Make Me One With Everything

I'm sure you've all heard that joke about the Dalai Lama and the hot dog vendor where the Dalai Lama tells the man "make me one with everything." That's what meditation does for me. It makes me one with everything, and there is no better place to allow that into your life than outside in nature. In nature we are, truly, one with everything.

I didn't start meditating seriously until I was in my 50's after a brief acquaintance with it back in the 70's when everyone else was doing it. When I took up yoga for my health, meditation just seemed to follow along naturally and it has been my constant companion ever since. When I've "fallen off the wagon," so to speak, and not set my intention to practice every day, my life doesn't feel quite the same. I can set the tone for my entire day by starting it with quiet, breathing, and listening. Nowhere does this pay off more than doing it in nature, either outside if possible, or at least in front of a window where you can bathe in the sounds of the morning starting to stir, and the air kissing your face. My favorite morning music comes from the blue jays calling to one another, the crows cawing as they cross the sky, and even on a rainy day like this one is today, the sound of the raindrops on the window. The air smells fresh and clean, and it cleans my soul as well. Meditation and nature go together and make the entire experience more beautiful.

For those of you who swear you can't meditate, take 10 minutes early one morning before the noise and traffic of the day begins and just sit .... and breathe ... and listen ... and smile. If you can do that, you're meditating. There are as many ways to mediate as there are people who do it. So why not join the morning chorus and greet the day with bliss?

And so it is.