It's a half-mile walk to the stone circle I constructed on a clifftop overlooking Lake Havasu. A simple seasonal calendar, the sun rises through the east-facing opening on winter solstice morn. I note the sun's journey north with every morning visit.
I enter this circle to stretch and breathe my life into the day. Yoga. Pilates. Leftover movements from high school gym class. I end with a salutation to the four directions; a prayer of thanks for another day...that I might be worthy of the gift.
This morn as I arrived a pair of Red-tailed Hawks rose from water's edge below. I took a seat on a boulder and watched as they circled over water and desert hills, the male calling over and over as he followed the female's floating lust. Earlier this week I heard the first sex-filled coo of the roadrunner.
This awakening has caught me off guard. My soul's still drowsy, luxuriating within winter's edgy cloak. She prefers the pre-mate plumage of tawny finches who frequent the thistle feeder; the lone Abert's Towhee that scratches the ground for seed.
An Anna's hummingbird perches on a dead branch of a fuchsia bougainvillea not ten feet away. She stretches her neck and moves her head as if to sniff the air for...well, the purple-throated irridescent male that just now landed mid-way between she and I.
Soulwork necessities: be in a landscape that feeds the spirit. Begin the day with humble thanks. Compose a 5-10 minute regimen (that's all it takes!) of stretches that fit your body's needs and do them every day. For me that's the back, neck, legs and abdomen. Especially the abdomen. Chi lives there~~~keep it strong.
Sit with hummers. Watch the California quail scatter, the goldfinch turn to neon- lemon yellow one feather at a time.
Make a stone circle.
I am searching for stones for my circle here. I want to wander and see which ones ask to be in this yard. Maybe I will have a circle ready for equinox.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo, Christina! May your spirit be nourished by your time to walk in awareness of the world's soul. Begin each day in beauty, in harmony, in wholeness, and you'll carry it with you. Your wisdom is a gift!
ReplyDelete(Susan T, who for some reason typepad cannot explain, comes in as an undigestible numerical ID)
Emilie, let me know when you finish and how the cells feel in your body when you're inside. It's not like a rectangle where dead energy accumulates in the corners. Circles are alive with energy movement. That's why stepping into a teepee feels wondrous.
ReplyDeleteSusan, your name got hijacked by an alien! Okay 6p00e5....phenomenal woman and author of, "Walking Nature Home." I'm with you, Woman.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea: Make a stone circle. It represents coming home to the core as well as connecting with all things in prayer. The deep circle of self is solid like stone, round and encompassing everything with compassion.
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