“To be still, get still,” popped into my head while feeling dizzily over-stimulated from noisy store crowds, parties, and meandering traffic this week. The holidays can drain anyone and especially with technology’s hastened pace and constant bombardment.
For many years I’ve chosen to celebrate the holidays through the beauty of the land. Whether it’s gathering aromatic pine boughs on the morning of Christmas Eve or breathlessly climbing a steep slope of evergreens to gain fresh perspective on New Year’s Day — intimately connecting with Mother Nature is my holiday spirit. It is the quiet, the crunch of my boots in the snow, the sun warming my face, and breathing in fresh pine, that speaks to me deep within. Glowing candlelight and a poinsettia paint the mellow ambience I love. Add in laughter, healthy food and hand drumming with friends, and voila’; I’ve created a non-traditional holiday out of love, not stressful obligation. And as an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person), I want for nothing more.
This year, I’ve received wise words from unexpected sources — women I’ve never met but with whom I share a Nature-focused spiritual path:
- Particularly comforting in the midst of losing so many trees to pipeline construction are the words of a Yoruba priest: “Nature is resilient. The trees will come and go – some naturally and some by the needs and destructiveness of man. Don’t cry for the trees. They have served their purpose and they have planted their seeds. They have helped those of the earth in many ways – the humans, the animals, the air, the soil, and other nature beings. Their spirit is resilient and they will be reborn in other forms and once again, serve their purpose. Perhaps one of them lies in you. This is the nature of life.”
- And Nick Polizzi‘s healing secrets of the forest in“A Winter Shrine to the Sacred Pine.”
The Sacred Science Pinecone Meditation
Find a pine cone and place it in front of you. Gaze at the pinecone for a full minute, then close your eyes and imagine the pinecone-shape behind your third eye. Envision the scales of the pinecone unfolding and opening to take in nourishment from Divine Light, and see your pinecone-shaped pineal gland energized and radiant. In this space, consider all the benefits of pine medicine and imagine this energy as a white light healing your mind, body, and spirit.
The wisdom of the land is why I love it so.
It teaches me about living life.
wRighTing My Life 
Ah, being still is too simply a matter of choice but it sounds like that long walk around the lake was the perfect place to begin your holiday.
I enjoyed time with family and friends on Christmas Eve then a delightful long drive home the next day. It was a joy to be in the moment of a deliciously sunny blue sky day with new sights while meandering with the winding river. (Interesting how many raced past although I was doing the speed limit.) This was one of the best Christmases I’ve ever had!
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Lovely. How wonderful it would be if everyone could simply ‘be still’ at this time. I took a long walk around a local lake earlier. Now I’m sipping cider and talking with my family. I feel very still. And content. Best wishes for stillness for you:)
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