Meditation and Love of the Woods/Trees for some Quality Time in the Hocking Hills of Ohio

  #8 count down to 500th blog post…….amazing…

A QUALITY TIME POST

“Trees in particular were mysterious, and seemed to me direct embodiments of the incomprehensible meaning of life. For that reason, the woods were the place that I felt closest to its deepest meaning and to its awe-inspiring workings.”  C.G.Jung

An Often forgotten principle: Go to the Woods to Meditate.

Those “woods” may be  referred to as A wilderness,A hill or mountain,A forest,Our secret places,A place apart.Where is your “secret place?

“Listening to trees is  a relaxation and meditating exercise. Listening to the communications of trees  is a way of attuning our hearing and paying more attention to what we hear around us rather than letting sounds invade our space unawares.” Find a suitable place for spending time with the trees. Choose a place that is convenient and relatively easy to get to yet as isolated from the noises of humanity as possible.Be prepared to spend a decent amount of time (in my case several hours). Notice the silence and the sounds with greater precision. For the rest of the story CLICK

Woods Does & Don'ts:: Never step over a log or fallen tree if you can’t see what is on the other side! Always check above for widow makers and dead branches before starting your meditation/listening.Carry your cellphone with you in case of emergency (no reception at my spot though) but turn it off while meditating. Make sure someone knows generally where you are going and be prepared. Most importantly, be comfortable and if you have time/inclination pack a lunch.

 

In the beginning there was silence, and it was good. When I visit my “secret spot” in the woods the only sounds I hear are of nature but for one exception, an occasional airplane overhead. This past fall Linda and I went into the woods and spent an hour or so listening to the leaves fall and hit the ground and each other. The time spent that day I will remember forever.

“Silence has the ability to centre us and connect us with the essential harmony of the universe.” The Joy Of Silence… Silence: "the dissolving of the limits of selfhood until the infinite alone seems real". Tennyson

“When I enter a forest, the first thing I smell is the damp earth combined with old fallen leaves. For me this earthy smell has an instinctive calming effect.” Several years ago my son and I were camping in the Canadian “Bush”. My son went outside the tent and came right back in and said,”Dad there is a wolf on the other side  of the inlet.” I was comfortable in my sleeping bag and really wasn’t sure about the wolf so I said, “it’s time to get some sleep  no wolf is going to bother us.” Well, the wolf got at lot closer to the tent.  The smell was unmistakable and powerful. I then thought Oh…..Shi…….t…..Photo below from that camping trip.

 My hair wasn’t white then LOL.(Summer of 1989).. Take a handful of leaves and crush them,inhale deeply and enjoy the aroma. 

Lying on my back in the woods admiring the intricate interplay of branches and breeze….Once in awhile a short nap is appropriate. Photo below is about the same spot at a different time of year

This is “my spot”….A small short ridge with the land falling off in three directions and  easily accessible from only one direction.I can be there in about 45 minutes. A short drive and hike. I know you are suppose to “STAY ON THE TRAIL” BUT “MY SPOT” is about 100 feet off a little used trail and it is quiet.

 Thanks for stopping by and get out there and enjoy the day…………

Meditation and Love of the Woods/Trees for some real QUALITY TIME

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Another good read::  The Smell Of Nature

I almost always start my meditation with this prayer: Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow love.Where there is injury, pardon.Where there is doubt, faith.Where there is despair, hope.Where there is darkness, light.Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Ludwig Richter

 

 In the HOCKING HILLS OF OHIO