AMONG THE GIANTS

Amongst the giants I stand tall, as I enter the ancient, sacred redwood groves of Muir Woods National Park in Northern California. I am there with a new friend and kindred spirit Cindy Olsman. I am aware that I feel infinitely small in my corporeal self, as I stretch my perception to view the vast canopy of  tree tops provided by the Great Sequoias. My breathing becomes noticeably deepened, as my lungs begin to crave this optimal oxygen that I am being fed through the rich foliage, moist air and earthy, sweet fragrances. It is a spontaneous visceral response that I am having and I realize, I haven't been breathing so deeply in a while. I notice the forest floor is swept with a carpet of sorrel, horsetail and ferns while a meandering stream that fleshes out this fertile ecology is visited by darting birds.  This enchanted land is the home of a thousand years of history and I am a sentient being passing through.

The body psychotherapist in me is fully aware that my spine is elongating incrementally with each step that I take.  I ask myself, is it really this simple?  When I step out of my ordinary urbane environment and enter such natural majesty, I am enlivened. My senses become open portals and are awakened with a heightened sensibility. I am experiencing the world in vivid dimensions once again. I remember years ago a dear friend of mine ,Marie, took a pause from the corporate world she worked in and went to the Himalayas on a treking vacation. She said she thought long and hard about returning from this foreign and breathtaking place in the clouds because she expereinced herself more alive than ever before. What a challenge we face in our ives to stay fully awakened in our senses, to not live only in our heads nor moved purely by our emotional center. 

My crown chakra, the invisible energy center located in the region above the head, opens up immediately. I can feel the presence of the ancient natives who lived amongst the Giants here and revered the sacred Earth. I am aware that I am singing in a low voice a chant that comes from a native tongue familiar to my soul but not my ears. I can hear in a whispering voice carried through the fog and breeze Great Grandfather speak "Enter  and Awaken Your Consciousness; Be humble in your soul before the Presences.  Speak your native language. Speak your heart. Speak your BodyWord" 

 Luckily, I am with Cindy who is very attuned to the natural wisdom that the Earth speaks and senses the elementals that inhabit this enchanted territory. She shares with me her own delicious perceptions from time to time and I receive them as candy, wrapped in haiku. Cindy insist that I am a woodland fairie and although I only smile at her, I must admit, this is not the first time I have heard this.  Here, I am in my element and therefore my glory.  Amongst this rose tinted glow of Mother Nature, I am frequently misted by the low level fog at every bend on this late spring afternoon.  I am aware that life pulsates here. I am aware that there is nothing else to grasp but the pulse of life. I am aware of the difference in my life and when the pulse is present or not. I am aware that it is up to me to seek and exist in the heartbeat. I am aware that this is the secret of my eternal spring.