Over the years I have had an on again, off again, love affair with meditation. I dabbled on my own a bit with guided meditations.Then I found a wonderful teacher, Angela, who introduced me to Kundalini Yoga, which is a meditation practice that helps you experience a flow of Kundalini energy.
Yet somehow, just when I start to receive the benefits of a meditation practice, I veer off course. I was starting to think that maybe a country girl isn't made for meditation. Then I remembered my grandparent's spring house.
The spring house
The spring house, which protected my grandparent's water supply, sat in a little patch of woods behind their house. We lived next door to them on a couple acres of their 60-acre farm. I often found myself wandering to the spring house. Sometimes I'd peek inside the door frame to see if any frogs had ventured into the pool of water house beneath the little structure. When I confirmed the pool was clear, I'd take the metal cup that hung on a nail on the wall to take a drink of the water that cascaded out of the overflow beneath open door frame. It was the coldest, freshest water I have ever tasted.
Other times I would crawl up onto the mostly flat roof to read a book or work on my homework. I liked that spot because I loved being in the woods, but if I sat on the ground and tried to read, I was forever distracted by thoughts of snakes. I could sit on the roof and feel relatively safe from creepy things.
So many times I went there with the intention of reading, yet I would find myself staring up at the canopy of trees overhead, my mind somewhere a million miles away. Somehow everything seemed perfect when I sat there.
Once and a while I go back there when the voice on my guided meditation DVD asks me to picture a place where I feel happy and safe. The sad thing is that the real thing is still so close, yet I never really get to experience it. My parents still live in the same place, but most of the farm, and the woods that framed it, were sold when my grandparents passed away.
Such a lovely and special memory to have and be able to re-visit and hold onto in meditation.
ReplyDeleteI never had one specific place to go. It was just peaceful out walking through the fields and forest by myself and feeling the calmness around me. Thanks for bringing those thoughts and feelings back to mind.
ReplyDeleteI've been to may beautiful places, but Pennsylvania woods are the place that speaks to my heart. Having a spring house in the woods growing up made it really special.
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