Hello dear friends.
Today I'll be recording outside in nature.
Not remote,
Necessarily pristine nature that so many of us enjoy.
But the beautiful nature that can be found maybe in your backyard or in a nearby park.
Just a place where we can take in the air,
Take in the sun,
Take in the wind.
Sort of get away from the intensity of many of our lives where we're often sitting at a desk in a confined space.
I like to take my shoes off if it's possible so that I can connect with the Earth.
You know it's pretty funny.
The Earth,
Mother Earth,
We often forget that Mother Earth is a being.
Mother Earth is alive.
And everything we've ever eaten,
Everything that's ever nourished our bodies,
Everything that we ate that gave us energy,
Every single part,
Every single taste,
Every single morsel came from Mother Earth.
So I think so many of us are disconnected from this reality that practicing outside is often awesome.
And when we can get out to wild nature in the wilderness,
That's wonderful.
But for many of us who live in major cities,
Metropolitan areas,
It's kind of hard to do that.
But the connection with the nature is nonetheless extremely important.
I think we intuitively know this.
So many of us have wonderful memories of a summer camp.
My first summer camp was when I was in elementary school and it was in the beautiful mountains of northern New Mexico.
And that experience that week out there in the Jemez Mountains was really life changing.
And since that time I've had the joy and really the luxury of spending so much time in remote nature.
I looked at my calendar last year and I think I actually had the,
Again,
The luxury of spending 80 days in the wilderness.
And a big part of that is because,
As you know,
Many of you who either follow me on Inside Timer or on our podcast,
You know that I have the extremely good fortune of studying with John P.
Milton.
And if there was ever a nature guy who knew how to deeply connect with the wisdom,
The intelligence and the healing properties of nature,
It's John P.
Milton.
And John shared with me the practice that I'm going to share with you today.
And I think of this practice as support from all directions.
And the practice is not unique to any philosophy or any religion or any school of psychology,
But just a wonderful way to sort of connect with some of the realities that are around us all of the time.
I'm going to walk through this practice with you for the next several minutes.
John actually calls it the 11 directions ceremony,
And often he refers to this practice as a celebration.
And you can really make this practice your own.
There's no need to do it the way John does it.
There's no need to do it the way I do it.
But I'm just going to share with you some of the principles and walk through a typical way that I might do this practice.
And hopefully you'll find a deepening benefit,
A deepening relaxation awareness,
Connectivity to yourself,
Inner nature to outer nature,
Beautiful plants,
Animals,
Water sources that exist in nature.
And maybe even get a glimpse of our true nature.
That part of us that's just awesome,
That's already complete,
That has that childlike wonder,
Creativity,
Freedom,
Curiosity,
All of those qualities that we really long for that do exist inside of us.
They may be buried under worries,
Anxieties,
Tasks,
All the things we have to do in a day,
But it's there.
So I'm going to be walking out of my studio and into my backyard on the west side of Albuquerque,
New Mexico,
Right in the middle of the city.
So you may hear various background noises.
You might hear some wind chimes.
You might hear some birds.
You might hear some other animals.
You might hear a truck rolling by.
So if you can put up with that,
Since that is a reality of most of our lives,
Also give you a good opportunity to practice with a version.
So,
Walking out right now,
Feeling the connection to the earth,
And we start this practice facing east.
So,
The directional quality of the east is associated with awakening.
As we know,
The sun rises in the east,
The warmth of a new day.
As I faced east in Albuquerque,
First thing I noticed were the beautiful Sandia Mountains,
Which are part of the Rocky Mountain chain,
About 10,
500 feet.
I'm aware of just the magnificence of the mountain,
Noticing a cool breeze that's coming in from the east.
This is a good way to start.
And so,
To begin a little more formally,
I like to bow to the east.
And you can bow any way you want.
And I like to just acknowledge and give thanks for the possibility of awakening,
For that wonderful quality of waking up.
Whether it's as simple as waking up in the morning,
A deep spiritual awakening that transforms us to be more aware,
More sensitive,
More compassionate,
More mindful.
And as you're doing the practice,
You might just notice whatever arises.
I'm noticing the blue sky.
I'm noticing the beautiful clouds,
Planes overhead with lots of beings.
I can wish them well.
May everybody on that plane be well.
May they be happy.
May they be free of suffering.
May they be free of the root of suffering.
I like to open my arms wide that I might receive those qualities of the east,
That awakening.
Now we just simply rotate 90 degrees to the south.
The qualities of the south are vitality and open heartedness.
Just think about how things grow in the south.
There's just so much life,
So much abundance.
I just came back from Florida and I'm just astounded since I live in New Mexico,
Just how many types of plants there are.
How many types of animals,
Insects.
It's incredible.
There's just a myriad of life forms in the south.
Now my daughter just opened the door and my two little dogs came running out.
So we noticed that.
They're looking at me.
They're happy.
That's indicative of open heartedness.
What's more open hearted than your dog?
So I acknowledge what's arising.
There's the sound of the birds.
It's all happening in the south.
My family's from the south.
My family's from Louisiana.
So I think about all of the great qualities that come from my family in the south.
And we think of southern hospitality.
Again,
I notice the breeze,
The movement of the trees.
Not really thinking about it.
And I bow to the south,
Just giving thanks for those qualities that are available from the south.
Qualities of open heartedness,
Qualities of vitality.
And again,
Just notice anything that arises.
But we're really wanting to connect with all that supports us.
Certainly we want the awakening from the east.
From that awakening,
That new beginning.
There's growth.
That growth is a form of vitality,
Of life force.
We want to have an open heart.
So I open my heart.
And I ask that those qualities of vitality and open heartedness just come into my being and envelop me.
I think that's what we all want.
So now rotating again,
90 degrees.
There's no prescribed pace here,
No speed.
You might take two minutes with this practice.
You might take two hours.
It just depends on what happens.
So the quality of the west,
The setting sun,
A time for darkness to arise.
Not the scary kind of darkness.
Darkness that's healing,
Regenerative.
The kind that we get in a deep sleep.
And there's transformation.
There's letting go of that which no longer serves us.
These are called qualities of the west.
The west is transformation,
Transfiguration.
It can be the end of a cycle.
It can be even a passing from one life into the next.
And as we learn to embrace the qualities of the west,
Again,
Bowing to the west,
Giving thanks for those spiritual qualities.
Opening our arms,
Opening our hearts,
Acknowledging the support that comes from the west.
Think of my friends.
My friends out west in Wyoming.
Think about the beautiful mountains in the west,
The open skies.
Right now I'm noticing my garden.
Noticing these beautiful tomatoes and carrots and arugula and sunflowers and Mexican primrose.
And everything is just blooming so abundantly.
So we're noticing these things.
And our plants,
Our beings,
They're alive,
They're vital.
We can connect with that vitality.
And once we start to have this more connected appreciation of nature,
Nature responds in kind because we are natural.
Human beings are organic.
And so we're connecting with other beings in our lives.
And we're noticing them and we're acknowledging them and we're giving thanks for them.
And in that way,
We can never be alone.
We're connected to this cycle.
Right now it's summertime so these plants are growing.
And then the fall there will be harvest.
And then,
So we can look at the growing part like the east and the vitality of the south.
And in the fall,
The plants will change color.
And then they will return back to the earth.
But are those plants really dead?
I don't think so.
I think they're resting for their next round of vitality.
After all,
What are seeds?
Seeds are the plant.
They have all of the qualities of the parent,
Of the parent plant.
And round and round it goes in this beautiful cycle.
So as you can see,
I'm just simply noticing what's happening around me,
Acknowledging these qualities.
Now I'm rotating towards the north.
One of the primary qualities of the north is wisdom.
So we awakened.
We were born.
We grew.
We became vital,
Open-hearted,
Transformed.
We rested.
We let go of that which no longer serves us,
Part of the qualities of the west.
And as we turn our attention to the north,
Wisdom,
The dominant quality of the north.
Right now,
Thoughts arise of the north pole,
The polar ice caps.
I think of my teacher,
John Milton.
He lives in Crestone,
Colorado,
Which is almost straight north from me.
Many of my friends who live in the north.
Again,
Just the incredible,
Crystal clear water that comes out of the northern mountains.
Beautiful ice,
Beautiful streams,
Plants,
Animals,
Cool breezes.
As that breeze just touches my skin,
It's part of the air element.
And that air element that exists in great spirit is the same air element that lives in me.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Lung quality.
Just noticing that the same qualities of air that make up all life.
I'm a part of that.
I'm connected to it.
This practice allows us to connect to that.
Again,
I bow,
Give thanks to these wonderful qualities of the north.
These wonderful beings that exist both seen and unseen.
This quality of wisdom.
And now,
Having completed the four cardinal directions,
Simply move my attention,
Move my awareness to the northeast.
And right in front of me in the northeast right now are these beautiful wind chimes.
This love.
To let those sounds just go through my body.
Allowing the perceptual field of sound to envelop me right now.
And we all know that sound can be so healing.
How many times have we heard a piece of music and it was just said exactly the right thing that we needed at that moment.
Now the birds have joined into the party.
I don't know if you can hear them,
But isn't it interesting as soon as we're talking about these qualities of sound through the perceptual field of sound.
That emerges.
So in the northeast,
There's that merger that gentle subtle spiraling circular merger of wisdom of the north.
Merging with the awakening of the east.
Noticing that.
Bowing to the qualities of the northeast.
Now turning to the southeast.
Think of all beautiful people in the southeast,
All of my friends,
Family members in the southeast.
Think of all the beautiful qualities that are in the southeast.
Just again that merging of awakening with open heartedness and vitality.
Standing under a tree now.
This beautiful tree that I've had a relationship with for 24 years.
I used to have a lot of those blow up pools when my kids were little and at the end of the year I just let all the water out right into the ground.
I was not very conscious at the time so I did a great job of poisoning the earth and virtually nothing would grow in my yard for many,
Many years.
But over time again,
Wisdom arises.
I started doing things to help my soil and my backyard heal and this beautiful tree volunteered.
It's a Chinese elm and I didn't plant this tree,
It volunteered.
I don't know if you knew this but when plants just kind of appear in your yard whether it be sunflowers or whatever,
They're called volunteers.
So this beautiful being in front of me,
This tree who like me has a base that's rooted in the earth that reaches up towards the heavens.
That releases the oxygen I need and as I release the carbon dioxide that the tree needs,
We have this wonderful connected relationship.
I can touch this tree and I can notice that there really is no separation.
I started to be connected to this life force,
This wisdom being that's in front of me.
If you're not used to doing this sort of thing,
It might seem simple or ridiculous,
That's fine,
Never mind.
But I find that if we start to really do simple practice like this,
Connecting with all that supports us,
Recognizing and respecting these beings as being alive,
There's this beautiful healing response that comes in return.
And over the weeks,
Over the months,
Over the years,
That deepens.
So as I'm rotating through the south,
Vitality and open heartedness,
And now as I turn to the southwest,
I have so much to be thankful for in the southwest.
I was born in the southwest,
Life on this earth started in the southwest.
My parents,
All my close friends and family members,
So many of them live in the southwest.
All these beautiful big skies and the artists that try to capture the glorious colors and expansiveness that are in the southwest.
So again,
Just noticing,
These are the things I'm noticing,
You'll notice maybe similar things,
Maybe entirely different things.
You'll notice things happening inside you,
Inner nature,
And outside,
Outer nature,
And the true nature that liberated essence within.
And you may even have the delight of all of that sort of merging,
Where there is no separation,
And there's just this deep connection with all of it.
And once we start cultivating this type of awareness,
I've found that a lot of loneliness can fade away when we realize we're part of life and we're connected to life,
And that these qualities do exist,
That they're real.
That a practice like this can help you have that realization of the reality I'm describing.
You know,
I may do this practice in a bad mood,
And maybe the bad mood doesn't change,
And none of this even seems worthwhile.
But again,
It's a wonderful thing to practice,
And there are times when,
Boy,
Like even now,
I just feel it completely.
It makes me smile and smile that you're listening and we're connecting.
My voice is in you.
You're listening and you're appearing and experiencing things inside yourself.
There's no separation.
So now turning to the final diagonal direction,
Moving through the West,
Healing darkness,
Transformation,
Letting go of that which no longer serves,
And moving into the Northwest.
I immediately thought of just the beauty of the Pacific Northwest,
All of the abundance,
The trees,
The rivers,
The salmon,
Fish,
The oceans,
The people,
All of the advances that have made our life so comfortable so often come out of the Northwest.
I think of my friends who live there.
I'm seeing them in my mind now,
And I just smile and bow to those wonderful qualities where transformation mergers with wisdom.
And now as we return,
Passing through the wisdom of the North back to the East,
We connect with another of these beautiful qualities,
Which is the Earth itself.
I'd like to really just touch the Earth.
And as I said before,
Everything that has ever nourished us,
Every bit of nutrition that we've ever had in our entire lives to fuel our bodies came from the Earth.
And this special connection that we actually are connected in touching the Earth,
All this beautiful oxygen being created,
All of the water that we drink coming down from the mountains,
Beautiful oceans,
Just this incredible being that is Mother Earth.
And actually,
Many times I just like to kiss our true mother.
Because from her,
All of us arise,
And to her,
All of us will return.
The next beautiful quality as we are experiencing this 11 direction ceremony is that of great spirit.
And the word for spirit in many languages translates either directly or indirectly to breath.
So,
In Hebrew,
Ruach,
The breath of God.
So,
I just think of a great spirit energy and as the wind picks up,
Just as we're talking right now about that,
This very second that happening,
I feel that touch of spirit on my arms,
Through my hair,
On my face,
Connect with great spirit,
That unseen,
Ultimately powerful force that moves in us,
Through us,
Oxygenates our body,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in the oxygen,
Thankful,
Breathing out.
And finally,
The great mystery,
Source.
The great mystery that nobody can really necessarily explain,
Place of origination,
The spark that which creates galaxies,
Stillness,
Being still and knowing.
Let's just stay still.
Taking all of this in,
Bowing gratitude,
So thankful that all the support we need can be found in these directions.
So,
That concludes our talk on the Love and Direction Ceremony.
So thankful for you listening.
Love to get any feedback from you.
Practice,
Make this practice your own.
Do it fast,
Do it slow.
But I encourage you that if you actually will apply a little bit of consistency to this beautiful practice,
You and the other beings in your life will experience a benefit.
Bye bye.
