EarthPause

“EarthPause” - Originally posted October 2010 by Rebecca Hecking in ‘The Sustainable Soul’,

Busy? Me too.

Let’s see… I’ve got three very active teenagers, one of whom is a senior in the midst of college applications and visits. Add on my elderly parents, one with Alzheimer’s, who live 100 miles away and need help (I’m their only child). Throw in my teaching duties, class and lab. And don’t forget a household, a husband, three cats, and oh yes… that book I’m writing! Busybusybusybusy…

Whew.

Most of my busy-ness comes from the very necessary obligations I have to those I love, or the need to earn a living and simply keep caught up with the day-to-day necessities like laundry, or grocery shopping. There’s not a lot of wiggle room in my schedule, and not a lot of optional activities to trim. I fantasize about living in a remote cottage with no schedule to keep.

I’m going to take a wild guess here, and speculate that I’m not the only one. Life today does seem very hurried and stressed. Most people I know are every bit as busybusybusy as I am, although the details of that busy-ness may differ. It is true that we are working longer hours for less pay, and struggling to simply keep our collective heads (and mortgages!) above water. We are dragged along by our circumstances and the realities of our lives.

Inevitably, something gets squeezed out. And usually, that something is caring for ourselves. It’s low priority, and when we’re overwhelmed, it is all too easy to skip that little down time we might have planned earlier.

Meanwhile, the natural world carries on at its own pace. The wheel of the year turns, and seasons slowly melt into each other. The stars spin; the flowers bloom; the birds sing…all in Earth’s rhythm, which is not at all frantic or rushed. Unless we pay conscious attention, it happens without our even noticing it.

But we need to notice. Especially when we are in full-tilt busybusybusy mode.

We need to connect to Earth’s rhythm: for our own health (mental and physical), as well as for the sake of our loved ones who have to put up with us when we’re stressed and exhausted. This is not an option. It is a necessity.

I routinely write “nature walk” in my planner, and on most weeks, I manage to unplug for a half hour or so to do it. It’s wonderfully restorative. But I’m finding that once a week is not enough. Being busybusybusy is too draining for just a one-shot dose of Nature each week. So I’ve decided to do what I must, for the sake of my sanity.

Ten minutes a day. I am committing to taking ten minutes every day to step outside and just be, to simply stop and really see the natural world. I may look at the stars, or watch a squirrel in my backyard. I may just breathe the air and watch the grass grow. No multi-tasking. No work. Just ten minutes. Every day. Pause, and become aware of the natural world. Breathe deeply, and soak it all in.

I am a lousy meditator. I’ve tried over and over to do the whole clear-your-mind, blank slate sort of meditation and have failed miserably. My monkey mind wants to leap from thought to thought, and never can settle down. I lose focus, and I lose motivation rather quickly. I’ll keep at it for a week or so, and then give up and feel like a failure. Then, six months later, I’m back at it again only to repeat the cycle. But this, EarthPausing, has been different.

Actively focusing on the world around me has opened up a type of meditative experience that, for me at least, is proving to be wonderfully do-able. Instead of futile attempts to drag the monkey mind back from its wanderings, instead I focus it on some aspect of the world around me, and as I focus, I relax. I slow down. I breathe.

More importantly, I connect. One thing that is desperately lacking in our culture is connection to the natural world. EarthPausing helps to bridge that gap that modern life imposes upon me. For someone living a truly natural, indigenous life, awakened and truly integrated in Nature, ten minutes would seem absurd. And for such a person, it would be. But for me, for all of us, as twenty-first century prisoners of cubicles and metal cells on wheels, a simple ten minutes is astonishing in its power.

I’ve spent my ten minutes watching a caterpillar navigate through the grass. I’ve shut my eyes and listened to the noises of the night. I’ve watched individual leaves move with the slightest breeze. I’ve sensed the air, the dew as it settles on my skin. I’ve noticed the silent, invisible world that permeates our own busy existence and that doesn’t particularly care if we pay attention to it or not.

I’ve decided to focus on consistency rather than length. Although a half hour would be fabulous, realistically I can’t manage that much. And I know it. So, ten minutes it is. For now, it is enough. I emerge calmer. More relaxed. More at peace.

Prescription for twenty-first century overworked people: ten minutes a day to reconnect with Earth. Ten minutes. That’s all.

EarthPause.

Care to join me?

Credit

‘EarthPause’ Concept originally developed by Rebecca Hecking, author of ‘The Sustainable Soul’, www.rebeccahecking.com

‘The Sustainable Soul: Eco-Spiritual Reflections and Practices’ Book is available through: http://rebeccahecking.com/?page_id=177