Well, it was bound to happen. I missed two days of intentional, sustained meditation. We took advantage of the holiday weekend and spent 3 days camping. I’m not sure if it was the change of routine, the constant companionship, or the downshift of rhythm lessening the need, but I completely forgot to meditate for the two full days we spent camping and hiking. Even though I did not engage in sustained practice, I certainly practiced mindfulness. In fact, this is one of the factors I like most about being in nature, everything is simplified and it is so much easier to be present. I love waking up with sun, bedding down soon after the stars fill the sky, and moving with the rhythms of the world around me. I thrill in finding the awaking spring flowers, the trickle of a stream that transitions to the roar of a waterfall, and becoming entranced in the dancing flames of a campfire. I feel as peaceful and refreshed as I do after meditation. Maybe I didn’t intentionally practice because I actually spent much of the time in a meditative state?
In the past, if I let a day or more slip by without doing an intended action, I would have been very hard on myself. This time, I am being more gentle; just like I guide my mind back to breath, I am guiding myself back to a daily practice. In fact, I began again within hours of arriving home (after a shower and doing some laundry and dishes…ever noticed how “camp” hygiene becomes disgusting as soon as you return home???). This monkey may have spent some time in the wild, but that does not been that it has become feral.
Related articles
- Taming the Monkey Mind: a 28 Day Meditation Challenge (lessonsfromtheendofamarriage.com)
Being in nature like that Is being in continuos meditation 🙂