Foundational Intelligence

As I sit here, my face feels like it is defrosting from the cool temps after my walk. As part of my homework of a class I’m in, I was to take a walk and notice aspects of my breathing, feeling, sensing, and movement and how it all filters into self-responsibility and self-love and visa-versa. I am so enjoying this particular class…as it’s taking me deeper into the awareness and respect for my body in a way that’s showing up very natural. Something significant is shifting it seems as I’ve found a number of other things recently that are all contributing to some really great changes physically as well as to my overall well being.

As I began the walk, paying attention to my breathing, there was no rhythm to it and I found myself trying to find the ease in my breathe and how interesting that a simple thing as breathing can feel so labored…what showed up over time was that it seemed to take a bit until my body organized the processes on it’s own. All I had to do was to allow it. Pretty fascinating and a wonderful feeling when it did…

On the infrequent occasions when I walk I usually try to be as efficient with my time and to listen to one recording or another for the numerous things I’m studying at any given time. A friend and I joked that we have enough material to hide out in the woods for years without coming up for air…it’s been and continues to be quite an immersion process! Anyway, what happened on my walk was such an experience. I’d realized after paying attention to all my senses and what I was taking in…was that when I’m focusing on the audio and getting though the walk, there’s so much I’m missing…It was lovely to notice what I noticed…the amazing beauty of flowers and trees and grass in bloom, the colors vivid from the rain that we’ve had, the temps pretty cold for a spring day but nothing that has inhibited the growth, if anything it seems to be in part to the natural process…rather than the jumping into near summer weather that is often the case. So as I walked it all came alive and things that I’d walked by right numerous times had escaped my awareness. I was present to the amazing appreciation that welled up within me to all of what I was taking in…the landscaping that I liked or didn’t, the appreciation for quality workmanship, and the awareness when it wasn’t…noticing how even the color of the cars had added to the abundance that was in view. Trees that were beautiful for no other reason, the aroma of the blossoms and the freshness of the air after the rain…and as I took all of this in, I was aware of the continuing sense of appreciation for this particular ride in this body. How often I had disliked my body and it’s seemingly limitations…what I became aware of is the great sense of humor life has and that similar to the video games in which one has to master the game…I see our own process as similar…in that the things that have challenged me whether mentally, emotionally or physically have all played a part in the refinement process to live well within this particular form…I am eternally grateful for the teachers that continue to cross my path whether initially seen that way or not, and grateful for the grace and the presence within myself to get the learning.