i awoke with a start

i awoke with a start to see it was all just a dream

my thoughts and gloomy ruminations I'd been caught in

could not hold water

did not hold sway

were, in fact, possible to lighten up

and when i awoke i found myself trailside

crouched low on a slightly wet and rather spindly, fallen spruce tree

several bluejays calling nearby, then silence

i paused, breathing in the bracken air and

gave myself wholly over to a sensory orientation in the glowing, changing, swirl of the natural woodlands I was encountering

my tummy rising,

i felt the sweep of a soft breeze upon the flesh of my face

and then a sweet exhale

blinked my eyes a moment and saw the bluejay's head cocked

intently staring

and then returned

breathing in, i am breathing in the forest's breath

pause

breathing out, i offer my breath to the forest

a few remaining Maple leaves

rustled in the wind--whose breath? the wind? i am not sure

you were sitting there too but we didn't say a word

we couldn't speak

there was no other

the bounty of our presence had ushered away all thought

Jill

Addendum--I did awake @ 6am today with a sudden jolt--an entire blog post about mindful awareness of belonging to Earth and hardly a reference to pausing in sensory orientation in the woods I love! All that thinking--where was the dissolution of self?

And please consider taking four minutes to watch this little animation on the Neuroscience of Mindfulness meditation. If you tend to overthinking or being anxious--it is so worthy of your time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo_VANW35b0

Thanks for reading.

Be well,

Jill