by Mountainhare » 07 Nov 2012 21:36
Hi Cate, Joop, 1Sun, J2, Gerard, Lee and everyone. I have been doing some breathing and relaxation techniques. They seem to have helped me to slow down and start standing back a little from life allowing me to view life more as a spectator instead of someone who is in the midst of the crowd being jostled along, like a twig caught in the rushing waters of a river.
Last weekend I tried a little meditation in some local woods, which are set on the edge of the Dark Peak. I have been there before, but this time instead of walking, it felt as if I flew through the woods in the company of angels. I stood under branches of giant beech trees, enormous branches stretching outward with an amazing display of strength and beauty. I felt the texture of the bark with my hands, like the rough bumpy skin of an aged rhino; in places moss and lichen covered the tree with a vivid green sleeve of soft moist pastures. A fern had taken root in a hollow and nook and the sun shon through its leaves as it does through partially open blinds. High above other branches stretched to the sky, and golden leaves drifted to earth like the fluttering thoughts of the summer, discarded by autumn. They fell to the ground where a carpet of gold and orange covered the earth into which they will decay and become part of, as will all life in the end.
The Dark Peak forests and grasses have been painted with hues of golden brown by the brushstrokes of autumn, like a brown Serengeti on a cold English hill. An awareness of life filled my soul as I walked across this cold landscape and the beauty, which radiated from all around, was absorbed into my heart as a dry sponge soaks up a liquid. Even the pylons took on an artistic guise, and as I passed them by I could sense their energy and feel it tingle in my body as it buzzed in the cold brisk wind.
I felt my senses were keener, like the senses of a small woodland mammal, whose life depends on its vigilance, as it watches for an eagle. I could smell scents on the wind, the scent of earth and trees, and ferns and the cold dark water of the reservoirs with its white tipped waves, they all had a scent previously unnoticed by me.
It is like the mindfulness I have been practicing is paying dividends. A cloud of gloom has dispersed and has been replaced by rainbows and smiles. A love for my life is returning. The creative, poet inside is awakening once more as booze leaves my soul and inspiration enters, dressed in a cloak and top hat, twirling a gold handled cane and dancing a graceful waltz to the music of love.
It all sounds a bit mad I know, but is how I felt. It was a great feeling and one I want to replicate, as often as possible.
Every day is another chance to turn it all around. Never give up giving up.
Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
to all
its not like I don't have the time its 20 mins a day 
) I can get in to a trance and meditative state. This is also applicable to swimming, and walking in the hills too. I can't run due to knee problems but I think running lends itself to this way of meditating.