use, and enjoy.
