What is the feeling of an open heart? Can you describe this experience?
When I lived on a boat, I felt much more balanced than I do living in the heat and dryness of the desert, and I felt so much more available to people and the world. I’m naturally pretty fiery and water is my opposite, calming me, soothing me, reminding me to be more fluid. Is availability a component of an open heart?
When I taught skiing every winter, I was out in the elements every day. Here too, I embraced the wind, the snow, the sun and the smells of the fresh crisp air, the smells of the Ponderosa pine trees that lined the slopes and the ridges above me. I heard the sounds of my skis scraping and sliding as I moved rhythmically down the hill. We often skied through the trees, in powder so deep it touched our hearts. I was filled with joy every day when I worked on the ski hill. Is exhilaration a component of an open heart?
I also worked at a hiking retreat in the Northern California coastal redwood forest for a few years. Each day we guided people on walks through the redwoods and madrones, in massive white oak groves and bay trees that leaned away from the banks of the stream, reaching toward the trickling water. I always felt so safe while walking between those trees. Inside the forest a dank, musty smell wafted up from beneath our feet as we crunched the leaves and dried evergreen needles. Is safety a component of an open heart?
When we came out from under the canopy, we gasped as we encountered the Spring wildflowers blanketing the foothills for miles and miles.They spread all the way to the beaches, a combination of poppies so bright they smelled like oranges; wild iris and lupine so intense, they smelled purple and buttercups so yellow we made butter under our chins. What an expansive feeling it was to come out of the woods, into the sun, running along the ridge overlooking the beach. The rain, wind and sun beat down on our bodies, saturating us with pleasant reminders of our connection to this truly awesome planet. Are expansion and connection components of an open heart?
My heart never felt so comfortable, so enthusiastic as it did when I was in nature every day. Food never tasted so good and my smile never frowned. I felt connected to people without speaking, I was filled with wonder and curiosity when we shared our emergence with the elements, not a word nor a whisper were heard between us. Whether on a boat being rocked to sleep while looking up through the forward hatch at the moon and stars, sitting on a rock overlooking the coastline and the power of the waves crashing on the beach below, or walking silently through the forest steeped in the wisdom of those redwood emperors, I knew I was connected; no question in my mind.
Feathers, rocks, odd pieces of driftwood and shells, they were all part of my daily collections. I brought them home to my altar for a night, lit a candle placing it in the midst of all these talismans and looked at nature’s designs, into their souls. There I sat, breathing and journeying, deep inside myself, imaging, playing back the memories of the wild animals that had earlier flown over me or stepped ever so lightly on the same trails, over the stones and through the giant clovers.
I heard the cries of the hawks and eagles as they circled, dove and played overhead; one feather, if I was lucky, floated down just for me. I saw the bobcat mommy carrying all four kittens in her mouth, looking over her shoulder to make sure I wasn’t following too close; the coyote stalking, catching and eating the rabbit. I still have some of those feathers and also the rocks, the shells and driftwood, yet mostly I returned them the following day, grateful for the gifts of the night before.
It was heavenly and yet I was grounded. I was inspired, transformed, devoted and introspective. All the elements and their directional symbolism were part of me, my body, my mind and soul. My heart aches for precisely these sensations of pleasure and the smells of divinity, like an absent mate or a motherless child. Now they are memories. When I’m feeling lonely and my heart wants to shut, this best friend, my soul, softly nudges me to simply go outdoors.
Now, in a different place and time, I often duplicate the elements by taking luxurious baths, planting flowers in pots on the deck of my condo, with spiritual breathing practices, preparing raw whole foods, meditating and practicing yoga or creating a ceremony for the seasons. Sometimes I simply sit staring into the flame of a candle on my altar which is still adorned with nature’s treasures.
The Energetic Connection offers online programs and sacred journeys to the isles of Brighid, the Coastal Redwoods and the Rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.
