Ever since Elizabeth set the subject for the February UK Blog party, I’ve been trying to think how best to address the issues. What does the word “Emerge” actually mean? It originates from Latin, where “e-“ means “out of or from” and “mergere” is the verb to immerse. So emerge can mean
• To rise from or as if from immersion
• To come forth from obscurity
• To become evident
• To come into existence
All this makes me think that during winter, we have been hiding, hidden in the darkness from the cold, possibly even hibernating. Now, as winter ends, we must come forward into the light. We must show ourselves, possibly our new selves, a self which is still developing as the season grows and changes.
In order to survive winter, we have immersed ourselves in warmth, we have slowed down, perhaps become stagnant, sluggish, but as the pulse of the earth begins to grow louder, we have to respond to the quickening beat.
How do we do this?
Activity comes first. We have to start actually doing things. As days lengthen, the light entices us outwards into fresh air and sunlight. Our bodies are depleted with vitamin D, so we crave sunlight. Some people may need supplementation. Those people who suffer with seasonal affective disorder may have been using a special light lamp. A combination of St John’s wort and lemon balm is also helpful, as is goldenrod elixir.
The depletion and slowing down of winter may cause our bodies to need a kick-start to get them moving again. You could start with a gentle detoxification of increased water consumption, a nightly herbal bath and plenty of sleep as set out in Jenny Jones’ article here. Our bodies may need tonics (see articles here and here ) or a longer term adaptogenic approach.
Adaptogens are described as herbs which increase the ability of the body to cope with and respond to stress. They have been shown to act on the adrenals and the endocrine and immune systems. Adaptogens were the subject of significant research by Russian scientists for many decades in the 20th century. They were looking for plants which would increase physical abilities for space travellers and athletes.
Their findings enhanced global knowledge about identified adaptogenic herbs. Most of these plants came from the Chinese and Ayurvedic traditions, with only five being found in European Russia and the US – American ginseng (panax quinquefolius), Eluethero/Siberian ginseng (eleutherococcus sentocosus), licorice (glycyrrhiza glabra or g.uralensis), Rhaponticum (rhaponticum carthamoides) and Rhodiola (rhodiola rosea).
Luckily, some of the Asiatic Adaptogens grow in this climate, so I am looking forward to growing ashwagandha from seed and holy basil this year. If I get really lucky I might try growing some reishi mushroom logs which would be a totally new experience!
In order to become active, you also have to do some spring cleaning. This may mean an emotional process as well as a physical one.
In order to emerge and declutter ourselves from the detritus of winter, we may have to go through a period of letting go with conscious intent. We may need to release emotions e.g. guilt, fears, sorrow, pain or anger where they are not helping us or are holding us back from moving forward. If an emotion is proving helpful, e.g. a righteous anger may be giving you energy to do what needs to be done, then it should not be suppressed, but worked with openly until it can be discharged.
Herbs can be amazing allies when emotions threaten to overwhelm us. Henriette Kress, Kiva Rose and Rebecca Hartman have put together wonderful posts on herbs for sorrow and stress. It doesn’t really matter in what form the herb is used, providing the medium contains sufficient essence of the living herb. You might choose a flower remedy, a fresh herb tincture, an infused oil or salve, a herb tea or a foot bath depending on how the emotion is manifesting itself in you.
If emotion is affecting your digestion, you might want to experiment with Goldenrod. Both Ananda Wilson and Kiva Rose have found this useful for “cases of mild to moderate depression, especially where there is seasonal sensitivity and general feelings of coldness, frustration and a feeling of being paralyzed by cold weather or more specifically, lack of sunlight.”
Kiva Rose goes on to say, “I am also very fond of it in where digestive stagnation is causing feelings of sadness, stuckness and potential despair, and in such situations often team it up with Rose and Ginger. I am especially prone to use Goldenrod for those who consistently feel cold and have gut stagnation where food just wants to sit in the belly like a lump, and where there is concurrent feelings of sadness and the blues that accompanies digestive upset and chilly weather.”
Herbs for guilt were discussed on the Herbwifery Forum during the past few months. Pine flower essence was suggested, or a combination of pine, mimulus and honeysuckle flower essences. Ali suggested that sometimes guilt is there for a reason and felt rosemary’s gift of clarity and insight helped you learn not to make the same mistake twice “without wearing too much of a hair shirt about it”.
Winter stagnation may produce a sense that our boundaries are knocked around or jumbled or tied up with those of other people you have had close contact with. It was Matthew Wood with his tales of yarrow who first drew me to ask help of this herb. I am touched by lots of other people. Sometimes their stories and circumstances affect me greatly, but yarrow always helps me realize I do not have to carry their burdens for them, that my support is sufficient without needing to rescue them from the situation.
You may favour a different herb for strengthening your boundaries. Some people like thistle, but yarrow does it for me.
Spring can be an anxious time for many people. It’s a lot more comfortable staying in the warm than venturing outside when you don’t know what the outcome might be. I’ve been working with a combination of skullcap, St John’s wort and lemon balm recently and they have proved effective in untying the knots in the solar plexus and aiding sleep where you would otherwise be lying awake all night worrying.
No matter what winter throws at us, spring will come. Snowdrops and crocuses are flowering in gardens and daffodil buds are already four to five inches above the ground. Cuckoopint curls through the dark soil and blackcurrant and elder bushes have beautiful pale green and purple leaf buds ready to burst.
However you emerge from winter into spring, it will be easier if you spend some time in planning and preparation. As with everything, it is not just our physical bodies that are involved, but our minds and spirits too. Whatever you plan, herbs will be there to guide and support you if asked.
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Friday, 19 February 2010
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Keeping warm in the snow.
Whenever I’m worried about something I make soup. It seems to be a helpful way to stop my world coming to an end. It seems to work and my family and visitors appear to appreciate whatever version I put in front of them.
Many of us are experiencing a “real” winter this year with temperatures at or below freezing for days at a time and this week, substantial amounts of snow. I always enjoy watching flakes begin to fall and a white carpet slowly covering the garden and surroundings. As long as I know all my loved ones are safe, with access to shelter, food and warmth, I can relax and snuggle down to enjoy some restful time inside the house.
At this dark time of the year, we need to think about nourishing our bodies and nettle is the perfect ally. Outside in both gardens and fields, nettles have been growing for a month or more. I still have several jars of dark green dried leaves from last year’s harvest, so this seems a good time to indulge in Spiced Nettle Latte – an idea I got from Darcey Blue, the Sonoran herbalist.
Spiced Nettle Latte
To a handful of dried or fresh nettle leaves, add one cinnamon stick, 1 clove and a grated half of a nutmeg in a teapot or cafatiere. Fill with just boiled water and leave to infuse for ten minutes. Heat up milk and whisk to make it frothy. Add equal amounts of tea and milk to a mug, then sprinkle powdered cinnamon or nutmeg on the top of the drink. Sip while warm.
When I made this for last November’s workshop there was a very interesting reaction – those who normally didn’t like milk liked the nettle latte and those who normally didn’t like nettle tea, enjoyed the latte. Seems like a popular drink for many people! When I made it at another workshop, some people asked for a milk-free tea and also enjoyed it.
I make several different versions of Nettle and Potato Soup depending on what vegetables I have to hand. Here are two popular ones.
Nettle and Potato Soup
Ingredients (1) Nettles, 1 lb potatoes, 1 onion, 1oz butter, water, salt, pepper, a few sprigs of parsley and thyme
(2) A colander full of fresh, washed nettle tops, 2 large sweet potatoes, 1 onion, 2 leeks, 8 cardomon seeds, 6 carrots (scraped), 4 garlic cloves
Method: (1)Wash nettles under the tap to remove any insects, cobwebs, dust or other debris and shake to remove excess moisture. Peel and chop the onion and sauté in butter or oil in a hot saucepan for five minutes until soft. Peel and quarter the potatoes and add to the pan. Cover with water and add nettles, herbs and seasoning. Cook for about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Liquidise. Serve with bread and butter.
(2)Peel and chop garlic gloves and onion. Wash and slice leeks. Sauté these in hot butter for 5 minutes until soft. Add peeled and chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, nettles, cardomon pods to saucepan and season to taste. Cover with boiling water and cook until everything is soft. (about 20minutes) Liquidise.
Nettles can be added to any vegetable soup. They go well with tomatoes and red and yellow peppers and any other vegetables you happen to have lying around. Dried nettles can also be added to main meals as a crumbled topping over pizzas or bolognais or used to make a sauce with pasta.
Nettle and Tuna Pasta
This is a quick and easy recipe for one person and can be easily expanded to feed a family.
Ingredients: 285g tin of tuna in brine, dried or fresh basil, two handfuls of dried nettles, two tomatoes, 1 onion, cooking oil or butter, 3oz of pasta. (any other vegetables e.g. one sweet potato, small tin of sweet corn depending on how hungry you are.)
Method: Peel and chop onion finely and sauté in hot butter or sunflower/ vegetable/olive oil in a saucepan until soft. Drain tuna. Wash and slice tomatoes. Add both to onion and cook gently. Add dried nettles and dried or fresh basil. Cover and simmer until pasta is ready. Check regularly and add extra liquid if necessary. Cook pasta in separate saucepan in boiling salted water for 15 minutes. If you are cooking other vegetables these can be cooked with the pasta. Drain pasta and serve with tuna/nettle sauce.
Winter is very much the time to indulge in “comfort vegetables”. This is the recipe for the soup I made last Friday for Saturday’s tincture workshop. It fed nineteen people on Saturday and three on Sunday with a little left over for Chris’ lunch yesterday. Chris said his friend was very grateful for its warmth and heartiness when they were kite flying on Sunday. The soup is vegan and celiac - friendly. I might use butter another time to give a richer flavour and substitute parsley for coriander if I were using ordinary potatoes and parsnips instead of the sweet potatoes and squash.
Orange Soup
1 large head of celery, washed and chopped.
1 large butternut squash peeled, de-seeded and sliced
1 large onion, peeled and diced
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced ½ an hour before cooking.
4 large sweet potatoes peeled and sliced
8 large carrots, washed and scraped.
½ bunch of coriander leaves.
10 pints cold water
Pepper and salt to taste.
Sweat the garlic and onion in a little vegetable oil until soft in the bottom of a large cooking pot with the lid on. (About 5 minutes). Add the celery and chopped coriander leaves, stir, then add the water. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add squash, carrots and sweet potatoes together with a little salt and pepper. Cook for a further 30 minutes or until everything is tender. Liquidise, season to taste and serve with homemade granary bread.
Last, but not least, if you are looking to increase your omega-3 oils you could try this version of Rebecca Hartman’s flax seed tea
Warming winter tea
Place 1-2tsp flax seed together with a broken up cinnamon stick and maybe a couple of cardamom pods and some sliced orange peel, a handful of fresh or half a handful of dried rosehips and the juice of half an orange. Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan and fill the saucepan with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered until the amount of water has halved from evaporation. Strain, add honey to taste and sip while hot.
One word of warning. I made a large quantity of this tea on Saturday with 4 tablespoons of flaxseed in 5 pints of water with 2 sliced tangerines, but no spices. Several people were unable to drink the tea on its own until a cinnamon tincture was added which then made it palatable. I shan’t be making it without cinnamon again!
Many of us are experiencing a “real” winter this year with temperatures at or below freezing for days at a time and this week, substantial amounts of snow. I always enjoy watching flakes begin to fall and a white carpet slowly covering the garden and surroundings. As long as I know all my loved ones are safe, with access to shelter, food and warmth, I can relax and snuggle down to enjoy some restful time inside the house.
At this dark time of the year, we need to think about nourishing our bodies and nettle is the perfect ally. Outside in both gardens and fields, nettles have been growing for a month or more. I still have several jars of dark green dried leaves from last year’s harvest, so this seems a good time to indulge in Spiced Nettle Latte – an idea I got from Darcey Blue, the Sonoran herbalist.
Spiced Nettle Latte
To a handful of dried or fresh nettle leaves, add one cinnamon stick, 1 clove and a grated half of a nutmeg in a teapot or cafatiere. Fill with just boiled water and leave to infuse for ten minutes. Heat up milk and whisk to make it frothy. Add equal amounts of tea and milk to a mug, then sprinkle powdered cinnamon or nutmeg on the top of the drink. Sip while warm.
When I made this for last November’s workshop there was a very interesting reaction – those who normally didn’t like milk liked the nettle latte and those who normally didn’t like nettle tea, enjoyed the latte. Seems like a popular drink for many people! When I made it at another workshop, some people asked for a milk-free tea and also enjoyed it.
I make several different versions of Nettle and Potato Soup depending on what vegetables I have to hand. Here are two popular ones.
Nettle and Potato Soup
Ingredients (1) Nettles, 1 lb potatoes, 1 onion, 1oz butter, water, salt, pepper, a few sprigs of parsley and thyme
(2) A colander full of fresh, washed nettle tops, 2 large sweet potatoes, 1 onion, 2 leeks, 8 cardomon seeds, 6 carrots (scraped), 4 garlic cloves
Method: (1)Wash nettles under the tap to remove any insects, cobwebs, dust or other debris and shake to remove excess moisture. Peel and chop the onion and sauté in butter or oil in a hot saucepan for five minutes until soft. Peel and quarter the potatoes and add to the pan. Cover with water and add nettles, herbs and seasoning. Cook for about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Liquidise. Serve with bread and butter.
(2)Peel and chop garlic gloves and onion. Wash and slice leeks. Sauté these in hot butter for 5 minutes until soft. Add peeled and chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, nettles, cardomon pods to saucepan and season to taste. Cover with boiling water and cook until everything is soft. (about 20minutes) Liquidise.
Nettles can be added to any vegetable soup. They go well with tomatoes and red and yellow peppers and any other vegetables you happen to have lying around. Dried nettles can also be added to main meals as a crumbled topping over pizzas or bolognais or used to make a sauce with pasta.
Nettle and Tuna Pasta
This is a quick and easy recipe for one person and can be easily expanded to feed a family.
Ingredients: 285g tin of tuna in brine, dried or fresh basil, two handfuls of dried nettles, two tomatoes, 1 onion, cooking oil or butter, 3oz of pasta. (any other vegetables e.g. one sweet potato, small tin of sweet corn depending on how hungry you are.)
Method: Peel and chop onion finely and sauté in hot butter or sunflower/ vegetable/olive oil in a saucepan until soft. Drain tuna. Wash and slice tomatoes. Add both to onion and cook gently. Add dried nettles and dried or fresh basil. Cover and simmer until pasta is ready. Check regularly and add extra liquid if necessary. Cook pasta in separate saucepan in boiling salted water for 15 minutes. If you are cooking other vegetables these can be cooked with the pasta. Drain pasta and serve with tuna/nettle sauce.
Winter is very much the time to indulge in “comfort vegetables”. This is the recipe for the soup I made last Friday for Saturday’s tincture workshop. It fed nineteen people on Saturday and three on Sunday with a little left over for Chris’ lunch yesterday. Chris said his friend was very grateful for its warmth and heartiness when they were kite flying on Sunday. The soup is vegan and celiac - friendly. I might use butter another time to give a richer flavour and substitute parsley for coriander if I were using ordinary potatoes and parsnips instead of the sweet potatoes and squash.
Orange Soup
1 large head of celery, washed and chopped.
1 large butternut squash peeled, de-seeded and sliced
1 large onion, peeled and diced
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced ½ an hour before cooking.
4 large sweet potatoes peeled and sliced
8 large carrots, washed and scraped.
½ bunch of coriander leaves.
10 pints cold water
Pepper and salt to taste.
Sweat the garlic and onion in a little vegetable oil until soft in the bottom of a large cooking pot with the lid on. (About 5 minutes). Add the celery and chopped coriander leaves, stir, then add the water. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add squash, carrots and sweet potatoes together with a little salt and pepper. Cook for a further 30 minutes or until everything is tender. Liquidise, season to taste and serve with homemade granary bread.
Last, but not least, if you are looking to increase your omega-3 oils you could try this version of Rebecca Hartman’s flax seed tea
Warming winter tea
Place 1-2tsp flax seed together with a broken up cinnamon stick and maybe a couple of cardamom pods and some sliced orange peel, a handful of fresh or half a handful of dried rosehips and the juice of half an orange. Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan and fill the saucepan with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered until the amount of water has halved from evaporation. Strain, add honey to taste and sip while hot.
One word of warning. I made a large quantity of this tea on Saturday with 4 tablespoons of flaxseed in 5 pints of water with 2 sliced tangerines, but no spices. Several people were unable to drink the tea on its own until a cinnamon tincture was added which then made it palatable. I shan’t be making it without cinnamon again!
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
January Musings
Many people find winter difficult. In some respects, I’m one of them. Not because of Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD), but because Christmas brings such a welter of responsibilities and activities that from the end of December I seem to lose the ability to think or create or do anything!
I say that, yet, looking back, the truth is I’ve done so much, I’m just exhausted. Sleep helps. Playing helps even more, but my kind of play usually results in much less sleep, so it’s a vicious circle! I’ve enjoyed myself and, from the fun, been able to kick start my creative muse and finish the adult romance I’ve been posting on the internet called Tears in a Dry Land.
It’s been a long time in gestation. Chapters 1-5 were written up in the caravan in Cornwall in 2007, Chapters 6 and 7 were completed during December 2008, but I’d never thought about the ending. I’m very bad at endings. I’m good at starting new projects, having new ideas, working on them until they are about half way through, but finishing them is like drawing blood out of a stone. I have to drag myself, kicking and screaming to ensure their completion.
Luckily I have two good friends, Steven and Matthew, who act as my editors. I can rely on them to spot not just spellings and bad grammar, but also parts of the story they’re not happy with. Their comments are usually very helpful and I’m able to change bits, add extra pages or cut things to make a much tighter, more interesting creation. It’s very satisfying when you’re happy with the last few pages and hope your readers will be too.
Chris flew off to the French Alps for a week’s skiing with his cousin and her friends last Friday. I decided to spend the weekend with my parents as they’d been suffering badly with colds since Christmas but are now much improved.
Despite the howling winds and lashing rain on Friday night, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day (if you wrapped up warmly!). I spent time down at the Sanctuary pondering what needed to be done over the coming year.
The body responsible for maintaining live electricity pylons had written to my father the previous week, asking if they could bring a JCB into the Sanctuary to replace the wooden pole which holds the electricity cables. My initial reaction was one of shock and horror at the thought of the desecration which could be caused, but thinking about it more calmly, I realised this could be the opportunity I’ve been looking for.
The pylon sits in the middle of the top herb bed. It is completely out of place and I’ve worried about the energetic difficulties it causes to the plants. Now, if they are agreeable, we could move the live wires completely out of the Sanctuary, to the corner of the field which can’t be used for hay. The herb bed could be given a totally new lease of life.
The other major project which has to be completed before March is moving the white mulberry tree. It’s grown so large; it completely blocks the view of the valley from the summer house, so my parents decided it must go. I have asked Fiona Hopes, who came to one of my workshops three years ago, if she can find it a new home, so I am waiting to hear what she thinks.
Visiting the Sanctuary in winter is always difficult, because I see all the things which need to be done, but it’s too cold/wet/frosty to do anything about them. There is so much grass, thistles, fewerfew and other plants to remove from the main beds. Other beds have been totally overgrown and need to be reclaimed if any of the herbs I’ve planted there can flourish and be harvested next year.
The winter does allow me to see possibilities. If the ivy could be removed from under the “ancient woodland” area, we could plant English bluebells, primroses, ramsons/wild garlic and maybe other woodland plants. If the stream bed could be extended a little, we could start a watercress site – something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
There are several areas where fallen twigs and branches need tidying up into piles ready for burning, opening up other parts of the Sanctuary which we could perhaps use for storytelling or other events.
Despite all these plans running around in my head, it wasn’t until I began to stop and look properly; I began to see the wonder in the winter landscape. There were several patches of violets flowering underneath the hawthorn and crab apple trees. The bank was awash with thick, green daffodil spears and pristine drops of snow lay on the grass from snowdrops bursting into flower.
I took several photographs to prove Spring is on the way before resting for a while on the bench. A pair of buzzards were wheeling above the pasture in the next field and as they moved to other territory, I watched a kestrel and a rook battle with each other - something I’d never seen before.
The dried leaves of the Joe Pye Weed stalks (gravelroot) clattered in the wind, reminding me to listen, to be present, rather than consumed by my own thoughts. There was a tiny bird flying between the briars overhanging the fence and the tunnel of ivy sheltering the meditation space, but I couldn’t make out what it was. I know there are a pair of wrens, a robin and some finches, as well as blackbirds, hedge sparrows and other birds in the Sanctuary, but the movement was two quick to make an identification.
It was good to sit and feel the hum of the earth beginning to wake again all around me, giving strength to return to the real world, taking the confidence of new life and new energy with me.
I say that, yet, looking back, the truth is I’ve done so much, I’m just exhausted. Sleep helps. Playing helps even more, but my kind of play usually results in much less sleep, so it’s a vicious circle! I’ve enjoyed myself and, from the fun, been able to kick start my creative muse and finish the adult romance I’ve been posting on the internet called Tears in a Dry Land.
It’s been a long time in gestation. Chapters 1-5 were written up in the caravan in Cornwall in 2007, Chapters 6 and 7 were completed during December 2008, but I’d never thought about the ending. I’m very bad at endings. I’m good at starting new projects, having new ideas, working on them until they are about half way through, but finishing them is like drawing blood out of a stone. I have to drag myself, kicking and screaming to ensure their completion.
Luckily I have two good friends, Steven and Matthew, who act as my editors. I can rely on them to spot not just spellings and bad grammar, but also parts of the story they’re not happy with. Their comments are usually very helpful and I’m able to change bits, add extra pages or cut things to make a much tighter, more interesting creation. It’s very satisfying when you’re happy with the last few pages and hope your readers will be too.
Chris flew off to the French Alps for a week’s skiing with his cousin and her friends last Friday. I decided to spend the weekend with my parents as they’d been suffering badly with colds since Christmas but are now much improved.
Despite the howling winds and lashing rain on Friday night, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day (if you wrapped up warmly!). I spent time down at the Sanctuary pondering what needed to be done over the coming year.
The body responsible for maintaining live electricity pylons had written to my father the previous week, asking if they could bring a JCB into the Sanctuary to replace the wooden pole which holds the electricity cables. My initial reaction was one of shock and horror at the thought of the desecration which could be caused, but thinking about it more calmly, I realised this could be the opportunity I’ve been looking for.
The pylon sits in the middle of the top herb bed. It is completely out of place and I’ve worried about the energetic difficulties it causes to the plants. Now, if they are agreeable, we could move the live wires completely out of the Sanctuary, to the corner of the field which can’t be used for hay. The herb bed could be given a totally new lease of life.
The other major project which has to be completed before March is moving the white mulberry tree. It’s grown so large; it completely blocks the view of the valley from the summer house, so my parents decided it must go. I have asked Fiona Hopes, who came to one of my workshops three years ago, if she can find it a new home, so I am waiting to hear what she thinks.
Visiting the Sanctuary in winter is always difficult, because I see all the things which need to be done, but it’s too cold/wet/frosty to do anything about them. There is so much grass, thistles, fewerfew and other plants to remove from the main beds. Other beds have been totally overgrown and need to be reclaimed if any of the herbs I’ve planted there can flourish and be harvested next year.
The winter does allow me to see possibilities. If the ivy could be removed from under the “ancient woodland” area, we could plant English bluebells, primroses, ramsons/wild garlic and maybe other woodland plants. If the stream bed could be extended a little, we could start a watercress site – something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
There are several areas where fallen twigs and branches need tidying up into piles ready for burning, opening up other parts of the Sanctuary which we could perhaps use for storytelling or other events.
Despite all these plans running around in my head, it wasn’t until I began to stop and look properly; I began to see the wonder in the winter landscape. There were several patches of violets flowering underneath the hawthorn and crab apple trees. The bank was awash with thick, green daffodil spears and pristine drops of snow lay on the grass from snowdrops bursting into flower.
I took several photographs to prove Spring is on the way before resting for a while on the bench. A pair of buzzards were wheeling above the pasture in the next field and as they moved to other territory, I watched a kestrel and a rook battle with each other - something I’d never seen before.
The dried leaves of the Joe Pye Weed stalks (gravelroot) clattered in the wind, reminding me to listen, to be present, rather than consumed by my own thoughts. There was a tiny bird flying between the briars overhanging the fence and the tunnel of ivy sheltering the meditation space, but I couldn’t make out what it was. I know there are a pair of wrens, a robin and some finches, as well as blackbirds, hedge sparrows and other birds in the Sanctuary, but the movement was two quick to make an identification.
It was good to sit and feel the hum of the earth beginning to wake again all around me, giving strength to return to the real world, taking the confidence of new life and new energy with me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)